Oswestry Olympian Oliver Blake continued his excellent run of form with an outstanding performance at the National X-C Championships held at Parliament Hill, London.
     Over a very tough 4.5K course that was hilly, muddy and twisty, fourteen year old Oliver achieved a top twenty finish, coming in in 17th place out of 280 competitors.
      This high placing, and Oliver's other successes during the winter in the Shropshire, Midlands and UK Inter Counties X-C Championships and the Reebok Challenge X-C Series,  adds up to an outstanding x-c season for the talented young athlete.

      Oliver is now looking forward to his next challenge - representing Shropshire Schools at the English Schools X-C Championships to be held at Brighton on 8th March.

 A small group of Olympian athletes travelled to the Phoenix Centre Dawley to compete in the Shropshire AA X-C Championships.
 For eleven year olds - Jenny Boskett and Toby Blake  - it was their first opportunity to compete in the Under 13 age group where they had to run a much longer distance than in their usual age group.
 Both young athletes put in tremendous performances, each finishing in 10th place in their race.
 Toby's 10th position secured the Under 13 Boys trophy for the Olympians team. The other scorers were Josh Ogden 4th and Toby Griffiths nth Matthew Donnelly completed the team in 13th place.
 Olympians won both the Under 15 races with Allison Lavender and Oliver Blake running away from the field both becoming county champions.
 Ben Griffiths was 3rd in the Under 15 Boys race and Gemma Weetman 9th in the Under 15 Girls race.

 All athletes who finished in the top six have been selected to represent Shropshire AA in the Reebok Inter Counties X-C Championships to be held at Wollaton Park, Nottingham on 8th February,  and some other Olympian athletes are also under consideration for selection after their performances at Dawley.

   Oswestry Olympian Oliver Blake has been busy travelling all over the UK to compete in the prestigious 2002-2003 Reebok X-C Challenge.
  Athletes from all over the country compete in these meetings and this is competition at the highest level.
   The Challenge consists of races at Liverpool, Birmingham, Margate, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast with the final race taking place at Nottingham in February during the Inter Counties X-C meeting. 
   Fourteen year old Oliver has competed in the Under 15 4000m at the first three meetings and has improved his position in each race. He has had to contend with a variety of terrains and conditions - from fast, flat parkland to a damp, boggy hilly course with streams.
   Oliver finished 18th out of 80 at Liverpool, 16th out of 100 at Birmingham and had a superb run at Margate to finish 13th out of a field of 140.

   Oliver is hoping to continue this impressive form in the remaining races at Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and Nottingham.

The 2003 Track season starts at Part Hall on 8th April however the Sportshall training for under 13s has already ended. Details are available on the latest Newsletter Page or the Training Times Page. Those wishing to get an early start to the season can go to the open meeting at Wrexham on Wednesday evening 2nd April  (1st event 6:30pm enter on the night)

Shropshire Sports Hall League - Much Wenlock - 12/1/2003

  At the third meeting of the Shropshire Sports Hall league at  Wenlock, Olympians, who have won the overall league title for the last ten years, are once again in contention for honours. However this year there is very strong opposition from Telford, who are currently only a few points behind and all will depend on the results from the final meeting.
   Three of the Olympians teams won on the day - Under 11 Boys, Under 13 and Under 15 Girls. Both Under 15 and Under 13 Boys were second overall with the Under 11 Girls in third place overall.
    Under 13 Charley Broom put in an outstanding performance to win the Standing Long Jump with an amazing leap of 2m 47cms. This is believed to have broken the Welsh Indoor record for this event. Gemma Weetman showed her versatility by winning all her events in style - 2 laps, Standing Long Jump and Standing Triple Jump.
   Gemma and Charley, along with Cherida Lauriello, Hannah Wood, Toby Griffiths, Corin Garbett, Katie Griffiths and Jason Green have been selected to represent Shropshire at the Regional Sports Hall finals in Hereford on 1st February.
 
   Leading results from Wenlock were as follows:
Under 11 Girls: Jenny Boskett - 1st 2 Laps Hurdles (A). Kezia Ogden - 1st Balance Test. Kerry Rogers - 2nd Sitting Throw.
Under 11 Boys: Toby Blake - 1st 4 Laps (A). Ashley Stringer - 1st (B).  Jack Roberts - 2nd 2 Laps Hurdles (B).
Drew Eccleston - 2nd 2 Laps (A). Relay team 1st.
Under 13 Girls: Charley Broom - 1st 2 Laps (A) and Standing Long Jump. Cherida Lauriello - 1st 2 Laps (B) , 2nd Standing Long Jump. Alison Eccleston - 2nd 6 laps (B).  Alice Greenwood - 1st Shot. Hannah Wood - 2nd Shot.  Relay team 1st.
Under 13 Boys:  Josh Ogden - 1st 6 Laps (B).  Toby Griffiths - 2nd 6 Laps (A).
Under 15 Girls: Gemma Weetman - 1st 2 Laps (A),  1st Standing Long Jump, 1st Standing Triple Jump.  Katie Griffiths - 1st 2 Laps (B). Alison Lavender - 2nd 4 Laps (B). Relay team 1st.
Under 15 Boys:  Jason Green - 1st 4 Laps (B), 1st Shot, 2nd 2 laps (A). Ben Griffiths - 1st 6 Laps (B), 2nd 2 laps (B). Chris Ellis - 2nd 6 laps (A), 2nd Standing Triple Jump.
 
  After three meetings four of the Olympians teams - Under 11 Girls and Boys, Under 13 and Under 15 Girls - are in the lead,  with Under 13 and Under 15 Boys in second place overall.
  The club are hoping to put out their strongest teams for the final match at  The Marches Sports Hall, Oswestry on 16th February  in order to retain the overall Sports Hall trophy for the eleventh consecutive year.

Welsh Indoor Championships - Jan 2003

Under 17 Olympian athlete Jennifer Corbett travelled to Cardiff to compete in the Welsh Indoor Championships and came away with a silver medal.   Jennifer qualified for the final of the 300m where she finished in second place in time of  43.89 secs.  Jennifer just missed out on a medal in the Long Jump, finishing in 4th place withal best jump of 4m 64cms.

Shropshire AA X-C Championships - 4/1/2003

 A small group of Olympian athletes travelled to the Phoenix Centre Dawley to compete in the Shropshire AA X-C Championships.
 For eleven year olds - Jenny Boskett and Toby Blake  - it was their first opportunity to compete in the Under 13 age group where they had to run a much longer distance than in their usual age group.
 Both young athletes put in tremendous performances, each finishing in 10th place in their race.
 Toby's 10th position secured the Under 13 Boys trophy for the Olympians team. The other scorers were Josh Ogden 4th and Toby Griffiths 5th. Matthew Donnelly completed the team in 13th place.
 Olympians won both the Under 15 races with Alison Lavender and Oliver Blake running away from the field both becoming county champions.
 Ben Griffiths was 3rd in the Under 15 Boys race and Gemma Weetman 9th in the Under 15 Girls race.
 All athletes who finished in the top six have been selected to represent Shropshire AA in the Reebok Inter Counties X-C Championships to be held at Wollaton Park, Nottingham on 8th February,  and some other Olympian athletes are also under consideration for selection after their performances at Dawley.

Reebok Cross Country Challenge - Dec 2002

   Oswestry Olympian Oliver Blake has been busy travelling all over the UK to compete in the prestigious 2002-2003 Reebok X-C Challenge.
  Athletes from all over the country compete in these meetings and this is competition at the highest level.
   The Challenge consists of races at Liverpool, Birmingham, Margate, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast with the final race taking place at Nottingham in February during the Inter Counties X-C meeting. 
   Fourteen year old Oliver has competed in the Under 15 4000m at the first three meetings and has improved his position in each race. He has had to contend with a variety of terrains and conditions - from fast, flat parkland to a damp, boggy hilly course with streams.
   Oliver finished 18th out of 80 at Liverpool, 16th out of 100 at Birmingham and had a superb run at Margate to finish 13th out of a field of 140.
   Oliver is hoping to continue this impressive form in the remaining races at Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and Nottingham.

 SHROPSHIRE YOUNG ATHLETES X-C LEAGUE. - 8/12/2002 BRIDGNORTH

   Young Oswestry Olympians athletes braved bitterly cold weather to compete in the third meeting of the Shropshire Young Athletes X-C League at Bridgnorth.
   There was a good turn out of athletes from Shropshire clubs and also a contingent from Newtown and there were some very close finishes in a number of the races.
   In the Under 11 Girls race, Olympians Florence Roberts and Jenny Boskett had a battle for 2nd and 3rd all the way to the line, with Florence just getting the verdict.
   Toby Blake finished very strongly to take 3rd place in the Under 11 Boys race - the same position that he was in at the first race in Telford.
   Olympians had winners in both the Under 15 races. Alison Lavender had a comfortable victory in the Girls race, while Oliver Blake ran away from the field to record an emphatic victory in the Boys race. Team mate Ben Griffiths followed up his 3rd place at the last meeting at Wenlock with another 3rd place at Bridgnorth.
   Results from Bridgnorth were as follows:
Under 11 Girls: 2nd Florence Roberts, 3rd Jenny Boskett, 12th Katie Harris, 15th Kezia Ogden, 19th Mia Ogden, 20th Beth Horton, 21st Holly Ellis. Team 3rd on the day, but lying in second place overall after 3 meetings.
Under 11 Boys: 3rd Toby Blake, 11th Joe Donnelly, 15th Ashley Stringer, 17th Jamie Atkinson. Team 3rd on the day and in third place overall after three meetings.
Under 13 Girls: 7th Georgina Roberts, 14th Alison Eccleston, 17th Jessy Ellis - 5th on the day.
Under 13 Boys: 4th Josh Ogden, 6th Toby Griffiths, 7th Gareth Horton. Team 3rd on the day and lying in third place overall after three meetings.
Under 15 Girls:  1st Alison Lavender, 7th Charlotte Roberts, 10th Emma Thomas, 12th Katy Humphreys. Team 1st on the day and lying in second place overall after three meetings.
Under 15 Boys: 1st Oliver Blake, 3rd Ben Griffiths, 7th Chris Ellis.  Team 2nd on the day and lying in second place overall after three meetings. 
   After three league meetings, Telford have a commanding lead overall. Oswestry are in second place, but 3rd placed Bridgnorth are only 142 points behind.
   The final league meeting is at Oswestry in March when Olympians are hoping that home advantage will enable the club to put out full teams in every age group in order to make sure of second place overall. Several Olympian athletes are also in line for individual awards 
The next Cross-Country event is the Shropshire AA X-C Championships for all age groups from Under 13s to Seniors. Olympians will be entering teams for these championships which will be held on Saturday 4th January 2003 at The Phoenix Centre, Dawley. Selection for the Shropshire team for the Inter Counties X-C Championships at Nottingham in February, will be based on the results of these championships. Entries close 2nd week of December

 National Rankings

   Olympian Gemma Weetman crowned a superb track and field season with two top ten places in the Under 15 Girls UK National Rankings. Fifteen year old Gemma won two silver medals in National events in 2002, as well as achieving success at county and regional level.
    In her specialist event, the Long Jump, Gemma ended the season with a distance of 5m 29cms, which ranks her 8th in the UK. This performance was achieved at the English Schools Track and Field Championships at Nottingham in July where Gemma took the silver medal in the Junior Girls Long Jump.
   During the season Gemma also set a new record of 5m 24cms for the Under 15 Girls Long Jump in the Shropshire Young Athletes League.
    Gemma also excels at Multi-Events. She won the Shropshire Schools Junior Girls Combined Events competition in May and followed this up with a gold medal in the NW Regional Combined Events Finals in June. This qualified her to compete  in the English Schools Combined Events Finals at Derby in September.
    A week later Gemma put in an outstanding performance at the AAA Combined Events Championships at Stoke to achieve a personal best total of 2869 points and take the silver medal. This performance ranks her sixth in the UK National Rankings.
   Gemma now moves up into the Under 17 age group and is currently training hard in Oswestry with coach Arnie Wray as well as attending Midlands multi-events squad sessions at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium.
    All at Oswestry Olympians are very proud of her achievements.

Under 11 Fun in Athletics.

    Nine young Oswestry Olympian Under 11 athletes represented Shropshire at the Midlands Regional Under 11 Sports Hall Event held in Birmingham on Saturday 24th November.
    Florence Roberts, Jenny Boskett, Mia Ogden, Drew Eccleston, Toby Blake, Laurie Judd, James Rogers, Jamie Atkinson and George Richmond were part of the Shropshire team which competed against other county teams from Birmingham, Solihull, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Gloucestershire.
    The youngsters took part in a number of track and field events, including some fast and furious relays over hurdles and through tunnels.
   The Shropshire Girls and Boys teams both finished in 4th place overall and all the young athletes enjoyed a great day of competiton and fun.

Shropshire Young Athletes X-C League - Much Wenlock 17/11/2002

   Oswestry Olympian junior athletes travelled to Much Wenlock to compete in the second meeting of the Shropshire Young Athletes x-c league.  There was a large turnout of athletes from the competing clubs and all the races were closely contested against strong opposition.
   Highest Olympian finishers of the day were Florence Roberts who was second in the Under 11 Girls race and Ben Griffiths, third in the Under 15 Boys race.
   Several young athletes were making their debut for the club with Joe Donnelly leading the Under 11 Boys home in 8th place. It was very encouraging to have a team of Under 13 Boys competing at Wenlock, and special mention must be made of Gareth Horton and Toby Griffiths who turned out to run for the Olympians, having already played in football matches that morning.
 
  Leading results from Wenlock were as follows:
Under 11 Girls:  2nd Florence Roberts, 6th Jenny Boskett, 14th Katie Harris, 17th Kezia Ogden.  Team 3rd overall on the day.
Under 11 Boys: 8th Joe Donnelly, 9th Jamie Atkinson, 13th Ashley Stringer, 15th Rory Jones.   Team 3rd on the day.
Under 13 Girls: 7th Georgina Roberts, 15th Alison Eccleston.
Under 13 Boys: 5th Josh Ogden, 10th Gareth Horton, 11th Toby Griffiths, 13th Corin Garbut, 14th Matthew Donnelly.  Team 3rd overall on the day.
Under 15 Girls: 5th Alison Lavender, 6th Charlotte Roberts, 10th Emma Thomas.  Team 3rd overall.
Under 15 Boys: 3rd Ben Griffiths, 7th Tom Emery, 10th Ashley Martin.  Team 2nd on the day.
 
  After two league meetings, Oswestry Olympians are lying in second place overall behind Telford. The Under 11 Girls and Boys and Under 15 Girls and Boys teams are also in second place overall with the Under 13 Boys in third place.
  The next meeting is at Bridgnorth on 8th December, when the club are hoping for another good turn out of athletes, especially in the Under 13 and Under 15 age groups.

 OSWESTRY OLYMPIANS JUNIOR PRESENTATION EVENING NOVEMBER 2002.
 
Click here for a photo

   A large gathering of young athletes, family and friends attended the Oswestry Olympians Junior Presentation Evening held at the Sports and Social Club at the Orthopaedic Hospital, Gobowen. The evening started with the presentations and was followed by a disco and buffet.
  Club Coach, Arnie Wray reported that the club had enjoyed another successful year, with both individual and team successes in cross country, sports hall and track and field athletics. There were a large number of trophies on display that the club had won during the year.  One of the highlights of the year was the club's overall victory in the Shropshire Sports Hall for the tenth consecutive year. Andy Knott, a former coach and past chairman of the club, presented Arnie Wray with an engraved silver plate as a memento for the club of this tremendous achievement. A number of former athletes who had been involved in the Sports Hall successes were also present.
 
  Another highlight was the achievements of Under 15 athlete Gemma Weetman who, in an outstanding season, won two silver medals in national championships during the season - one for Long Jump at the English Schools Track and Field Championships in July and the other at the AAA Combined Events Championships at Stoke in September. Two young athletes represented their country during the season. Susan Edwards represented Wales in the 100m Hurdles at two Under 20 Internationals in Grangemouth and Aberdare and Ellen Greaves represented Welsh Schools at and Under 20 X-C International in Brecon.
 
   Club President Doug Morris and Club Chairman, Neil Ballard presented the young athletes with their Five Star awards.
Gemma Weetman and Karen Tinsley received trophies for being selected to represent Shropshire Schools in the English Schools Track and Field Championships. The following young athletes received awards for equaling or breaking a club record during the season: Drew Eccleston, Laurie Judd, Cherida Lauriello, Corin Garbett, Jennifer Corbett and Susan Edwards.  The Lee Morris Under 11 Trophy went to Mia Ogden and Beth Horton, and the Simon Booth Under 13 Trophy was awarded to Alison Eccleston.  Presentations were also made to Ellen Harrison and Sarah Greaves, two of the longest serving Junior coaches, who will be leaving the club at Easter. Their commitment and hard work have been a great asset to the club and they will be greatly missed. Everyone at the club wishes them well as they move on to new things.
 
   Thanks were given to everyone who had helped in any way during the year, but parents were also told that the club needed continued support in order to achieve continued success and that more coaches, officials and helpers were needed.

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