Arnie's Chapter 2 : 2000 - 2004
History - Page4 - Page3 - Page2 - Page1

The first four years of the new millennium have seen a number of significant changes in the Olympians framework, the most significant being yet another transfer of ownership of Park Hall Stadium, from Oswestry Town Council to TNS football club. The new relationship with TNS has begun well but the withdrawal of support from the town council means that the Olympians now have to fund the summer maintenance of the track.
Autumn 2003 saw a rare joint venture between the junior and senior sections of the club when we held a sponsored marathon relay at the track, in an attempt to beat Paula Radcliffe's world record. This was a great success and saw young jumpers, sprinters and throwers running with senior road runners some of whom were 60 years older! Incidentally we broke, not only Paula's record but the men's world record as well. This venture was part of a fund raising drive to raise cash for a new track. The fund, at the time of writing, stands at £7,500.
The three "star" athletes at the end of the last decade (1990s) were, Sharon Wray, Susan Furlonger and Melissa Harris. All three have given up athletics, two having moved away to university, and the other having not enjoyed her athletics, following a move to another club. Sue is now a member of a pop band (The 411 Ed.) who have currently had three top five hit singles! This abandoning of athletics around the age of 18 is a familiar pattern, not only in Oswestry. Part of the reason, in our case, has been the absence of competition for the Under 20 age group as we were not participants in any league structure for this age group. This will be rectified next year, 2005, however, if our application to join the National Junior Athletics League is accepted. We will compete in this league as a joint club with Bridgnorth A.C. who find themselves in a similar position.
Following the tremendous successes of these three girls there was a period when we wondered if we would find this level of success again. Only Sharon made it to the English Schools finals in 2001, in her final year, and "only" six club records were broken, three by Sharon!
Ellen Harrison and Sarah Greaves also decided after many years of coaching that they had done enough as their daughters had both moved on from the club.
However, there were continued successes in cross country when we regularly finished second to Telford in the local league and in her last year Ellen Greaves, Sarah's daughter, was selected to represent Wales at Under 20 level. On the track hurdler Susan Edwards represented Welsh Schools at the British International in Ireland in 2001. We also continued our run of success in the Sports Hall league, currently having enjoyed an unbroken run of twelve years of success.
2002 saw the emergence of a new generation of successful young athletes. Gemma Weetman broke the Shropshire Young Athletes League Under 15 Long Jump record and Cherida Lauriello broke the U13 girls hurdles record both of which had been held by our own Melissa Harris. At the County championships all the girls age group hurdles races were won by Oswestry athletes as was the U17 boys. Susan Edwards also won the U20 hurdles at the N.Wales Champs and went on to represent Wales twice. Karen Tinsley and Gemma went to the English Schools finals where Gemma was 2nd with a long jump of 5m29. She also won silver at the AAA Combined Events Championships.
In cross country Olli Blake and Allison Lavender were the new names to watch and in 2003 Ali represented British Schools in Dublin where she finished 16th having been 5th at the English Schools. In the same year Susan Edwards again represented Wales and was joined by Jen Corbett. Five Oswestry athletes were selected for the English Schools finals, Sian Davies, Jason Green (both High Jump), Gemma Weetman (Long Jump) Allison Lavender (1,500m) and Cherida Lauriello (Hurdles)
The National Young Athletes League at last amalgamated their girls and boys divisions and the now combined Oswestry Olympians team won promotion to the first division! Remarkably 17 Club records were broken in 2003 showing a great range of talent throughout the club. Four parents also gained Level 1 coaching qualifications.
And so to 2004 which was the year of Gemma Weetman who broke a county champs long jump record which had stood since 1982 and went on to finish 2nd at the English Schools with a jump of 5m84. Following this she was 2nd at the British Schools international, the first Olympians track and field athlete to gain an England vest. She also finished 6th in both the indoor and outdoor combined events finals and was placed 4th on the UK long jump rankings. She was joined by Sian Davies, (HJ), and Charlotte Roberts, (300m hurdles), at the English Schools finals. With 14 new club records in 2004 the future looks good for the club and there are a number of talented young people in the younger age groups who, if they maintain their commitment to athletics, should achieve great things.
It will be very interesting to see how the new Under 20 competition affects the retention rate for this age group and above, although we will always lose 18 year olds to University, two to Cambridge in recent years! Can we claim any credit for this???
A further interesting development has been the increasing involvement and responsibility of Oswestry Olympians personnel in the organisation and management of athletics in Shropshire. In 2002 Kevin Ogden and Kathy Wray took over as Organisers of the Shropshire Sports Hall League and are responsible for organising four league meetings during the winter indoor season. Kevin and Sandy Ogden have also successfully organised the Shropshire Sports Hall Championships for the last few years. Kathy Wray selects and manages Shropshire Sports Hall teams for Regional Under 11 and Under 13/Under 15 events.
Nick Blake and Kathy Wray are Team Managers for both Shropshire AA and Shropshire Schools teams at UK Inter Counties and English Schools X-C Championships and regional events.
 Kevin Ogden will also be taking over as Referee for the Shropshire Young Athletes Cross Country League in 2005.