TeamAvon NJAL gains promotion to Midlands Premier League
At the end of its first season, the Team Avon NJAL U20 Composite team, based in and supported by the Avon McCain Athletics Network, has gained promotion to the Midlands Premier NJAL, having previously won the Avon Division!
The team had a small lead at the end of the first 8 events, and were never pushed off their first place, eventually winning the promotion match in Derby with 527 points, 87 points ahead of second placed DerbyAC, who also gained promotion.
With a team of 36 athletes showing the benefits of inter-club co-operation by being able to draw from across the Network clubs, TeamAvon was the largest group at the match, and with 24 of these athletes being U17 age group and only a few of the U20s moving out of age group this year, the team can look forward to improving performances in the years to come making them even stronger.
It was a fantastic team performance, with all members working hard to squeeze every extra point from their events, but a few results stand out particularly: winning maximum points in the women’s and men’s pole vault, and the women’s 400m, winning three of the four relays, Lottie McCarthy, Jake Fisher, and James Taylor doing four events each (with 8 more athletes doing three). The three Avon medallists from the recent England U17 Champs all performed to expectation, winning their respective events.
Huge thanks must also go to the loyal team of officials who have supported the team across all of the fixtures, the parents who have transported and supported through the summer, and the Team Managers Rachael Fisher (Women) and Sandra Woodman (Men). At the start of the summer we stated that the targets for the summer were winning the League and gaining promotion; I am very pleased to be able to say “Job Done! We are looking forward to next season.”
Promotion Match Team: Franchesca Allen, Loren Bleaken, Vanessa Brann, Lucy Bryan, Hattie Dent, Ashley Frost, Katie Geddes, Alice Grosjean, Hannah Grubb, Rebecca Hopkins, Abbie Johnston, Lottie McCarthy, Abi Medd, Kelly Leat, Katie Phillips, Alyssa Small, Jo Smerdon, Rachel Sykes. Scott Bajere, Luke Bailey, Callum Court, Josh Evans, Jake Fisher, Eliot Green, Luke Jacobs, Alex Jones, Charlie Lodge, Luke Lodge, Elliott Prendergast, Leon Reid, Tom Pontin, James Taylor, Billy Thorpe, Zac Tobias, Adam Wall, Jake White.
Officials: Adrian Clover, John Deaton, Peter Grosjean, Mark Hay, Bill Kingston, Mark Lodge, Hilary Nash, Graham Norris, Stuart Nunn, Violet Small, Mike Smerdon, Mike Strange.
Eight athletes competed in all 5 NJAL events this summer, and received a Full Attendance Award: Loren Bleaken, Jake Fisher, Hannah Grubb, Kelly Leat, Abi Medd, Elliott Prendergast, Jo Smerdon, James Taylor
Component Clubs: Bristol&WestAC, MendipAC, North SomersetAC, TeamBathAC, Yate&DistrictAC
