Two Derby AC athletes came away from the recent Welsh indoor championships with a medal each.
In a quality field of 16, Welsh international Dave Westbury won the gold in the senior men's 3000m in a championship best time of 8'17.84", beating the 40 year old previous record by nearly a second. The first 11 athletes all ran under 8'30"
Chris Hill won a bronze in the senior men's 60m in 6.97s, having won both his heat in 7.04s and semi final in a pb 6.95s.
Highlights from the Senior Men's race at a foggy Witton Park:
Northern Indoor Success
Sunday, 24 January 2010 18:57
Whilst the XC runners were suffering with cancelled events due to the snowy conditions, Derby's indoor protagonists did well on the boards against the best the North had to offer. Yasmin Miller was the star of the weekend, with two golds (u17 60m hurdles and 60m flat) and a silver in the 200m. In the Senior 1500m, there were medals on both sides with Dave Westbury and Ellie Stevens both collecting silver.
(Above: Jordan Wildrianne and Tom Phillips take 4th and 5th in Senior Men's 1500m)
Connor Grabs Northern Silver
Sunday, 24 January 2010 17:46
Ben Connor won Silver in the U17 Northern XC Championships held @ the familiar Witton Park in Blackburn. Ben was 2 secs off Gold and was backed up as ever by Niall Maguire (13), Josh Bull (15) and M Hayes (98), helping the team to 4th. In the Senior Mens race Jonny Gilby, fresh off a holiday in New Zealand performed well to finish 13th, with Alex Pilcher backing him up in 21st. Dav Connor in 113,Tom Offord (123), Ian Stevens (153) and Stuart Dunn (271) completed the team scoring for a respectable 12th place finish. The Senior Men had 8 hills to negotiate and given the tough course all those that finished can pat themselves on the back! In the Under 20 race Tom Lawrence was the sole finisher for Derby in 32nd place, D Haymes was 31st in the Under 13 boys, Victoria Wills hit the top 30 with a 27th place in the Under 15 girls and D Booth was 60th in the U13 girls race.
All runners faced a challenging XC course with two tough hills, named 'saucer' and 'teaspoon'. The teaspoon had a steep, challenging downhill section with mole holes and the like to negotiate, due to the course being a country park - true XC! Add to that the fog (see pic below) and it made for a great days racing.
Derby AC had a great turnout at the final North Midlands XC race @ Wollaton Park. Despite many races across the country being cancelled due to the adverse weather, the event went ahead and there was no snow in sight. Alex Pilcher came home 2nd in the Senior Men's race, taking 3rd in the league. Tom Bishop followed up with a fine 4th in his Senior Mens North Midlands debut. Niall MaGuire took the win on the day in the Under 17 Men and also won the league comfortably. In the team race Derby were 3rd in the Under 15's and 2nd in the Senior Men, 2nd in Under 13 girls and 3rd in the under 15 girls team; a fine team effort over the age groups.
Derby AC was given a huge boost yesterday ahead of their 2010 British Athletic League Division 2 campaign with the capture of top endurance athlete Tom Doe. Tom, 27 based in Ashby de la zouch in Leicestershire has joined the club from Lincoln Wellington on a higher competition status after much speculation and interest from other top clubs in the UK, with the option of a permanent deal in the autumn. Formally a 1500/3k specialist with a North of England Championship Gold Medal to his name Tom is now looking for international representative honours over 3k steeplechase with the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi being at the top of his agenda. “I can confirm I have put pen to paper and have signed for the mighty Derby AC” said a clearly excited Doe.
Tom who is currently preparing for a warm weather training trip with fellow Derby AC members will undoubtedly add to the existing quality over 800m-5k and can be relied upon for a good leg of the 4x400m as well as any field events that are offered his way. “This is a huge signing for us and proves that the club is moving in the right direction” said Derby AC Chief Spokesman Rich Weir. “Tom has recently moved to the area and needs a higher level of competition which will give him the greatest chance of competing at the Commonwealth Games” added Weir.
