THERE was a good turnout of athletes and their families at the annual presentation evening of Tavistock Athletic Club, held at Sandy Park, home of Tavistock rugby.

Most of the awards were divided into three categories — junior sportshall, senior and junior cross country and junior and senior track and field.

Sportshall winners were U10 boys Edward Mills, U11 girls Tayla James, U13 boys Joshua Davies, U13 girls Jenny Milburn, U15 girls Emma Ryder. Six club records were broken over the season. The overall sportshall winner male went to Joshua and female to Emma.

Junior cross-country winners were U11 boys, Joe Dix; U11 girls, Tilly McDowell; U13 boys, Lee Shipton, U13 girls, Natasha Farrington, U15 boys, Charlie Shipton, U15 girls, Sian Temple, U17 men, Sam Lane De Courtin, U17 women, Tess Masselink.

The overall cross country winner male went to Sam while female went to Sian. Both Sam and Sian won the Brooks Westward League outright in their age group. Senior cross countrywinners were James Best and Becca Exley-Deane.

TAC had a successful track and field season, winning the Devon Open Series by a considerable margin over North Devon, Exeter Harriers and City Of Plymouth AC. Seventy four club records were broken and athletes from the club competed at Boston, Cardiff, Birmingham, Millfield, Milton Keynes and Yeovil.

The best in age awards went to – U10G Lizzie Elderfield, U10B James Lamb, U11G Annelie M'Hand, U11B Daniel Mercer, U13G Jenny Milburn, U13B Jake Walker, U15G Emma Ryder, U15B Joshua Davies, U17G Jade Kinsey, U17B Sam Lane De Courtin.

The overall winners of the track and field junior awards were Sam and Emma. Sam had reached the finals of England Schools and broken eight club records.

The senior track and field winners were Bob Chapman who won a bronze medal in the British Masters and Becca Exley-Deane who won the most adult points for the women in the Devon Open series.

National AAA grades were attained by and presented to Joshua Blake, Jade Kinsey, Aimee-Leigh Clowes, Amy Bannallick, Emma Ryder, Jenny Milburn, Natasha Farrington, Sam Lane De Courtin and Tess Masselink.

The Club Grand Prix winner was Jessica Williams who completed the minimum seven races and the one mile time trial and 5Kool run, with the highest age-graded score in a Grand Prix won by Richard Drage and the most consistently high age-graded scores in the races they took part in was achieved by Andy Houghton and Alice Rogers.

Further senior awards were presented to David Whitworth, best newcomer male; Jessica Williams, best newcomer female; Jason Shipton, most effort male; Ann Woodhouse, most effort female; Neil Barkell, most improvement male; Margaret Batten, most improvement female; Richard Drage, achievement male and Tracy-Ann Cole, achievement female. Richard could not be at the presentation because he was representing England in the inter nations Cross Country Championships in Nottingham.

The best newcomer junior male was Brook Adnitt, female was Aimee-Leigh Clowes. Jake Walker received most promising male and Lizzie Elderfield most promising female. Most effort male went to Will Dax and female to Jenny Milburn. Most improved male and female went to Dan Luckham and Natasha Farrington. Joshua Blake and Sian Temple won the achievement awards and Benjamin Rogers received the commitment to competition trophy.

This left four main awards to be presented but before these were announced five special recognition plaques were handed to the U17W 4x400m relay squad who ran the fastest time in the country for their age group when they competed at Yeovil in September. The squad was Jodie Stacey, Mollie Rickwood, Jade Kinsey, Emma Ryder and Aimee-Leigh Clowes.

The outstanding male and female senior athletes James Best and Kate Rogers who both excelled in competitions throughout the season. James earned an England vest in fell running and Kate won many best in age prizes at 5K and 10K events and broke five club records in track and field competitons.

The two outstanding junior athletes were Sam Lane De Courtin and Jade Kinsey. Sam, despite a period of injury, still managed to produce a fantastic year. Jade competed indoor at Cardiff, ran in an event in Belgium, competed in Birmingham and was part of the record smashing 4x400m relay team. The club looks forward to following their career.

The next award was for club person of the year. This year chairman Mhairi McCall awarded the shield to a complete family. The Shipton family have supported all TAC events, Louise organised the prize draw at the presentation, writing to many businesses and gaining over 60 prizes to help the club raise funds for a new equipment container. More than £800 was raised towards the £2,000 needed. Jason coaches, competes, assists with track and sportshall events and Charlie and Lee also compete and assist whenever they are able to. The club is grateful for their commitment and hard work.

Mhairi then had the pleasure of awarding the coach of the year cup. Again this involved more than one awardee. Simon and Donna Stacey have given up so much of their own time to allow a new junior session to flourish on a Monday evening.

In all, it was a very successful evening for a club that had a very successful season.