| Chairmans Update The last two months have been busy ones even by the club’s usual standards. We held the final Midweek Open of the season on Wednesday night, and despite the rain there was another good turnout. Over the summer we have had more than 1400 entries for our Midweek Opens, and I would like to thank our partners Running2Time (Sally and Mark) for all their hard work, as well as our officials and volunteers who have worked hard all summer to make these events fun and worthwhile. Please don’t forget to support our athletes and team managers at our awards night on September 19th, when the club will celebrate another great summer of track and field athletics. Tickets are still available. And on October 4th our hard working volunteers will be meeting for an informal dinner, where again the club will thank them for their time and commitment. Almost as soon as the final track event of the season is finished (September 21st, Veterans Southern area final, featuring our men’s and women’s vets teams against the other best teams in the South of England), the cross country season will be upon us and the long winter odyssey around muddy fields and woods begins again – with OCAC looking to build on its brilliant performances last season in both Chiltern and Oxfordshire Leagues. The track will not be allowed to rest though – in the autumn our very own John Conway will be digging up two of the throws circles and replacing them with brand new ones, fit to last for the next 50 years. And when that is finished he’ll be giving the infield some TLC with topdressing and re-seeding. And we hope the regular winter trainers will notice a big improvement in the floodlighting, as we are spending £28,000 on replacing the final three sets of lights on the far side of the track with new LEDS, saving the club £000s in future electricity bills and maintenance. Hopefully this work will be all be done before the end of November. Enjoy your track break, those of you taking one, and good luck with winter training. Chairman, Richard Hart, September 11th, 2025 ——————————————— Coaching and Officiating We are always keen to hear from any parent or athlete who either has experience of coaching or officiating, or who would like to start helping out in one of these areas. There are lots of opportunities to receive expert tuition in the skills needed, and the club will support you by paying for any course that you attend. Why not think about getting more involved? ——————————————— Youth Age Groups These age groups are going from strength to strength we have a very enthusiastic bunch with great potential. In Under 17 Girls this season Ruby Rogers won Bronze at English Schools for 100m and then represented England in the SIAB International coming 4th and being part of the winning U17 4x 100 relay team. She also represented the winning Blackheath & Bromley squad in the YDL National Finals Upper Age Group (She 2nd claimed this club as OCAC didn’t enter a U17 Girls team this time). Congratulations to the following teams for winning their Oxfordshire League groups. U9 Boys U17 Women Overall U13 – U20 Ladies team Inter Counties Congratulations to the following for being selected for Oxfordshire in the Inter Counties held at Horspath on Sunday, there was a good sized crowd and excellent performances despite the weather. U15B 200m and 800m – Michael Emmanuel 80mH – George Coyle Shot – Sean Pillar U15G 200m and 800m – Nia Parry-Spring 300m and High Jump – Tresaray Codrington Long Jump – Lola Williams Triple Jump – Esther Morris U17B 100mH – Bertie Lee Discus – Adam Bennett U17G 100m and 200m – Ruby Rogers 400m – Amelie Lorimer 800m and 1500m – Charlotte Campbell Pole Vault -Cerys Obbink Shot – Isla Wooding Discus and Hammer – Joyce Ligeti-Pretorius U20M 100m – Kubrat Hruzewicz LJ – Albert Wootten ——————————————— OCAC Academy You may or may not remember back in May receiving info about the OCAC Academy. I am pleased to say that the Academy squad has been in full swing all across the summer and has passed some amazing milestones. Our athletes have had a very productive year with innumerable PBs, county and inter county titles, invites to Nationals in Birmingham, English All Schools and our very first international call up. While I would love to mention everyone by name this note would be far too long, but a couple of shout outs. What a season for Ruby Rogers, you’ve heard all about her exploits elsewhere in this newsletter, but what a year, county and inter-county champ, bronze at English schools and your first England shirt. I love seeing you in that red England kit, so proud of you. Michael Emmanuel, again what a year, every time you run it seems to be a PB. Massive performances at both English Schools and inter-counties. Angelo Jones, George Coyle and Leo Adiri, your first nationals, well done boys. Evie Barrett, #2 in the UK for javelin with a huge 34.88m, amazing. I have missed too many out, everyone’s achievements have been brilliant. As a reminder the Academy is a new approach to training for our OCAC athletes. Our program is a holistic view of youth development; we look at the individual’s workload on and off the track to best help them reach their full potential. Now that the Academy is up and running, we will soon have visits from our Physio and Nutritionist. This is an integral part of our ethos in developing the whole person, not just an athlete. Our athletes get to choose from 16 sessions across the week that includes, sprints, middle distance, throws, jumps and gym. All of our sessions are fully supervised by qualified coaches. If you would like to hear more or trial a session please email, Bryan.walker@oxfordcityac.com. Bring on the winter season! ——————————————— Seniors The senior team won promotion to D2 in SAL, they won Division 3 in outstanding style with great performances all round. Here are the league tables, some long and exciting journey’s await in Division In the Inter Counties the following noteable performances SW 400m: Daisy Palmer 64.3 SM SP: Billy McCauley 13m 93 ——————————————— Veterans/Masters The Vets/Masters British Championships were in Derby last weekend and we had the following medalists. Fantastic stuff, including a Scottish Record for Susan Jones in the Javelin double Gold for Stephen McCauley and TRIPLE Gold for Popsie Wootten! GOLD Popsie Wootten W55 100m (14.25), 200m (28.85), 400m (67.93). Stephen McCauley M50 Discus (50m14), Shot (14m87). Susan Jones W60 Shot (8m14). SILVER Susan Jones W60 Javelin (16m58). Weight (12m71) *Scottish W60 Record Sarah Davies W50 1500m (5:10.52). BRONZE Jacqui Cherry W50 Discus (24m00). David Crouch M75 100m (16.35). 200m (33.25). Sharon Hutchings W50 Shot (8m93). Susan Jones W60 Hammer (29m75). Michele Wakefield W55 400m (82.37). The Vets Southern Final is on 21st September and then the European Masters Championships in Madeira 8th – 20th Oct. ——————————————— Cross Country OCAC competes in a two Cross Country leagues and a variety of single event races throughout the winter (October to March). These events are open to senior and junior men and women across all age groups. For the Junior teams, if your athlete would like to run Cross Country this coming season then please join this Spond group where you can find a fixture list and information for newcomers ——————————————— Upcoming Events 19th September 2025 – Club Awards Night Friday 20th September 2025 – The Southern Road Relays details on this link 21st September 2025 – Vets Southern Final 8th – 20th October 2025 – European Masters Championships in Madeira 12th October 2025 – Oxford Half Club Awards Night – PB awards for all U13 – U17s (thank you Ian McCullough for organising these!) – A medal + certificates for all Quadkids showing their PBs from this season. – Individual awards in all age groups U9s to Seniors. – John Conway has built a BBQ using his own bare hands and will be demonstrating it live on the night whilst cooking us all some lovely sausages. (Salad and rolls also available) – There will be some relays for all of our enjoyment and entertainment. Do please buy your tickets soon if you intend to come along so that we know how many people to cater for. Buy your tickets here ——————————————— Any Other Business We have lots of members and their families running in the various Park Runs every Saturday at 9am. Horspath usually has over 100 runners with coffee in the clubhouse afterwards. It’s a fun 5k to get your weekend started. Give it a try and join the community. Power of 10 is an amazing resource, here is a link to our club members performances for this year you can also click on an individuals name to see how they rank Nationally or look at how fast Dina Asher-Smith was when she was Under 13. This is the first edition of our newsletter, no photos this time as we are formulating our privacy policy. If there is anything missing, or you would like to contribute or highlight anything please contact Toby Rogers |