2021 Celebration Evening

07 November 2021

After the 2020 event had to be cancelled due to the pandemic it was brilliant to see Harriers of all ages and from all displinces come together to celebrate the clubs 2021 success. 

Although there were no cross country or sportshall awards this year there was still plenty to celebrate! The evening began with the individual age group awards for the track season. The awards are split into 5; Track, Field, Most Improved, Multi-Eventer and Manager’s Choice.

 

	U13B	U13G	U15B	U15G	U17B	U17G	U20M	U20G	SM	SW
Track	Eddie Atkins	Olivia Avery	Fred Fowler	Elinor Farrier	Oliver Spencer	Lily Marchant	-	Kaitlyn Sheppard/ Ciara Thornley	Harry Boswell	Sam Griffiths
Field	Caleb Greed	Josie Steer	Othniel Harris	Alana Hazell	Billy Buxton	Celia Darwent	Alfie Wood	Lily Carpenter	Ben Wade	Annabel Moloney
Most Improved	Fred Buckland	Evie Avery	Charlie Mason	Ellis Woolley	Ruben Lombard	Ruby Brook	Tom Samuel	-	Sulaiman Ouiles	Rebecca Hoadley
Multi-Eventer	Bertie Travis	Megan Amey	Sam Wilson	Florence Hampton	Sulaiman Ouiles	Jessica Duncton	-	Jorja Webb	Alfie Wood	Mel Bird
Manager’s Choice	Robin Nisimura	Maddie Thomson	Oliver Belbeck	Isobel Burfitt	Bexley Turbard	Tamsin Hatton	-	Grace Pitman	-	Ruth Bird

 

(Photo: Evie and Olivia Avery with their U13G Most Improved and Track Awards)

(Photo: Ellis Woolley was awarded the U15G Most Improved Award, plus an Award for breaking the club U13G indoor 800m record and Elinor Farrier took the U15G Track Award)

After a short break the second half of the evening welcomes the specialist awards. 

Beginning with the Female Road Award which was awarded to Kaitlyn Sheppard, who has had some brilliant performances over 5km this season, running for the midlands at the Cardiff 5km and getting her PB down to 17:03 at the BMC road race. The Pete Holmes Male Road Award went to Nick Holliday. Nick was 2nd in his age group at the Great South Run and ran an impressive 39:26 at the Berkeley 10k.

Next up was the male and female jump awards. Jessica Duncton took the female award thanks to a huge high jump PB of 1.56. Tom Samuel took the male award after jumping a club senior and U20 long jump record of 7.09 and ending the season ranked 8th U20 and 34th overall.

Javelin throwers Mimi Davis and Sam Northen took the female and male throws award. Mimi competed in the English Schools Championships this year finishing 11th, she also won silver at the South West and Midland Championships and ranks 11th U17 in the UK. Sam made his club debut this year and had a brilliant season coming 2nd at the county championships and throwing a huge 53.13.

The Kieth and Brenda Charles Female Track Endurance Award was given to Kiya Dee. Kiya has had an incredible year finding success in a new event, the steeplechase. In only her 2nd race over the hurdles Kiya won the English U17 Championships and in her 3rd race won the UK School Games, this meant she is ranked 2nd in the UK U17 rankings 6th in the overall UK rankings and 7th on the U17 UK all time list. Breaking the club U17, U20 and Senior record in the process.

Isaac Henderson made an impressive 5000m debut this year running 15:59.0, knocked 21 seconds off his 3000m PB and 22 seconds off his 1500m PB, making him the deserved recipient of the John Gore Male Track Endurance Award.

The Margaret Davis Female Sprints Award was awarded to Jessica Duncton for her fantastic performances over 80m hurdles this year. Jess won silver at the English Schools Championships, bronze at the English U17 Championships and bronze at the UK School Games. Jess’s time of 11.2 also broke the U17 club record and ranks her 3rd in the UK.

The Tom Smith and Russell Smart Male Sprints Award went to English Schools 400m 4th placer Sam Howell. As well as a brilliant English Schools Championships performance Howell also won the County Championships and took silver at the Midland Championships.

Caleb Green took home the Malcolm Brewer U13 Athlete of the Year trophy having competed brilliantly across a range of events in his debut season. While Florence Hampton took the Malcolm Brewer U15 Athlete of the Year trophy after competing for Gloucestershire at the English Schools combined events championships and breaking the club U15 pentathlon record. 

The John Todman U17/U20 Athlete of the Year was won by Ciara Thornley. Ciara competed in the English Schools Championships over 3000m and took a huge chunk off her 3000m PB, running 9:53.60 to go to 12th in the UK U17 rankings. 

Sprinter Sam Griffiths was the well deserved winner of the Female Senior Athlete of the Year. Sam won 100m gold and 200m silver at the Midland Championships and won the 100m and 200m at all three Midland Senior League competitions.

Dave McNamee Male Senior Athlete of the Year went to Tom Samuel, as previously mentioned Tom jumped a Hugh 7.09 in the long jump this year breaking the U20 and Senior club records in the process.

The Glenn Bishop Record Breakers Award had to go to the incredible Ruth Bird after she set F55 club records in the shot put, javelin, discus, hammer, pole vault and pole vault! In the F55 UK rankings these performances rank her 23th in the high jump, 2nd in the pole vault, 2nd in the shot put, 2nd in the discus, 2nd in the hammer and 4th in the javelin.

Coach of the Year went to Mark Wanklyn for all the time, effort and passion he puts into coaching his amazing group of multi-eventers. The group has gone from strength to strength this year with athletes winning County, Midland and National medals which couldn’t have been achieved without the hours Mark has put into guiding them.

The winner of the Tony Lancaster Official of the Year was Linda Turner who has dedicated countless hours to helping at club events through the season and at national events across the country.

Young Volunteer of the Year was awarded to Ben Wade. Ben has competed at a high level this year as an athlete but also has helped team manage, which is not an easy job! Without his hard work there would not have been teams out at many league events this year.

Matt Hamptons dedication to the club earns him the Vic and Dorothy Volunteer of the Year Award. Matt has officiated at many events through the season and continues to grow and develop his skills making him a hugely valuable asset to the club.

Martin Foster won the Trevor Joyce Living the Club Values Award for all his hard work behind the scenes, on the clubs executive committee, whilst also continuing to train and compete himself. He is always keen to help and represents the club brilliantly!

 

The final award of the night was of course the 2021 Harrier of the Year Award, the only award of the night voted for by the members.

This year there were 4 nominees with all receiving a large number of votes. Below are just a few of the reasons each athlete was voted for.

Andrew Kaighin

• His dedication to the club over the years but stepping up when many left. Without him there would be no club at middle and long distance
• Andrew has stepped up to take on responsibility for the Senior Endurance group with great enthusiasm at a time when the club was in great need of a leader in this area of the club. He has dedicated himself to this group & getting support to enable him to provide weekly training schedules, plus overseeing these sessions &  providing details of all races that the club encourages them to do . He is encouraging all the group to turn out for the club, showing a superb passion to ensure they progress from a small base of runners with little experience to now developing them into more confident athletes. He rightly deserves to be commended for this
• Kaighan has stepped up to take over the endurance training and has started to rebuild the team. He has led from the front and rebuilt the team spirit. Kaighan always provides training sessions in good time and never minds how many people turn up to training, he is just happy to be there. 

Rachel See

• Rachel is a rare gem - we often see Rachel competing at cross country and midland league events and think it’s great that Rachel is also building the Harriers profile on social media, the website and with the press, often learning new skills as she goes. Events and the club just can’t run without our diverse team of both athletes and volunteers.
• A dependable and willing competitor for the Club over many years at all levels and events, and this year now making a valuable contribution with coaching and producing a much improved Club website, Rachel definitely deserves to be recognised with this award.
• I have seen Rachel grow from a very young athlete into a very strong and established Harriers athlete who provides support in the development and encouragement of others. Rachel has also stepped up in taking on the roles of Webmaster and Media Officer and is now part of the Club's Executive Management Committee

Kaitlyn Sheppard

• Kaitlyn has taken her performance to yet another level this last year which has been more challenging than usual given disruption  to training groups off the back of Covid. All the while she has kept a level outlook remaining very grounded yet dedicated.
• Kaitlyn has put loads of work into her training which has resulted in her winning both English champs for 3000m as well as have her GBJ debut this year
• She is a great role model for the younger runners showing what hard work can achieve.

Jess Duncton

• Jess is quite a remarkable young person. She has so much dedication to her athletics. She is so determined to be the best. Yet she is such a gorgeous human being, beautiful inside and out. Through her determination she won her first England vest, coming 2nd just as she was leading and clipped the last hurdle. She managed the loss / achievement with such dignity and professionalism. She really is a champion
• Consistently striving for improvement and supporting other athletes. Maturing nicely from a young athlete into an admired athlete.
• Showed determination and dedication throughout lockdowns and trained independently to get amazing results that are truly well deserved :)

It is plain to see that all the nominees work hard and represent the club brilliantly but of course there can be only one winner!

After a close count the winner award went to Andrew Kaighin and I think I speak for everyone when I say it is massively well deserved after all his hard work over the past year coaching, rebuilding the senior endurance squad and helping behind the scenes all with unwavering enthusiasm and encouragement and I’m sure this is just the start!

 (Photo: Andrew Kaighin with the Harrier of the Year Award)

Now let’s wait and see who are 2022 award winners will be!!