Tamworth AC’s A-Team travelled to Oxfordshire for the opening match of the Midlands Counties Track & Field League. Flying high for a third consecutive season in the top division, expectations are high this year. The team was missing a number of key athletes through injuries and other commitments, making the opening fixture all the more challenging for Tamworth.
For the Men, Harry Everitt took 3rd place in the 100 metres with a time of 11.3secs. Tom Ainsworth came 2nd in the B-race with 11.5secs. Harry then went on to take 4th place in the 200 metres, clocking 22.5secs. Tom Ainsworth was back on the track for the 400 metres, finishing 2nd with a time of 49.8secs. James Sherriff ran a time of 51.9secs to finish 2nd in the B-race.
Harry Everitt 
James Sherriff 
Tom Ainsworth
On to the 800 metres with John Jenkins clocking a strong 2:04.0, Andrew Woods finishing on 2:13.6 and Alex Taylor (non-scoring) with 2:36.8. Max Kent and Alex Taylor lined up for the 1,500 metres, crossing the line with times of 4:39.2 and 5:29.1 respectively. Max also finished the 2,000 metre Steeplechase with a time of 7:14.4. Endurance veteran Ben Evans turned out for the 5,000 metres to finish with a time of 17:37.2 and Tamworth newcomer Peter Hackett crossed the line with 17:50.3.
Alex Taylor 
Andrew Woods 
Ben Evans 
John Jenkins 
Max Kent 
Peter Hackett
In the Hurdles, multi-eventer Adam Young clocked 65.9secs for the 400 metres and 19.2secs in the 110 metres; breaking the M50 club records in both events.
Adam Young
Adam continued his busy day in the field with 1.75 metres in the High Jump, 10.43 metres in the Triple Jump and 8.77 metres in the Shot Put. He broke a further two club M50 records with 2.60 metres in the Pole Vault and 5.66 metres in the Long Jump. James Wooley jumped 5.84 metres in the Long Jump, and Gavin Showell cleared 3.20 metres in the Pole Vault, threw 23.95 with the Discus and 19.64 metres with the Hammer. Alex Berrow made 11.00 metres in the Shot Put and threw the Hammer 39.41 metres for 3rd place. Greg Richards made a throw of 20.30 metres with the Discus and took 3rd place in the Javelin with an excellent throw of 41.20 metres. Kane Densley also competed in the Javelin event, with a best throw of 9.40 metres.
In the relays, Tamworth’s Men were victorious in the 4 x 100 metres with James Sherriff, Harry Everitt, Kane Densley and Jacob Spencer clocking 42.8secs. The 4 x 400 metres team of Tom Ainsworth, James Sherriff, John Jenkins and Max Kent finished 3rd with a time of 3:32.2.
In the Women’s events, Amy Bowen finished 3rd in an incredibly close 100 metres A-race with a time of 12.5secs. Bethany Ostick also took 3rd in the B-race with 12.8secs. In the 200 metres, Isabelle Neville and Bethany Devonshire ran 26.0 and 27.4secs in the A and B races respectively. The 400 metres race saw Eve Clawley clock 60.0secs in the A-race and Emily Findlater finish the B-race in 62.3secs. Another close finish in the 800 metres saw Katherine Snowden edged into 2nd place with 2:24.7. Sian Lewis also took 2nd in the B-race with a time of 2:26.1. Katherine Snowden went on to race in the 1,500m; taking 3rd place in the A-race with 5:12.4. Deborah Hetherington competed in the 1,500 metres B-race, finishing with a time of 5:38.5, and then clocked 12:10.7 in the 3,000 metres A-race. Laura Lewis-Waters made a time of 14:53.0 in the 3,000 metres B-race.
Deborah Hetherington 
Eve Clawley 
Katherine Snowden 
Laura Lewis-Waters 
Sian Lewis
Another club record and a win in the 400 metres Hurdles for Isabelle Neville with 63.6; taking more than 3 seconds off the old record that was set in 2014. Emily Findlater finished the B-race in 73.2secs. In the 100 metres Hurdles, Bethany Devonshire clocked 19.20secs in the A-race and Emily Findlater finished with 20.70 in the B-race.
Bethany Devonshire 
Emily Findlater 
Isabelle Neville
In the Long Jump, Bethany Ostick and Sarah Williams jumped 4.26 and 3.81 metres respectively. Eve Clawley cleared 1.25 metres in the High Jump and Isla Crameri jumped 9.70 metres in the Triple Jump. The Tamworth Pole Vaulters continued to impress with Hayley Mills clearing 3.40 metres to win the A-event and Isla Crameri won the B-event with 3.00 metres. In the Shot Put, Amy Cook and Laura Allen threw 7.28 and 5.27 respectively. Laura Allen also made throws of 18.77 metres in the Discus, 17.23 metres with the Hammer and 11.24 metres in the Javelin. Amy Cook threw 19.53 metres in the Discus and took 3rd place in the Javelin with 30.61 metres.
Amy Cook 
Isla Crameri 
Laura Allen 
Hayley Mills
The Women’s relay teams were in incredible form. The 4 x 100 metres team of Bethany Ostick, Amy Bowen, Isabelle Neville, Hayley Mills stormed to victory with a combined time of 49.00secs. The 4 x 400 metres saw another win and club record for Tamworth with Eve Clawley, Emily Findlater, Isabelle Neville and Hayley Mills clocking 3:59.4, leaving a five second gap on 2nd place.
The results put Tamworth AC in 5th place, but as more athletes return to the team, performances should be expected to improve through the rest of the season.
Team Manager Liz Neville reflected on the day and said “Well done to everyone who took part and particularly those that filled some of the gaps we had in events that aren’t to their strengths. It was great to see some really outstanding performances and I’m so pleased for those who broke club records today.”
The next Midlands Track & Field League Division 1 fixture will be at the Alexander Stadium on Sunday 16th June.
Tamworth Athletic Club 