THE Basingstoke and Mid Hants Athletics Club Junior awards evening was a great celebration of the club’s up and coming talent as well as an opportunity to recognise the contribution of athletes, officials, coaches, team managers and other volunteers.

Presentations were made for winners of the club championships and awards for best performances on the track, in the field and through the cross country season, as well as some other special awards.

The Club Championship trophies were presented by some of the club’s young international athletes – Mair Edwards, Caius Joseph, James Beeks and Maddie Deadman all wearing their international kit to inspire the younger athletes and demonstrate that the hard work in training can bring great rewards and pride for the club.

Other awards were presented by Cllr Simon Bound and new club chairman, Paul Sandford.

Two impressive video presentations were also part of the evening. The first was an insight into the club’s development over the years with some wonderful footage from the archives, including TV clips from world class performances over the years including Robert Tobin in the 4 x 400 at the Athens Olympics.

It also focussed on the highly qualified team of officials from the Basingstoke club – 10 per cent of all England’s Athletics officials come from the club, and they can often be seen at all the top competitions including the World Championships held in London, this August.

The second video was all about the 2017 season and including many memorable moments, with the voice over provided by two of the young athletes.

Some of the highest achieving young female athletes in the 2017 season were under-13 Ayomide Cole, who broke three Alder Valley league records, and club records in five events in 2017, ranked number one in the UK for 200m and number two in the UK for 100m.

She broke two championship records at the Hampshire County Championships at the beginning of the season.

Isabel Pinder won gold at English Schools Championships for high jump and currently number one for high jump in the UK for under-15.

She broke championship record a Hampshire County Championships, she matched the club record for high jump and broke the U15 record for 800m.

Under-17 Rebecca Bullock broke the club record for 800m, won a silver medal at the England Athletics Championships and is number seven in the UK for 800m.

Iona Irvine broke club record for under-13 hurdles and is currently number three in the UK and also the number three in the UK for 100m.

The Most promising new athlete were Rece Bryant (male) and Lenka Addington (female).

The most improved athletes were Jack Hampstead (male) and Sienna Richardson (female).