National Rankings 2006 Season

With the winter season well and truly underway, now is as good a time as any to reflect on results from earlier in the year and outline the national rankings, which many of the Richmond and Zetland athletes have achieved. No less than 16 athletes of all ages recorded rankings on the national database, which is a fantastic achievement.

In the men’s V40 age group, Jon Orange is flying high in 2nd place nationally for his 1500m time of 4.00.07 in the NYSD league, then his performance at Darlington in August saw him jump to 8th for the 10K distance with a time of 31.56. Back in April, his performance at the London Marathon saw him ranked 17th overall for the longer distance with 2.36.43 and 22nd for his 26.49 clocking over 5 miles at Thirsk in June. In the same age group, Shaun Purkiss achieved 121st position for his London Marathon time of 2.50.43 and 211th over 5 miles in the same event as Jon. Chris Peacock achieved recognition for his preferred distance of 800m for the men’s V45 category, ranking 21st with a time of 2.13.4 at Jarrow in August. Champion thrower John Wild really did himself justice, claiming 6th overall in the Hammer and Discus disciplines with distances of 39.76m and 40.13m respectively, not forgetting 8th in the Javelin with 36.39m and 17th in the Shot Putt with 10.39m. James Wardman was the only Senior Man to claim honours in the national rankings, with his time of 1.57.45 for 800m, achieved at the Sheffield Indoor Arena back in January.

Fergus Roberts

In the younger age groups, two of the Under 13 Boys gained recognition, with Fergus Roberts taking 66th position over the distance of 1500m with a time of 4.57.00 on his home track at Catterick in June, as well as 71st over 800m, which he ran in 2.25.3 at Darlington in May. Nathaniel Frankland mastered several distances from 100m, for which he was ranked 105th with 13.3 seconds at Gateshead to 71st for 800m in 2.25.3 on the same day! He also has the credit of 124th position for 1500m, clocking 5.03.4 for the distance.

The ladies proved to be just as adept in all events and second claim athlete, Andrea Woodvine is in pole position with 5 distances ranked during the year. She has claimed 91st over 1500m in the Senior Ladies category with 4.30.36 and 78th over 3000m, coming in at 9.51.66. Andrea also proves to be strong over the longer distances, with a time of 17.01.84 for 5000m giving her 34th place, a fantastic 18th position for 10,000m with 37.13.77 and 90th nationally for her Half Marathon clocking of 81.45. Kelley Haniver also has an impressive 4 distances recorded so far this year. Her time of 10.13.4 over 3000m gained her 153rd place, while 19.27.16 over 5000m gave her 119th position. Breaking the course record at the Richmond Castle 10K in October provided her with a time of 39.13 and 420th fastest over the distance, while she took 295th for her Half Marathon time of 86.47 at Fleet in March. Javelin thrower Lyndsey Johnston finished a fantastic 33rd overall in the Under 17 ladies field, with a distance of 33.8m, while sprinter Leanne Shaw was 79th over 200m with 26.05 and 55th for 100m in 12.6. In the same age group Jo Adams claimed 86th position with a PB over 800m at York in June with a time of 2.19.2 and sister Rosie Adams was 173rd over the same distance, clocking in at 2.23.5.

For the Under 15 Girls, sprinter Ruth Hill achieved two rankings - 32nd over 100m with 12.8 and 29th over 200m with her PB and club record of 26.2. Brogan Fraser was also recognised for her efforts over 100m with 13.3, meaning that she claimed 222nd position, whereas Hollie Carrick achieved 46th overall with her throw of 9.56m in the Shot Putt at York. Charlotte Dinsdale was the only Under 13 Girl to gain a national ranking and took 92nd place with her distance of 7.59m in the Shot Putt at Gateshead in August. These are exceptional performances and show the high standards achieved by all the athletes.