Oxford City AC Newsletter – March 2026 – Oxford City Athletic Club

Chairman’s Update

As we step into a new chapter for the Club, we want to begin by extending our sincere thanks to Richard Hart for his outstanding service as Chair. Richard’s contribution to the Club spans many years and many roles – as an athlete, coach, official, and dedicated Committee member before taking on the Chair. During his time leading the Club, he championed initiatives that have left a lasting impact, including outreach work with local schools, the creation of an inclusive athletics group (something we would love to see revived if anyone is interested in

leading it!), building of the gym, and the popular Sunday morning QuadKids competitions. His energy and commitment have helped shape the Club into what it is today.

At the AGM in November the membership will have the opportunity to formally vote in a new Chair. If you are interested in being Chair, please speak to a Committee member to begin learning more about how the Club operates.

In the period before the AGM the Committee have created an interim leadership structure,with five co-Chairs working together to guide the Club forward:

Gwyneth Hueter, a veteran athlete, track official and officials’ coordinator for senior and veteran matches;
Elton Jones, a parent, coach and lead for the junior section;
Bryan Walker, a parent, coach and lead of Oxford City Academy;
Myles Fleming, a parent and official; and
Mark Bristow, a parent, veteran athlete and coach.
Supporting the co-Chairs is our new Treasurer, Duncan Lawrence, who is also an athlete and Senior Men’s Captain.

The Club has had a very successful winter Cross Country season, which was slightly less muddy than last year. For the Chiltern Cross Country League, which is always a challenging league due to the distances needed to travel, we finished in 7th place overall. Our Senior Women and U17/U20 Women both finished 3rd , with the overall Senior Team finishing 4 th which is an outstanding result, as we only returned to the first division of the league last year.

In the Oxfordshire Cross Country League, the Senior Women’s Team finished 1st and the Senior Men’s Team finished 2nd . Melissa Hawtin and Jonathan Davies were 2nd in Women’s and Men’s individual results respectively.

For the Juniors our U17 Women’s Team were first placed, with Amelie Lorimer, Sylvie

Kentish and Amber Macenkezie being 1st , 3rd and 4th in the individual competition.

Our youngest athletes had a strong season with the U9 Boys Team 1st , U9 Girls Team 2nd , U11 Girls Team 2nd and the U11 Boys’ team 3rd . Across the Junior age groups 77 athletes took part in Cross Country matches.

During the winter season the Juniors also have Sportshall, and this year the U13 and U15 Girls won the Oxfordshire Championship.

Congratulations to all Seniors and Juniors that took part in the winter competitions.

With Spring upon us the Club’s focus now turns to the Track and Field Season. We start with the annual Spring Club Clean on the 21st March and then we host three home matches in April with the Juniors having Wessex and Oxfordshire League matches, and the Veterans a Southern Counties Veterans match. Also the Wednesday midweek opens restart on the 22nd April.

We encourage all athletes to take part in matches wherever possible —especially away fixtures—as we cannot succeed as a Club without full team participation.

‘Competing is one of my favorite parts of this sport. Being able to see all the work you have put in result in strong performances and PBs. And of course it is a bit scary but the amazing part of being part of a club is the people you are surrounded by help with that. The friends that you make in athletics are in my opinion the best friends you will have and being able to spend the weekend encouraging and being encouraged by eachother is great fun. To anyone hesitating about competing this season I strongly recommend doing it. It is a great feeling knowing in yourself that you tried your absolute best and put forward strong performance no matter how you place. And at the end of the day its a really good time and your bound to enjoy it’ – Grace age 15.

Quad kid Ariana says: “competing is fun because the adrenaline makes you faster, and the nerves turn into energy. It doesn’t matter where you come, just that you try your best and have fun. I love it when we all have Oxford City tattoos and face paints!”

We recognise that for some families the cost to get to away matches can be an issue and we encourage you to speak to your coach if that is a concern.

Just as importantly, all the summer events rely heavily on volunteers. For Junior matches, we ask parents to contribute their time two or three times a year, whether as a trained official, helper, or assisting with setup or catering. For Senior and Veteran matches, where there are fewer parent volunteers, we ask the athletes themselves to step in and support as officials or helpers, even if this means working around your own events. Without this shared effort, matches cannot go ahead and the burden on our current volunteers becomes unsustainable.

By working together, we can ensure the continued success and spirit of our Club – and make the upcoming season one to be proud of.

Midweek Open Meeting Series 2026

Wed 22nd April

Wed 20th May

Wed 17th June

Wed 15th July

Wed 26th August

Wed 16th September

Link to registration is here

Masters Championships Round-Up

February and March have seen a number of championships take place for our Masters athletes, to conclude the indoor and outdoor winter seasons.

First up was the SCVAC Championships at Lee Valley on 14th February, where Popsie Wootten won gold in her W55 200m and 400m classes, Amy Jackson won gold in her W50 60m and 200m events and John Exley won gold in his M75 800m and 400m, plus silver in M75 200m.

The 2026 British Masters Indoors Championships were held in Lee Valley Stadium on 21st-22nd February. Our track athletes Popsie Wootten won gold in W55 400m and bronze in W55 200m, while John Exley won silver in W75 800m and Amy Jackson won bronze in the W50 60m. Throwers Stephen McCauley won gold in W50 Shot Put and Susan Jones won bronze in W60 Shot Put.

Amy also medalled at the EMA London Masters International on 7th March by winning gold in the W50 60m at Lee Valley.

Also that weekend, were the British Masters Winter Throws Championships at Horspath on 7th-8th March. Susan Jones won 3 golds in W60 Hammer, Weight and Discus; Sharon Hutchings won silver in W55 Javelin and Jacqui Cherry won bronze in W50 Discus. It was also the first competitions that used the 2 new circles at Horspath and (after a little tweaking) the consensus was that they performed very well – thank you to OCAC parent John Conway who resurfaced them over the winter.

Lastly, a huge vote of thanks to all the officials and helpers that worked tirelessly over a chilly weekend, many from OCAC – your support makes it all possible!

Cross Country Update – March 2026

Oxford City Sen/Vet/U20 Women rounded off the Oxfordshire Cross Country League in style by being crowned Division One champions, over 100 points clear of second place Headington. 25 ladies turned out at least once for the club, and 12 ran in 4 or more fixtures, making it a season to remember.

Over the 5 fixtures individual honours went to Melissa Hawtin who finished 2nd Senior Woman overall and Sarah Davies the 3rd V50.

The great team performances across many of the female age groups also meant that Oxford City women and girls came away with the overall league winners shield.

Pic: Oxford City Women’s team at Round 5 Finmere.

The men’s Cross Country team also finished their season at Finmere, managing to secure 2nd place overall in the Oxfordshire league. Jonathan Davies was second overall and first U20, and Stewart Thorp was 2nd v70. A really good team effort over the season saw 17 senior men score at some point for the team, illustrating the growing depth at the club.

Our fantastic juniors scooped up lots of medals too. Congratulations to:

Vika Hardy – U9 Girls – 3rd place

Rorke Rowlett – U11 Boys – 2nd place

Kitty Mumme-Young – U13 Girls – 3rd place

Amelie Lorimer – U17 Girls – 1st place

Sylvie Kentish – U17 Girls – 3rd place

In the team competitions (scorers named):

U9 Girls – 2nd – Vika, Sophie L, Sophie M-Y, Freya K.

U9 Boys – 1st – Leon, Henry, Jesse, Theseus, Adam, Charlie.

U11 Girls – 2nd – Alice M-Y. Isobel L, Harriet H-S, Alice H-S, Ariana.

U11 Boys – 3rd – Rorke, Joe, Edward, Eli, Joshua, Elliot.

U13 Girls – 3rd – Kitty, Leila, Toni, Freya H, Izzy C.

U15 Boys – 3rd – Evan, Ted, Caleb, George.

U17 Girls – 1st – Amelie, Sylvie, Amber, Charlotte, Fran

Many OCAC athletes represented Oxfordshire in the recent Intercounties (Nottingham) and English Schools (Liverpool) national finals. Amelie Lorimer was our highest placed Junior athlete in both races, finishing an outstanding 21st and 19th respectively.

Will Potts, Harry Cann and Peter Fleming at the Intercounties in Nottingham.

Gemma Bridge (52nd) and Rebecca Frake (135th) finished 2nd and 3rd Oxfordshire at the Senior Women’s Cross Country Intercounties in Nottingham on March 7th. Robert Doorly, Duncan Lawrence & Aaron Simpson all ran excellently in the men’s race. Congratulations as well to the four U20s who ran for Oxfordshire, Izzy Haines-Gray, Will Potts, Harry Cann & Peter Fleming – very well done!

We will wrap up the Cross Country Season with our awards presentation at the track at 10am on Saturday 28th March, after Parkrun. Everyone is welcome to join us!

Sarah Davies, Duncan Lawrence and John Kentish

Sportshall

Congratulations to the athletes that represented Oxfordshire in the South East Sportshall Championships in Burgess Hill earlier in the month. There are some great photos on our Facebook group shared by Alicia James. Special congratulations to Zac Chamberlain and Emy Lewisman in the older age group both left with silver medals for the Oxfordshire team.

🏆 Oxford City AC Success at the 2026 Oxford County Sportshall Championships!

Huge congratulations to our athletes on an incredible Sportshall season, with the U13 Girls and U15 Girls crowned Oxfordshire Champions! 👏

The girls teams showed fantastic commitment and performances throughout the winter to secure overall 1st place in the 2026 Sportshall league.

✨ Standout performances included:

🥇 U11 Boys Obstacle Relay – 1:30.7

Henry O’Donnell

Leon Nowakowski

Elliott Tosti

Joseph Conway

🥇 U11 Girls Obstacle Relay – 1:32.1

Matilda O’Donnell

Elizabeth Smith

Zoryana Trygubenko

Maya Anane

🥇 U11 Girls – 1 Lap

Maya Anane – 13.40

🥇 U13 Boys – 4 Laps

Zach Chamberlain – 51.9

🥇 Paarlauf – 1:45.1

Zach Chamberlain & Kamil Abubakar

🥇 U13 Girls 4×2 Lap Relay – 1:44.3

Yaroslava Trygubenko

Lorna Breuker

Sameera Abubakar

Lilija Sadler

🥇 U15 Girls – 2 Laps

Anna Fegyveres-Nagy – 25.0

🥇 U15 Girls 4×2 Lap Relay – 1:44.3

Grace McCulloch

Anna Fegyveres-Nagy

Miliyana Projcic-Miles

Orla O’Flaherty

👏 Special mention x2

1.⁠ ⁠Lorna Breuker, who won U13 Overall Silver in her age category.

2.⁠ ⁠Miliyana Projcic-Miles who won U15 Overall Bronze in her age category.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers, coaches and parents who supported the team week after week. Your help makes this possible! 🙌

❄️ That’s a wrap for the indoor season…

☀️ Next stop: Summer Track & Field!

We can’t wait to see our athletes competing again for Oxford City AC 💙

2026 Motavation Road Race Series

The 2026 Motavation Series is now open for entries. Information on the series can be found here. This series comes highly recommended – it is made up of 5 races on held Thursday nights over the summer, with distances ranging from 5.9 – 8.4km. Open to athletes aged 16+

Please use the code and link below to enter, with a £15 discount on the entry price for the series.

OCAC discount code: 9hcop58h28. Entry here

Oxfordshire AA Road Race Grand Prix

The end of the cross country season signalled the start of the Oxfordshire road race grand prix with the Goring 10K on March 8th. Nick Coupe flew the flag for Oxford City finishing 12th and 2nd V40 in a time of 37min 59.

For full details see this link.

29/03/2026 White Horse Half Marathon *Race Full*

30/04/2026 Mota-vation Charlton

04/05/2026 Chalgrove 10K

28/06/2026 Thame 10K

05/07/2026 Didcot 5

02/08/2026 Hooky 6

05/08/2026 Alchester Summer 5K

16/08/2026 Headington 5

05/09/2026 Cotswold Classic 10

27/09/2026 Hanney 5

03/10/2026 Woodstock 12

18/10/2026 Abingdon Marathon

29/11/2026 Eynsham 10K

OCAC Academy

Where does the time go? It’s hard to believe we’re writing yet another newsletter. As always, it’s been a busy month in Academy. During the past month the squad continues to reach milestones and smash PBs. A couple of standout performances for Grace McCulloch, who has twice surpassed her PB, putting the shot past 8m! Grace, who knew all that training would pay off? As well as this, Toros Adams sailed to a new PB in the HJ with an incredible 1.87m. Finally, Holly Simpson has for the first time jumped over 4m (4.06m) in competition. What a way to finish the indoor season! A massive well done to all.

On top of these stellar performances, we have athletes reaching new PRs in the gym as we complete our last lifting circuit before the competitive season. Every week I get feedback from the gym coaches about how incredible our athletes are and how impressive their Olympic lifts have become. Needless to say, your coach is incredibly proud of the work and effort you’re all putting in.

Finally, as we near competition season it is important to speak about mindset and expectations. I hear the term Growth mindset used all the time, while this is great, often we’re not really sure what it means. Having a growth mindset is far greater than being, or thinking, positive. Having a Growth mindset is about accepting challenge to your life, be that school, work or training, and taking them head on. Beyond accepting challenge, it is being brave enough to admit when it doesn’t go as planned and working on new ways to develop ourselves. A Growth mindset allows us the ability to admit when we get it wrong and helps us find new ways to move forward.

The alternative is the Fixed mindset. Now that sounds dangerous, but believe me, we all have a little Fixed mindset in us, don’t worry, its normal. Now our Fixed mindset tells us that when we try hard, we deserve a reward. If that reward doesn’t arrive, our fixed mindset tries to tell us its ok to back-off, deny the impact it has and possibly quit. I am going to ask you not to listen to that little voice (sometimes very loud voice), and plough on.

As athletes and people, you are more than one result. Keep grinding and stay the course, your rewards will come, you just may not see them yet.

Expectations. When it comes to track, I am hopeful that you’re all setting goals; goals are good. In Academy I ask all of our athletes to set goals, but these may not be as you would think. We don’t focus on times or distances, our emphasis is on performance indicators, what’s that I hear you say? Pending your event these might be, knee drive, cycle, leg swing or punching arms, whichever you choose this is the goal. Demonstrate technical execution and the times, distance or height, will come.

Just remember goals are not expectations. We plan to execute, but we don’t expect it. Track is hard. There will be days when you have planned everything meticulously but, sadly, it doesn’t mean everything will go to as you plan. When it doesn’t, remember your growth mindset. Training and competing are just one part of the puzzle, if it doesn’t go to plan be brave and ask why it didn’t work. Assess your execution and take this new challenge head on. I know you can do it.

Best regards,

Coach Walker, Director of Academy

Bryan.walker@oxfordcityac.com

Results blast

And here is the new Club Power of 10 Link

Any Other Business

Club Clean up! Saturday 21st March 9am-11:30am.

Let’s Get Season Ready!

Saturday 21 March | 9:00am – 11:30am

As we prepare for the start of the new athletics season, we’re asking all members, parents and supporters to join us for a Club Clean-Up Morning at Oxford City Athletics Club. It is part of your commitment to your club to help several times a year as needed.

Our facilities need a good tidy-up after the winter months, and many hands make light work! We’ll be cleaning, organising and freshening up the track and the club room to make sure everything is ready for this season’s competitions. Jobs include oiling hurdles, removing moss from the cages, mending nets, painting, sweeping, collecting rubbish, cobweb removals, windows cleaning etc.

Whether you can stay for the whole session or just drop in for an hour, your help will make a real difference. Cake will be provided and the cafe will be open.

Please bring gloves if you have them. Cleaning equipment will be provided but bringing your own ensures there is enough for everyone.

Let’s work together to get our club looking its best for the new season — we hope to see as many of you there as possible!

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