Kembla country’s best … again

JOEL RITCHIE

KEMBLA Joggers won their second straight Country Club of the Year honour at the recent Athletics NSW Awards Dinner.

The Illawarra Club won the same award last year and snared their third successive Winter Premiership.

The Country Club of the Year award is judged by Athletics NSW according to criteria including coaching, participation, competition achievements and special initiatives.

“Winning Country Club of thew Year was a big surprise because we thought they would give it to another club,” Kembla Joggers president Neil Barnett said.

Kembla Joggers also won their fifth winter premiership in six seasons thanks to a dominant performance in winter events, including the state cross-country and state road championships.

Australian record holder and Kembla Joggers runner Ryan Gregson was named the NSW Junior Distance and Junior Cross-Country athlete of the year.

The 18-year-old, who holds the Australian under 18s 1500m, 3000m and 5km records and the under 20 mark for the metric mile, recently competed at the World Junior Cross-Country Championships.

Gregson is also preparing for July’s World Junior Athletics Championships, which will be held in Poland.

In the meantime, Gregson will race in the NSW Senior Road Racing Championships at Homebush on Saturday week. Barnett said the club was preparing to unleash “a whole stack of Ryan Gregsons” on their competition in the future.

“We have a heap of 12 and 14-year-olds who are running similar times to Ryan at the same age,” he said.

Barnett said Kembla Joggers could justifiably claim to be the strongest junior cross-country and road athletics club in NSW.

Kembla Joggers treasurer received a Service Award for his work as an official.

Fellow member Murray Smith won the first prize in the raffle to cap a great night for the club.