30/12/2021 15:25:26

Shane Smith

What a year! Head endurance Coach Shane Smith reflects on a brilliant year for the Middle Distance Squad… The best ever?

As we near the end of 2021, a year much improved on from 2020 in terms of the on-going COVID pandemic, I can reflect on a year which may well go down as the best squad performance ever? How can I be sure? Well I’ve been involved in the squad for the last 16 years, with the last 14 years as head endurance coach and I struggle to recall a better squad performance, for sure we have had greater heights (Emily Williams brilliant Silver in the U18 European Championships) but in terms of consistency and sheer numbers we have performed at every level in all age groups in all three disciplines (Track, Road & Cross Country).

We continue to attract high quality athletes to the squad, with brilliant additions (Dave, Demi & Chelsie Locker & Elsie Robinson to name a few) and we are the leading squad in the County & wider region by any measure you care to use.

In my last blog in July: Glass very half full | Kettering Town Harriers | Kettering Town Harriers (ktharriers.com) I talked about a very full glass in terms of performance, well the glass is positively over flowing now with.....well positivity to be frank, as we come to the end of the year I’m in need of a much larger glass.

Performances have continued to be very strong at the tail end of the track season with a brilliant County Champs  from the squad winning 25 medals, thirteen of them Gold, and this was with many of the ‘A-listers! not competing. There were three members of the squad receiving their first call up to represent England on track, Indie King selected for the Manchester International, Alice Bates & Alice Bennett selected for the School Games National finals and another Midland Counties Champion with Lara Turner winning her first regional championship with Gold in the U15G 800m.

There was considerable success on the roads as well with a brilliant total of 8 athletes (Finley Brooker, Jemima Davey, Jess Lamb, Lara Turner, Ben Brooker, Lucas Mansell, Alice Bates, Demi Locker) all selected to represent their Region at the British 3 mile championship race, the virgin Mini Marathon, reduced this year to 2.6km & held over the finishing section of the London Marathon course.

The Road relays, a firm favourite of the squad, produced some spectacular results with an unprecedented two Gold Medal Winning team performances at the Midland Counties Road Relays for the U13G (Jess Lamb, Tiggy Guthrie-Brown, Jemima Davey), with Jemima winning the gold for the days fastest lap which was also the fastest ever recorded by an U13G in the history of this competition!

The U17W (Alice Bates, Alice Bennett, Elsie Robinson) followed suit with a fine team Gold with the largest winning margin on the day. Two weeks later at the National Road Relays the U17W secured a brilliant team Bronze medal with a Gold individual medal for Alice Bates who set the fastest lap winning her first National Championship.       

Alice Bates & Jemima Davey continued their form into the Virgin Mini Marathon, both gaining a top 10 finish (Bates 9^th & Davey 5^th), and in the final significant success in 2021, this time on Cross Country, Jemima Davey set the fastest lap at the National Cross Country Relays for the U13G team.

There are many more successes way too many to mention but I have produced a summary of the record Breaking season below, stick with it…it’s a long read..     

Middle Distance Squad 2021 season.

This season has produced well over 200 PB’s on track, with virtually every member of the squad seeing a lifetime best performance. In terms of UK rankings the squad have 8 athletes ranked in the UK top 10 (2x UK No 2’s, UK 4th, UK 5th, UK 5th, 2x UK No 7’s & a UK 10th), with 14 athletes placed in the UK top 50 and 17 athletes ranked in the UK top 100.

With some athletes having multiple events the squad have produced 9 performances ranked in the UK top 5, 14 performances in the UK top 10, and a total of 28 performances in the UK top 50.

Another measure of the squads success is the fact that 7 good club records have been broken on track this season, Jemima Davey leading the way with a clean sweep in the U13 Girls age group, setting new records for 600m, 800m, and 1500m. Not to be outdone, younger sibling U11 Refferty Davey broke a club records for the 1500m, Jacob Asher-Relf set a new mark for the U15 Boys 800m, and U20 Indienne King broke two club records for the 400m & 800m, and was just 0.1sec from setting a new 200m club record, showing the impressive speed she had gained while training with the Harriers.

Squad UK Rankings 2021 Track

Squad Major Titles/ honours in 2021:

• Senior Girls English Schools Champion (with two others making the ES final in 4^th & 6^th place)
• National Road Relays U17 W fastest lap/ Gold medal & a team Bronze medal
• Midland Counties Road Relays championship team wins for the U13G & U17W
• National XC relays fastest lap for the U13G
• Midland counties 800m Champions for U15G & U20W
• Silver medal in the England U20 Championships
• X6 qualifiers for English Schools finals
• X8 Qualifiers for the British 3 mile championships (Virgin Mini Marathon) representing East Midland & East
• Two athletes selected for the Midland Counties 5k championships in Cardiff
• Two athletes selected to represent England at the Schools Games National finals
• 1 athlete represented for England Junior team at the Manchester International
• 1x athlete selected for the GB Junior team for the Loughborough International

We have a total of x5 Junior Internationals in the squad, and three who are on a British Athletics talent pathway (Youth Talent Programme).

Impressive stuff, our best year ever, I’ll let you make your own mind up, but as I wipe away the spills from the over brimmed glass….. it’s a resounding YES from me!

So a brilliant season to build on in 2022, talking of which what does 2022 hold in store for us? Well COVID/Omicron is causing some worries and is spreading fast, will this result in a lockdown? Personally I don’t think so, and even if it is it will hopefully be a short one. Vaccinations are definitely deadening the impact, so I am ever hopeful that 2022 will be like 2019, back to normal so to speak.

The squad is in great shape, with some great new additions now starting to gain momentum, and some of the younger athletes also starting to flex their muscles it’s exciting times ahead, No matter if it’s a new PB, County Medal, English Schools qualification or the European U18 Championship in Jerusalem there is much to aim for.

Of course there are always movements within a large squad both in and out, so it’s sad to see that Indienne King has decided to move on after her most successful track season ever. I always say that if an athlete really feels a change of club/ coach will help their performance I will simply shake their hand and wish them all the best and I hope Indie will continue the momentum she gained over the past year at Kettering.

So all that is left to do is to thanks everybody who helps make the squad what it is, the magnificent athletes putting in session after session in all weathers all year round, the Coaches & helpers (Cheryl Lamb, John Cairns & Charlotte Mansell in particular, but many others as well), and of course the parents who positively support, taxi, and on occasions console their children (The squad) all year round…this success is in some way down to all of you, so thanks again &

Here’s wishing everybody a Happy & Successful New Year!          

Shane Smith – Head Endurance Coach

Views expressed in this blog are my own views