Lamberts hammer home family double

Jack Lambert was awarded the Clements Cup for best male performance while his sister Katie took the President’s Cup for best women’s performance.

Both hammer throwers achieved their winning throws at the Shropshire County Track and Field Championships in Telford over summer.

Jack threw 58.72m in the under-17 boys event while Katie threw 54.19m to win the senior women’s event.

Two more groundbreaking young athletes were honoured with new trophies donated by the Shropshire Star.

For 35 years, the newspaper has awarded trophies to the county team that wins the U15 and U13 boys event – with up to 42 counties taking part each year.

Until this year, Association President Derek Hayward, MBE, could not recall any Shropshire athlete finishing in the top three of any individual races against the country’s best.

But this year Shropshire had two junior athletes on the podium.

Liam Rawlings placed third in the U15 boys race while Beth Rawlinson finished second in the U13 girls race.

In recognition of such outstanding performances, and in the hope of inspiring future Shropshire athletes to aim for top positions, the Shropshire Star has donated two further trophies that are to be awarded each year to the highest placed Shropshire male and female in any of the 10 national races.

Hayward gave particular praise to the newspaper for their continued support and development of Shropshire’s athletics.

“It is a wonderful example showing the effect of the Star’s enterprise and support for cross country running and the far reaching results and major impact it has upon the sport,” he said.

“Anything we can do to get young people to look after their fitness is important.

“The signs are that a lot more people are getting involved and athletic clubs are increasing due to demand.”

Hayward started three athletic clubs in the county, Telford, Oswestry and Bridgnorth.

“For a county with our population we do quite well,” he added. “We can’t compete with the like of Essex, Kent, or Yorkshire.

“We are classed as a minor county so we tend to produce good individuals rather than strong teams.

“The success is down to a lot of voluntary work. People put in a lot of hours and devotion.

“The coaches and official come from that pool of volunteers as well.

“We were the most improved senior mens’ team in the national cross country championships.”

The Shropshire Star donated two trophies to be awarded each year to the winning Under 15 and under 13 Boys’county team.

Subsequently, the races were transferred to be part of the main CAU championships and became part of the annual racing festival which attracts men and women entrants from every county in the UK. in 10 age ranges.

Each race has an entry of 250 athletes The “ Shropshire Star “ trophies continue to be awarded to their two age ranges.

Since its inception in 1983, therefore, over 9000 young runners have been able to represent their county in each age group, resulting in a total of over 90,000 contestants in all ten races during that period.

During the 35 year period, Derek Hayward could not recall a single Shropshire athlete ever being placed in the first three individual places in any of the races.

Until, that is, 2018, when two county runners achieved absolutely outstanding achievements in the national CAU Championships in Loughborough.

Liam Rawlings placed third in the Under 15 Boys race whilst Beth Rawlinson places second in the Under 13 girls event.