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BADAC news July 2006

 

 

Week ending Sunday July 30

 

Cup team go agonisingly close to progress

 

It was all so agonisingly close for the Boston and District Athletic Club team seeking to make progress from the GRE Jubilee Cup semi-final at Derby on July 30. The Boston contingent finished in fourth place in the face of opposition of the calibre of Rugby, Northampton, Dartford, Bingley, Tamworth, Gateshead and Kingston-upon-Hull.

 

At the end of a really competitive meet, the Gold Tops were able to reflect on three first places on the track. Sprinter Julia White registered a fine double by winning the 100 metres in 12.1secs before crossing the line first in the 200 metres with a time of 25.5secs in breezy conditions. Captain Jodie Favell, still recovering from injury, won the 400m hurdles convincingly in 67.0secs. Both Julia and Jodie contributed to the BADAC 4x100 metres effort with the quartet claiming a good third place with 51.2 seconds. Anna Lenton, also a member of the 4x100m team and troubled with sore shins this season also did really well, finishing second in the 100m hurdles (17.5secs) and fifth in high jump (1.40m). Tanya Arnott produced a personal best 27.34m for sixth place in the hammer and Natalie Grimer was fourth in pole vault and seventh in triple jump.

 

Over the 400 metres distance, Julia Moore was timed in at 61.2secs in fifth position and Hannah Ray finished sixth in both 800 metres and 1,500 metres. A 23.10m discus throw earned sixth position for Sarah Tointon and Jodie Favell clinched second place in javelin with 33.79m fifth in shot with 9.15m. A leap of 5.01m added a long jump fifth place for Jodie and she also completed the 3,000 metres, finishing with points for sixth place. The female 4x400m relay squad recorded 4mins 46.2secs in fifth place.

 

Two members of the men’s team achieved good second places. A leap of 6.19m gave Mark Bridges the runners-up position in long jump and Jake Mason claimed the same position in the high jump. In discus, Jake Louth came up with a 41.43m throw for second place and Chris Bloom added further runners-up points in triple jump with a leap of 12.55m.

 

On the track, captain Mark Bowler was good value in second in the 110m hurdles, recording 15.5secs and added a third place in the 400 metres with a 53.3secs circuit. Leon Pycock recorded 23.0secs for third place in the 200 metres following a fourth in the 100 metres in 11.4secs. A number of other fourth places were achieved with Simon Robinson clocking 59.8secs in the 400 metres hurdles.

 

Jason Pedley recorded 2mins 04.1secs in the 800 metres and Karl Wright cleared 2.80m in the pole vault. A putt of 10.98m added a shot fourth for Jake Louth and 50-41m in javelin gave him further fourth place points. Owen Msimango was fifth in the 3,000m steeplechase and both the 4x100m and 4x400m relay squads claimed fifth position. John McGarel contributed in the 1,500 metres recording 4mins 45.3secs and Jake Louth put in a 24.38m hammer effort for further points. Returning to the track, Ivo Rodrigues ran a well paced 5,000 metres recording 16 mins 30 secs in fifth place.

 

On Sunday August 6 the Gold Tops contest the final of this season’s North of England League matches with the A team hosting their contest at the Princess Royal Sports Arena and the B team travelling to Grimsby. The A squad will be hoping to apply more pressure on the league leaders in their quest for a play-off place. The last of this season’s Eastern Veterans League matches will be held at the Tommy Clay Track tonight (Wednesday) with the first event at 7pm.

 

Week ending Sunday July 23

 

Outstanding finale for club youngsters

 

The National Young Athletes League season ended for Boston Athletic Club with a resounding victory at the Princess Royal Arena on Sunday. A final match earned BADAC second place in the final 2006 league placings and secured promotion for 2007. Competing in sunny but heavy conditions, the host club at the Tommy Clay track produced a superb series of results with both boys’ and girls’ teams achieving first place in their respective categories.  A total of 499 points gave the Gold Tops a massive 97-point advantage over runners-up Lincoln Wellington who were ahead of Scunthorpe, Hull Achilles, Doncaster and Barton and District AC.

 

There were a number of UK athletics graded performances by BADAC representatives. Shamen Langham achieved two grade one performances in the under-15 boys’ sprints. The English Schools silver medallist recorded 11.7secs in the 100 metres and 24.1secs in the 200 metres for two impressive victories.

 

The Gold Tops B race competitors were also well out in front with Martin Clewitt 12.0secs and Alex Pycock 24.8secs, both achieving grade two standards and confirming the host club’s total domination of the sprints.

It was no surprise that BADAC were convincing winners of the 4x100m relay with Jake Clare joining Langham, Pycock and Clewitt to produce a 50.5secs circuit.

 

At under-13 level Ellis Whyler cleared 1.43m and a grade one performance to win high jump. She also won the 75m sprint, recording 10.5secs and finished second in the 70m hurdles in 12.4secs, both grade two performances.

In the under-17 men’s category Jake Mason returned to better form in long jump, clearing 6.27m for a grade two emphatic victory and added another first in high jump 1.85m, grade two. In the 100m hurdles, Jake got away well and maintained good rhythm to secure a personal best 14.8secs (grade three) victory.

 

In a sharp under-17s 80m hurdles contest, Emily Moss recorded a grade three 12.5secs and won the long jump (4.90m, grade three) and added a B competition second in javelin with an encouraging 23.72m. In the same age group Emily Richardson achieved two grade three first places in javelin, 30.73m, and high jump, 1.50m and added maximum points in the shot with a putt of 6.49m.

 

On a day when a number of young Gold Tops excelled on their own track there were some excellent competitive performances. Alice Flint was fourth in the under-13 girls’ 150 metres sprint (23.9secs) and third over 800 metres (2mins 51.3secs) and long jump (3.10m). Paige Mitchell was third in the B long jump and sixth in the shot (5.35m).

 

In the under-15 girls’ section Hannah Boyes won high jump, clearing 1.37m, the B 75m hurdles (13.4secs) and finished third in the 100 metres (13.7secs). Rachel Holland achieved a grade three win in the 75m hurdles, recording 12.9secs, finished second in the long jump (4.16m) and third in the 200 metres (28.7secs). Over 800 metres Louise Rutt ran a very well judged two laps, clinching victory on the line in 2mins 45.1secs.

Melanie Bristow won the B 100m race (14.7secs) and the B high jump (1.28m) and also finished third in the B 200 metres (31.4secs).

 

The BADAC throwers took maximum points in the under-15 girls’ discus and javelin Jade Mason won the A discus (16.38m) and javelin (15.83m) and added a second in shot putt (7.88m). Stef Hendy won the B discus (15.23m) and javelin (8.73m) and added a fourth in shot (4.01m). Under-17 Isabelle Whitehead won 300m hurdles (54.8secs) and triple jump with a grade three 9.28m performance and cleared 4.60m to win the B long jump contest. Rochelle Parkes won the B shot putt with 5.19m and took the hammer first place with 16.84m.

 

Josh Bell won the under-13 boys’ 800m B race (2mins 43.7secs), finished second in the 75m hurdles (16.5secs) and fourth in 100 metres (14.7secs). Harry Baxter was second in the 800 metres (2mins 39.7secs), fourth in the 200 metres (29.8secs) and second in the B high jump (1.10m). A time of 5mins 23.1secs gave Aidan McClure a good 1,500 metres win and 1.31m gave him another victory in the high jump. Nathan McClure added value in long jump (fourth 3.48m), B shot putt (4.73m) and 75m hurdles (first, 16.1secs).

 

At under-15 level Martin Clewitt added to his B 100m grade two standard victory with a very promising 80m hurdles win, recording 13.0secs, and a second in high jump, 1.5m. A vault of 2.50m gave Jake Brittain another pole vault victory and Shamen Langham won the long jump, leaping 5.45m and Alex Pycock was second in the discus with a throw of 21.19m. Jake Clare added points in the 400 metres (64.7secs), and long jump (4.22m) and Aston Perrin shot (7.06m) 1,500 metres and hammer also added value. Haden Brittain won the B shot (6.49m) and the hammer with an improved 18.35m and added javelin points. Recording 5mins 24.3secs Jake Brittain finished runner-up in the 1,500 metres and Robin Perrin made a good contribution.

 

In the under-17 category Chris Bloom won the triple jump with 12.56m, the B long jump 5.82m and added a third in the 200 metres (24.5secs). James Munn ran away with the 3,000 metres recording 9mins 47.5secs and Chris Cooper added points in the B 100 metres (13.4secs), the 400 metres (61.1secs) and 400m hurdles (second 67.4secs). Chris Chester made a good contribution in both 100m (18.8secs) and 400m (73.4secs) hurdles events and high jump. Mark Tebbs was fourth in the 100 metres (13.6secs) and added points through javelin (28.44m) and 400 metres 64.7secs.

 

At the end of a successful programme of individual events, the local club featured in the relays at the end of the meeting. In addition to the under-15 boys’ 4x100m win the under-15 girls’ team of Jade Mason, Melanie Bristow, Hannah Boyes and Rachel Holland also finished first (56.4secs). The under-17 men’s 4x100m quartet was second (50.9secs) and the under-13 squad third (60.9secs) and the under-15 boys’ 4x100 metres team claimed second place (4mins 59.4secs). The Boston based athletes at under-17, under-15 and under-13 levels can now look forward to competing in the North of England Division One of the National Young Athletes League next season.

 

Sunday July 30 sees the turn of the BADAC senior team who travel to Derby for the semi-final of the British Athletics League Golden Jubilee Cup. After progressing to the national plate final in 2005 the Gold Tops will be hoping to put on a competitive display at Derby.

 

Week ending Sunday July 16

 

Cup final feat for Boston team

 

The name of Boston and District Athletic Club will be featured in the final of the North of England Inter-Club Cup competition. Competing in one of three first round matches in the North Region at Cleckheaton, the Gold Tops finished first to earn passage through to the final. With a number of first choice athletes unavailable through injury and with some rested, the Gold Tops blooded a number of younger representatives and they didn't disappoint.

BADAC finished with 193 points, ahead of Chesterfield and District 190, Barnsley 154 and Lincoln Wellington 116. With just one representative per event, the Boston team members won 15 of the 38 events on the programme.

In the field, Jake Mason did what he has been threatening to do for several weeks and cleared a magnificent 1.95m for victory. It was an outstanding performance that — if he had competed in the English Schools AA high jump the previous day—would have earned him fourth place. With another year at under-17 level the Swineshead youngster can realistically set his sights on a podium place at next year's English Schools Championships.

Jake Louth had a considerable distance in hand in winning javelin with 53.74m and discus 44.70m and also claimed a third in the shot with 11.02m. In the horizontal jumps, Gold Tops scored victories with Mark Bridges achieving 6.10m in long jump and Chris Bloom 12.36m in triple jump.

On the track, Mark Bowler won the 110m hurdles in 15.8secs and deputised in the 100 metres, finishing second in 11.7secs. In the 400m hurdles Simon Robinson was pushed all the way to the tape and claimed a narrow victory, recording 59.4secs. Over 200 metres, Leon Pycock edged it (23.4secs) and John McGarel returned to club competition to win the 1,500 metres (4mins 55.3secs) and the 3,000m steeplechase (12mins 33.0secs). Karl Wright added valuable points in the hammer (third 17.40m) and pole vault (second 2.80m) and Jason Pedley was third in both the 5,000 metres (19mins 27.3secs) and the 800 metres (2mins 08.9secs).

The female Gold Tops provided the winner in five events. In the 100 metres, Julia White returned after injury to clinch first place in 12.3secs. Over 800 metres, Emily Moss ran a superb race, gaining victory in 2mins 26.1secs despite the blustery conditions. She added first place in triple jump with a leap of 10.81m. Hannah Roy took the honours at the end of the 1,500 metres (5mins 41.9secs) and added value in the 3,000 metres (third in 12mins 47.8secs). A 25.65m hammer throw gave Tonya Robinson victory and 7.84m gave her fourth in the shot.

Rochelle Parkes gained third place in discus (18.85m) and Emily Richardson threw 29.12m to secure third position in the javelin. A clearance of 1.50m in high jump earned Vicky Odlin third place and she also gained a third in both the 100 metres and 400 metres hurdles events. Lauren West recorded 29.7secs in third place in the 200 metres and clocked 66.9secs for the same position over 400 metres.

Both the men’s relay teams harvested second place points (4x100m 46.4secs; 4x400m 3mins 47.9secs) and the women’s teams were both third (4x100m 54.3secs; 4x400m 5mins 32.7secs).

For the North of England Cup final on Sunday August 27, the Gold Tops will hope to be at full strength. Before that cup final Boston and District AC contest the 2006 BAL Golden Jubilee Cup with the semi-final at Derby on July 30.

In the veterans’ British Masters Track and Field Championships at Birmingham, Steve Peters won the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres sprint titles in the age 50-plus category. He won the 100 metres final in 11.65secs and the 400 metres in 52.45secs on day one of the championships and contested the 200 metres the following day. Into a strong headwind, Steve recorded 23.35secs to claim the 200 metres title, completing a three-medal haul for the 2006 British Veterans Championships.



Boston area schools won the team titles at the 2006 Holland District Schools under-14 athletics championships held at the Tommy Clay track at the Princess Royal Sports Arena.

Boston High School Year 7 and 8 girls won the championship and finished with a lead of 28 points for a comprehensive victory. In the boys’ contest, Boston Grammar Year 7 and 8 boys had a similar points advantage to take their title.

In the Browne Wilkinson Trophy competition awarded to the mixed school with the highest points total from all athletic championship girls school took the honours. Boston HS supremacy came because they placed their two representatives in the top eight positions in all events except one.

Their 4x100m quartet won the relay at the end of the programme, recording 56.3secs, more than two seconds ahead of Spalding High who were in second place in both that race and in the championships overall.

Jade Mason (8.05m) won the shot and team-mate Amy Harrison (7.81m) was second for maximum points for BHS. Lara Busch won the 200 metres, recording 29.2 and added a second place in the 100 metres (14.0secs). The high jump was a productive event for the High School with Ellis Whyler second and Ashleigh Frankish third, both girls clearing 1.33m. In discus, Brianika Greenaway (19.05m) was second with colleague Kate Baxter securing third place points with a 17.71m effort.

For Haven High Technology College D Barry achieved a splendid long jump title with a best leap of 4.43m, helping her team to fourth position in the championship. Giles were seventh jointly with Thomas Cowley High School and Middlecott were ninth and St Bede's 11th.

The Boston Grammar School team was without Alex Pycock on duty for Lincolnshire at the English Schools Championships in Gateshead. Their best result was the long jump with Kyle Rogers winning with a leap of 4.76m and Jeremy Baily in runner-up position with 4.63m. The latter had a good evening, taking second place in the 800 metres in a time of 2mins 23.7secs and Rogers added a second in the hurdles in 13.7secs.

Haven’s J Axtell achieved a double, winning both 100 metres (12.3secs) and 200 metres (25.2secs), an achievement in a packed three-hour programme. For Giles, D Walker cleared 1.47m to win the high jump and A Hewitt threw 30.47m for first place in the javelin championships.

Boston Grammar School amassed a total of 85 points with Spalding Grammar School second (56.5), Giles third (52) and Haven High Technology College fourth (51). Thomas Cowley was sixth, Middlecott 10th and St Bede's 11th.

Before the under-14 championships Giles were in second place in Browne Wilkinson Trophy Competition but their good results last week put them into the lead. A total of 201 points secured the trophy with St Guthlac’s in second on 191 points and George Farmer third with 190.5 points. Haven were fourth, Thomas Cowley fifth, Middlecott sixth and St Bede’s seventh.

On Sunday July 23 Boston and District AC hosts the final National Young Athletes League in the 2006 series. The first events at the Tommy Clay track are at 11.30am (field) and noon (track).

 

Week ending Sunday July 9

 

Another ‘athlete of match’ award is secured

 

For the third successive young athletes league match, Boston and District AC provided the winner of an athlete of the match award.

 

At Scunthorpe, under-13 Ellis Whyler won the female track athlete of the match award with a fine 10.3secs time for the 75 metres sprint. Ellis also won the under-13 girls’ high jump clearing 1.42m and also took first place in the 70m hurdles event recording 12.5secs. Despite losing the services of a number of regulars who were contesting the Regional Combined Events Championships, Boston and District AC finished second team ahead of Hull, Doncaster, Barton on Humber and Scunthorpe and are still on course for a possible promotion this year.

 

In the under-15 girls’ section, Jade Mason won three events — javelin (18.50m), shot (7.97m) and discus (17.35m) and ‘Stef’ Hendy was first in the B discus (15.66m) and second in both B shot (4.34m) and javelin (11.10m).

Lara Busch recorded 14.7secs for third in the 100 metres and Beth Platt was second in the B race in 14.8secs and also secured a third in long jump with a leap of 4.16m. A 2mins 57.5secs effort over 800 metres gave Chelsea Ironmonger fifth position. Under-17 Emily Richardson won both shot (6.30m) and javelin (29.96m) and cleared 1.45m for runner-up position in high jump. Rochelle Park won A discus (18.63m) and hammer (17.18m) both very encouraging achievements.

 

Three under-13 boys made their mark at Scunthorpe. Harry Cartwright won 75m hurdles 15.6secs and high jump 1.35m and finished third in the 100m 14.5secs. Josh Bell won the B 100m (15.0secs), the B long jump (3.74m) and claimed fourth place in shot with 4.65m. Harry Baxter had a convincing victory in the 800 metres, recording 2mins 41.8secs and won the B high jump (1.20m) before finishing fourth in long jump (3.78m).

 

In the under-15 section Shamen Aloy-Langham was outstanding. In the sprints, Shamen produced some impressive performances winning 100 metres in 11.9secs and 200 metres in 23.5secs. He added a third victory to his tally leaping 5.27m for first place in long jump. James Cartwright also achieved maximum points in three events — high jump (1.50m), 80m hurdles (12.9secs), 400 metres (56.5secs) and Michael Robinson gained three B contest first places in long jump 5.00m, high jump 1.40m and 80m hurdles 13.0secs. A clearance of 2.40m in pole vault earned first place for Jake Brittain and he added a second in 1,500 metres 5mins 21.4secs and third in javelin 21.36m. Jake Clare won the B 100m 13.8secs, finished second over 200m 27.8secs and third in the 400m 66.1secs and Haden Brittain was second in hammer 16.94m, third in B javelin 18.82 and fourth in shot 6.73m. Jeremy Baily achieved two third places in 800m 2mins 29.3secs and 1,500m 5mins 09secs.

 

In the under-17 men’s category Chris Bloom won both the horizontal jumps contest leaping 5.86m in long jump and 12.39m in triple jump. Following a B win 71.5secs in the 400m hurdles Chris Chester won the B 100m hurdles in 17.7secs and finished second in high jump (1.40m). A time of 4mins 33.0secs gave James Munn a good 1,500 metres victory and in 800 metres he was timed at 2mins 09.7secs in second place. Chris Cooper was second in the B shot (6.72m) and runner-up in the 1,500m steeplechase (5mins 13.1secs) and Mark Tebbs crossed the line first in the 400m hurdles 69.2secs and added valuable points in shot (third, 7.45m) and 100 metres (fourth, 13.5secs).

 

With the next match in the series at home on Sunday July 23, Boston and District AC will be hoping to keep the pressure on the leaders Lincoln Wellington and consolidate their promotion bid.

 

Play-off prospects looking brighter

 

Boston and District Athletic Club’s A team improved their chances of qualifying for the North of England League play-offs by finishing second in the third Division Two match in the series at Derby. The Gold Tops finished with just 10 points less than winners Derby who were competing on their home track and 26 points ahead of third placed Rotherham with Lincoln Wellington fourth and Chesterfield fifth. Meanwhile at Hull the B team finished in fifth position on the day and did just enough to retain their fourth place in Division Four SE.

 

At the Division Two match BADAC representatives achieved 10 individual event victories plus a relay first.

In three events the Gold Tops claimed maximum points winning both the A and the B competitions.

In the men’s 100 metres ‘Ebbs’ Eseonu recorded 11.0secs for victory and the evergreen Steve Peters recorded 11.5secs to win the B race.

 

The men’s 400m hurdles also contributed the maximum 18 points to the club total with Mark Bowler crossing the finish line with a comfortable lead in the A event recording 60.7secs. Simon Robinson moved up a gear in the B race and had two 10ths of a second advantage over the second man at the end clocking 60.3secs. Mark Bowler also won the A 110m hurdles comfortably in 15.5secs and once again it was Simon Robinson in support claiming second position in the B contest 18.1secs.

 

The women’s javelin competition yielded maximum points for the Gold Tops with Jodie Favell achieving victory in the A event with a throw of 33.52m and her under-study Emily Richardson finishing second overall and winning the B competition with 30.63m. Jodie also claimed a comprehensive victory in the 400m hurdles and had almost four seconds to spare at the line in the A race (67.9secs) and finished second in the 100m hurdles (15.5secs). In support, Anna Lenton won the B sprint hurdles race recording 17.3secs.

 

Once again Jake Louth made an outstanding points contribution harvesting a total of 28 points from the throws. He was a clear winner of the 2kg discus challenge with his best throw measured at 40.78m. In a good standard javelin competition Jake threw 51.25m for third place and finished in the same position in shot with a putt of 10.91m. A hammer throw of 27.47m earned fourth place points in the B event.

 

The men’s 4x100 metres quartet took the opposition apart recording a splendid 44.8secs for an emphatic victory.

There were a significant number of second places with Emily Moss securing a trio of runners-up points. She opened with an 11.02m leap in triple jump and then ran 60.6secs for a sharp 400m before securing a second place in the B long jump clearing 4.81m. Chris Bloom finished second in the men’s A triple jump (12.18m) and Mark Bridges was first in the B competition 11.84m. Ebbs Eseonu added a second in the 200 metres and given the same time as the winner, 22.3secs. Tim Creese once again contributed well in the throws finishing second in both the B shot (10.25m) and javelin (40.23m) and third in discus (30.09m) and pole vault (2.70m).

 

For the women’s team Julia Moore amassed points in a range of events opening with a second place in the B 400m hurdles (76.3) race she then added further second place points in the flat 400 metres (64.0) and the 200 metres sprint (29.1) before doing her but in the relays. The women’s 4x400m metres quartet finished an encouraging second (4mins 22.5secs) and 4x100m squad crossed the line in third place (53.4secs).

 

Geoff Knight and Paul Higham achieved a pair of third at the end of a challenging 5,000 metres run with Geoff adding another third in the 3,000m steeplechase in 10mins 51.9secs. Jake Mason also added a pair of third places in high jump with a splendid 1.90m and long jump (5.52m). Further top three placed points from Sarah Tointon (triple jump 8.85m and hammer 23.51m) and Karl Wright (pole vault 2.60m) helped keep the pressure on the host club Derby who had a slender lead at the end of the programme.

 

At Hull, though, short in numbers the B team showed plenty of spirit. In the female events Isabelle Whitehead and Emma Battery demonstrated improved form. Isabelle was third in both the 400m hurdles (75.3secs) and 100m (20.5secs) hurdles events and added another third in triple jump (9.40m). Emma took on the tough combination of 200 metres (fourth 29.8secs), 400 metres (fourth 69.2secs) and 800 metres (fifth 2mins 48.0secs).

 

In the male sprints Leon Pycock was third over 200 metres 23.7secs, fourth in the 400 metres 55.6secs and fifth in the 100 metres 11.5secs. James Munn was fourth in the 1,500m recording 4mins 30.3secs, fifth in the 800 metres 2mins 09.0secs and used the B 200 metres event for speed training (fifth 25.9secs). In the 400m hurdles Chris Chester took a heavy fall but recovered well to finish third in the 110 metres version of the hurdles (21.6secs). Bob Whyler produced a personal best hammer throw of 21.00m for a valuable third place and also added a third in the B discus contest (20.11m). His throws partner on the day, Stuart Smith, was fourth in both javelin (21.25m) and discus (32.09m) and added a second in the B hammer with a 20.49m throw.

 

It’s silver success for James

 

James Munn won a silver medal at the 2006 East of England track and field championships at Peterborough on Sunday. Running in the under-17 men’s 1500m James recorded 4mins 25.2 seconds in second place.

 

Poor haul lowest for many years

 

Lincolnshire schools athletes returned from the 2006 Sainsbury’s English Schools AA Track and Field Championships with their lowest points score for a couple of decades. Just four county representatives appeared on the presentation rostrum for competitors finishing in the first six positions: 1 senior girls, Vikki Hubbard, first high jump champions, best performance 1.88m; 2 junior boys, Shamen Langham, second 200m 23.55secs; 3 senior girls, Rebecca Hall, fourth shot 11.91m; 4 inter girls, Emma Simpson, sixth shot.

 

Local athletes experienced disappointments over the two days of the championships at Gateshead’s International Stadium. Ben Maylor (Spalding GS) who suffered an injury in training just days before the championships and failed to get a single jump in at the junior boys triple jump, had the most disappointing experience.

 

In the junior boys long jump, Sam Lawrence (St Guthlacs) found the blustery conditions on an outside competition area, difficult to compete against.

 

In pool B on Friday, he struggled to qualify but eventually produced a leap of 5.83m to earn passage into Saturdays final. Ranked seventh on qualifying performance Sam improved to jump 5.78m to finish just outside the podium positions in seventh place. The event was won with a leap of 6.01m, a distance well within Sam’s capacity in more favourable conditions.

 

In her pool on Friday morning Emily Moss (Spalding High) was below her best in triple jump. She recorded a leap of 10.54m into a 1.6 metres per second head wind to finish 12 in her pool and outside the qualifiers for the final round.

 

Sean Band (Middlecott) opened his intermediate boys discus challenge with two foul throws. His third attempt was 34.82m which secured 19th position, well below the distance required to earn a further three throws in the championships. Jake Mason (Boston GS), competing in his second choice event — the long jump — recorded a disappointing 5.91m in 17th position.

 

Shamen Langham fulfilled his promise clearly demonstrated this season in Boston and District AC colours by winning his heat of the junior boys 200 metres. Moving up a gear in the semi-final Shamen again crossed the finish line in first place recording a sharp 23.50secs on Saturday morning. In the final on Saturday afternoon Shamen imposed himself on the quality field and worked hard right over the line to claim the silver medal in 23.55secs.

 

Rebecca Hall (Queen Elizabeth’s GS, Horncastle) an experienced competitor at national level used this background to full advantage. Contesting the senior girls’ 4kg shot championship, Rebecca produced a series of consistent putts with a best of 11.9m earning her a good fourth place and yet another top national podium position.

 

In the intermediate girls hammer event Elly Jackson (Gleed Girls) threw 32.83m to finish in 12th position. Elly gained valuable experience at national level in this competition that will provide a good platform for future development.

 

A year young Alex Pycock (Boston GS) also gained invaluable experience sprinting in the third of the four heats of the junior boys 200 metres, Alex clocked 24.22secs in fifth place. Older brother Leon (Boston GS) was in the senior boys 100 metres championships. After four false (or faulty) starts, the six sprinters in heat three finally got away but Leon was left trailing from the gun and never really got on terms with the leaders. He recorded 11.52secs in fifth position outside the qualifiers for the final. The Lincolnshire junior boys’ relay team including Sam Lawrence, Shamen Langham and Alex Pycock crossed the line second in their qualifying round but the quartet was disqualified for faulty changeovers.

 

 

 

Week ending Sunday July 2

 

Youngsters turn in excellent performances

 

Several local athletes featured in the English Schools AA Combined Events Championships at Bedford. In warm weather, the young multi-eventers produced some excellent performances.

 

Highest finisher in the girls’ championships was Emily Moss who claimed an outstanding third place in the intermediate girls’ heptathlon. By virtue of achieving a 4,092 points total and passage to the ESAA National Combined Events finals, Emily produced four personal best performances. Opening with a 12.8secs sprint over 80m hurdles for 698 points, Emily then cleared a rewarding 1.53m (655 points) in high jump. A putt of 8.71m was well above her previous best with the 4k shot (445 points) and moved her into contention. She finished the first day’s competition with a personal best 26.9secs time for 200 metres that added 700 points to her total.

 

The second day’s events opened with a disappointing 4.79m long jump (503 points) but the remaining two competitions harvested another two personal best performances. Emily threw 22.36m (33 points) with the 600g javelin and stormed around the track in the 800 metres to record an excellent 2mins 24.9secs for a high scoring 758 points to secure third place in the championships.

 

In the same event Sophie Hallam finished in ninth place with 80m hurdles (13.7secs), high jump (1.41m), shot (7.39m), 200 metres (28.2secs), long jump (4.63m), javelin (28.28m) and 800 metres (2mins 38.2secs) for 3,578 points. Rachel Cooke recorded: 80m hurdles (15.0secs), high jump (1.41m), shot (7.41m), 200 metres (29.0secs), long jump (4.09m), javelin (23.46m), 800 metres — a nil performance.

 

Best performance by a Lincolnshire boys’ representative was Ben Maylor who finished in a fine second place booking his place in the junior boys pentathlon national finals at Derby in September.Ben recorded 13.5secs (530 points) for 8pm hurdles and then cleared 1.61m (472 points) in the high jump. A 12.10m shot putt earned 612 points and put Ben in real contention for the regional title. He followed this with an excellent 5.68m long jump (519 points). Over 800 metres the Spalding GS student ran 2mins 29.4secs (329 points) for a total of 2,462 points and second place overall just 136 points behind winner Michael Wykes from Northants. Also competing in the junior boys pentathlon, Adam Smith was 10th, Alex Pycock 11th and Daniel Morris 12th.

 

In the junior girls’ pentathlon Lincolnshire and Holland Schools champion Hannah Boyes (Giles) finished eighth in her first regional contest. Starting with 13.8secs for 75m hurdles, Hannah then cleared 1.48m in high jump with both performances — a considerable improvement on her county achievement. Her shot putt of 8.00m was more than a metre better than her Lincolnshire effort and Hannah then recorded 3.78m in long jump. An 800 metres run in 2mins 44.5secs gave Hannah a points total of 2,276 which was 250 more than her last pentathlon score.

 

Rachel Holland (Middlecott) achieved a total of 2,055 points in 14th position, an improvement of almost 300 points. Her event performances were: 75m hurdles (13.0secs), high jump (1.24m), shot (5.27m), long jump (4.20m) and 800 metres (2mins 41.1secs). Lucy Brentnall (Middlecott) was 16th with a 13.3 secs hurdles display, 1.27m in the high jump, 7.89m in the shot, a 4.06m long jump and 2mins 59.9secs for the 800 metres.

 

In the intermediate boys octathlon, Sean Band (Middlecott) was fifth and Jake Mason (Boston GS) ninth. Sean opened with a 5.46m long jump followed by 36.66m in discus and 39.04m in javelin ending the first days competition with a 400 metres time of 59.2secs. He recorded 15.3secs for 100m hurdles, cleared 1.82m in high jump, put the shot 12.10m before competing 1,500 metres in 5mins 37.4secs for a total of 4,250 points. Jake had one or two disappointing performances but excelled in high jump with a personal best 1.91m clearance. His long jump was 5.88m, discus (25.37m), javelin (31.92m), 400 metres (57.7secs), 100m hurdles (15.2secs), shot (10.64m) and 1,500 metres (5mins 31.9secs) for an octathlon total of 4,033 points. Keiran Stocks was 19th and Michael Drury was 23rd.

 

Lincolnshire failed to field a team at both senior girls and senior boys levels but Simon Robinson and Stuart Smith produced some encouraging decathlon results. On day one Simon clocked 11.8secs for 100 metres, cleared 5.67m in long jump, 8.07m in shot, 1.64m high jump and recorded 58.4secs for 400 metres.

 

On the second day 17.7secs for 110m hurdles was followed by 20.70m in discus and unfortunately no clearance at pole vault. Recovering to throw 25.07m in javelin Simon then recorded 5mins 12.3secs for 1.500m for a 4,148 points total and sixth place. For his first regional decathlon Stuart ran 100 metres in 12.9secs, long jumped 4.40m, putt the shot 11.60m before leaping 1.55m in high jump and recording 58.9secs for 400 metres.

 

On day two, Stuart completed the 110m hurdles in 22.5secs, threw the discus 34.07m, cleared 1.80m in pole vault, threw the 700g javelin 20.56m and concluded with an encouraging 5mins 05secs for 1,500 metres. His 3,699 points total gave him eighth position in the championships.

 

*****

 

A select group of local youngsters are bound for Gateshead on Thursday July 6 to take up their places in this year’s English Schools AA Track and Field championships. Three Boston Grammar School boys have qualified for the championships.

 

Senior Leon Pycock will take part in the 100 metres heats on Friday morning and will attempt to progress beyond the first round in a keenly competitive event. Making his debut at junior boys’ level is Leon’s younger brother, Alex, who will line-up in the 200 metres heats on Friday afternoon. Alex, a year younger than most of his rivals will need to up his tempo if he is to progress beyond the early stages of the championships this year. But he also has a second bite of the cherry as a member of the Lincolnshire 4x100m relay team.

 

Last year Jake Mason competed in the junior boys high jump. And this year he contests the intermediate boys long jump. He would have preferred to be in the high jump event but just failed to clear the entry height before the deadline.

 

Other Holland District representatives in action at Gateshead are Emily Moss (Spalding High) who competes in the intermediate girls triple jump, Ben Maylor (Spalding Grammar), Sam Lawrence (St Guthlacs, Crowland) and Elly Jackson (Gleed Girls).

 

Boston and District ACs exciting young sprinter Shamen Aldy Langham goes to Gateshead to challenge the junior boys 200 metres championship. Shamen also competed with club-mate Alex in the 4x100 metres relay competition.

 

Intermediate thrower Sean Band (Middlecott) makes his second trip to the schools nationals and Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School student Rebecca Hall — an experienced campaigner at this level — competes in the senior girls’ shot putt championship.