Results and Latest News
3rd October 2024: Round up of 2024 Club Records
With the 2024 track & field season now concluded, we can look back on another year of NFJAC athletes raising the standard and improving on the club's all-time best performances. Below is a list of all club records broken during the 2024 track & field season.
Age Group |
Record |
Athlete(s) |
U13B |
75m |
Paddy Butler |
U13B |
150m |
Paddy Butler |
U13B |
600m |
Paddy Butler |
U13B |
800m |
Paddy Butler |
U15G |
400m |
Elsa Norris |
U15G |
800m |
Elsa Norris |
U15G |
1500m |
Elsa Norris |
U15B |
3000m |
Jack Presley |
U17W |
300mH |
Daisy Johnson |
U17W |
400m |
Chloe Johnson |
U17M |
800m |
Ewan Gwyer |
U17M |
Mile |
Ewan Gwyer |
U20W |
200m |
Amy Gwyer |
U20W |
800m |
Skye Johnson |
U20W |
800m |
Leah Johnson |
U20W |
Mile |
Leah Johnson |
U20W |
3000m |
Skye Johnson |
U20W |
400mH |
Skye Johnson |
21st & 22nd September: England Schools Heptathlon Glory for Alexis and Rebekah.
Alexis Seymour and Rebekah Smith (second claim) were in the Hampshire Intermediate Girls (U17) team of four who took part in the ESAA multi-events championship in Stoke on Trent. Hampshire went forward to the national final having won the South-East regional championship earlier in the season.
With the seven events spread over two days and some appalling weather making for challenging conditions on the second day, the Intermediate Girls heptathlon was a classic multi-events contest with Hampshire involved in a close fight for team gold throughout the weekend, and Rebekah moving in and out of the podium positions before ultimately claiming the individual bronze. Rebekah's performance earned her selection for the England team to take part in the SIAB (Schools International Athletics Board) multi-events championships, indoors at Glasgow later in the year.
Congratulations, Alexis and Rebekah.
15th September: Wessex Young Athletes League concludes with NFJAC finishing fourth.
The Wessex Young Athletes league season finished later than usual with the final match taking place in mid September. NFJAC finished in second place on the day, following finishes in first, third and second in previous matches, which meant finishing in equal fourth place for the season; another fine achievement given that there are twenty four teams in the league.
As ever, a successful season in the league is the result of athletes, parents, officials, coaches and, not least, team managers all putting in a great effort throughout the season. There are too many individuals to mention but Sunday fixtures in the Wessex Young Athletes league were once again a great demonstration of what NFJAC is all about.
September 2024: Paddy and Elsa represent Hampshire in Inter-Counties.
NFJAC had two athletes taking part in inter-counties matches during August and September. Paddy Butler (U13B) and Elsa Norris (U15G) were both selected having won the 800m in their respective age groups at the Hampshire County Championship back in May.
Paddy pulled on the white and green county vest for the first time at the beginning of August and came second against the best U13B 800m athletes from counties in the South of England. In doing so, Paddy improved his own club record with his fastest run of what has been an outstanding season. The U15 inter-counties match took place in it's traditional slot late in the season and Elsa also finished in second place in the U15G 800m.
Congratulations to Paddy and Elsa on representing the county. Now they can both look foward to cross-country.
July 27th 2024: England Athletics U15/U17 National Championship.
Chloe Johnson was NFJAC's sole representative at the U15/U17 national championships, which meant a return to Alexander Stadium, Birmingham.
With the U17W 300m being one of the most popular and competitive events, there were so many entrants that heats and semi-finals were required on the same day. Chloe ran strongly in her heat to secure a place in the semi-finals but didn't quite make it to the final on Sunday.
Well done to Chloe for making the semi-final of a national event.
July 24th, 2024: Club Records Update - more records for Paddy.
Following the usual flurry of PBs and club records at the start of the season, things slowed down a little bit following the County Championships, but June and July have seen more club records.
Paddy Butler picked up club records in U13B 600m with a time of 1:40.5 in the Hampshire Schools U13/U14 Championship, and then followed that up with a new club record for 800m at Basingstoke, taking almost 4 seconds of the previous record to set a new best of 2:15.93, moving to sixth in the 2024 UK rankings in the process. Inbetween those two performances, he also managed to shave a small margin off his own 150m club record.
Elsewhere, Elsa Norris continued to improve her own U15G club record, running the fastest and second fastest 800m ever by an NFJAC female athlete of any age. In doing so, Elsa moved to seventh in the 2024 UK rankings.
Also in 800m, Ewan Gwyer ran faster than the previous U17M club record three times in the space of eleven days in mid-June, setting the new record at 2:03.5 as he finished in third place in the Intermediate Boys 800m at the Hampshire Schools Championship.
Well done to Paddy, Elsa and Ewan.
July 12th & 13th, 2024: English Schools Athletics Association Track & Field Championship
Chloe Johnson and Elsa Norris became the latest in the line of NFJAC athletes who have participated in the prestigious ESAA championships at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham. Chloe was participating for the second consecutive year, whilst Elsa was selected for the first time. They travelled with the Hampshire Schools team on Thursday, staying for two nights and competing in heats on Friday with the goal of reaching finals on Saturday. Chloe was first in action in the Intermediate Girls 300m. Whilst she didn't progress to the final, Chloe matched her PB, running under 41 seconds for the first time this season with a performance that showed she is back to her best. Elsa ran later in the day in the Junior Girls 800m. The second fastest time she's ever ran was not quite enough to make the final, missing out by 0.13 seconds in a three way blanket finish in her heat.
Well done to Chloe and Elsa.
July 2024 - League Results Update
Wessex League Match 3: Sandown, Isle of Wight - 7th July
As usual, NFJAC took a strong team to our Wessex League match at Sandown; the traditional post-match social event on the beach as much a part of the day as the athletics. A good performance with points contributions coming from the usual combination of athletes in their specialist events and athletes turning their hand to anything for the good of the team, saw NFJAC finish in second place on the day.
YDL Lower Match 4: Guildford - 21st July
It was also second place for NFJAC and our composite partners Bournemouth at the final YDL Lower Age Group match of the season. With a strong Team Dorset dominating throughout the season, Bournemouth & NFJAC went into the final fixture with the aim of securing second place for the season. Whilst the final standings have not yet been confirmed, a second place finish at Guildford was good enough to secure second place overall for the season.
July 2024 - ESAA English Schools Selection for Chloe and Elsa
Chloe Johnson and Elsa Norris have both been selected in the Hampshire team for the English Schools track & field championship in Birmingham on 12th & 13th July. Chloe will compete in the Intermediate Girls 300m, whilst Elsa is selected for Junior Girls 800m. Chloe will be participating in the event for the second consecutive year, having been selected in the Junior Girls category last year.
Selection for the ESAA championship is notable as, unlike most other county representative events, athletes have to achieve a selection standard rather than simply being the best in the county at their event. The championship takes place over two days at Alexander Stadium, the venue for athletics in the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Chloe and Elsa will travel with the team on Thursday 11th and will both compete in their heats on Friday 12th.
We wish Chloe and Elsa the best of luck.
June 22nd & 23rd 2024: South-East Schools Multi-Events
Alexis Seymour (Intermediate Girls) and Ryley Polmeer (Junior Girls) were in action at the South-East schools inter-counties multi-event championships. Both were selected as a result of perfomances in the previous round of competition at county level.
Ryley finished 26th and will have another crack at the junior age group next season. Alexis, also in the lower year of her age group, finished in 15th place and was part of the Hampshire foursome who won the Intermediate Girls team competition overall. As a result, Alexis will take part in the ESAA national multi-event championship later in the season as part of the Hampshire Schools team.
Well done to both.
June 15th 2024: South-East Schools inter-counties
Five NFJAC athletes were in action representing Hampshire Schools at the south-east inter-counties match against Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex and Kent at StoneX stadium in Hendon.
Elsa Norris and Zoe Godfrey were both competing in the junior girls age-group, whilst Jack Presley was in the junior boys category. Chloe Johnson and Daisy Johnson competed in the intermediate girls.
Daisy was the first NFJAC athlete in action on the day and having got soaked in torrential rain just prior to the start of her race, Daisy finished third in the IG 300m hurdles B race. Elsa led from the start to win the JG 800m. In the JB 800m, Jack ran close to his PB to finish in sixth place. Chloe finished in second place in the IG 300m B race, with the runners having to tackle a huge head wind as they ran the bend.
Congratulations to Zoe, Elsa, Jack, Chloe and Daisy on their achievements.
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June 14th: Selection for South-East Schools inter-counties
Congratulations to the following athletes who have been selected to represent Hampshire Schools in the South-East inter-counties match this weekend. Middlesex Schools Athletics Association are this year's hosts and the competition will take place at StoneX stadium, home of Saracens rugby. Selection is achieved as a result of performances at the Hampshire Schools championships and is limited to junior (U15) and intermediate (U17) age groups.
Zoe Godfrey: Junior Girls Long Jump Elsa Norris: Junior Girls 800m Jack Presley: Junior Boys 800m Chloe Johnson: Intermediate Girls 300m Shenique Xavier: Intermediate Girls 100m Daisy Johnson: Intermediate Girls 300m hurdles
Congratulations also to Ryley Polmeer who has been selected for the Hampshire Schools Junior Girls team for the forthcoming South-East Schools inter-counties multi-events match. Ryley recently finished fourth in the Hampshire Schools Junior Girls multi-events championship to earn a place in the Hampshire team.
Well done to all of our athletes whose performances have been rewarded with schools county selection. A great achievement.
June 8th 2024 - Hampshire Schools Championship
Hampshire Schools Championship for junior (Y8 & 9), intermediate (Y10 & 11) and senior (Y12 & 13) age groups took place at Portsmouth on Saturday 8th June. Athletes represent their school district at this level of competition and most NFJAC athletes represent the New Forest schools district and are selected based on their performances at the district schools competition in May. A smaller number of NFJAC athletes represent other districts depending on where they attend school or college.
The full list of NFJAC athletes who took part in the championship are listed below, and all should be congratulated on selection which, in most cases, means they finished in the top two places in the school district competition. For junior and intermediate age groups, those who finished in the top two in their event have been selected to represent Hampshire Schools at the South-East schools inter-counties match next Saturday 15th June, hosted this year by Middlesex Schools Athletics Association at StoneX stadium, home of Saracens rugby.
Top Three Finishes:
Skye Johnson: 1st – SG 1500m steeplechase
Leah Johnson: 2nd – SG 800m
Amy Gwyer: 3rd – SG 100m
Chloe Johnson: 2nd – IG 300m
Daisy Johnson: 2nd – IG 300m hurdles
Shenique Xavier: 2nd – IG 100m
Ewan Gwyer: 3rd – IB 800m
Elsa Norris: 1st – JG 800m
Zoe Godfrey: 2nd – JG Long Jump
Chloe, Daisy, Shenique, Elsa and Zoe all achieved selection to represent Hampshire Schools at the South East Schools inter-counties match next weekend.
Full list of NFJAC athletes who represented their school district in the Hampshire Schools championship (representing New Forest Schools district unless stated).
Louis Vickers: JB 100m (Fareham and Gosport)
Toby Morley: JB High Jump
Elsa Norris: JG 800m
Ryley Polmeer: JG 200m
Zoe Godfrey: JG Long Jump
Ewan Gwyer: IB 800m
Ty Polmeer: IB 800m
Shenique Xavier: IG 100m
Alexis Seymour: IG 80mH
Daisy Johnson: IG 300mH
Clemmie Studdert-Kennedy: IG 1500m
Chloe Johnson: IG 300m and LJ
Amy Gwyer: SG 100m and 200m (Eastleigh and Winchester)
Kiera Everett: SG 400m (Eastleigh and Winchester)
Leah Johnson: SG 800m
Skye Johnson: SG 1500m S/C
Well done to all NFJAC athletes who were selected to represent their district in the Schools County Championship. Congratulations to our winners and good luck to those selected to represent Hampshire Schools at the inter-counties match.
May 11th & 12th, 2024: County Championships
County Championship weekend was bathed in sunshine and it brought out some outstanding performances from NFJAC athletes in both the Hampshire and Wiltshire Championships. We’ll begin with Hampshire, and where else to start than a double gold medallist. In the U15G age group, Elsa Norris doubled up with 300m on Saturday and 800m on Sunday. In the process, she achieved an English Schools Athletics Association qualifying standard in both events, improved her own 800m club record by over two seconds and finished just 0.11 seconds outside the all-time championship best performance. The 800m turned out to be a happy hunting group for NFJAC youngsters throughout the weekend, starting with Paddy Butler putting in a fine display of front running to win gold in the U13B race, achieving an enormous improvement on his PB and clocking 2:20.86. Leah Johnson took silver in the U20W 800m in the penultimate race of the weekend, going under 2:20 for the first time and improving her own club record by a huge five seconds. In the U15B race, Jack Presley also improved his PB to 2:11.67 as he came away with the bronze medal. Away from the 800m, Erin Ingram turned in a gutsy performance running on her own in the U17W 1500m steeplechase to take gold with a nine second improvement on her PB. The U17W 300m hurdles was another strong event for NFJAC. Daisy Johnson took silver in a time of 49.27 seconds which broke an eighteen year old club record by three hundredths of a second. She was followed over the line by Alexis Seymour for the bronze medal. In a further notable achievement, Chloe Johnson achieved the ESAA qualification standard for 300m, which remarkably was only good enough for fifth place in the exceedingly strong and competitive U17W category.
In the Wiltshire Championships, there was a much smaller NFJAC contingent but they took their fair share of medals. Olivia Armitage equalled her PB in U15G high jump to take gold. Zach Armitage won silver in the U11 QuadKids competition to make it two medals for the family, and he will surely be a contender in the middle distance events in years to come. In the U17W 300m, Lauren Blackwell won the bronze medal.
Well done to all who took part and congratulations to our medallists and our County Champions.
May 6th, 2024: Multi-events and QuadKids Hampshire Championships and May Day Miles
Ahead of the main track and field championships next weekend, May bank holiday Monday was the date for the county championships for multi-events, QuadKids and walking events, as well as featuring the May Day Miles races and 3km. The big result of the day for NFJAC was Alexis Seymour taking the silver medal in the U17W pentathlon with a performance that included PBs in four out of five events. Alexis ran a storming final 200m to win a tight finish in the 800m but her margin of victory in that race was not quite enough to overhaul the total points tally of competition leader. Congratulations to Alexis for winning the silver medal. In the U15W pentathlon, Ryley Polmeer also achieved a number of PBs to finish in fourth place in her first competitive outing in pentathlon. NFJAC’s only representative in the Quadrathlon was Elodie Edwards who finished a credible twelfth place in the U10 category in her first competitive appearance in NFJAC colours.
In the May Day Miles races, Leah Johnson, Ewan Gwyer, Jack Presley and Colm Robertson were all in action. There are no medals up for grabs in this event and races are not divided into age groups but there were club records for Leah (U20W: 5:34.4) and Ewan (U17M: 5:02.2), whilst Jack and Colm both achieved mile PBs.
Finally, Erin Ingram ran in the 3000m, clocking a time of 13:28.2.
Well done to everyone who took part in the various events and congratulations to Alexis on her silver medal, and Leah and Ewan for their club records.
April 2024: League Season Gets Underway
NFJAC’s league season got underway with lower and upper age group fixtures in the Youth Development League in April. First in action were the lower age group (U13 & U15) in our composite team with Bournemouth AC, who were also hosting the match. Whilst the team sheet was dominated by Bournemouth athletes, there were still some notable contributions from NFJAC and at least a couple of PBs achieved. A strong Team Dorset won the match comfortably. Bournemouth & NFJAC finished in third place, just 8.5 points behind second placed Guildford.
The following weekend saw our upper age group (U17 & U20) athletes travel to Stevenage, this time with a stronger contingent of NFJAC athletes making the team alongside our composite partners Bournemouth and Salisbury. Despite miserable weather and the long journey, some credible performances achieved a third place finish.
Next matches are 18th May at Southampton for the lower age group, and 26th May at Bournemouth for the upper age group.
April 2nd 2024: Track and Field is back and records are already tumbling
The track and field season returned with early season opens taking place in the final week of March. The traditional season opener at Bournemouth was earlier than usual in order to accommodate Easter weekend but the weather was reasonably kind with sun for most of the day and only some occasional gusts of wind.
As ever, the new season has already seen a number of PBs for NFJAC athletes and most notably, the first new club records of the season were set at Bournemouth. First Amy Gwyer set a new 200m best in the U20W age group, running a time of 26.73. Later in the day, Skye Johnson took twelve seconds off an eighteen year old record in the U20W 3000, coming home in 10:47.85. Congratulations to both.
Open meetings continue to come thick and fast in April, and NFJAC athletes will be in action at Portsmouth, Winchester and Poole in the coming weeks. The first league action also takes place in April, with YDL Lower (21st April) and YDL Upper (28th April).
Skye High: Inter-Counties and ESAA Cross-Country call ups for Johnsons.
Skye Johnson has had a quite brilliant run of achievements in U20W cross-country since the turn of the year. Following her silver medal in the county championships at the beginning of January, Skye was selected to represent Hampshire in the UK inter-counties at Wollaton Park, Nottinghamshire in March, finishing a highly credible 82nd place in a field of 166 athletes. Skye was accompanied on the start line by sister Leah whose place in the Hampshire team was just reward for the way she has battled back from an injury ridden couple of years. Leah came home in 124th place.
Just one week later, the prestigious ESAA English Schools cross-country championships took place at Pontefract race course. This time Skye finished in 113th place in a field of over 300 athletes.
Congratulations to Skye and Leah.
January 13 & 14th 2024: Hampshire League Cross-Country and SEAA Indoor Championships
A number of NFJAC athletes were in action at different places this weekend. A small contingent travelled to Reading on Saturday for the third Hampshire League XC fixture. Well done to Ryley Polmeer (10th place U13G), Ty Polmeer (21st U17M) and Skye Johnson (7th U20W).
Elsewhere, it was the South of England indoor championships at Lee Valley. On Saturday, Alexis Seymour ran in the 60m hurdles, finishing fourth in her heat. Then on Sunday, we had three athletes turning out for the second day. Chloe Johnson ran in the U17W 400m, with athletes in that event facing a gruelling potential schedule of heats, semi-final and final meaning three 400m races in the space of about six hours. Chloe moved smoothly through her heat before bowing out at the semi-final stage. Elsa Norris missed out on a place in the final of the U15W 800m by five hundredths of a second. Finally Colm Robertson finished fourth in his heat in U15B 800m.
Well done to all. Some significant mileage clocked up to attend these two events over the weekend, so well done to parents as well.
January 6th 2024: Hampshire Cross-Country County Championship - Silver for Skye
The Hampshire cross-country county championship took place, as usual, on the first Saturday of the year at Fairthorne Manor. Whilst the weather on the day was fine, calm and sunny, the torrential rain in the week beforehand guaranteed that the course was heavy going and a quagmire in places. The highlight of the day was a first NFJAC medal at these championships for many years, with Skye Johnson (U20W) running strongly on a course that, at 10km, was 2km longer than advertised to finish in second place. Earlier in the day, NFJAC’s two U11 runners had got off to a good start with Zach Armitage finishing fourth for the U11 boys, which for a couple of hours was the best finish for a NFJAC athlete at these championships in recent memory. In the U11G race, Anna Bonaer established a position ahead of the main pack early in the race and held onto it throughout to achieve a highly credible seventh place. Other NFJAC runners were Indie Booth (U13G), Paddy Butler (U13B), Jack Presley (U15B), Clemmie Studdert-Kennedy (U15G), Jack Everett (U17M) and Kiera Everett (U20W).
Well done to all.
January 2023: Wessex League Cross Country - Final Placings.
Even though there is still some way to go in the cross-country season, the Wessex League was done and dusted before Christmas and the final aggregate standings across the three fixtures made for positive reading for a number of NFJAC athletes.
In the U11 age groups and also in U13B, there were no NFJAC athletes who achieved the three finishes necessary to be awarded a final placing for the season. However, in the U13G age group, Olivia Murray finished in a highly respectable seventh place. NFJAC was absent from the season’s aggregates in U15B, U15G, U17M and U20M, but there were podium places in U17W and U20W. Daisy Johnson finished all three races in the season to finish second in the final standings, whilst in the U20W age group, Skye Johnson took first place having not finished lower than third place in any of the individual races, followed by Kiera Everett in second place for the season.
Well done to all who represented the club in the Wessex League this season. Congratulations to those who achieved podium places for the season.
November 2023: Cross Country Season Underway
Cross country season got underway in October with the first Wessex League race taking place on 1st October, followed by the second fixture on the 29th October. Meanwhile, two fixtures have been completed in the Hampshire League, with Aldershot hosting the first fixture on 28th October and Basingstoke hosting the second fixture at Popham Airfield on 11th November.
NFJAC participation has been much stronger in the Wessex League so far, with over twenty blue and white athletes taking part across the age groups in the first fixture at Canford Heath on 1st October. Stand out performances so far have come from Zach Armitage finishing in second place in the U11B race at Canford Heath, Lara Brixton-Lee (U11G) tenth at Canford Heath, Colm Robertson (U13B) seventh at Canford Heath and third at Bryanston School, Daisy Johnson (U17W) fourth at Canford Heath and eighth at Bryanston, Erin Ingram (U17W) fifth at Canford Heath, Skye Johnson (U20W) second at Canford Heath and Kiera Everett (U20W) third at Canford Heath. With the final race of the Wessex League to come on 17th December, there are season podium finishes up for grabs for a number of NFJAC athletes.
In the Hampshire League there were only four NFJAC runners at Wellesley Woodlands in Aldershot for the first fixture. Wilbur Whelan and Ewan Toomer got their first taste of Hampshire League XC in the U11B race and stalwarts Jack Presley (U15B) and Jack Everett (U17M) also raced. There was a slightly improved turnout at Popham Airfield for the second fixture, hosted by Basingstoke AC. Veterans of the Popham Airfield fixture wouldn’t have recognised the still and sunny conditions but it remains a challenging course. Ben Lyon made his first competitive appearance for the club whilst Ryley Polmeer and Olivia Murray ran in the U13G race. Jack Presley and William Farthing ran in the U15B category, Jack improving on his performance at Aldershot to finish in seventeenth place with a run that bodes well for the rest of the season. Ty Polmeer and Jack Everett turned out in the U17M race and Skye Johnson, now a U20 so running in the same a race as the senior women, came home in eleventh place.
Well done to all. Good luck to those who are going for top three places in the season aggregates when the final Wessex League fixture takes place in December. In the Hampshire League it would be good to see a stronger turnout, particularly in U11 and U13 categories. The December fixture will be cancelled due to lack of a host club, so Hampshire League will resume on 13th January at Prospect Park, Reading. The weekend before that, the Hampshire County Championship takes place at Fairthorne Manor. The link to enter is available on our Fixtures page and also on the Hampshire Athletics website.
20th September: Youth Development League Glory for NFJAC
Our composite team with Bournemouth AC achieved an emphatic league victory in the YDL lower age group (U13 & U15), winning all four matches – including victories over Kingston AC and City of Portsmouth AC on their own turf – to finish almost 600 points clear of second placed Portsmouth. As a result, we will be promoted from Division 2A to Division 1A, which puts us just one level down from the Southern Premier Division. This really is an outstanding achievement that should be celebrated, and whilst we are the smaller club in our partnership with Bournemouth, there is no question that we made a huge contribution to this success with some excellent individual performances throughout the season and some thrilling victories in the relay events which can make such a difference to the final points tallies.
A number of our athletes will now move up to the upper age group (U17 & U20) but we should still continue to field strong teams with Bournemouth in the lower age group as we go up against different opponents and travel to some new venues. As things stand, based on promotions and relegations this season, we will be competing against Guildford & Godalming AC, Bracknell AC, Hillingdon AC, City of Portsmouth AC and Windsor, Slough & Eton AC.
In the upper age group of the YDL, our composite team with Bournemouth and Salisbury are already in Division 1A, just one level off the Premier, and the team performed well throughout the season, notably breaking a number of club records in the U20 age group as we finished in fifth place and will go again in Division 1A next season with the team bolstered by a number of athletes moving up from the U15 age group.
Well done to all who travelled around the region to compete in the YDL and congratulations to our lower age group team on winning their league and gaining promotion.
10th September: Chloe Represents Hampshire at Inter-Counties
Congratulations to Chloe Johnson who was selected to represent Hampshire in the U15G 300m at the South of England Inter-Counties Championship at Horspath, Oxford on 10th September.
Chloe's County Championship win seems a long time ago but it was that performance back in May that earned her selection to the county team. On the day, Chloe moved through her heat comfortably and finished in fifth place in the final to round off an outstanding season which included breaking the club record, winning at the County Championship and breaking the championship record, selection for the ESAA championship and, as things stand, ranking twelfth in the UK.
Well done, Chloe.
5th August: New Club Records
As we get deep into the track & field season, our athletes have continued to set new club records. There were three new club records in the final YDL Upper Age Group match of the season at Perivale on 30th July. Kiera Everett and Ty Polmeer created new records in the 400m hurdles, running 75.66 seconds and 72.42 seconds respectively. At the same meeting, the U20W 4 x 100m team of Lilly Jones, Anise Mellodey, Kiera Everett and Millie Siderfin improved the club record to 4:24.37. Kiera had also previously set a new club record of 8.52m for U20W shot put in the Wessex League fixture at Sandown on 2nd July. The number of records being set and broken in the older age groups are testament to how many of our young athletes are staying with the club through to the older age groups.
Elsewhere, Colm Robertson claimed another couple of U13B records for himself, taking his tally to five for the season. His run in the 1200m in the YDL Lower Age Group match at Portsmouth on 23rd July is still subject to confirmation when the results are published but from results available on the day we believe it’s a new NFJAC record. Colm then tried his hand at 400m, possibly the first U13B to ever run the distance competitively for the club and, therefore, creating a new club record of 63.58 seconds at Oxford on 3rd August. At the same meeting, Chloe Johnson reclaimed the U15G 400m record, running just a smidge over the one minute mark with 60.3 seconds to add to her 300m successes earlier in the season.
Well done to all of the record breakers. Still time for a few more club records in the open fixtures that remain in August and September.
27th July 2023: Inter-Counties Selection for Colm and Ryley
Congratulations to Colm Robertson and Ryley Polmeer, who will represent Hampshire in the annual Derek Crookes U13 South East Inter-Counties match this coming weekend. Both will be wearing the white and green Hampshire vest for the first time having been selected as a result of their performances at the Hampshire County Championships in May, where Colm won the boys long jump and Ryley took the silver medal in the girls 800m.
Congratulations to both Ryley and Colm on being selected to represent the county, a great achievement for any young athlete.
24th July 2023 - Ash Gets Set For US University Scholarship
Later this summer, Ashley Williams will travel to South Dakota in the USA to embark on a track and field scholarship at Black Hills State University. As one of our most successful athletes of recent years, we will miss Ash but we wish him well and congratulate him on being awarded this scholarship. Whilst studying maths, Ash will be part of the university sprint team, competing in 100m, 200m and the relay team in NCAA Division 2. Being awarded a track and field scholarship is all the more noteworthy given that Ash was a relative latecomer to athletics. His first competitive race for NFJAC was at the very end of the 2019 season and, with the following season being largely wiped out due to COVID, Ash’s first full season was as a U17 in 2021, during which he won both the Hampshire County Championship U17 Men’s 100m and the Hampshire Schools Championship Intermediate Boys 100m, going on to achieve the coveted selection to represent Hampshire Schools at the English Schools track and field championship. Ash is the current club record holder for U17 Men’s 100m, 200m and 300m. The 2022 season was impacted by injury for Ash and he hasn’t raced at all in NFJAC colours in 2023 as he works towards full fitness ahead of what will be a demanding training and competition schedule in the National Collegiate Athletics Association competition.
Congratulations, Ash. Good luck in the US from all at NFJAC.
12th July 2023: Hampshire Schools Y7&8 Championships - medals for NFJAC youngsters.
Seperate to the main Hampshire Schools Championships in June, the Year 7 & 8 schools championship takes place in mid-July every year. As usual there was good representation from NFJAC athletes, and three winners. Layla Mears, one of our newer members, won the Year 7 girls shot put with a distance of 8.43 metres, which is also a new NFJAC U13 club record. In the Y7 girls 600m Ryley Polmeer took the gold medal, and Elsa Norris was NFJAC's third winner with victory in the Y8 girls 800m.
19th June 2023 - Chloe earns selection for English Schools Track & Field Championships.
Congratulations to Chloe Johnson whose brilliant run of form in the 300m has earned her selection to represent Hampshire Schools in the English Schools championship. Chloe has achieved the qualification standard on multiple occasions this season and is ranked number one for 300m in Hampshire and number seven in the UK. Selection for the ESAA championship is an outstanding achievement for any young athlete. This year's championship will take place at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, which was the venue for last year's Commonwealth Games. Everyone at the club wishes Chloe the best of luck.
19th June 2023 - Hampshire Schools Championship and Inter-Counties
A number of NFJAC athletes were representing their school districts at the Hampshire Schools Athletics Championships at Portsmouth on Saturday 10th June. Based on their performances at their school district track and field championships in May, the following were selected for the Hampshire Schools Championships. All were representing the New Forest Schools district unless otherwise stated.
Shenique Xavier: Junior Girls 100m
Chloe Johnson: Junior Girls 300m
Elsa Norris: Junior Girls 800m
Alexis Seymour: Junior Girls 75m hurdles
Clover Smith: Junior Girls discus
Amy Gwyer: Intermediate Girls 100m & 200m
Erin Ingram: Intermediate Girls 1500m steeplechase
Izzy Harris: Senior Girls 100m (Eastleigh & Winchester)
Kiera Everett: Senior Girls 1500m steeplechase (Eastleigh & Winchester)
Abi Blake: Senior Girls shot put, discus & javelin (Eastleight & Winchester)
Sam Aidoo: Junior Boys 200m
Ewan Gwyer: Junior Boys 800m
Jack Presley: Junior Boys 800m
Luke Dacey: Intermediate Boys 200m (Andover)
Chloe Johnson won the Junior Girls 200m. Shenique Xavier (JG 100m), Alexis Seymour (JG 75m hurdles) and Erin Ingram (IG 1500m steeplechase) all finished second in their races. As a result, all four were selected to represent Hampshire Schools at the South-East inter-counties match against Sussex, Surrey, Kent and Middlesex.
Congratulations to all of the NFJAC athletes who were selected for these events.
9th June 2023 - Club Records Update
With a couple of months of the track and field season now gone, it’s a good time to update on club records that have been broken or set so far this season, and there are quite a few of them.
U13 Boys
Mile: Colm Robertson – 5:25.8
Long Jump: Colm Robertson – 4.96m
U15 Boys
3000m: Jack Presley – 10:40.1
U15 Girls
300m: Chloe Johnson – 40.93 (Chloe has actually broken this record multiple times this season)
400m: Elsa Norris – 62.96
600m: Elsa Norris – 1:44.44
Mile: Elsa Norris – 5:34.1
4 x 100m: Chloe Johnson, Alexis Seymour, Xenia Daniel-Collings, Shenique Xavier – 51.76
U20W
1500m: Skye Johnson – 5:04.23
Mile: Skye Johnson – 5:46.4
4 x 100m: Skye Johnson, Kiera Everett, Anise Mellodey, Isobel Harris – 55.28
Triple Jump: Kiera Everett – 8.07m
Shot putt: Abbie Blake – 8.23m
Javelin: Abbie Blake – 25.41m
Hammer: Abbie Blake – 16.79m
Congratulations to everyone who has set a club record so far this season.
May 2023 - Schools Competitions
NFJAC athletes were in action in schools competitions in the final week of May. Ewan Gwyer, Alexis Seymour and Daisy Johnson all participated in the Hampshire Schools multi-events championship at Andover on 25th May. In the Junior Boys category, Ewan repeated his achievement from the main Hampshire County Championship earlier in May, coming away with a silver medal and a new PB as he went over the 2000 points tally for the first time, entering the top 10 in the UK rankings in the process. In the Junior Girls competition, Alexis Seymour finished a very credible seventh place in a large and competitive field. Daisy Johnson returned to multi-event competition for the first time since injury. As part of her cautious return, she didn’t compete in the 80m hurdles but still managed to finish in fourth place overall in the pentathlon. Well done to all of our multi-eventers and congratulations to Ewan.
Two days earlier, a larger number of NFJAC athletes were representing their schools in the annual New Forest Schools track and field championships at Bournemouth, with a number of their performances likely to be rewarded with selection to represent the district in the forthcoming Hampshire Schools Championships. As usual at these championships, most of the NFJAC athletes stood out from the crowd on the day, with a number of them winning their events. Ryley Polmeer was the first New Forest Junior to win her race, coming home with a large margin of victory in the Year 7 girls 600m. Next up was Elsa Norris who also opened up a big gap ahead of the rest of the field and notably took almost three seconds off a twenty-two year old championship record in the Junior Girls 800m. The next race saw two of our best 800m runners, Jack Presley and Ewan Gwyer, go against each other in the Junior Boys 800m. On this occasion it was Ewan who claimed the win. Daisy Johnson stepped out of her comfort zone to run the Intermediate Girls 1500m and she used her speed in the final stages to take victory. Not to be outdone, the sprinters also got in on the act; Shenique Xavier winning the Junior Girls 100m, with Chloe Johnson taking the win in the Junior Girls 200m. Samuel Aidoo won the Junior Boys 200m. In the field events, Zoe Godfrey was victorious in Year 7 girls long jump and James Capstick won the Year 7 boys javelin.
May 13th & 14th, 2023 - County Championships.
County Championship weekend was blessed with some fine weather as NFJAC athletes competed mainly in Hampshire but also in Wiltshire. The Hampshire championship took place across Saturday and Sunday at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth and NFJAC athletes were in action from early on Saturday until late in the day on Sunday, with a pleasing flow of medals throughout.
We’ll try to capture all of the medal winning performances but there really is only one place to start. Chloe Johnson turned in one of the great NFJAC performances at the county championship in the U15G 300m on Saturday. Chloe had already set a new club record for 300m this season and has been chipping away at her personal best in pursuit of the all important sub-42 second ESAA standard. Having cruised through her heat on Saturday morning, Chloe found another level in the final, powering home off the final bend to win in a stunning time of 40.9 seconds. Obviously a personal best and improvement on her own club record but also an outstanding new all time championship best performance, a time that takes her to the top of the Hampshire rankings and is comfortably within ESAA selection criteria. Congratulations, Chloe.
Elsewhere on Day 1, there were six further medals for NFJAC including three more golds. Ewan Gwyer won the first gold medal of the weekend for NFJAC, coming out on top of a close U15B long jump competition. Kiera Everett took gold in the U20W steeplechase, and Colm Robertson was the winner of the U13B long jump with an impressive winning effort of 4.81m, improving on his PB and his own number one ranking in Hampshire. There were bronze medals for Alexis Seymour in U15G 75m hurdles, Shenique Xavier in U15G 100m and James Capstick who threw a big PB of 28.73 in U13B javelin.
Day 2 got underway under hazy skies before the sun broke through for another glorious day, and the medals were soon piling up again for NFJAC, a further six medals in total. Chloe backed up her Day 1 achievements with a silver in U15G 200m, only narrowly missing out on double gold. In a competitive race, it was great to see three NFJAC athletes in the final, with Shenique and Alexis alongside Chloe demonstrating the depth in our U15G sprint group. Clover Smith took bronze in the U15G discus and, as a lower year U15, she looks well placed to improve on that next year, with both the gold and silver medallists being upper year. In the U13G 800m, Ryley Polmeer had stormed through her heat on Saturday and ran a strong race in the final, moving from third to second in the home straight to take the silver medal in a new PB time. Colm Robertson had been unable to run his preferred 800m event on Saturday due to timing of the heats, but he ran a great race to take bronze in U13B 1500m in an excellent time of 4:47.9 to add to his long jump gold. Ewan Gwyer then added 80m hurdles silver to his long jump gold from Saturday. As the championships drew to a close, there was still time for two more medals. Luke Dacey powered to a bronze medal in the U17M 100m final, an impressive result in his first year in the U17 age group, and it was left to Elsa Norris to claim the final NFJAC medal of the weekend in a competitive U15G 800m final, taking bronze with a new PB. Like Clover and Luke, Elsa looks well placed for next year as the only lower year athlete in the final.
A mention also for Abbie Blake. Now representing Southampton, Abbie remains very much part of NFJAC as one of our U11 coaches and had a successful weekend with silver in U20W shot and bronze in discus.
Well done to everyone who took part in the Hampshire championships over the weekend and congratulations to all of the medalists. We’ll add the updates from Wiltshire once we have the results.
May 7th, 2023 - Great win in opening YDL Lower match.
We finally saw some warm and sunny conditions as the YDL Lower season got underway at Woking. More importantly, the composite NFJAC and Bournemouth team got the season off to a great start with a strong team performance and a comfortable win.
There were too many excellent individual performances to mention them all but notable achievements on the day were Chloe Johnson bettering her own club record in the U15G 300m, edging closer towards the coveted English Schools standard. Chloe also improved her 200m PB as she continued her excellent start to the season. In U15B 800m, Ewan Gwyer and Jack Presley both ran under 2:20 for the first time, whilst Colm Robertson (U13B) and Ryley Polmeer (U13G) also clocked PBs in 800m. Clover Smith also achieved a PB with her longest throw in the JT500 javelin.
The day ended with excellent results in the relays, with NFJAC & Bournemouth winning three out of the six relays and finishing second in the other three.
Great start to the YDL Lower season. Well done, All.
May 1st, 2023 - May Day Miles and 3000m. Multiple club records.
Club records tumbled at the May Day Miles and 3000m events at Portsmouth.
Colm Robertson (U13B mile 5:25.8), Elsa Norris (U15G mile 5:34.1), Skye Johnson (U20W mile 5:46.4) and Jack Presley (U15B 3000m 10:40.8) all set new NFJAC all-time bests. Well done to all, and also to Erin Ingram who also took part in the mile race.
May 1st, 2023 - Multi-events County Championships and QuadKids County Championships. Silver for Ewan
NFJAC had representation in U15B and U15G pentathlon and QuadKids at the multi-events county championships, which take place every May Day bank holiday, separately from the main track and field county championships.
Ewan Gwyer took home the silver medal in the U15B pentathlon, moving into second place after the first event and maintaining that position throughout the day, finishing with a strong run in the 800m. Well done, Ewan.
In the U15G event, Alexis Seymour just missed out on a medal, finishing in fourth place despite taking second place in the shot putt and third place in long jump. Well done, Alexis.
NFJAC turnout in the QuadKids competition was disappointing, with just two of our young athletes taking part. Well done to Ivy Osman (11th place) and Anna Bonaer (17th).
April 23rd, 2023 - Third place in first Wessex League match
NFJAC got the new Wessex League campaign underway at Bournemouth, going into the season as (joint) defending champions from 2022. Very strong Swindon and Bournemouth teams pushed NFJAC into third place but there were still some strong individual performances and PB performances from our athletes. Next Wessex League fixture is May 21st at Swindon.
April 15th, 2023 - Skye represents South East in Association of Colleages National Championship
Skye Johnson finished in a highly credible 29th place, representing the South East region in the cross-country event at the Association of Colleges National Sports Championship. Skye was selected based on her performance for Brockenhurst College in the regional race in January and having recovered from an injury set back in February.
Well done, Skye.
April 2nd, 2023 - Club Record for Chloe
Chloe Johnson continued her strong start to the season by breaking the U15G club record for 300m at Winchester. Having opened with PBs in 100m, 200m and long jump at Bournemouth the previous weekend, Chloe carried that momentum into the first WADAC open of the season to record 42.75 seconds in the 300m, improving on the previous club best of 43.1.
Well done, Chloe.
March 26th, 2023 – Track and Field gets underway on chilly day at Bournemouth.
The first outdoor track and field opens took place, with strong NFJAC representation at Bournemouth on 26th March and Winchester on 2nd April. A smaller contingent of NFJAC athletes also made their way to Portsmouth on 2nd April.
As usually happens, even in the less than ideal conditions, a number of athletes started the new season with a bang and a number of PBs were achieved.
Track and field is back. Looking forward to a successful season and some warmer conditions.
March 25th, 2023 – South East Schools Year 7 & 8 Inter-Counties Cross-Country
Three NFJAC athletes were selected to represent Hampshire Schools in the final cross-country outing of the season. Ryley Polmeer (Year 7 girls), Sophie Cotroneo and Elsa Norris (both Year 8 girls) travelled to Tonbridge as part of the Hampshire Schools teams that went up against Essex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Ryley (39th place Y7), Sophie (17th Y8) and Elsa (22nd Y8) all gave a good account of themselves, with Sophie and Elsa both making the six-to-score, as both the Y7 girls and Y8 girls teams finished in third place.
March 22nd - First club record of the outdoor season
The first new club record of the season was set in a very early outdoor open at Swindon. A new record of 1:44.44 was set by Elsa Norris for the U15G 600m.
March 11th - UK Inter-Counties Cross-Country
Congratulations to Elsa Norris who, based on her performances in the Hampshire League and County Championship, earned selection for the Hampshire team for the UK inter-counties XC at Prestwold Hall near Loughborough. Elsa didn't make the four-to-score on the day, finishing just above half-way in a field of three hundred. The Hampshire U13G team finished fifth out of fourty-one competing counties.
March 4th, 2023 – Hampshire League Cross Country League, Bournemouth.
For the fifth and final match of the Hampshire Cross Country League, the action returned to Kings Park, Bournemouth, and there were individual and team medals up for grabs.
Whilst we still didn't see any of our U11 girls turning out, the U11 boys had their best showing of the season with six taking part. Zachary Armitage was first home for NFJ, finishing in 15th place, followed by Stanley Tomblin (23rd), Nathan Gauntlett (43rd), Harry Presland (56th), Charle Keen (63rd) and Finn Heighway (64th).
The U13 girls were next to go, and this was the category in which there was a chance of team and individual medals. With Aldershot and Portsmouth having run away with team gold and silver for the season, NFJAC had wrestled with Basingstoke all season for the bronze medal position. Ultimately Basingstoke edged it in the final race to push NFJAC into fourth place. There was consolation for one of the NFJAC team, Elsa Norris, who secured an individual bronze medal for the season.
In the U13 boys race, Jack Presley was the only NFJAC representative, not for the first time this season. Jack remained consistent until the end, finishing in 16th place again which meant he ended the season in 10th place in the aggregate standings. For the U15 girls, Clemmie Studdert-Kennedy finished in 29th place on the day and 13th in the season's standings, whilst Ty Polmeer came home in 33rd place, which put him in 23rd place in the aggregates for the season. There were no NFJAC runners in the U17W race but Jack Everett came home in 31st place in the U17M race, which secured 14th place in the season standings.
Well done to everybody who has represented the club in the Hampshire League through the winter. Whilst turnout has, at times, been disappointing, we saw our first Hampshire League XC medal for a decade and narrowly missed out on a further team medal.
February 26th, 2023 – Sportshall, South East Inter-Counties match: Burgess Hill, Sussex
Congratulations to all of the U11, U13 and U15 NFJAC athletes who were selected to represent the Hampshire team for the South East Inter-Counties match.
Freya Price, Hugo Reddick and Tyler Shaw took part in the U11 competition in the morning, followed by a large contingent of NFJAC athletes competing in the U13 and U15 events in the afternoon:
U13B: Toby Morley U13G: Zoe Godfrey, Maisie Mills, Ryley Polmeer, Elsa Norris, Clover Smith U15B: Ty Polmeer, Jack Green, Ewan Gwyer U15G: Lily Godfrey, Chloe Johnson, Alexis Seymour
There wasn't much glory for the Hampshire teams on the day but well done to all NFJAC athletes who participated and congratulations to Chloe Johnson (silver, 8-lap paarlauf) and Ryley Polmeer (silver, speed-bounce) who won individual medals in their events.
February 11th, 2023 – Hampshire League Cross Country, Basingstoke.
The penultimate Hampshire League fixture of the season took place at Popham Airfield. Those who ran in this fixture last season will recall the wind and rain combined with the exposed setting making for a very challenging race. This time it was dry and fine but it is still a deceptively tough course. With no U11 race at this fixture, the U13 girl were the first to go. Elsa Norris finished in 12th place and now sits in sixth in the league table for the season, followed by Ryley Polmeer (18th) and Maisie Mills (32nd). The team gave it their best but were pipped to third place on the day by Basingstoke, which means the contest for the season bronze medal will go to the final race of the season. In the U13 boys race, Mr Consistent Jack Presley came home in 16th place again, which puts him in join 12th place in the season's standings. Colm Robertston followed in 21st place. For the U15 girls, Clemmie Studdert-Kennedy finished 29th, closely followed by Erin Ingram who gained one place with a very strong finish in 30th place.
Jack Everett (23rd) was the only NFJAC runner in the U17 age group and it was nice to see Annabel White (17th) running again, her first appearance in the Hampshire League this season in the U20W race.
February 4th, 2023 – South East Schools Inter-Counties Cross-Country: Ardingly, Sussex
Congratulations to Sophie Cotroneo and Elsa Norris who were both selected in the Hampshire Schools Junior Girls team for the South East Inter-Counties fixture, hosted this year by Sussex at the South of England showground in Ardingly.
Both Sophie and Elsa are in the lower year of the junior girls age group but were gaining good experience ahead of hopefully having another crack at it next year. Sophie ran well to finish 65th. Elsa finished 79th, struggling to recover from ending up on the bottom of a pile of runners following a tangle at the start.
Well done Sophie and Elsa on being selected to represent Hampshire Schools.
January 14th, 2023 – Hampshire League Cross Country, Reading.
The Hampshire League returned with the farthest afield fixture of the season at Prospect Park, Reading. A challenging course at the best of times, given the two steep hills to tackle, it was even tougher on Saturday as the recent rain had caused water logging and surface water on many parts of the course.
With no NFJAC U11s in attendance, the first action of interest was our U13 girls team of Sophie Cotroneo, Ryley Polmeer and Elsa Norris. They performed well again with Elsa (10th), Sophie (12th) and Ryley (18th) doing enough to take third place on the day and move clear of Basingtoke in bronze medal position for the season standings.
Jack Presley was the only representative in the U13 boys race, running well to finish in 16th place. Ty Polmeer turned in a gutsy performance in the U15 boys race to complete the tough course despite only just recovering from illness. In the U17 age groups, Skye Johnson was the only NFJAC athlete, finishing in a season's best sixth place on the day, which moved her up to tenth in the season standings.
Long journey, tough course, appalling conditions so very well done to all of the athletes who turned out.
January 7th, 2023 – Hampshire Cross Country County Championships.
The first competitive outing of 2023 was the Hampshire county championship held, as usual, at Fairthorne Manor. Whilst the rain was not quite as torrential as the previous year, the course was still very wet and muddy.
There was a disappointing turnout from NFJAC athletes with just seven entering the competition, one of whom was unfortunately ill on the day. However, the six who did race gave good accounts of themselves in the challenging conditions. Henry Green was the only representative for the U11s, with Elsa Norris (10th place U13G), Jack Presley (28th place U13B), Erin Ingram (40th place U15G), Kiera Everett (17th place U17W) and Jack Everett (27th place U17M) making up the rest of the NFJAC team on the day.
December 18th, 2022 – Wessex League Cross Country, Canford School
The Wessex League cross country reached conclusion with a number of NFJAC athletes achieving podium finishes in the final standings for the season.
In the final races, Zachary Armitage (11th) and Ollie Maslen (14th) turned out for the U11 boys, with Steph Barette (11th), Anna Bonaer (12th) and Brooke Maslen (17th) in the U11 girls race. In the U13 boys, Ashley Maslen (5th) and Harry Dale (7th) turned in good performances, whilst in the U13 girls race, Sophie Cotroneo followed up her strong performances in the previous two fixtures with a season's best second place finish. NFJAC only had one runner in the U15 races, Chloe Johnson coming home in 10th place. In the U17 races, Jack Everett finished in sixth place and Skye Johnson (4th) rounded off a strong season in the Wessex League, followed by Emma Packman (8th), Milly Raynor (9th) and Kiera Everett (10th). In the U20 category, Annabel White finished third in the women's race.
NFJAC athletes were prominent in the final standings for the season across the three Wessex League fixtures.
U11 Boys: Zachary Armitage - second place. U13 Girls: Sophie Cotroneo - second place. U17 Men: Jack Everett - second place. U17 Women: Skye Johnson - second place.
Well done to all who have competed in the Wessex League this season and congratulations to those who made the podium.
December 3rd, 2022 – Hampshire League Cross Country, Bournemouth
The second of five Hampshire League fixtures took place at a cold but dry Kings Park in Bournemouth. The U11s got the racing underway, with Indie Booth (18th) the only NFJAC runner for the girls, whilst Stanley Tomblin (25th), Ben Davis (26th) and Zachary Armitage (34th) were the finishers in a field of over seventy runners in U11B.
In the U13 girls race, Sophie Cotroneo continued her fine form with a 10th place finish, followed by Elsa Norris (12th) and Ryley Polmeer (14th) in another strong team performance that leaves the U13G in joint third place for the season so far. For the boys, Colm Robertson (22nd) was the first home, followed by Max Davis (30th) and William Farthing (41st). In the U15G race, Clemmie Studdert-Kennedy finished in 35th place followed by Erin Ingram in 37th place. For the boys, Ty Polmeer was the only NFJAC runner, finishing in 31st place. In the U17s, Skye Johnson (11th U17W) and Jack Everett (32nd U17M) were also the sole NFJAC representatives.
November 20th, 2022 - Sportshall, Places Leisure Eastleigh
The second sportshall fixture took place with the teams returning to Places Leisure in Eastleigh.
In the U11s, NFJAC had a strong turn out in both the boys and girls categories. For the girls, Freya Price was the highest finisher in 5th place, followed by Olivia Murray (25th), Steph Barette (42nd), Abigail Murray (49th) and Sophie King (53rd). For the boys, Tyler Shaw finished in 6th place and achieved wins in the triple jump and chest push events. Nathan Gauntlett (9th), Harry Presland (17th), Jared Tones (22nd), Elliot Stevens (30th), Zachary Armitage (37th) and Alex Thomson (41st) completing a very strong NFJAC turnout.
The U13 girls team followed up their first place from the first fixture with a second place finish that leaves them tied with Winchester for first place in the league table. Zoe Godfrey finished in second place, with an equal first in speed bounce. Ryley Polmeer was joint third, followed by Maisie Mills (7th) and Oliver Armitage (19th). In the U13 boys competition, Toby Morley was the only NFJAC athlete but impressed to finish in second place.
In the U15G category, Alexis Seymour finished in first place again for the girls, to consolidate her place at the top of the aggregate standings. Chloe Johnson matched her third place from the first fixture and Lily Godfrey (7th) completed the NFJAC team. For the U15 boys, Ewan Gwyer finished in third place, with Jack Green in fourth.
November 12th, 2022 - Hampshire League Cross Country, Aldershot
A small group of NFJAC athletes made it to Wellesley Woodlands, Aldershot for the opening fixture of the Hampshire League. With all of the county's big clubs out in force, the standard was high and NJFAC athletes gave a good account of themselves.
In the U11B race, Ben Davis finished in 24th place in a very large field. The U13G girls achieved fourth place in the team placings, with Elsa Norris finishing in 12th place, which saw her selected as one of the reserves for the Hampshire team, followed by Sophie Cotroneo (16th) and Ryler Polmeer (23rd). For the boys, Jack Presley came home in 13th place with a run that earned him selection for the Hampshire county team for the South of England inter-counties match on 10th December. Colm Robertson (24th), Max Davis (33rd) and Harry Dale (36th) made up the rest of the NFJAC team. In the U15 races, Clemmie Studdert-Kennedy (49th place U15G) and Ty Polmeer (41st place U15B) were the only representatives, as was Jack Everett (37th) in the U17 mens race.
October 30th, 2022 - Wessex League Cross Country, Bryanston School
The second Wessex League XC fixture took place at Bryanston School with a strong turnout from NFJAC. The U11s got the racing underway, with Tyler Shaw (11th), Harry Presland (31st) and Ted Orman (32nd) running for NFJAC, followed by Anna Bonaer (17th) and Lucy Mylius (29th) in the girls race. In the U13 boys race, Jack Presley matched his 5th place from the first fixture, followed by Colm Robertson (6th), Harry Dale (8th) and Toby Morley (13th) in a strong team performance. In the U13G race, Sophie Cotroneo was the first NFJAC runner home in seventh place, followed by Ryley Polmeer (17th) and Olivia Armitage (23rd). Moving up the age groups, Charlie Coles (3rd), Ty Polmeer (12th), Joe Mylius (13th), Sean Jardine (14th) and Ruben Williams (15th) ran well in the U15B race, whilst for the U15 girls, Chloe Johnson finished in 12th place, with Erin Ingram in 18th. Finally, in the U17s, Jack Everett (7th) was the only NFJAC runner in the mens race but there was strong representation in the women’s race with Skye Johnson finishing 5th, followed by Leah Johnson (6th), Florence Siderfin (8th), Kiera Everett (10th) and Georgia Hurst (14th).
Well done, everyone. NFJAC are well placed in the team standings going into the final fixture on 18th December.
October 16th 2022 - Sportshall returns with success for NFJAC
Sportshall returned with some notable performances from NFJAC athletes at Eastleigh. NFJAC fielded full teams (four athletes) in U11G and U13G, and managed to put out A and B teams in U11B.
For the U11G, Freya Price was NFJAC’s highest finisher, ending the day in sixth place. Freya was particularly impressive in the running events, finishing 1st in the 3 lap and 3rd in the 1 lap. In the U11B competition, Hugo Reddick turned in a great performance to finish in 2nd place, including a 1st place finish in the 3 lap race.
The U13G achieved NFJAC’s only team win on the day, with Elsa Norris (2nd), Zoe Godfrey (3rd), Ryley Polmeer (5th) and Maisie Mills (7th) achieving a comfortable winning margin over second placed Winchester. Unfortunately there was no NFJAC representation in the U13B competition.
In the U15G competition, Alexis Seymour continued from where she left off last year to take first place including wins in both the standing long jump and triple jump. Chloe Johnson was not far behind in 3rd place. Finally, in the U15B category, Ewan Gwyer finished in 3rd place, followed by Jack Green in 5th place.
Well done to all of our athletes who turned out on the day.
October 2nd 2022 - NFJAC get the cross-country season off to a fine start
The cross-country season got underway with the first Wessex League fixture at Canford on Sunday 2nd October. A good turnout of NFJAC athletes achieved some impressive results.
In the U11B race, Zachary Armitage was the first NFJAC runner home, finishing in an impressive second place. Ben Davis (17th) and Tyler Shaw (25th) were the other NFJAC finishers. For the U11 girls, Olivia Murray (10th), Steph Barette (17th), Indie Booth (20th), Anna Bonaer (22nd), Abigail Murray (26th) and Matilda Wyatt (34th) made up a great turn out.
In the U13 races, Jack Presley came home in 5th place for the boys, followed by Colm Robertson (8th), Max Davis (10th), Toby Morley (16th) and James Capstick (22nd). For the girls, we were one runner short of a full team but the performances of Sophie Cotroneo (3rd) and Ryley Polmeer (4th) - separated by just two seconds - bode well for the rest of the season.
In the U15B race, Charlie Cole achieved an admirable 5th place backed up by Ruben Williams in 10th. Again we were one runner short of a full scoring team. We were not so well represented in the U15G race, with Chloe Johnson the sole NFJAC runner, finishing in 10th place.
Jack Everett was also our only representative in the U17M race, finishing in sixth place, but we had a very strong turnout in the U17W race with Skye Johnson getting her XC season off to a great start with 3rd place, followed by Florry Siderfin (4th), Kiera Everett (7th), Milly Raynor (8th) and Emma Packman (9th), to put NFJAC top of the U17W team standings after the first race.
A good start to the XC season. Well done to everyone who participated. Next fixture is 30th October, again in the Wessex League, at Bryanston School.
September 18th 2022 - Daisy Johnson wins team bronze in ESAA combined events championship.
Daisy Johnson was in the Hampshire junior girls (U15) team who won the bronze medal at the English Schools multi-events championship at Bedford. Daisy finished 23rd in the individal competition, making an important contribution to the team points tally. This capped a great season for Daisy in which she also won high jump gold at the county championship
A great achievement, Daisy, Well done.
September 10th 2022 - Three New Forest Juniors represent Hampshire in U15 inter-counties
Congratulations to Luke Dacey (100m), Shenique Xavier (100m) and Daisy Johnson (high jump) who were selected to represent Hampshire in the U15 inter-counties competition at Horspath, Oxford on Saturday 10th September. They were selected as a result of their successes at the Hampshire county championship earlier in the season.
Luke and Shenique both qualified from their heats to make the finals of the 100m.
Well done to all three of them for achieving county selection.
September 8th 2022 - Looking ahead to cross-country season
As the track and field season draws to a close with the last few open meetings in September, attention will turn to the cross country season for some of our endurance runners. Full details are in the Fixtures section of the website but the first league race takes place in the Wessex League on 2nd October.
Cross country isn't for everyone but it's a great opportunity to continue with some competition throughout the winter months and a good source of winter training for middle distance runners.
Steve Cram knew a thing or two about middle distance running and here's what he had to say about cross country:
July 30th: YDL Lower Age Group Round 4, Crawley - NFJ and Bournemouth secure first place finish.
A skeleton NFJ and Bournemouth team finished second in the final YDL Lower match of the season to take the Southern Division 3A crown. Chichester Runners finished first on the day but NFJ's second place finish was enough to preserve their lead at the top of the league table and secure promotion for next season.
Well done to all athletes who have participated in the YDL this season and made the longer journeys that are required in the fixtures in this league.
July 27th - Elsa improves on her own 1500m club record
Elsa Norris took a further nine seconds off her own U13G 1500m club record with a new best of 5:12.17 at Watford Open.
Well done Elsa.
July 13th - Hampshire Schools Championship, Year 7 & 8
Six NFJAC athletes were representing the New Forest district at the Hampshire Year 7 & 8 schools championship having been selected based on their performances at the New Forest Championship earlier in the season.
There were gold medals for Clover Smith in Year 7 discus, Elsa Norris in Year 7 600m and Alexis Seymour in Year 8 70m hurdles. Clover extended her own club record in the process and Elsa's winning time was also a new club record. Jack Presley took silver in the Year 7 1000m, Chloe Johnson finished 4th in the Year 8 200m and Ewan Gwyer came 6th in the Year 8 800m.
Alexis and Chloe also made up half of the team that won the 4 x 100m relay.
Overall, New Forest finished in third place in the Year 7 girls and Year 8 boys competitions, and took fourth place in the Year 7 boys and Year 8 girls.
Congratulations to all of our athletes who were selected to represented the district.
July 9th 2022 - Relay bronze for Lily at English Schools
Lily Smith ran the anchor leg as Hampshire finished third in the U17 women's 4 x 100m relay at the English Schools championships.
Congratulations, Lily. A medal at English Schools is a brilliant achievement.
July 3rd 2022 - YDL Round 3, Kingston. Small NFJ and Bournemouth team claims victory
A small but effective team of New Forest and Bournemouth athletes made the journey to Kingston on a roasting hot day for the latest YDL lower match. Team manager Anna Raynsford worked her magic to fill as many events as possible on the team sheet and the young athletes all did their best and came home with a win that leaves the combined New Forest and Bournemouth team well placed to secure first place in the league at the final match in Crawley later this month.
June 30th 2022 - Hampshire Schools call up for Daisy in pentathlon
Congratulations to Daisy Johnson whose performance in the Hampshire Schools pentathlon championship has earned her a call up to represent Hampshire in the English Schools pentathlon championships in September.
Well done, Daisy. Great achievement.
June 29th - Elsa takes 1500m club record
Elsa Norris broke the club's U13G 1500m record with a time of 5:21.82 in the latest Watford Open, taking 10 seconds off the previous best.
Well done, Elsa.
June 27th 2022 - County call ups for Under 13s
NFJAC's four U13 county champions have earned call ups to the Hampshire team for the upcoming Derek Crookes South East inter-counties competition at Kingston on 24th July.
Clover Smith: DIscus Elsa Norris: 800m Jack Presley: 1500m Max Pinckney: Shot putt
Congratulations to all of them on this great achievement.
June 26th 2022 - Club records at YDL Upper Match 3
Two new NFJAC club records were set at Match 3 of the YDL Upper at Harrow.
In the U17W 4 x 300m relay, Skye Johnson, Amy Gwyer, Leah Johnson and Florry Siderin set a new NFJAC all time best of 3:01.9. And then we fielded a team for what is believed to be the first time ever in the U20W 4 x 400m relay, with Anise Mellodey, Millie Siderfin, Annabel White and Lilly Jones creating a new record.
Congratulations to all of them.
24th June 2022 - English Schools selection for Lily
Lily Smith has been selected to represent Hampshire in the English Schools championsip for the second year running. Lily will complete in the 100m.
Selection for English schools is just about the highest recognition that school age athletes can achieve, because selection is achieved not just by being the best in your county but also requires attainment of a qualification time, distance or height.
Congratulations, Lily.
19th June 2022 - Wessex League Match 3 - NFJAC so close to beating mighty WADAC
NFJAC came within 21 points of beating all conquering Winchester in the third match of the Wessex League. As ever, our young athletes willingly filled gaps in the team sheet to maximise our points haul and we came up just short of what would have been a stunning victory. Nonetheless, another second place finish took NFJAC to 17 points and, albeit possibly only temporarily, first place in the league.
14th June 2022 - Hampshire Schools selection for NFJAC athletes
Congratulations to Lily Smith (100m), Luke Dacey (100m), Alexis Seymour (75mH) and Chloe Johnson (300m) who have all been selected to represent Hampshire Schools in the forthcoming South East Schools inter-county championship. Good luck to all of them.
29th May - Five More Club Records
There were five new club records on 29th May.
Anise Mellodey (U20W) broke her own 100m record with a time of 13.0 seconds, and also broke the 200m record with 27.5 seconds. It was a bad day for former NFJAC athlete Ellie Gennings, who lost her 200m record to Anise and also her U20W 800m record to Lilly Jones who recorded a time of 2:26.3 running as a non-scorer in the Wessex Young Athletes match. Lilly also created a new U20W record for javelin with a throw of 22.45m.
The fifth record to fall on the same day was the U13G 1200m which went to Elsa Norris, taking more than six seconds off the previous club best and squeezing inside four minutes in the process.
Congratulations to all of the new record holders.
29th May - Wessex Young Athletes League: Great win sends NFJAC top of the league.
NFJAC went to the top of the Wessex Young Athletes League, albeit having competed in one match more than Winchester and Basingstoke at this stage, with an excellent victory at Salisbury. Opponents included hosts Salisbury, Swindon and Bournemouth so this was no walk in the park but, as ever, the team management did a great job of filling the team sheets with points scorers in as many events as possible, and our athletes put team before themselves to take part in events that they might not be entirely comfortable in. As a result, we picked up points in almost all events across all age groups.
NFJAC amassed 506 points on the day, 90 more than nearest rivals, Salisbury. It really can't be over-stated what a difference it makes to the team points tally when you get competitors into some of the less popular events. Even if the javelin only goes 10 metres or the discus just gets out of the cage, it will always be good enough for points.
24th May - 26th May - NFJAC athletes in action for their schools
A large number of NFJAC athletes were representing their various schools in competitions in the final week of May.
The New Forest Track and Field Championship for secondary schools took place at Kings Park Stadium, Bournemouth on Tuesday 24th May. A lot of our athletes were in action and they turned in many good performances and first place finishes, too many to list them all. However, a couple of performances are worthy of a mention, with two of our U13 girls breaking championship records. Clover Smith (Noadswood School) broke the U13G discus record with a throw of over 28 metres, whilst Elsa Norris (Hounsdown School) broke the 600m record, running under 1:47. Times are not official at this level of competition but, nonetheless, it's an excellent achievement to break records in this long running competition.
Later in the same week, Daisy Johnson (Priestlands School) and Alexis Seymour (Testwood School) took part in the Hampshire Schools combined events championship at Andover. Daisy took the bronze medal home with her, followed closely by Alexis in fourth place with a new PB of 2243 points. Great performances from both of them.
Well done to all of our athletes who represented their schools and congratulations to all of our winners. Selection to represent New Forest Schools in the Hampshire Schools Championships will follow for a number of them.
14th & 15th May 2022 - Hampshire Track & Field County Championships
The Hampshire track & field county championship took place over the weekend with an incredible contrast in weather and conditions between Saturday and Sunday. The glorious sunshine on Saturday made way for torrential rain on Sunday but NFJAC athletes turned in some outstanding performances on both days and, up against the county’s powerhouse clubs, returned an impressive medals haul and eight county champions.
The gold rush started on Saturday with Daisy Johnson winning the U15G high jump with a new personal best of 1.50 and Ollie Miell taking gold in the U17M long jump. Shenique Xavier then took gold in the U15G 100m, improving her PB to 12.76. Despite the appalling conditions, there were more gold medals on Sunday. In the field Max Pinckney took gold in the U13B shot putt and Clover Smith won the U13G discus, bettering her own club record in the process and, most notably, going over 1.5m clear at the top of the UK rankings for U13G discus. The runners then got in on the act, with Luke Dacey taking the gold in the U15B 100m, and as the weekend drew to a close with the middle distance finals there was gold for Jack Presley (U13B 1500m), running under five minutes for the first time, and Elsa Norris (U13G 800m), improving her PB to 2:28.1.
As well as our new county champions, there were plenty of other medals throughout the weekend.
Ashley Williams – Bronze: U20M 100m
Luke Dacey – Silver: U15B 200m
Ewan Gwyer – Silver: U15B Triple jump
Max Pinckney – Bronze: U13B discus
Keira Everett – Silver: U17W 1500m steeplechase
Abi Blake – Bronze: U17W discus
Shenique Xavier – Bronze: U15G 200m
Chloe Johnson – Silver: U15G 300m
Daisy Johnson – Bronze: U15G Long jump
Clover Smith – Bronze: U13G shot
Congratulations to all of our medallists and well done to everybody who took part and to all the coaches, parents and supporters who help to make this happen and who stood in the pouring rain on Sunday supporting our athletes.
14th May 2022 - Wiltshire Track & Field County Championships
Whilst most of our athletes were competing in the Hampshire county championships, our Wiltshire based contingent headed to Swindon on Saturday for their own county championship.
Between them they achieved an impressive haul of medals. The stand out performance was Florry Siderfin (U17W) who won two gold medals, doing the double of 300m and 800m. Anise Mellodey (U20W) also had a great day, with three medals and two club records. Anise won silver in the U20W 200m and bronze in both the 100m and 100mH. She set a new club record in the 100mH and broke her own record in the 100m.
Lauren Blackwell (U15G) also took two medals home with her, winning bronze in both shot putt and high jump. Neve Mellodey (U15G) took silver in the javelin and Tommy Budworth (U15B) won silver in shot putt.
Congratulations to all of our medallists and well done to everybody who took part.
10th May 2022 - Club Records Continue To Tumble
The first month of the season has seen a steady flow of PBs from our athletes. We have also seen a number of new club records. Well done to all of the following who have set new club best performances so far this season:
Clover Smith: U13G shot putt and discus club records broken multiple times already this season. The current best is 8.34m for shot and 23.87m for discus. Clover is currently ranked number 2 in the entire UK for U13G discus.
Abbie Blake. U17W hammer: 20.42m
Florry Siderfin: U17W 400m: 1:02.00
Skye Johnson: U17W 1000m: 3:27.03
Jake Clark: U17M 400m: 53:30
Elsa Norris: U13G Mile: 5:43.7
Leah Johnson: U17W Mile: 5:44.2
Erin Ingram: U15G 3000m: 13:16.0
Daisy Johnson, Emma Doman, Alexis Seymour, Chloe Johnson: U15G 4 x 300m: 3:00.10
Well done to all of our record breakers.
Sunday 8th May - YDL Lower Round 1, Winchester.
New Forest Juniors and Bournemouth's combined team achieved an emphatic victory in the first fixture of the season in Youth Development League Division 3A
The composite team scored an outstanding points tally of 559 to finish over 150 points clear of second placed Woking.
There were some outstanding performances on the day, more PBs and notably a new club record for the U15G 4 x 300m, with Daisy Johnson, Emma Doman, Alexis Seymour and Chloe Johnson recording 3:00.10. Well done, girls and also to everyone who took part and contributed to this excellent victory. Below is the link to the full results.
https://www.ukydl.org.uk/Match%20One_LAG_South_Division_3A.pdf
Monday 2nd May - County Championships for Multi-events and Quadkids plus May Day Miles and 3000m
Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May saw the county championships taking place at Portsmouth for multi-events and Quadkids, as well as the "May Day Miles" and 3000m events. It was a successful day for NFJAC athletes.
Congratulations to Daisy Johnson who took silver in the U15G pentathlon, coming through strongly in the final two events; high jump and 800m. In the U13G pentathlon, Clover Smith won bronze. Well done to Daisy and Clover.
There was even more success in Quadkids, with Lottie Osman and Ivy Osman taking gold and silver respectively. Brilliant effort, girls. Well done.
NFJAC was also represented in the mile and 3000m races. Elsa Norris finished second in the combined U13/ U15 race, setting a new club record in the process. In the second race for U17 age groups upwards, Skye and Leah Johnson went against each other, with Leah just pulling away from her sister in the home straight, also setting a new club record for the mile. In the 3000m, Erin Ingram also grabbed herself a club record.
Well done to everyone.
Sunday 10th April - Wessex Young Athletes League. Victorious return to track and field league action for NFJAC at Southampton.
Sunday saw the return of league action with the first Wessex Young Athletes fixture taking place at Southampton. With all age groups involved and a strong turnout of NFJAC athletes and families, plus a little more sunshine than was forecast, it turned into a great day out for the club, as well as a successful day of track and field resulting in an emphatic victory for NFJAC, winning all age groups plus Quadkids, against opposition that included Southampton and Aldershot.
Too many excellent performances to list them all but results are available using the link below. One performance that does merit a specific mention was Clover Smith breaking her own discus record for the third time already this season, throwing over 23 metres for the first time in competition.
A number of our athletes will return to Southampton on Easter Saturday for the Southampton Open. Next league action is 24th April for upper age groups in the YDL, and lower age groups on 8th May.
Results: Wessex Young Athletes League - Southampton, Sunday 10th Aprill
Sunday 3rd April 2022 - Portsmouth and Winchester Opens
The early season opens continued with NFJAC athletes taking part at the Portsmouth and Winchester opens. Conditions weren't quite as favourable as the previous weekend but there were still some strong performances and more PBs ahead of the return to league action in the Wessex Young Athletes league next Saturday at Southampton.
Results from Winchester are available using the link below. For results from Portsmouth, it's Power of 10 only.
Winchester Open results - 3rd April 2022
26th & 27th March 2022. Track & Field season underway with SETAFA and Bournemouth Opens.
NFJAC returned to track and field action in glorious March sunshine with the SETAFA open at Portsmouth on Saturday and the Bournemouth open on Sunday.
There were a number of impressive performances to start the season and a number of PBs. Most notably, Anise Mellodey took the U20W club record for the 100m, improving the record to 13.2 seconds, and Clover Smith stretched her own U13G discus record to 22.66m.
Well done to everybody. It's good to have track and field back.
26th March 2022 - South East Schools Inter-Counties Cross Country, Chelmsford
NFJAC had two representatives turning out for Hampshire in the South East Schools Year 7 Inter-Counties cross country, hosted by Essex this year at Writtle College, Chelmsford.
Elsa Norris was in Hampshire's Year 7 girls team but unfortunately dropped out the race after about 1km, having turned her ankle.
In the Year 7 boys race, Jack Presley finished in 72nd place.
Well done to both of them for making the Hampshire Schools team and making the journey to Chelmsford.
11th March 2022 - UK Inter-Counties Cross Country this weekend
Good luck to the NFJAC athletes who will be travelling to Loughborough this weekend to represent Wiltshire in the UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships on Saturday:
U15G: Emma Packman, Florry Siderfin U15B: Ruben Williams, William Sanderson (reserve) U17L: Lilly Jones, Annabel White U20L: Millie Siderfin
What a great achievement to represent their county at this level.
8th March 2022 - Hampshire Schools Cross Country Championships, Basingstoke
A number of NFJAC athletes were in action representing New Forest Schools in the Hampshire Schools Cross Country Championship at Down Grange, Basingstoke.
Our youngsters contributed to some excellent team results for New Forest Schools:
Year 6 Girls: First place Year 6 Boys: Fourth place Year 7 Girls: Second place Year 7 Boys: Seventh place Year 8 Girls: Fourth place Year 8 Boys: Third place
Notable individual performances were Elyan Smith (10th) and Max Davis (18th) in Y6 boys, Elsa Norris (5th) in Y7 girls and Jack Presley (12th) in the Y7 boys race. Elsa and Jack have now been selected to represent Hampshire Schools in the inter-counties match in Essex on 26th March. Congratulations to Jack and Elsa and well done to all who represented New Forest Schools.
6th March 2022 - Success for NFJAC athletes as Sportshall season comes to an end.
It was another successful Sportshall fixture for NFJAC as the third and final match of the season took place at Aldershot. Alexis Seymour (U13G) completed a clean sweep of first place finishes for the season to take the gold medal. The U13G team also won their third successive match to take the team gold.
Other notable performances on the day were Amy Gwyer with third place in U15G, and Chloe Johnson (4th), Clover Smith (5th) and Elsa Norris (7th) in U13G; Ewan Gwyer, not to be out done by his sister, also took third place in the U13B, with Toby Morely finishing sixth on his Sportshall debut for the club, and Jack Green in seventh place.
In U11G, Zoe Godrey followed up her first place finishes in the previous two fixtures with third place to take gold for the season, followed by Lottie Osman (12th) and Ivy Osman (21st). For the boys, Paddy Butler was the highest finisher for NFJAC in sixth place, followed by Hugo Reddick (8th), Tyler Shaw (15th), Henry Green (26th) and Charlie Keen (31st), with the boys team finishing in fourth place on the day.
Congratulations to the winners and well done to all who took part in Sportshall this year.
26th February 2022 - National Cross Country Championships, Parliament Hill.
The English National Cross Country Championships took place at Parliament Hill on Saturday 26th, with thousands of runners taking on the hills and mud of Hampstead Heath.
NFJACs sole representative was Elsa Norris in the U13G race, finishing in 155th place out of 393 finishers.
19th February 2022 - Large NFJAC presence in Hampshire team at South East Sportshall
NFJAC athletes made up a significant part of the Hampshire teams as the U11 and U13 South East Regional Sportshall final took place in Burgess Hill in Sussex.
Competing against Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, the following athletes took part for the Hampshire teams.
U11G: Zoe Godfrey, Lottie Osman U13G: Lily Godfrey, Alexis Seymour, Chloe Johnson, Elsa Norris, Clover Smith U13B: Leon Duell, Ewan Gwyer, Jack Green
Our athletes helped the U11G and U13G to both finish in fifth place, with the U11B and U13B teams finishing in sixth place.
19th February - Final Hampshire League XC fixture
With the fixture at Sparshott College, Winchester having been cancelled, the final Hampshire League cross-country fixture took place at Popham Airfield, Basingstoke on 19th February. There were no U11 races and just four NFJAC athletes made the journey to race in what turned out to be very wet conditions.
In the U17W race, Lily Jones finished in an impressive 7th place, with Annabel White coming home in 14th. In a few weeks time they will be heading to Loughborough to represent Wiltshire in the National Inter-Counties.
In the boys races, NFJAC had representation in only the U13 race, with Jack Presley finishing 31st and Jonas Josiah 37th.
12th February - Club record for Lily with brilliant indoor 60m at Sheffield.
Lily T broke her own club record three times in one day with some outstanding performances in the U17W 60m at the National Indoor Championships in Sheffield.
Lily was in explosive form out of the starting blocks in all three races, as she breezed through her heat and semi-final. In the final, she just missed out on a medal in a very tight finish but set a new PB and club record of 7.59 seconds.
Congratulations, Lily. Amazing performances.
2nd February - Wiltshire Call-ups for UK Inter-Counties XC
Congratulations to the following NFJAC athletes who have achieved the huge honour of being selected to represent their county in the UK Inter-Counties XC Championships at Loughborough on 12th March:
U15 Girls: Florry Siderfin U15 Boys: Ruben Williams and William Sanderson (reserves) U17 Ladies: Lilly Jones and Annabel White U20 Ladies: Millie Siderfin
Well done to all of them and good luck on 12th March.
2nd February - Sportshall County Call-ups
Congratulations to the group of NFJAC athletes who have been selected to represent Hampshire in the Sportshall South East Regional competition at Burgess Hill on 19th February:
Under 11 Girls: Zoe Godfrey and Lottie Osman U13 Girls: Alexis Seymour, Chloe Johnson, Elsa Norris and Lily Godfrey U13 Boys: Leon Duell, Ewan Gwyer and Jack Green
Well done to all of them and good luck on 19th Feb.
16th January - Medals for Lily and Rebekah at SEAA Indoor Championships
Lily Thurbon-Smith and Rebekah Smith both won medals in the SEAA Indoor Championships at Lee Valley on Saturday.
Lily won bronze in the U17 60m, equalling her own club record of 7.71 seconds. Congratulations, Lily.
Rebekah won silver in U15 60m hurdles in a time of 9.39 seconds, and followed up with a fourth place finish in the long jump, achieving a new club record of 4.93 metres. Congratulations, Rebekah.
Well done to both on these brilliant achievements.
16th January - Sportshall at Eastleigh
The second Sportshall fixture of the winter took place at Eastleigh on Sunday 16th January, with another good turnout from NFJAC.
Zoe Godfrey followed up her win at Portsmouth by doing the same again to reaffirm her status as the leading U11 girl in Hampshire Sportshall. Lottie Tindell (13th), Lottie Osman (17th) and Ivy Osman (31st) made up the team and secured third place on the day for NFJAC. For the U11 boys Max Davis was the best finisher in 10th place, followed by Elwood Thomas (29th), Ezra Ejebu (30th) and Charlie Keen (42nd).
The U13 girls team repeated their first place finish from the first fixture, with NFJAC athletes finishing 1st (Alexis Seymour), 2nd (Chloe Johnson) and 4th (Elsa Norris), backed up by Lily Godfrey in 8th place. The U13 boys also turned in good individual performances with Leon Duell finishing joint 2nd place, Ewan Gwyer 5th and Jack Green 10th.
Amy Gwyer was the only NFJAC representative in the U15 competitions, finishing in 3rd place in the U15 girls.
15th January - Hampshire League XC
A small number of NFJAC athletes made it to Prospect Park in Reading for the third Hampshire League XC fixture.
In the U13 races, Elsa Norris finished in 22nd place for the girls, and in the boys race, Jack Presley finished 28th. The only other NFJAC runners were Annabel White who finished 13th in the U17 women race and Aidan Dure-Smith finishing 18th in the U20 men race.
Well done to the four of them for making the journey to Reading. Following the cancellation of the Winchester fixture, there is now just one Hampshire League fixture remaining, taking place at Basingstoke on 19th February.
11th January - Hampshire XC County Championships Review
The 2022 Hampshire XC County Championships took place at Fairthorne Manor in atrocious conditions on Saturday 8th January. With the course already boggy following heavy rain on Friday, the incessant rain throughout race day made for some of the most challenging conditions that many of the young athletes have encountered. Nonetheless, a number of NFJAC athletes turned out and gave their best.
In the first race of the day, five of our U11 boys turned out to make this the only race in which we placed as a team, finishing sixth in the team standings. Colm Robertson (5th), Max Davis (16th), Paddy Butler (37th), Ezra Ejebu (42nd), Elwood Thomas (43rd) and Henry Green (46th) were the NFJAC runners.
In the U13 boys race, Ewan Gwyer finished in 30th place, with Joshua Cotroneo in 39th. For the girls, Elsa Norris managed 18th place, with Sophie Cotroneo in 30th.
In the U15 races, Jack Everett (36th U15B) and Erin Ingram (46th U15G) were the only NFJAC representatives but there was a stronger turnout in the U17 women's race with Leah Johnson, Kiera Everett and Skye Johnson all running. Unfortunately, Skye pulled up with an injury but Leah ran well, leading in the very early stages and finishing 12th, with Kiera also going well to finish in 16th place.
Aidan Dure-Smith completed the NFJAC representation, running 8.1km in the men's U20 race and coming home in 8th place.
Well done to everybody who took part.
11th January - Indoor Pentathlon Silver for Rebekah Smith
Slightly under the radar in the middle of XC season, Rebekah Smith had a great result in the South of England Indoor Combined Events Championships at Lee Valley on 19th December. Rebekah finish in second place with 2900 points, finishing just 59 point off the gold medal.
Well done, Rebekah. An excellent performance.
28th December - Wiltshire Cross Country County Championship
There was success for NFJAC athletes in the Wiltshire XC County Championships on 19th December. Lilly Jones (U17G) and Florry Siderfin (U15G) both took bronze medals. Congratulations, girls.
Emma Packman finished in 5th place in the U15G. Ruben Williams was 9th and William Sanderson 11th in the U15B race. In the U17G race Annabel White finished in 7th place.
Well done to everyone who took part.
Inter Counties Cross Country
On Saturday 11th December, Elsa Norris represented Hampshire in the South East Inter-Counties U13 cross country at Lloyd Park in Croydon. In her first call up for the county, Elsa finished in 93rd place. Ahead of her, Hampshire's first four finishers secured the bronze medal for the team.
8th December - XC Update - Hampshire League Round 2 and English Schools National Final
Only a small group of NFJAC athletes made the journey to Aldershot for the second fixture of the Hampshire League. They were rewarded for their effort with a still, bright morning and great running conditions.
In the U11s races, NFJAC didn’t have any representation in the girls race but Henry Green took part in the boys race, finishing in 37th place. In the girls U13 race, Elsa Norris was the first NFJAC athlete home in 12th place, with Lauren Blackwell-Jackson (42nd) the only other NFJAC runner. In the U13 boys race, Jack Presley led the NFJAC runners, finishing 20th, followed by William Farthing (32nd) and a courageous run from Jack Green (51st) who returned from illness and without having trained for over two weeks. Well done, Jack.
There were no NFJAC athletes in the boys U15 or U17 races, whilst in the girls races Erin Ingram (U15 – 39th) and Annabel White (U17 – 20th) were the sole representatives. Aidan Dure-Smith ran in the men’s race, finishing as the 25th U20.
Elsewhere, Lilly Jones and Millie Siderfin took part in the English Schools Cross Country final at Newquay, Cornwall. Their school, South Wiltshire Grammar School, finished an admirable seventh place. What a great achievement for these NFJAC athletes to finish seventh in the final of this national competition. Congratulations.
3rd December 2021 - Schools XC update
A number of NFJ athletes were in action last week in the New Forest District schools XC race for school years 7 – 11. Representing various schools from around the New Forest were Molly Layland, Sophie Cotroneo, Elsa Norris, Jack Presley, William Farthing, Josh Cotroneo, Dan Conti, Ewan Gwyer, Samuel Aidoo, Jacob Tasker, Chloe Johnson, Alexis Seymour, Clemmie Studdert-Kennedy, Erin Ingram, Daisy Johnson, Amy Gwyer, Leah Johnson, Keira Everett, Skye Johnson and Thomas Evans.
Kiera Everett (2nd place Year 11), Leah Johnson (3rd place Year 11), Chloe Johnson (3rd place Year 8), Jack Presley (3rd place Year 7) and Elsa Norris (2nd place Year 7) all achieved top three finishes and a number of NFJAC athletes can expect to be called up to represent New Forest District in the Hampshire Schools Championship in the new year. Well done to everyone.
We also wish the very best of luck to Lilly Jones and Millie Siderfin who will travel to Newquay as part of the South Wiltshire Grammar School team taking part in the national schools XC final this week. Good luck.
And away from schools competition, the Hampshire League continues this weekend with the second fixture taking place at Wellesley Wood, Aldershot. Good luck to all who are taking part.
22nd November - Schools XC update. Congratulations to Lilly Jones and Millie Siderfin
There was success for NFJAC athletes in the English Schools Cross Country Cup South West Regional Final. Lilly Jones and Millie Siderfin were part of the South Wiltshire Grammar School team who were victorious in the South West final, with Lilly finishing an impressive fourth place individually. The team will now travel to Newquay on Saturday 4th December to take part in the national final. Congratulations, Lilly and Millie, and good luck in the final.
Elsewhere, a number of NFJAC athletes will be running for their schools in the New Forest District Schools XC races. Good luck to everybody taking part.
15th November - Cross Country and Sportshall results
NFJAC athletes were in action indoors and outdoors over the weekend, with the first Hampshire League cross-country race of the winter, followed by the return of Sportshall for the first time since March 2020.
Hampshire Cross Country League Race 1 was hosted by Bournemouth AC at Kings Park with a strong turnout. In the U11 girls race, Lottie Tindall (13th) and Ella Lamb (20th) turned in good performances for NFJ, whilst in the boys race, Tom Mylius finished in an impressive 12th place in a field of sixty-eight runners, closely follow by Ashley Maslen (14th), Eli Lamb (38th), Ollie Maslen (48th) and Edward King (50th).
There was also a good turnout in the U13 girls race with 51 runners taking part. Elsa Norris came home in 21st place followed by Sophie Cotroneo (30th), Constance King (41st) and Clemmie Studdert-Kennedy (42nd), meaning that NFJAC finished seventh in the team positions out of fifteen teams who had runners in the race. The U13 boys also turned in a good performance to achieve eighth place out of twenty-two teams in the race. Jack Presley (20th) led the way, followed by William Farthing (36th), Josh Cotroneo (38th), Daniel Hillman (40th) Joe Mylius (51st) and Jack Green (57th).
Erin Ingram was the sole representative for NFJAC in the U15 girls race, finishing in 38th place, with William Sanderson (49th) and Jack Everett (54th) the only NFJs in the boys race. Annabel White was also flying solo for NFJAC in the U17 women’s race, finishing in 18th place, whilst in the men’s race, Cody Mitch and Thomas Evans finished in 21st and 22nd places respectively.
On Sunday the focus turned to Sportshall, with the first Hampshire event for twenty-one months and it was a successful return for the NFJAC team. Zoe Godfrey, making her Sportshall debut, scored a sensational 8 points to win the U11 girls, winning three events outright, finishing joint first in two others and second in the sixth event. Lottie Osman (7th), Ivy Osman (15th), Sophie Blackwell (31st) and Ella Lamb (33rd) all did themselves proud in their first Sportshall events and helped the team to finish in third place. For the boys, Hugo Reddick won the standing long-jump on his way to finishing in eighth place overall. Eli Lamb finished in 15th place, with Henry Green in 27th.
A very strong performance from NFJAC’s U13 girls saw them beat Winchester to first place with Alexis Seymour the outright winner and finishing in first place in three of the six events, including a eye-blurring 78 in speed-bounce. Chloe Johnson (4th) wasn’t far behind, followed by Elsa Norris (6th) and Lauren Blackwell (12th). A special mention must go to Clover Smith who withdrew with illness half way through the competition but despite only completing three of the six events she still finished in 14th place. In the U13 boys, Ewan Gwyer and Jack Green were the NFJAC representatives, finishing sixth and eleventh respectively but managing first and second place in speed bounce.
The only NFJAC athlete participating in the U15 competition was Amy Gwyer who took third place in the girls competition.
Click here for full results from all of the weekend's competitions on the Hampshire Athletics website.
10th November 2021 - Tim Wilding
It is with great sadness we announce the passing of our club’s founder, Tim Wilding.
Tim set up New Forest Juniors back in 1999 with just a handful of dedicated members. Through his unwavering enthusiasm and commitment, Tim developed and grew NFJ into the thriving club we know today. Tim’s ability to keep things simple and friendly encouraged athletes to flourish not only in athletics, but in their pursuits outside of the sporting arena too. Tim’s ethos on coaching, athlete development and friendships between parents, coaches and athletes was, and will always be, at the heart of the club.
Tim was such a kind man, with never a bad word to say about anyone. He also had a fantastically dry sense of humour. Ever present at each and every club event, be it track & field, cross country or sportshall, he was also a staple at all the local schools meetings and indeed he and wife Tina were often the first to arrive and the last to leave. His passing leaves a huge hole in the club. Having touched the lives of so many, he will be missed by all those at NFJ, both past and present, but in the club he leaves a legacy of which he and his family should be so very proud.
Tim was a devoted husband, father and grandfather and our thoughts are with his family at this time.
9th November 2021 - Sportshall set to return
New Forest Juniors return to Sportshall action for the first time since March 2020 this weekend, with the first of three planned fixtures taking place at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth.
Results will follow after the event.
7th November 2021 - Wessex League XC Race 2
Our club founder Tim Wilding was remembered with a minute's silence ahead of a good turnout and some impressive results by New Forest Juniors in the second race of the Wessex XC League.
The Under 11s got things underway with Holly Grimsdell the first home for NFJ, finishing in 15th place. Holly was followed by Lottie Osman (18th), Lizzie Reid (21st), Ella Lamb (30th) and Ivy Osman (33rd). In the boys race, Colm Robertston finished an impressive second place in a tight finish. Max Davis (5th) was the next NFJ athlete across the finish line, followed by James Capstick (10th), Eli Lamb (19th), Hugo Reddick (21st), Elwood Thomas (26th), Ezra Ejebu (28th), Edward King (30th) and Elliot Stevens (33rd).
In the Under 13 girls, Elsa Norris was the first NFJ finisher, coming home in 7th place, followed by Sophie Cotroneo (12th), Chloe Johnson (14th), Lauren Blackwell (15th), Constance King (16th) and Clemmie Studdert-Kennedy (22nd). In the boys race, Joe Mylius (7th) just held off Ewan Gwyer (8th) to lead the team home. Hot on their heels were Josh Cotroneo (10th), William Farthing (11th), Luke Wale (14th), Daniel Hillman (16th), Dan Conti (17th), Jonas Josiah (23rd) and Jack Green (24th).
In the U15 races, Florrie Siderfin was first finisher out of our girls, finising 14th place in the race and followed by Emma Packman (18th), Erin Ingram (20th) and Amber Williams (23rd). For our boys, Charlie Coles led the NFJ athletes, finishing in 9th place, with William Sanderson (19th) and Jack Everett (20th).
The U17s races saw Lilly Jones add a second place to her first place in Race 1 and there were also strong performances from Milly Raynor (4th), Annabel White (5th) Leah Johnson (7th) and Kiera Everett (8th). For the boys, Cody Mitch and Thomas Evans finished alongside each other in 5th and 6th place respectively.
NFJ had just one athlete in each of the U20 races, with Aidan Dure-Smith finishing 6th in the mens race, and Mel Creber taking 3rd in the women's race.
Well done to all of our NFJ athletes.
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