National Sportshall Athletics Final
National Indoor Arena Birmingham
Sunday April 18th 2004
Young athletes from Amber Valley Athletic Club got the chance to meet their sporting hero at the weekend when they competed in the National Sportshall Athletics Final at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham.
Representing Derbyshire, the U13 and U15 athletes met Mark Lewis-Francis, GB International sprinter, who is himself a former U15 Sportshall All-Rounder gold medallist. Now acting as the sports Ambassador, Lewis-Francis thrilled the athletes and the large crowd by presenting medals, signings autographs and doing his own display of some of the sportshall events.
The Final is the culmination of regional heats and involved teams from as far a field as the Channel Islands, Northern Ireland and the north of Scotland. Competing against some of the best athletes in the country the Derbyshire team featured predominantly Amber Valley AC and Chesterfield AC athletes.
Despite coping with several last minute team changes due to unavailability and injury, the girls team came a creditable 8th place (out of 12) and the boys team 7th place (again out of 12). Individual performances of note came from Claudia Rogers (5th in standing long jump), Alexandra Turner (7th in indoor high jump) and Yvette Bowler (7th indoor shot) all out of 24 athletes. The best relay performance on the day, featuring AVAC athletes was the girls 4 x 2 lap relay. Alex and Claudia were joined by Chloe Smith and Derby ACs Emily Buckley. Coming 2nd in their heat to make the final, they pushed on every leg, being in medal contention throughout. However the judges, after lengthy deliberation, awarded the girls the bronze medal despite getting the same time as the team judged in silver medal place.
The AVAC athletes now turn their attention to the track where the summer outdoor track and field season is just getting underway.