Reading throwers aiming for the top after super season

Published 29 Sep 2009 10:00 2 Comments

READING Athletics Club could be set to unearth the next Steve Backley or Tessa Sanderson after their javelin squad celebrated another highly successful season.

The club introduced a training squad for a handful of promising young throwers at the start of 2008 and has gone from strength to strength ever since.

There are now more than 20 male and female throwers, aged between 11-18, in the squad, which includes some of the best age group throwers in the country.

Under the guidance of javelin coach Ivan Peacock, several Reading athletes have impressed at county regional and even national level.

George Mattimoe is ranked fourth in the country in the under-13s boys age group despite only taking the sport up recently.

He smashed the Reading club record for his age group three times in one season, culminating in a throw of 38 metres 85 centimetres at a meet in Bournemouth last month.

He helped the club secure the Alder Valley League title and is already impressing with a heavier javelin as he prepares to move up the under-15 age group next season.

Chelsea Pritchard's debut season began with six no throws in her first ever competition but, following some hard work on her technique, she recorded a personal best of 26.44m last month, which ranks her 15th in the country for u13 girls.

Pritchard clearly has a talent for the throwing events as she also boasts a UK top 30 ranking in both the discus and shot and set a new club record in the u13 girls hammer.

Tom Kingston was sidelined for most of 2008 with injury but returned to the u20s section with a bang this year as he built up a personal best throw of 51.63m last month.

He now has his sights set firmly on the English Schools National Finals in 2010.

Ben Taplin has also made huge strides in 2009 and has been a big points scorer for the club in the Premier Division of the National Young Athletes League.

Along with fellow u17 thrower Robbie Galardo, Taplin helped Reading secure a place at the Auxiliary National Finals in Birmingham in September, which they won by a significant margin.

Taplin threw a personal best of 49.59m that day and won the u17 male field athlete of the match award for his efforts.

He extended his pb to 49.70m later in the season and is confident of passing the 50m mark when he moves up to the u20s age group next year.

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• 

  colin pritchard
  Unregistered User
  Oct 6, 12:11
  Report comment

  set new pb on 03/10/09 with a whopping 29.04m to go to 3rd in the uk rankings for javelin
  
  Recommend?   Yes 0     No 0

• 

  colin pritchard
  Unregistered User
  Oct 6, 12:11
  Report comment

  set new pb on 03/10/09 with a whopping 29.04m to go to 3rd in the uk rankings for javelin
  
  Recommend?   Yes 0     No 0

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