University of Birmingham Sport (UBSport) alumni Hannah England, current student Ed Aston and athletics coach Bud Baldaro have been recognised for their achievements in 2010 at the annual Aviva Athletics Awards.
The celebration of athletics throughout the year took place at Loughborough University on Saturday, December 4.
Hannah and Ed both received recognition from ‘On Camp with Kelly’ (OCWK) - a mentoring and education initiative for talented young middle distance athletes founded by Dame Kelly Holmes - and Aviva for their sporting achievements this year, whilst Bud (who coaches Hannah and other UBSport athletes) received the prestigious honour of UK athletics Coach of the Year.
Biochemistry graduate Hannah thoroughly deserved the Outstanding Achievement Award following her excellent performances at international championships this year.
The 23 year-old, who has been part of OCWK since it began in 2004, won the 1500m title at the Aviva European Trials and UK Championships in June, placed second in the 1500m at the European Team Championships held at Bergen, Norway later that month and finished 10th at the European Athletics Championships held in Barcelona in August.
She then went on to be one of the nine UBSport alumni to appear at the XIX Commonwealth Games held in Delhi in October and excelled by taking fourth in the 1500m and fifth in the 800m.
However, these awards are also a testament to the fantastic coaching received from Bud and shows why he was a worthy winner of the Coach of the Year.
Bud has been a coaching distance runners for over 20 years including many Olympians and commonwealth medallists, has been coaching at the University for many years, including a spell as Head coach from 2005 to 2009.
Final year mathematics student Ed, who also takes part in the OCWK programme, was the recipient of the Excellent Achievement Award after making his senior debut for the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland Team in the 800m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in March.
Dame Kelly Holmes said: ‘I am delighted to be recognising Hannah, Bud and Ed for their achievements this year. When I set up ‘On Camp with Kelly’ with the support of Aviva in 2004, one of my aims was to assist young athletes to develop into successful seniors and it’s brilliant to see this come to fruition.'
She added: ‘The mentoring and education the athletes have received through OCWK has helped them to achieve this together with the hard work they put in on a day-to-day basis with their coaches.’
UBSport scholarship manager Luke Gunn said: ‘OCWK and the UBSport have always had a very strong relationship with a number of athletes passing through both institutions simultaneously.
He continued: ‘It was tremendous to see Hannah, Ed and Bud receive recognition of their incredible commitment and success over the past few years. The OCWK and AVIVA partnership allows athletes and coaches in the programme, the opportunity to follow in Dame Kelly’s huge footsteps to the very pinnacle of their sport.’