Tom McCook, Press and Publicity Officer for the West Midlands provides reports to highlight some of the recent outstanding performances by West Midlands athletes.
Hard Working Tom is Too Busy to Celebrate 29/02/08
Tom Humphries had neither the time nor the inclination to celebrate his first ever England Senior Men’s Cross Country victory from a huge field of more than 1,200 finishers at Alton Towers.
After dominating the crucially important second half of the eleven kilometres race over an undulating terrain and with a steep hill to ascend on each of the three circuits, the 23-year old Cannock and Stafford runner crossed the finishing line alone in a time of 32 mins 31 secs to win by the comfortable margin of 13 seconds from Belgrave Harrier Phil Wicks.
Humphries recalled the occasion with pleasure, “My coach Keith Holt and I both knew that I was in good shape after finishing second in an international race in Belgium recently which increased my level of confidence.”
“I sat in on the first of three laps but found myself in the lead going up the steep hill.
I felt comfortable and was really pleased to win my first England Senior title in my home county of Staffordshire. The reception that I received particularly in the long run into the finishing line was fantastic and one that I will never forget.”
The Graphic Design and Advertising student at Staffs University then had to wait for some time until he could receive his gold medal and championship trophy at the Awards Ceremony. All of which made him late for his part time job at his local Co operative store in his home village of Gnosall in Staffordshire.
“I was an hour late for work, which I had to make up on Sunday. It is not the way that you might expect to celebrate a first national title!”
Humphries uncomplainingly works four nights (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) a week as well as his training and racing and studying.
His busiest day is Wednesday when he attends University between 9 and 5 before stacking shelves or serving on the till from 6 until nine o’clock which leaves no time for running.
The latest in a long and distinguished winners list which includes Jack Holden, Gordon Pirie, Dave Bedford and Brendan Foster in the 132 year old history of this famous race expressed his thanks to the two men who have coached him.
He said, “Bob Hughes at Cannock and Stafford did a great job in coaching me to win many races as a teenager including the National Under 17 Cross Country title at Bristol in 2002.”
The newly crowned champion who also races on the track in the summer season for Birchfield Harriers was also fulsome in his praise for the contribution that Keith Holt, his coach for the past three years has made towards his level of preparation for his national victory and the forthcoming World Championship Trials at Nottingham.
He continued, “I have learned a very great deal in the time that I have been coached by Keith. I have doubled my mileage to 55 to 60 miles per week but also do high tempo running over specific distances. The last two track seasons we have concentrated on improving my track speed over 800 and 1500 metres with a view to me being better equipped to achieve the Olympic qualifying time for 5,000 metres.
Our next goal is to qualify at the Inter Counties Championships at Nottingham on 15 March to represent Great Britain at the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh on 30 March.”
An understandably euphoric Keith Holt who is the England Under 23 and Junior Men’s Cross Country team Manager and England Athletics West Midlands Endurance Co-ordinator recalled his pre race advice, “No need to take an early lead, you are strong enough and quick enough to react positively to any situation in the race.”
Holt also issued a plea for sponsorship from local businesses to enable the England champion to focus on winning international honours.
“Tom is a modest young man who works hard at every thing that he does and he deserves to be successful. It would certainly be beneficial if a Midlands based business was prepared to come on board to allow Tom to concentrate on achieving his potential in both his running and his studies.”
Ten Gold Medals for West Midland Athletes at the England Age Group Indoor Championships
West Midland athletes won no less than 28 medals and ten gold medals at the England Under 20, Under 17 and Under 15 Indoor Track and Field Championships at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.
Tamworth AC’s England Athletics Indoor Combined Events Junior 20 champion Meghan Beesley accomplished a hat trick of medals (one gold and two silver medals.) The Polesworth High School A level student ran the second fastest indoor 400 metres by a British Junior athlete of all time to add the England Under 20 title to the England senior 400m crown which she had won at Sheffield.
Meghan who is coached by Trevor Marsay equalled her personal best time of 8.60 seconds for the 60m hurdles as runner up to the Norwegian hurdler Tale Orving. Then Beesley broke the 54 seconds barrier for the first ever time to reduce Championship Best Performance to 53.84 seconds.
Finally in her seventh race of an action packed weekend Meghan again finished second in the 200m in a PB of 23.97 but it took an Irish record of 23.92 seconds to keep her of the top step on the medal podium.
A week before she won the English Schools Under 15 Pentathlon title at Sheffield with a Championship record score, City of Stoke’s multi talented Jazmin Sawyers consolidated her position her position at the head of the UK Under 15 rankings when she won the long jump with a 5.48 metres leap and the high jump with a 1.65 metres clearance. The 13-year old who is a former gymnast reduced her PB to 9.20 secs in fourth place in the 60m Hurdles.
The West Midlands accomplished a clean sweep of medals in the Girls Under 15 Long Jump with Wolverhampton and Bilston’s Tannika Burgess who is coached by Howard and Clova Court leaping 5.24 metres to win the silver medal with City of Stoke’s Katie Gardener securing third spot with a 4.95 metres leap.
City Of Stoke AC’s Andy Marsh successfully got over five metres to win the Junior Men’s Pole Vault competition.
A few days before his 18th birthday, Solihull and Small Heath’s Jordan McGrath recorded his first national victory in a time of 47.67 secs after placing fourth a year ago whilst Tipton Harrier Tom Hinton recovered from illness to dip under the fifty seconds barrier to win the Under 17 400m title in 49.94 secs by seven hundredths of a second.
Coventry Godiva Harriers Jamie Blundell won the Junior Men’s Long Jump by 17 cms with a 7.25 metres effort in the sixth and final round.
Bromsgrove and Redditch’s 16-year old Sean Bowden hit the front with one lap remaining to win the Under 17 1500 metres in four mins 10.07 secs.
Rugby and Northampton’s Rachel Wallader won the Junior Women’s Shot with a 14.43 metres put.
Birchfield Harriers accumulated no less than ten medals. Pride of place went to Josh Newman who is coached by Andy Britton at the Alexander Stadium added another quarter of a metre to his previous best performance to win the England Indoor Under 15 Shot Put title with a distance of 15.36 metres. The then 13 year old from Aldridge had been a surprise winner of the equivalent England outdoor title last August at Sheffield against older opposition with a 15.01 metres effort.
Joshua’s training partner Reece Thomas was also rewarded for his hard training over the winter months by an improvement of almost one metre to 17.37 metres to place runner up in the Under 17 Shot Put competition.
Zoey Phillips, who is coached by Andy Paul, improved by three centimetres to 1.73 metres to take the Women’s Under 17 high jump title silver medal and only missed out on the gold medal on countback.
Ross McDonald, who fractured his ankle whilst playing rugby for his school in Sutton Coldfield the day after he won the England Under 17 title this time last year, won the silver medal in the Under 20 400 metres in a time of 48.14 secs.
Edirin Okoro is another teenager who is no stranger to fracture clinics after breaking his wrist last summer in the England Under 20 Championships at Bedford when looking likely to secure his selection for the European Junior Championships in Hengelo. Okoro was the fastest qualifier for the Under 20 60m Hurdles Final with the UK’s quickest time this indoor season of 7.95 secs. His hopes of the England title went out the window when the Stag clattered the last two hurdles.
However the 18 year old from Brownhills retained sufficient composure and impetus to cross the line in 8.04 secs to snatch a consolation silver medal by just one hundredth of a second. His club mate Curtis Holmes also ran well to place fourth in 8.23 secs.
Stratford Upon Avon AC’s Andrew Pozzi stopped the clock for the Under 17 Men’s 60m Hurdles in a time of 7.94 secs, which came within two hundredths of a second of the existing UK best and CBP which had survived for 22 long years in the record books. The English Schools Under 17 Heptathlon silver medallist’s impressively fast time elevates him to third in the UK Under 17 all time rankings. Wolverhampton and Bilston’s Alex Nwenwu took bronze in 8.05 secs.
15-year old Worcester AC’s Jenny White edged out Newham and Essex Beagles Victoria Ohuruogu by two hundredths of a second to snatch the silver medal in the keenly contested Women’s Under 17 300 metres Final in a time of 39.79 secs as Liverpool Harriers multi eventer Katarina Thompson won her third England title of the weekend in 38.56 secs.
City of Stoke’s Ben Williams came within half a dozen centimetres of victory in the Under 17 Triple Jump with a distance of 14.64 metres.
Edirin Okoro’s twin sisters each finished in the bronze medals positions to accomplish a family hat trick of national medals. 17-year old Ese, the England Schools 400 metres champion was third in the Under 20 final in 56.08 secs whilst Ejiro equalled her outdoor best time of two mins 10.34 secs in the 800 metres.
Another set of twins from the Okoro family, Jite and Efe accomplished Top Six finishes in the Men’s Under 17 High Jump and 400 metres respectively.
Luke Lennon Ford won the bronze medal in the Under 20 200 metres in 22.66 secs from the unfavourable inside lane after earlier running 22.11 secs in his semi final. Nathan Wade matched this third place position in a PB of 24.00 secs in the Under 15 200 metres.
A week before his nineteenth birthday Ryan Farrington placed fifth in his first ever England Final appearance in 6.91 secs after improving his career best time down to 6.87 secs in his semi final.
Ryan Stride exceeded the six metres barrier by one centimetre to take third spot in the Under 15 Long Jump whilst Nathaniel Facey was fifth with a 5.82 m leap.
Alice Lennox placed third in the Women’s Under 20 Long Jump with a five and a half metres leap. The 17 year old City of Stoke heptathlete was edged out of another medal of a similar complexion on count back when both she and Telford AC’s Bethan Partridge high jumped identical heights of 1.65 metres.
18-year old Cannock and Stafford’s Sam Evans finished third in the Under 20 Men’s 800 metres in a time of 1:56:30. 16-year old Birchfield Harrier Adam Cotton who is coached by Geoff James lowered his personal best time to 1:57:91 secs in his Under 17 semi final before finishing fourth in the final in 1:58:82.
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