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

Co-Chairs Introduction

Welcome to our latest newsletter.

The recent spell of exceptionally hot weather has certainly been a talking point. With a Red Weather Warning in place and player welfare our foremost concern, the decision was taken to cancel training sessions for our Under-18 athletes. While disappointing, the safety of our young members must always come first, and we would like to thank everyone for their understanding and support.

Looking ahead, we are excited to celebrate a major milestone in the club’s history. On Sunday 20th September, we will mark our 80th birthday with a special day of celebrations, including our Awards Night and the official naming of the Finch Hart Stand.

This is a particularly fitting tribute to Ray Finch and Richard Hart, who have each dedicated an extraordinary amount of their time, energy and commitment to our club over many years. Their contribution has helped shape the club we know today. Although they are no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the club, their presence around the ground is greatly missed, and it is only right that we recognise the lasting impact they have had on generations of players, volunteers and supporters.

Many readers may also have noticed an increasing number of requests for volunteers to help at events and around the club. The simple reason is that Ray and Richard were carrying out a huge amount of work behind the scenes, often without recognition and always with the club’s best interests at heart. With neither of them able to continue in those roles, it has highlighted just how much they contributed and how important our wider volunteer community is to the club’s future.

As we celebrate our past and look forward to the future, I would encourage everyone who can spare some time to get involved. Whether helping at an event, supporting a fundraiser or volunteering in another capacity, every contribution makes a difference and helps ensure our club continues to thrive for many years to come.

As part of securing the club’s future, we are also seeking three new Directors to join the Community Interest Company that is responsible for overseeing the club. This is an excellent opportunity for individuals who are passionate about the club and its role within the community to help shape its future direction. The role does not require specialist athletics knowledge, just a willingness to contribute ideas, provide oversight and support the continued development of the club. If you would like to find out more, please speak to a member of the Committee.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing many of you at our 80th birthday celebrations in September.

Road Running

Despite a very warm finish to the month, resulting in Mota-vation Race 3 being postponed into early July, our athletes on the road have had a very successful month.

Beginning with Mota-vation 2 in Oxford, our runners had an impressive race. Undeterred by the hottest ever May day just two days earlier, both Isabel H-G (Mark Pitt) and Melissa H won their respective U19W and SL age categories. This is the second win in a row for Issy, and both are currently first in their respective categories. Sarah D is embroiled in a battle for second in their category, currently sitting just one point above third. On the Mens’ side, we have an impressive showing from our V70M athletes, with Richard G, Bryan V and Stewart T being 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. Overall, both our Ladies’ and Mens’ teams are currently first “small teams”. Mota-vation 3 in Combe looks to be intense – keep your eye out for the results!

The annual Otmoor Challenge 10km and HM was a far more sensible temperature, starting at a balmy 20C. In the 10km, Jamie G ran a blistering run to finish as first woman and third overall, an impressive feat in a field of 136. In the HM, a course advertised as being around “some of Oxfordshire’s most beautiful countryside”, both Michael G and Marcus H finished 4th in their respective categories.

Finally, “Run Jericho” was an excellent event. With the option of a 10km around Port Meadow, 5km along the Oxford Canal or a 1-mile for primary-aged children, all starting and finishing at St Barnabas Primary School. Four OCAC athletes completedthe 1-mile course. In the 5km, both our male and female teams won overall, with particular highlights being Yaroslava T, Hector T and Vladimir K finishing first, and Hester P and Elizabeth O finishing second in their respective age groups. In the double distance, we had another very respectable showing with Aaron B and Nick C decisively winning their age categories as well. Thank you to everyone who ran and supported St Barnabas Primary School.

Athletics

Now well into Championships season, our athletes are enjoying the improvement in temperature. Beginning with the highlight of the month, the Oxfordshire County Schools Championships once again took place at a blustery Tilsley Park. Our athletes took full advantage of the conditions, with the majority of events being over the +2.0m/s windspeed limit for records, with at least one race reaching +3.9!

Across all our juniors, 46 athletes represented Oxford City a total of 73 times, receiving an astonishing 37 podium places, of which 19 were 1st. We were the most represented club present.

Podium finishes from OCAC went to:

U20M 100m – Tommy S – 2nd – 11.61 w (Mark Bristow)
U15M 100m – Angelo J – 1st – 11.34 w (Bryan Walker)
U13M 100m – Eric O – 3rd – 13.54 w (Elton Jones)
U17W 100m – Ruby R – 2nd – 12.28 w (Bryan Walker)
U15W 100m – Orla O – 1st – 13.05 w (Martha Stevens)
U15M 200m – Angelo J – 1st – 23.29 (Bryan Walker)
U13M 200m – Eric O – 2nd – 28.10 w (Elton Jones)
U17W 200m – Ruby R – 1st – 25.48 w (Bryan Walker)
U15W 200m – Lorna B – 3rd – 28.58 (Mark Bristow)
U15M 300m – Alexander P – 2nd – 41.62 (Mark Pitt)
U15W 300m – Orla O – 1st – 42.85 (Martha Stevens)
U20M 800m – William P – 2nd – 1:58.89 (Mark Pitt)
U17M 800m – Edward S – 3rd – 2:09.22 (Mark Pitt)
U17W 800m – Charlotte C – 2nd – 2:21.99 (Matt Seddon)
U15W 800m – Emerald L – 2nd – 2:24.39 (Mark Pitt)
U15W 800m – Tacita K – 3rd – 2:24.70 (Mark Pitt)
U15W 75H – Lana H – 3rd – 16.07 w (Mark Bristow)
U15M 80H – George C – 1st – 14.46 w (Bryan Walker)
U20M HJ – Toros E – 1st – 1.86 (Bryan Walker)
U20M PV – Toros E – 1st – 3.30 (Bryan Walker)
U15M LJ – Grayson S – 1st – 5.57 (Elton Jones)
U13M LJ – Kamil A – 1st – 4.09 (Elton Jones/Martha Stevens)
U15W LJ – Esther M – 3rd – 4.33 (Martha Stevens)
U13W LJ – Lilija S – 1st – 4.77 (Bryan Walker)
U15W TJ – Joanna M – 1st – 9.17 (Bryan Walker)
U20M SP – Adam A – 2nd – 9.28 (Ian Marriott)
U15M SP – Grayson S – 1st – 9.08 (Elton Jones)
U15W SP – Evie B – 2nd – 7.33 (Bryan Walker)
U20M DT – Adam A – 2nd – 27.77
U15M DT – Archie G – 1st – 18.46
U17W DT – Joyce L-P – 1st – 29.49 (Kathryn Woodcock)
U17W DT – Eve W – 3rd – 21.61 (Bryan Walker)
U15W DT – Cassie L – 2nd – 17.24 (Elton Jones)
U17W HT – Joyce L-P – 1st – 44.08 (Kathryn Woodcock)
U15W HT – Hester P – 1st – 22.56 (Mark Pitt)
U20M JT – Adam B – 1st – 44.35 (Ian Marriott)
U15W JT – Evie B – 1st – 33.53 (Bryan Walker)

Out of these, particular congratulations go to those who have been selected for English Schools Track & Field Championships:

Senior Boys
- 800m Will Potts (Mark Pitt)
Inter Girls
- 100m Ruby Rogers (Bryan Walker),
- 800m Charlotte Campbell (Matt Seddon)
Inter Boys
- 110mH Bertie Lee (Ian Marriott)
Junior Girls
- JT Evie Barrett (Bryan Walker),
- 300m Orla O’Flaherty (Martha Stevens)
Junior Boys
- 100m Angelo Jones (Bryan Walker),
- 100mH George Coyle (Bryan Walker)

The other major championship this month was the South England AA U20/Senior Championships. In regional championships, it is a real achievement to progress beyond the heats into the final. Both our athletes attending reached the final, where they ran:

SM 110H – Ben I – 3rd – 14.83
U20M 800m – William P – 4th – 2:02.51 (Mark Pitt)

Moving away from juniors for a paragraph, the recent SAL round 2 at Horspath was the hottest meet yet. Despite the weather trying its very best, our Seniors powered through, achieving some stunning performances, resulting in us winning the meet overall! Some of the most impressive marks on the day included:

M100m – Fionn L – 11.2
M3000m – Jonathan D – 8:54.15
W100m – Ruby R – 12.49 (Bryan Walker)
W200m – Ruby R – 25.79 (Bryan Walker)
W1500m – Amelie L – 4:40.86 (Mark Pitt)
W DT – Lilly M – 33.27
W TJ – Jana J – 10.86

At the second round of the Youth Development League at Jarman Park, our juniors once again demonstrated their strength with some excellent performances across the board. Unfortunately, a lack of qualified officials from our club resulted in a 48-point penalty to our overall team score.

A huge thank you goes to Adele Timbs, who was our only official on the day. Instead of her usual timekeeping role, Adele stepped up to officiate in the field events, something she had very little experience of, and coped brilliantly under considerable pressure. Without her willingness to help, the penalty would have been even greater.

If your child competes for the club, please consider becoming a qualified official. It’s a rewarding way to support our athletes and helps ensure the hard-earned performances of our young competitors are reflected in the team results.

There were some fantastic performances throughout the day, with some of the highlights including:

U16B 100m – Angelo J – 11.79 (Bryan Walker)
U16B 200m – Angelo J – 23.68 (Bryan Walker)
U16B 300m – Tobias P – 39.12 (Bryan Walker)
U16G 300m – Orla O – 42.56 (Martha Stevens)
U14B 200m – Grayson S – 25.86 (Elton Jones)
U14G LJ – Lilija S – 4.61(Bryan Walker)
U14G JT – Evie B – 33.99 (Bryan Walker)

Wessex League 2 in Swindon was yet another success. With 29 juniors and 17 Quadkids attending, we finished joint second in the juniors and fourth in the Quadkids. Special congratulations go to Michael O who was the 4th Quadkid overall, completing his 75m, 600m and Long Jump with PB awards of level 9, level 8 and level 8 respectively. Our Quadkids are coached by Ian McCulloch.

To finish off, at the June Midweek Open, 24 athletes competed in 34 different events across yet another excellent evening, collecting 19 PBs between them.

Congratulations to everyone that competed – registrations are open to the July Open until 15 th July.

Any omissions or errors are purely accidental and will be corrected in the next newsletter. Please let us know.

OCAC Academy

Happy summer everyone! I’d like to start this months write up in a different place. Oxford City is blessed to have some outstanding athletes, however, it is essential that we remember that they are all unique young people, traversing the challenges of normal growth, family, social and school life. One of the biggest challenges will always be the balance of track (sport generally) and academics. We talk about study a lot in our sessions and frankly, school comes first. I would like to give a shout out to all of our club athletes who have just finished exams, be that A-levels, GCSEs or mocks, for the athletes that I have direct contact with I know that you’ve all done a great job. I am super proud of the way that all of you have handled yourselves during this really tricky time.

Ok, back to track. As always, it’s been a busy month. A couple of weeks back we had county schools and what a days competition. I truly can’t believe the number of outstanding performances, well done everyone. Our PB performers are below,

Joanna Mistry – TJ & LJ
Lilija Sadler – LJ
Evie Barrett – Javelin (500g)
Tobias Packham – 200m & 300m
Katia Minchno – 100m
Tacita Kentish – 800m
Angelo Jones – 100m & 200m (I believe that Angelo was fastest across all age groups on the day but will happily be fact checked on this one)
George Coyle – 100mH
Toros Essen – PV (coached by Ian Marriott)

From this wonderful weekend of comp we now have five athletes who will travel to represent at this years English Schools Championships.

Michael Emmanuel (800m)
Evie Barrett (Jav)
Ruby Rogers (100m)
Angelo Jones (100m)
George Coyle (100mH)

Well done to you all!

In separate comps, Evie Barrett moved to 2nd in the UK for Javelin with a massive 36m+ throw; simply awesome!

Michael Emmanuel’s incredible performances also continue with his first sub 2min 800m at Loughborough’s BMC meet. This moves him to 9th in the UK.

Results blast

And here is the new Club Power of 10 Link

Any Other Business

Why not try a new event! It was great to see two of our Athletes training for Race Walking last week.

Sponsorship

If your organisation would like to sponsor this Newsletter and provide a profile and pitch to our readers please do get in touch. We have a growing list of recipients and I’m sure they would love to hear from local businesses.

Newsletter

The Newsletter is driven by your content, thanks to all of the contributors. If you would like to submit content to the Newsletter or highlight a great performance or contribution please send an email to Toby.