Wreake Runners Club Success

After the Wreake Runners club as a whole were pronounced ‘East Midlands club of the year’ last year, the prominent junior section has just been voted the East Midlands Junior Club of the Year 2009!

The club will be representing the region at the England awards in October where they will be in the running for the English club of the year and an opportunity to go through to the UK finals. It will be a star studded evening with sporting legends Steve Cram and Sebastian Coe in attendance.    

The junior club has grown rapidly over the past year in size and speed. The high standard of running by young athletes is shown in training week after week on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Their remarkable progress on the track just keeps on getting better and better. These visible results were displayed at the ‘Heart of England’ Athletics League where Wreake Juniors finished as champions after three matches with wins at Stourport on Severn, Saffron Lane, Leicester and a reputable second place at Birmingham. Notably, this was Wreake’s first ever track and field event in the history of the club. Athletes of all ages competed in varied distances on the track and even tried out specialised field events (high jump, long jump, shot put, discus and javelin). The squad will move up into the next division for 2010.

The main reason for the vast improvement of the juniors is down to the work and commitment of extremely dedicated coaches, John Skevington and Jen Knapp.

In a second triumph for the club, for the recognition of her successful development of the beginners group and her continued work progressing the group and integrating them into the club and the running of the junior sessions, Jen Knapp has been awarded ‘East Midlands Development Coach of the Year’ and will also be going through to represent the region at the England awards. Nominated by ladies club captain, Maria Payne, Jen richly deserves the accolade. The awards committee noted that if there were more initiatives like the one provided by her, the governing body would not have to provide programmes to encourage people into the sport!