The 2011/2012 winter season got well underway this weekend as the middle distance athletes of Reading Ac descended to Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot for the opening fixture of the winter calender with the South of England Road relays. Despite the track season only having finished last weekend for the younger athletes, many posted some promosing performances as well as some more than impressive debut performances from some Reading Ac members.
Male Report
Reading Athletic Club's male young athletes made a very promising start to the winter season as they made their way to Aldershot on the Saturday to contest their races, which were 4 per team.
It was the U17 men that led the way on the day in terms of performances, posting their best team placing of 9th. U17 captain Jonny Davies, off the back of a hugely successful track season, opened up his account for the winter season in fine fashion. He ran an assured and confident display on the opening leg of the U17 men's race for his team and finished with a 7 second advantage over the pursuing Norwich athlete, handing over to Ben Priddle. Priddle coped very well with having began his leg in the lead and gave a solid display and kept the team at the top end of the field, coming back in 3rd place with a 12.55 clocking. Nathan Meredith ran the pen-ultimate leg and set of in confident fashion with his 13.41 clocking bringing the team back in 7th position. Alex Bow was tasked with running the final leg and he did well and ensured Reading scored a top 10 finish as he came back in 9th place, clocking 14.12 on his leg.
The U13 boys fielded 3 complete teams, with many many their debut's for the club, with the vast majority experiencing a race of this calibre. Matthew Rawlings got the proceeding's underway for the A-Team as he bought the club back in 22nd place. Michael Lennon ran leg 2 and proceeded to gain 4 places, lifting them up into 18th place. Ben Corless raced round in 11.47 and brought the team up into 13th position. Issac Farnworth than tackled the final leg and he clocked the fastest club time of the day as he ran 11.01 to bring the team home in 11th place. Their b-team also equitted themselves well, led off by Jack Kenyon who ran 11.42. Sam Rowling was next on leg 2, followed by Russell Hallett who bought the team back in 23rd, a position that Rory Brown maintained for the b-team. Joe Stallion got the b-team underway with an 11.47 clocking, Ben Hughes, Alex McCallum and Sam Lawrence completed the team that finished 30th from a field of 45 complete teams.
Reading also fielded a U15 team and they competed very well, Callum Gregory led them off and brought them back in 9th place with a fine leg of 9.49. Elliott Morton was next up and he clocked 11.47, Matthew Rainbow ran a very solid 10.47 leg to come back in 24th position, whilst Dan Williams ran a pleasing last leg to bring the team home in 22nd.
Female Report
The female side enjoyed a mix bag of results but saw many of their newer members impress on their first outing in the younger age groups, whilst the senior women turned out in force and in turn produced some very solid individual results.
The U13 girls were the best placed of the youngters as they got the day underway with the first race off at 11.00am. Hannah Willis looks like having a very promising winter season having impressed in recent months in her training and she got her season off to a confident start with a very good opening leg for the U13 a-team, in the top 2 for the vast amount of the race, Hannah knocked 11 seconds off the time she ran last year as she ran 8.33 - the 11th fastest time of the day. Katie Holt was another big improver and she shaved off a hige 24 seconds off her time from a year ago, with a very pleasing 9.01. Kate McKim was taked with running the final leg for the team and she did very well on her first time in this race, with a 9.55 clocking to bring he girls team back home in 13th position from a field of 69 complete teams. Lorna Cousins' recent improvement in training reflected in her performance for the b-team and she showed plenty of promise for the season ahead with a decent performance at her first race over the longer distance, she came back with a 10.10 clocking. Emily Pickett was another who made her first outing over these sort of distance and she showed promise, clocking 10.39 on her leg. Loren Hunter ran the final leg for the b-team and clocked 10.43 in the process.
The U15 girls fielded 4 teams for their race over the 2997m course. However bad luck struck from the moment the gun went as Katherine West, who was running the first leg for the a-team, was tripped at the start and fell badly and cut her knee and had to pick herself up in last place of the 81 girls that started the opening leg. But Katherine to her credit got up and gave a very valiant effort to claw back the runner's in front, and got herself within the top 40, however the extra effort she had to put in took its toll in the final stages of the race, but she did hold in their to come back in 60th and did actually knock 21 seconds off her time from last year with a 13.07 effort. Alice Milsom was off on the 2nd leg, but was a little below par and only ran 13.35, keeping the team in 60th. Georgia Walton then ran the final leg and was tasked with trying to claw back as much as she could, which she duly did, clocking 12.36 to gain some 12 places and finish her team in 48th.
The remaining 3 teams were evenly split, with the next 3 fastest on paper, placed on the opening legs of each of the remaining teams. Lois Meredith made huge advantage of this and showed the kind of form that she showed a few season's back as she led off the d-team and it weas pleasing to see her claim the fastest club time of the day with 12.31. In her first long distance race for the club, Grace Tatam ran the opening leg for the b-team and had a pleasing debut in her winter season with a 12.56 clocking. Jodie Penny led off the c-team with hert fastest time over this course. Lauren Church had a cracker on leg 2 for the c-team and she closed the gap on the b-team as she showed a massive return to form with a 12.40 clocking. Charlotte Moore clocked a pb on this course by over a minute as she ran 12.55 for the b-team, who by this stage were the leading Reading team, whilst Abi Froud completed her leg for the d-team. Lydia Blythe was another making her first outing over this kind of distance and she showed great potential as she made her way through to ensure the c-team were the leading Reading team, until the final few metres, when Georgia Walton finished a hair's width ahead of Lydia on the line, with Lydia's time a pleasing 13.19. Charlotte Tanner made her club debut on the 3rd leg of the b-team with a 13.48 clocking.
The U17 women field 2 complete teams and 1 incomplete. Cerys Aicken was the quickest of the 8 Reading girls, she ran 11.55 on the opening leg for the a-team, bringing them back in 21st place. Rosie Bishop was another a bit below par on leg 2, as she clocked 12.14, although she did gain 1 position in the process. Beki Taylor then ran the final leg and picked off 4 places with a 12.10 clocking to claim 16th position.
Mollie Haines led off the b-team and showed she will again flourish during the winter as she ran 12.13, Ellie Kemp has impressed since returning from China, her fitness continues to improve and she will have been pleased with her 12.17 clocking. Bethan Taylor wrapped things up for the b-team for 24th place with a 13.20 clocking.
Emma Taylor was off first in the C-Team and she ran 13.12, whilst pick of the age group, was Natasha Harris-White, who on the 2nd leg, looked very assured with a impressive 11.57 clocking, highlighting her abilities.

This Saturday saw Reading AC's men's team finish off there initial season with a bang. Not 4 weeks ago the seniors suffered defeat and relegation from the the Division 4 national league, but this was not to be there undoing. The men pulled together and came out fighting in the Qualifier match to hold there rightful place in the high leagues for next season. The teams they were up against came from all over the United Kingdom from Bedford, Bristol, Brighton, Edinburgh, Milton Keynes, Luton, Portsmouth and Edinburgh all wanting there chance at having a national status.The day got underway starting with with the Pole Vault Brian Flatley and Team Captain Michael Dyer. Flatley came 4^rd in the A whilst Dyer came 3^rd in the B. At the same time the Discus competition started in the cage Dyer was up again with Philip Brickley ready to throw after a injury prone season. Both threw some good throws but the competition was fierce and landed them 6^th in there strings. The first event on the track got off at 12.00 with newly transferred member Bertie Lewis and Dyer taking on the 400m hurdles, Sadly Lewis was Disqualified for a minor infringement over the seventh hurdle but Dyer in the B string won clearly easy down before the finish to take a victory. On the Runway Dyer on this 4^th event of the day took to the Long Jump and recorded a jump just over 6 metres which was good enough to take 7^th, backing him up was Under 17 Ben Pearson who has had a incredibly long season and suffering with an injury jumped just shy of 5metres 80 to take 4^th in the B string.
The middle distance lads then had there shot with Carl Bradbury lining up for the 800m and making his senior debut Allan Stewart in the B string race, Bradbury using his experience set of carefully and sat in on the first lap before taking the lead in the back straight and opening a small gap to hold off the Milton Keynes athlete and taking the win. Stewart to a different approach to the race and lead the race to 500m when an increase in pace caught him out and ended up with a gutsy final kick to finish 5^th. Starting next in the cage was the Hammer with another senior débutante, Recently transferred from the Windsor club Mark White now under the coaching of Tom Grierson stepped up to the senior weight and launched the hammer just under 42 metres securing 5^th with Nathan Walters in the B string throwing just over 36metres to take 3^rd.
The first sprints event was next up on the track with the 100m, from having a successful season Rian Corbin was in the A string and and in a very close race was awarded 6^th place with only 0.5 secs dividing the whole field. Finding some excellent end of season form Michael Nevill took the win in the B string in 11.0 seconds. The first of the Long Distance races was next on the track with David Lewis and Team Manager Richard Kinnersley taking on the 3000m Steeplechase, Both Lewis and Kinnersley got involved with the leading pack from the gun Lewis stretching away for his personal best time of 10.09 at the end to come 5^th in the A whilst Kinnersley 11secs behind took 2^nd in the B string. Back to the sprints saw the 110m high hurdles lining up with Dyer lining up again in one of his favourite events, from the start took the lead and crossed the line completing his 2^nd consecutive undefeated season at the event. In the B string Brian Flatley having seen dyer did exactly the same except won the race by over 2 seconds and resounding clean sweep. The Shot putt carried the afternoon with two 4^th places with Dyer again showing his versatility throwing just over 12metres to come with again Nathan Walters backing him up throwing 10metres
The next Jump event started at the other end of the field with specialist Junior Jumper Ryan Bonifas and senior Brian Flatley both cruising over the bar easily winning both strings. Bonifas jumping 1.95m and Flatley clearing 1.90m. Readings weakest event of the day was next on the track with the 400m, due to injuries the team came together and specialist hurdler Bertie lewis stepped up to the A string coming last suffering from a tight calf. In the B string Middle distance athlete Allan Stewart fresh from the 800m gave it his all to come 5^th in just over 53seconds. The next middle distance event then moved on to the track with another debuting athlete, Under 17 athlete Jonathan Davies from having a very successful season in the younger age groups was available to compete and took the race on headfirst strategically out kicking the Bristol and west athlete on the back straight to only be pulled back at the finish line for a dead heat just being awarded to Davies in 4.04. In the B string Jonny Roberts entering the race with a late season development in speed stuck in the pack coming 6^th in the B string but smashing 11seconds off his personal best. Back to the Runway saw Flatley and Bonifas lining up in the Triple Jump. Flatley lined up and jumped 12.20m which was good enough to take 6^th whilst Bonifas Hoped stepped and jumped himself into 4^th place in the B string. Back on the Track the 200m was next to get underway with Michael Neville and Rian Corbin taking to the event and smashing the opposition with yet another clean sweep both taking the wins. Neville running 22.2 and Corbin running 22.7. The final field event was the Javelin which saw Captain Dyer taking part in his 7^th and final event of the day with veteran Chris Toms in the B String. The event was highlighted with the match performance from Milton Keynes athlete Mervin Luckwell throwing 80.60m. Dyer had a great result for the first time in 5 years got his Personal best throwing 49.18 coming 3^rd. Toms also throwing a respectful 41.61 came 4^th in the B string. The final event on the track before the relays was the 5000m, which saw Fabian Downs and Jack Gregory lining up, Downs now training for ½ marathons and making tremendous improvements in his time strategically played the race well sitting in till 800m to go and stepped the pace up to open a 50m gap taking the victory. Gregory having had a long track season elected himself for the distance and showed his middle distance kick at the end taking 2 athletes in the final 400m to come 3^rd. The first relay to get under way was the 4x100m which saw a new face in the relay through Ben Pearson taking the first leg and running a strong out of the blocks leg to pass to Michael Neville who blasted up the back straight passing smoothly to Sam Hickman running a really strong bend to pass to Rian Corbin who opened the lead and took the win holding off a last second dash attempt from the Bristol and West quartet. The Final Event of the Day as ever was the 4x400m. This saw Rian Corbin lining up first to take the team out and secured a solid start to be passed on to the middle distance contingent of Allan Stewart who held his position to pass onto Carl Bradbury who closed the gap on the 4^th place so that out of nowhere running a blinding last leg Michael Nevill streaked out a 48.6 second last lap holding reading to 3^rd place. Which with all the other results over the day gave Reading the victory for the second year at the Qualifier winning by 4 points.

Reading have secured there place back in the British National League for the 2012 season and now know what needs to be done at national level standard.