Nine athletes who are part of double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes’ ‘On Camp with Kelly’ mentoring scheme, supported by Norwich Union, have been selected to receive the first ‘On Camp with Kelly’ awards for their achievements this season.
Two athletes will receive Outstanding Achievement Awards for their medal winning performances at this summer’s international age group championships. Alison Leonard (Blackburn Harriers) won a Silver medal in the 800m at the IAAF World Youth Championships and Emma Jackson (City of Stoke AC) won a silver medal over the same distance at the European Athletics Junior Championships.
The seven athletes who will receive Excellent Achievement Awards all also competed at this summer’s international age group championships. Charlotte Best (Crawley AC) and Laura Finucane (Pendle AC) finished fifth and sixth respectively in the 800m at the European Athletics Under 23 Championships, where Hannah England (Oxford City AC) finished fifth in the 1500m. Both Charlotte and Laura and have also both been selected to compete at the World University Games in Bangkok this month.
Hannah Brooks (Crawley AC) qualified for the final of the 800m at the European Athletics Junior Championships by winning her heat in a new personal best time. Emma Pallant (Aldershot Farnham & District) finished fourth in the 1500m and Jessica Coulson (Stockport Harriers) seventh in the 3000m at the same event. Rachel Stringer reached the final of the 800m at the European Youth Olympic Festival.
Dame Kelly said: “The athletes receiving the awards have all performed brilliantly this season, with the support of their coaches and families. Representing your country at a major international championship is a significant achievement and they will all have learnt a lot from the experience. The athletes receiving the awards have also set new personal bests this season and won medals at national age group, university and schools championships. I am very proud of what they have achieved and I am looking forward to seeing them progress even further next season.”
Tanya Veingard, Head of Sponsorship at Norwich Union said: “On behalf of Norwich Union I would like to congratulate the athletes on their excellent performances this season. We are delighted to support these awards to recognise their achievements. As the team behind UK Athletics we are proud to be able to offer support for all levels of athletics – from playground to podium – and ‘On Camp with Kelly’ is a fantastic programme for young athletes who dream of winning gold.”
The awards were presented during the Norwich Union hospitality at the Norwich Union London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace on Friday 3 August.
Athlete Biographies
Jessica Coulson
Age: 17
Club: Stockport Harriers
Home Town: Stockport
Coach: Dave Turnbull
Personal Bests: 800m 2:08.8 (2007), 1500m 4:18.75 (2007), 3000m 9:20.44 (2007)
Jess was an easy winner of the 3000m at the Norwich Union England Athletics Under 20 Championships and went on to finish seventh over the same distance at the European Athletics Junior Championships. Earlier in the season she had improved her 3000m best to 9:20.44 and has also set personal bests for 1500m of 4:21.82 and for 800m of 2:08.8. Jess won both the AAA Under 17 1500m and the English Schools Inter 3000m titles in 2006 and followed that with an excellent cross country season, finishing 14th in the European Junior Cross Country in December and 26th in the World Junior Cross Country in early 2007. Jess joined ‘On Camp with Kelly’ in 2007.
Hannah England
Age: 20
Club: Oxford City AC / Birmingham University
Home Town: Oxford
Coach: Bud Baldaro
Personal Bests: 800m 2:03.92 (2007), 1500m 4:12.44 (2007)
After an excellent indoor season in which she set a new personal best of 4:17.70 to win the UK Indoor City Challenge Final and was British Universities Indoor champion, Hannah went on to set new personal bests for 1500m (4:12.33) and 800m (2:03.92) outdoors. In 2007 over 1500m she has won the Norwich Union England Athletics U23 Championships, finished fifth at the European Athletics Under 23 Championships, taken the silver medal at the British Universities Athletics Championships and finished fourth at the Norwich Union UK Championships. Hannah was AAA Under 20 1500m champion in 2006 and competed at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Beijing. In 2005 she won gold over 1500m at the AAA Under 20 Indoor Championships and silver in the Senior 1500m at the English Schools. Hannah has been involved with ‘On Camp with Kelly’ since it began in 2004 and was one of six girls selected to attend the Educational Camp at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006.
Laura Finucane
Age: 20
Club: Pendle AC / Loughborough University
Home Town: Colne, Lancs / Loughborough
Coach: John Nuttall
Personal Bests: 400m 53.23 (2004), 800m 2:01.35 (2007)
After taking the 800m silver medal at the Norwich Union England Athletics Under 23 Championships Laura finished sixth over the same distance at the European Athletics Under 23 Championships. Earlier in the season she had improved her personal best to an excellent 2:01.35 to top the UK Under 23 rankings for the distance. She also finished sixth in the 400m at the Norwich Union UK Championships. In 2005 Laura finished fifth in the 800m at the European Athletics Junior Championships, having also made the final at the IAAF World Junior Championships the previous year, and was a semi-finalist in the IAAF World Youth Championships in 2003. She also won the AAA Under 20 800m title in 2004 and 2005. Laura has been involved in ‘On Camp with Kelly’ since the first Educational Camp in South Africa in November 2004.
Emma Jackson
Age: 19
Club: City of Stoke
Home town: Aston
Coach: Alan Morris
Personal Bests: 800m 2:01.95 (2007), 1500m 4:18.1 (2007)
Emma has had an excellent 2007 season. She improved her 800m personal best to 2:01.95 in June, which ranks her first in Europe in the Under 20 age group. She won a silver medal in the 800m at the European Athletics Junior Championships after winning the national Under 20 title for the second year in a row. She has also improved her 1500m personal best by 10 seconds this year to 4:18.1. Emma narrowly missed out on a place in the 800m final at last year’s IAAF World Junior Championships and finished fifth in the 800m final at the IAAF World Youth Championships in 2005. She was also English Schools Senior 800m champion last year and earlier this year finished second in the 800m at the British Universities Championships. Emma joined ‘On Camp with Kelly’ in 2006.
Alison Leonard
Age: 17
Club: Blackburn Harriers
Home town: Chorley
Coach: Arthur Almond
Personal Best: 800m 2:04.86 (2007)
Alison ran a brilliant race at the recent IAAF World Youth Championships to win the 800m silver medal. Earlier in the year she had reduced her personal best first to 2:05.56 and then to 2:04.86, which ranks her fourth in the world for her age, and she won the bronze medal in the 800m at the Norwich Union England Athletics Under 20 Championships. Alison had a successful year in 2006, winning both the AAA Under 17 800m and the English Schools Inter 800m titles and a bronze medal over the same distance at the AAA Under 20 Championships. Alison joined ‘On Camp with Kelly’ in 2007.
Emma Pallant
Age: 18
Club: Aldershot Farnham & District
Home Town: Farnham
Coach: Mick Woods
Personal Bests: 800m 2:07.67 (2007), 1500m 4:13.38 (2007), 3000m 9:22.65 (2007)
Emma was an easy winner of the 1500m at the Norwich Union England Athletics Under 20 Championships and went on to finish fourth over the same distance at the European Athletics Junior Championships. She has taken a total of eight seconds off her 1500m best this season, reducing it to 4:13.38. She has also taken two and a half seconds off her 800m best with 2:07.67 and a massive 24 seconds off her 3000m best with 9:22.65 to win the Under 20 race at the Norwich Union London Grand Prix. She also reached the 1500m final at the Norwich Union UK Championships for seniors. Last year she won silver in the Senior 1500m at the English Schools and bronze in the AAA Under 20 1500m and she competed in the IAAF World Youth Championships in 2005. Emma joined ‘On Camp with Kelly’ in 2006.
Rachel Stringer
Age: 17
Club: City of Norwich
Home Town: Norwich
Coaches: Tim & Pauline Ash
Personal Best: 800m 2:06.93 (2007)
Rachel has set four personal bests for 800m so far this season, with her latest improvement to 2:06.93 coming when she won the gold medal in the Senior 800m at the English Schools Championships. She finished fifth in the 800m at the Norwich Union England Athletics Under 20 Championships and was selected for the GB Team for the European Youth Olympic Festival where she reached the 800m final. She finished fourth in the 800m at both the AAA Under 17 Championships and the English Schools (Inters) in 2006 before going on to win over the same distance at the inaugural UK School Games. Rachel joined ‘On Camp with Kelly’ in 2007.
