The Junior Awards night made a welcome return on Friday night. Parents, athletes and coaches met in the Longford Suite to celebrate the past seasons achievements.
We were delighted to have club senior athletes Seren Bundy-Davis and Rick Beardsell to present the awards. This summer Seren went to Rio for her first Olympics; Rick has just returned from Australia having won 4 gold medals in the World Masters.
There was recognition for every athlete who competed for the club in last winters Cross County, Road Relays and this summers Track and Field.
Many will have noticed that YDL match reports this season have always included a review of the AAA grade performances attained.
Overall it's been an outstanding season for AAA performances throughout all competitions, smashing last years figure of 67 with 297 graded performances in total. Of those 35 were at grade 1, compared with last season's 2(!)
Athletes received certificates for each graded performance that they attained in the season, as well as AAA badges for their best grade in each event.

Award Winners
u11 Girls Cross Country - Sadie Mannion
u11 Boys Cross Country - Louie McCormack
u13 Girls Cross Country - Lauren Howley
u13 Boys Cross Country - Tom Bentall
u15 Girls Cross Country - Anna Baker
u15 Boys Cross Country - Xavier O'Hare

u11 Girls Track - Isabelle Bryan
u13 Girls Track - Emily Russell
u13 Girls Field - Emily Pemberton
u13 Boys Track - Samuel Hopkins
u13 Boys Field - Louis Morrison
u15 Girls Track - Charlie Seymour
u15 Girls Field - Tasmin Morrison
u15 Boys Track - Dimarco Bowes
u15 Boys Field - Cian Keane

Junior Athlete of the Year Trezeguet Taylor and Jamall Walters

A big thank you to all who made the evening happen, Joe, Donna, Simon, Chris and Altheia for acting as the parents committee; Mike for doing all the organising, pulling the event together and comparing, Seren and Rick for sparing their time and last - but by no means least - to all the parents who attended and lent their support.

A large squad of Trafford athletes took part in the 2nd fixture of the Manchester Area Cross Country League at a waterlogged and muddy Boggart Hole Clough.
For several of the athletes it was their debut for the club and it proved to be a 'baptism of fire!'.
Pride of place goes to the Under 17 Mens team who won their age group. Led home by the consistent Xav O'Hare in 2nd place, the scorers were completed by Jack Wilkinson in 7th and James Norton (in his first club cross country race) in 11th place. They were followed home by the ever-improving Connor Fazakerley 12th, Mikey Kingston 17th, Rushwan Lewis 25th and Louis Poyser 28th.
The Under 15 Boys team were unlucky to only finish 4th. Cynog Williams 7th and Joe Bentall 8th were followed home by Joe Mangan 20th, Alex Bailey 22nd and Matt Torkington 27th. 
In the Under 13 Boys race our team finished 2nd, only 1 point behind the winners. Tom Bentall ran one of his best ever races to finish 2nd ahead of Oliver Choi 8th and Louie McCormack 12th. In a large field, they were followed home by 3 newcomers - Jonny Stock 27th, Joe Read 34th and Luca Costello 39th. Charlie Massey also completed the tough 3k course in 49th place.
We only had one boy in the Under 11 race and that was Ralf Syrett who finished strongly in 34th place for his debut race.
It was encouraging to see 7 Trafford girls taking part.
Best placed was Cleo Bentall in 20th place in the Under 11 race, followed home by Olivia Holbrook 40th and Helen Worsley 68th.
Also running well in the testing conditions were Lauren Howley 33rd and Emily Wolstencroft 37th in the Under 13 Girls race.
Rebecca Young finished 33rd in the Under 15 Girls event and the reliable Anna Baker was 13th in the Under 17 Womens race.
The next league fixture is at Heaton Park on Saturday 3rd December when we hope to have an even bigger turnout.

The final relay event of the season was the National Cross Country Relay Championships at a very cold and windy Berry Hill Park in Mansfield. 
Top performance of the day by a Trafford team was an excellent 13th place out of 71 teams by our Under 20 Mens team of Zak Miller, Nathan Townsend and Danny Lawton.
Our Under 20 'B' team of Seamus Bradbury, Matt Sutton and Mac O'Malley finished 41st.
94 teams started the Under 17 Mens race. After a great first leg by Xav O'Hare, followed by solid runs by Mikey Kingston and Jack Wilkinson, the team ended up in 24th place. Connor Fazakerley continues to improve with a solo run on the 'B' team.
The Under 15 Boys team of Joe Bentall, Cynog Williams and Alex Bailey all ran well to finish 40th in their race out of 92 starting teams.
An unfortunate  mix up in the changeover zone meant that our U13 Boys team of Tom Bentall, Oliver Choi and Louie McCormack only finished 46th out of 91 teams, but this was a good result in the circumstances.
The winter relay season is now finished and for the first time ever Trafford managed to finish Boys teams in every age group in all 5 Championships.

Photos © Adrian Royle