Melissa Courtney’s record breaking summer was rewarded with the title of Senior Women’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year at Welsh Athletics’ annual awards ceremony in Cardiff.

The Commonwealth Games bronze medalist enjoyed another stellar year as she captured the Welsh 3000 and 5000 metre records and ran for Britain at the European Championships. She was joined among the winners by another Team Wales medallist at the Gold Coast, race walker Bethan Davies.

Davies, who like Courtney is now focussing on next year’s World Championships in Doha, carried off the Senior Women’s Endurance Athlete of the Year title. The men’s awards were won by Dewi Griffiths (Endurance) and Ieuan Thomas (Track & Field).

In the junior section there were repeat awards for Cari Hughes (Endurance) and Jake Heyward (Track & Field), with Hewyard’s award making it a double for Team Thie as he followed his training partner Thomas in taking an award.

WELSH ATHLETICS ATHLETICS OF 2018
Junior Male Endurance Athlete of the Year – MATT WILLIS
 Matt Willis finished third in the Junior Men’s race at the Great Edinburgh Cross-Country International in January and was then crowned English Schools Cross-Country Champion in March. He then placed fifth in Paris in April in the International Schools World Championships to complete his cross-country season. In June, he ran a lifetime best of 14 min, 24 sec over 5,000 metres at the BMC Grand Prix in Loughborough. That made him the third fastest of the year in the UK at Under 20 level. A super-talented all-round athlete, he became World Junior Duathlon Champion in July and then went on to represent Great Britain at the World Junior Triathlon Championships on the Gold Coast two weeks ago, where he finished 18th.

Junior Male Track & Field Athlete of the Year – JAKE HEYWARD
 Jake enjoyed another remarkable 12 months as he progressed from being European Youths and Junior 1500 metre champion to qualify for the World Junior Championships in Tampere, Finland. The question was, could he complete a golden hat-trick? He he kicked-off his year with a lifetime best over 1500 metres indoors and then broke Ian Stewart;s 50-year-old British 3000 metres indoor Under 20 record of 8:00.93 as he won at Cardiff Met in 8:01.4. It would have been a European record as well had Jakob Ingebrigtsen not run a time of 7:56 earlier in the day. Moving outdoors, he went on to run faster than ever before at 800, 1500 and 3000 metres. He ended the year as No 1 in the UK at Under 20 at 1500 and 3000 metres indoors and out; he was Wales No 1 at senior level in 1500 and 3000 metres and finished 7th overall in the UK at 1500 and 10that 3000. He won the England U20 1500 Championships and went on to finish 4th at the World Junior Championships, beating the World Indoor champion. He ran a lifetime best of 3:39:84 at the Oslo Diamond League in June, before lowering that mark to 3:36:90 at the London Anniversary Games in July – a time that put him second on the UK U20 All-Time list at 1500 metres ahead of the likes of Steve Cram, Seb Coe and Steve Ovett.

Junior Female Endurance Athlete of the Year – CARI HUGHES 
Cari had won the award in 2017 and held onto her title after another impressive year. She started 2018 with a bang as she finished 4th for GB in the Junior Women’s race at the Great Edinburgh Cross-Country International. Her outdoor Track season began with a victory in the 1500 metres for Loughborough University at the British Universities Championships. She went on to run a lifetime best of 9 min,25 sec over 3000 metres at the Trafford Grand Prix Open to go fifth on the Welsh Under 20 all-time rankings and brought her season to a brilliant end by breaking the Welsh Junior 1,500m Record with a time of 4:17:51 at the BMC Stretford Grand Prix. That made her the third fastest Under 20 in the UK for the season.

Junior Female Track & Field Athlete of the Year – BETHAN REES 
Bethan’s season got off to a record breaking start when she broke her own Welsh Junior javelin record with a throw of 51.18 metres at the UK Javelin Carnival at Loughborough in May. She went over 50 metres for a second time a week later at a UK Women’s Premier League match in Eton and threw consistently over 45 metres all summer. She won the Welsh and English Under 20 titles, the Welsh senior title and, on one incredible day in July, she speared the English Schools senior title in Birmingham before jumping in the car and driving to Cardiff to win her first Welsh Senior crown. Not a bad day’s work! A case of ‘Lucky 13’ on July 13. Her ability to compete at the highest level was underlined when she took the bronze medal at the British Senior Championships, which doubled as the trials for the European Championships. She won a GB Junior vest as a result and ended the year ranked No 1 at Under 20 and No 3 overall in the UK and 15th in Europe at Under 20 level.

It was an honour to receive the award for the best junior Track&Field female athlete of the year at the @welshathletics Hall of Fame&awards evening last night. I want to massively thank @welshathletics for all of the support and opportunities they have given me over the years. pic.twitter.com/vDloJkgcpD

— Beth (@beth__rees) September 30, 2018

Senior Female Endurance Athlete of the Year – BETHAN DAVIES 
Bethan picked up a bronze medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in the 20k Race Walk and then went on to represent Britain at both the World Race Walking Team Championships in China and the European Championships in Berlin. She added to her impressive collection of titles in 2018 by winning the Welsh Senior 3,000 metre outdoor crown, the British Indoor and Outdoor 5,000 metre titles and adding the UK 20 kilometre prize as well. She also set a lifetime best over 20 kilometres of 91 min, 53 sec at the Lugano Trophy Race in Switzerland to move into second place on the British all-time list.

Senior Female Track & Field Athlete of the Year – MELISSA COURTNEY
 Melissa ended last year on a high by winning the Great North Mile in Newcastle and used that as a springboard for an incredible 2018. She was the bronze medallist in the 1,500 metres at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, running a lifetime best of 4.03.44 sec to move into third place on the Welsh all-time list. She also finished ninth in the 5,000 metres. It was over the longer distance she represented Britain at the European Championships in Berlin, where she came home fifth in a time of 15.04.75 to eclipse Angela Tooby’s 31-year-old Welsh record. She also won the Vitality Westminster Mile in 4.35.0 in May, which doubled as the British Road Mile Championships, and broke Hayley Tullett’s 17-year-old 3,000 metre Welsh record by posting a time of 8.39.20 at the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham. Her year ended with another road mile, but this time in the slightly more exciting surrounds of New York’s 5th Avenue, where she finished third in another lifetime best of 4.20.2.

Senior Male Endurance Athlete of the Year – DEWI GRIFFITHS 
Dewi laid down a marker for another annual title towards the end of 2017 when he finished seventh at the Great North Run in a lifetime best of 62 min, 53 sec. Not content with that he went even faster at the Cardiff University / Cardiff Half Marathon with a time of 61:33, finishing fourth in the process. Those two runs led him perfectly into his eagerly awaited marathon debut in Frankfurt. He ran a magnificent race, despite cramp in the latter stages, to finish fifth in 2:09.49 – the second fastest time ever recorded over the distance by a Welsh athlete. Despite a spell out through injury, which forced him to miss both the Commonwealth Games and Euroepan Championships, he came back with a bang by winning the Barry Island 10k, the 2018 British 10k Championships and the Cardiff 10k. He warmed up for the Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff with a lifetime best over 10 miles in Holland.

Senior Male Track & Field Athlete of the Year – IEUAN THOMAS 
Ieuan represented Great Britain in the steeplechase at the World Championship in 2017 and went on to qualify for Team Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He finished seventh in the 3,000 steeplechase final and went on to take the silver medal at the British Championships to book his ticket to the European Championships in Berlin and make it a hat-trick of major championships in the space of a year. He ran Lifetime Best of 8.30.16 at the Gouden Spike meeting in Holland in June and was crowned Welsh Champion over 1500 metres both indoors and out. He also found time to clock a personal best 3,000 metres time of 7.56.31 during another great season.

WELSH ATHLETICS CLUB AWARD WINNERS
Track & Field Club of the Year: Swansea Harriers

Off Track Club of the Year: Swansea Harriers

Junior Club of the Year: Swansea Harriers

Inclusivity Club of the Year: Les Croupiers Running Club

Development Club of the Year: Dragons Running Club

Club Volunteer of the Year: Chris Pratt

https://twitter.com/SWalesAthletics/status/1046093546548350977

Services to Club Development: Deborah Howells

Newcomer to Officiating: Christina Jones

Young Official of the Year: Eban Geal

Off Track Official of the Year: Kay Chapman

Track & Field Official of the Year: Sue Hooper

Track & Field Participation Coach of the Year: Fyn Corchran

http://twitter.com/fyncorcoran/status/1046370813262336000

Track & Field Performance Coach of the Year: James Thie

Endurance Participation Coach of the Year: John Messum

Endurance Performance Coach of the Year: Kevin Evans

RUN WALES AWARDS

Run Wales Group of the Year: Sole Sisters, Blaenau Gwent
Run Wales Run Leader of the Year: Rob Campion