Swindon Harriers celebrated a terrific year with their annual awards ceremony for young athletes on Friday 22 November.

In a successful evening held at Swindon Supermarine FC, Kalina Karacheva got the nod for the girls’ club athlete of the year prize while the boys’ award was jointly shared by Ben James and James Mayneord.

“Ben and James probably competed in every competition that the club entered, so we thought it was only fair for them to share that prize,” said vice-chairman Howard Moscrop.

“As for Kalina, she had a great season in the high jump and racing 300m and 400m. She even finished third in the Bulgarian U20 Championships when she went home in August!”

Lucy Bull had an outstanding summer, the highlight of which was winning the English Schools’ junior girls’ javelin title and ending the summer as the number one in the UK U15s Rankings, so it was no surprise she featured strongly.

Bull won three awards including the female athlete of the year and the best performance for her national gold above plus the best field award for under 15s girls.

“Lucy was the stand-out athlete of the year without a doubt,” added Moscrop.

The male athlete of the year award went to hammer thrower Harry Ricketts, who will end 2024 as fifth in the UK Rankings for U23 men having improved his PB to 59.88m. Harry is also the leader in the overall South West Rankings, and finished runner-up in the England and Southern Championships.

Many athletes played a part in the club’s fantastic success in winning the Wessex Young Athletes League for the first time this century. There was recognition for the best points scores in each age group with awards going to Lowri Prosser, Kurtis Osei-Ofuso, Lottie Harding, Elliot Cox, Holly Scott and Chris James.

The Swindon Harriers Annual Awards 2024 were as follows:

Club athlete of the year – boys: Ben James and James Mayneord joint; girls: Kalina Karacheva.

Performance of the year: Lucy Bull.

Male athlete of the year: Harry Ricketts.

Female athlete of the year: Lucy Bull.

Most league points – under 13 girls: Lowri Prosser; boys: Kurtis Osei-Ofuso.

Under 15 girls: Lottie Harding; boys: Elliot Cox.

Under 17 girls: Holly Scott; boys: Chris James.

Age group awards:

Under 9s – Cross country boys: Rhys Jones; girls: Imogen Beard.

Under 11s – Cross country boys: Sam Lyne; girls: Pippa Wall; track: Daniel Rose; Thea Dowling; field: Arthur Adams; Annabel Reichert.

Under 13s Cross country – boys: Finley Byrne; girls: Ellie Charlesworth; track Jayden Messiah & Doug Kirby joint; Charissa Griffiths-Clack; field: Jacob Pender; Lowri Prosser.

Under 15s – Cross country boys: Ben Charlesworth; girls: Molly Lyne; track: Elliot Cox & Jesse Bryant joint; Elsie Scrase; field: Finley Kuklinski; Lucy Bull.

Under 17s – Cross country boys: Anubis Molina-Vazquez; girls: Ella Spencer; track: Al Virgilio; Laila-Jae Belgrave; field: Archie Kinnier; Holly Scott.