Athletics: Shakira leaps into the Reading record books

READING Athletic Club triple jumper Shakira Whight posted a personal best and broke her club’s junior women’s record when she won the bronze medal in the junior women’s triple jump at the English age group indoor championships at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham.

It was also her first national medal.

South of England champion Whight, who has shown tremendous form this winter, achieved her best leap of 11.92 metres in the opening round of the competition, added nine centimetres to her previous best set in a Southern Women’s League match at Abingdon last September and also set a Reading AC junior club record.

The Evening Post-sponsored club’s Reading AC’s Natalie Beale reached the semi-final round of the women’s under 17 60m hurdles finishing seventh in her race in 9.12 seconds. She clocked a slightly slower 9.14 in finishing fourth in her first round heat. She was not far off her personal best of 9.03 in last month’s South of England indoor championships.

Gary Steventon, who took the bronze medal at the South of England championships, was fourth in his junior men's 400m heat in 51.08 seconds. Bracknell-based international Chris Bolt beat a 300-strong field to win the Winchester open 10 kilometres road race in 31 minutes 14 seconds. He finished four seconds ahead of this year’s Wokingham Half Marathon winner Toby Lambert from Winchester.

— Bracknell athletes Adam Wimbledon and Zak Seddon both had good runs in the English national cross country championships at Alton Towers. In the absence of Berkshire champion Lewis Sloan, Seddon was the first Berkshire finisher in the boys under 15 championship taking 14th place in 12 minutes 9 seconds. The only other Bracknell runner in the race was James Mitchell who was 299th out of almost 350 finishers in 14:43.

Berkshire champion Wimbledon was also the top county runner in the boys under-13 championship where he was 18th out of 367 finishers in 11:04. Matthew Seddon, who like his brother and Wimbledon is coached by his dad, Jeff, was 89th in 11:46 with a third Bracknell runner, Michael Wimbledon, a long way back finishing 237th in 12:49. Berkshire silver medallist Henry Mitchell was 121st out of almost 300 runners in the men’s under 17 championship in 16:41.

The only race in which Bracknell finished a team was the junior men’s championship. James Ashton was 66th in 31:15, Richard Larsen 69th in 31:24, Jake Hughes 140th in 33:26 and Alex Mouradian 145th in 33:41. Newbury’s Mike Vardy was 89th in 31:48. Berkshire's cross country team manager Andy Tuttle from Newbury was 631st out of 1244 runners in the senior men’s championship.

news source : http://www.getreading.co.uk/

Shakira, Wyclef, Flatts to play Grammys

The hips that didn't lie for most of 2006 will be back on stage at the Grammys Sunday night. The Recording Academy said today that it has added Shakira to its list of performers at the Grammy Awards, which will be broadcast live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles Sunday at 8 p.m. Shakira will be joined by Wyclef Jean, with whom she teamed on "Hips Don't Lie," the smash single that is nominated for best pop collaboration with vocals.

Country trio Rascal Flatts, the top-selling band of 2006 with nearly 5 million units sold, will also perform. The event will also feature a new-meets-old R&B segment, with teen sensation Chris Brown teaming up with legends Smokey Robinson and Lionel Richie. As previously reported, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, the Dixie Chicks, Gnarls Barkley, John Legend, Ludacris, John Mayer, Corinne Bailey Rae, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Police, and Carrie Underwood are also set to perform at the Grammys. Justin Timberlake will perform twice during the night, once solo and again with the winner of the "My Grammy Moment" competition.

The Recording Academy also said today that Natasha Bedingfield, Tony Bennett, Lewis Black, Nicolas Cage, Ornette Coleman, LeAnn Rimes, Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls, Seal, and David Spade will serve as presenters at the event. Previously announced presenters are Joan Baez, The Black Eyed Peas, Ciara, Nelly Furtado, Terrence Howard, Samuel L. Jackson, P!nk, Rihanna, Chris Rock, and Stevie Wonder.

news source : http://www.mp3.com/

Sunsilk: "Hair Icons"

So, this is what half a million dollars pays for during the Super Bowl, huh? A 30-second commercial about three hair icons (not to be confused with America's Next Hair Icon): Madonna, Shakira and Marilyn Monroe. Nothing really spectacular, just some pop art images of those three with background music sung by each of them.

I'm trying to figure out who this commercial was targeted for. Obviously, they were aiming for all of the women who are watching the Super Bowl. But, with all of the testosterone flowing in these other commercials it seems like this ad got lost in the crowd. Plus, how many guys really know who Shakira is (other when there friends show them how hot she is). Frankly, Sunsilk's commercial money could have been used better elsewhere.

news source : http://www.tvsquad.com/