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ATHLETICS

All the up-to-date news from Boston and District Athletic Club

 

 

 

BADAC news June 2006

 

 

Week ending Sunday June 25

 

The Lincolnshire athletics team won the overall trophy at the annual Anglian Counties Schools track and field championships at the Princess Royal Sports Arena. In the first inter-county schools event held on the Tommy Clay track and organised by Guy Bull (Giles School and Holland District secretary), competition was keen in hot, still conditions.

 

In the final analysis, Lincolnshire scored 789 points with Norfolk on 698, Suffolk 688 and Cambridgeshire 665 points. A number of local representatives produced impressive performances pushed to higher standards by East Anglia’s selected track and field stars in fine warm weather. The Lincolnshire junior boys team won their section. Shamen Langham dominated the sprints winning the 100 metres in 11.6secs two-tenths inside ESAA entry standard and then absolutely destroyed the opposition in the 200m.

 

Shamen ran an excellent bend and then extended an already impressive lead along the home straight to finish in a new Anglian record time of 23.3secs well inside ESAA entry standard and better still below national standard.

Holland’s Sam Lawrence was second over 100 metres in 11.7secs and Alex Pycock recorded an ESAA entry standard 24.2secs in fourth place in the 200 metres. James Cartwright was second in the 800 metres 2mins 12.3secs and Stephen Brockett was seventh recording 2mins 21.5secs.

 

In the 80m hurdles a 12.9secs effort earned fifth place for Michael Robinson and Joseph Wild took the discus title with a throw of 31.03m. Ben Maylor won javelin with 41.01m and also finished second in triple jump with a leap of 11.74m. At long jump Sam Lawrence finished first with a leap just 4cms shy of the national standard, an impressive 5.96m. In the same event Roger Kissane jumped 5.17m and Tom Dust cleared a slightly below par 1.42m in high jump.

 

In the javelin, Chris Battle improved on his Lincs Schools championships performance claiming third with 39.17m and Jake Brittain also advanced his pole vault performance to a winning 2.30m clearance. Haden Brittain set a new personal best in the hammer competition achieving 17.73m.

 

There was less success for Lincolnshire and for the locals in the junior girls age group. Two Holland throwers achieved a top four position with Kelly Lawrence third in shot with 8.86m and Chloe Turner fourth in discus with 19.50m. Lucy Brentnall recorded 13.1secs in sixth place in the 75m hurdles and Natalie Walker was seventh in high jump clearing 1.35m.

 

The intermediate boys team finished joint first with Norfolk. In the 3,000 metres race James Munn was second in a much improved time of 9mins 39.4secs and Kieran Stocks ran 400 metres in 53.6secs finishing sixth. Chris Cooper was third in 1,500m steeplechase 5mins 26.3secs and B hammer third and Russell Watts fourth, both cleared 2.45m in pole vault. Jake Mason was disappointed with his 100m hurdles performance despite the fact that 15.1secs in fifth place was considerably faster than his county championships performance. He added a third place in high jump clearing 1.85m and only narrowly failing at 1.90m. Sean Band threw 33.80m for sixth in discus and achieved 1.80m in fourth place in high jump.

 

In the intermediate girls’ category, Lincolnshire continued their winning way. Two local representatives achieved an individual victory. Emily Moss was well out in front in the 80m hurdles crossing the finish line in 12.6secs and Emily Richardson was rewarded for her efforts with a new personal best javelin throw of 31.96m. Sophie Hallam improved her javelin performance to 28.61m for third place. In the hammer Ellie Jackson threw an ESAA entry standard 32.36m for a good second place and Lauren West recorded 27.7secs in fourth place in the 200 metres.

A leap of 5.01m in long jump added third place points for Emily Moss and Sophie Hallam added value in 300 metres recording 45.0secs in fourth place.

 

Over 800 metres, Becky Wycherley recorded 2mins 30.7secs in ninth position. The senior boys’ team achieved victory with a 30 point winning margin. Mark Bridges won the triple jump contest with a leap of 12.34m and also finished third in long jump clearing 6.19m and seventh in 100 metres recording 11.9secs. Aaron Shepherd finished second in the 3,000 metres clocking 9mins 38.9secs and Simon Robinson reduced his 400 metres personal best by a good second-and-a-half crossing the line second in 59.2secs.

 

Sprinter Leon Pycock was fourth in 200 metres 23.2secs and fifth over 100 metres 11.5secs and Jamie Stevens recorded 16.3 for 110m hurdles and added a fourth place in javelin. Stuart Smith made an excellent contribution by winning discus with 35.70m finishing second in hammer with 28.03m and sixth in shot recording 11.00m.

Adam Brackenbury threw 24.40m in hammer for fourth place.

 

In the senior girls age group, Natalie Grimer of Boston High set a new Anglian championship record in winning the pole vault with a clearance of 2.00m. She also finished seventh in triple jump by leaping 8.58m.

 

Conditions were less hot and sticky than expected for the Boston five-mile road race with a refreshing breeze helping the runners keep their cool. Simon Bell, formerly Lincolnshire based and now running for Fairland Valley, won the main race convincingly.

 

Leaving the Finnforest Athletics Arena at the front of the pack Simon was prominent throughout the first mile and then took off to establish a lead in excess of 80 metres, recording 27mins 25secs at the finish line. Boston and District AC’s Shaun North stayed with Simon in the early stages before settling for second place in a time of 27mins 48secs. In third place was Nick Marsh of Louth AC in 28mins 40secs with Stuart Cragg 28mins 48secs fourth and Paul Jackson fifth 29mins 43secs ahead of Clive Jones of Great Bentley Running Club, who was sixth in 29mins 54secs.

 

In the team results Boston and District AC carried off the senior mens, veteran mens and veteran ladies awards.

With Shaun North and Stuart Cragg in the top six places it was Steve Hubbard 21st (35mins 35secs) who completed the team scorers.

 

The winning veteran men’s team consisted of Tony Tomlin 32nd (40.04), Robert Shaw 39th (46.46) and Trevor Snell 40th (47.28). Winners of the women’s veterans team prizes were Sharon Gallichan 27th (36.53), Gill Sleaford 36th (43.05) and Wendy Mitchell 41st (48.36).

 

The first female senior finisher was Charlie Sledge (BADAC) in 35mins 19secs with Annette Bell (Fairland Valley)  the winner of the women’s 35 veteran category in 33mins 10secs. Carol Beattie (Steel City Striders) was first veteran 45 lady in 38.25 with Judith Drury (BADAC) the winner of the female veteran 55 award in 56.28. Eddie Enright (Lincolnshire and District) was the first veteran 50 man with Trevor Snell (BADAC) the victor in the mens 60+ category (47.29).

 

On Sunday July 2 Boston and District Athletic Club teams return to North of England League action. The third of this year’s four match series take the A team to contest Division Two at Derby with the B team in Division Four in action at Hull on Sunday. The under-14 Holland Schools Championships will be held at the Tommy Clay Track on Thursday evening (July 6). This gives Year 7 and 8 pupils their opportunity to contest district individual and team titles.

 

A series of junior races held as a curtain raiser for the Boston 5 Road Race produced some encouraging performances. At under-7s level Tiana Hicks won the girls’ race and Grace Johnson was second while Steven Cragg won the boys race. In the under-9s category Nicki Cragg finished first with Olivia Gallichan second after 200 metres of the girls race and Oliver Huckle was first in the boys contest. In the under-11s section 600 metres challenge Maria Hollingsworth (BADAC) proved a good winner of the girls event with Taryn Bunn runner-up. Two Gold Tops were first two finishers in the boys competition with Andrew Hicks leading Henry Warren over the line. The under-15 race over 3,000 metres had Stephen Brockett (Grantham AC) a worthy winner of the boys’ competition. Jake Brittain (BADAC) was second and Jeremy Baily (BADAC) third. First to finish in the girls contest was Chelsea Brockett (Grantham AC) with Gold Tops Louise Rutt second and Kayleigh North third.

 

 

 

Week ending Sunday June 18

 

Jodie Favell, women’s captain of Boston and District Athletic Club, has won her third North of England title this season. She finished first in the 400 metres hurdles final at Manchester. Drawn in lane five, Jodie went off hard from the gun and ran strongly to find herself out in front at the 300 metres stage.

 

With the rest of the championship contenders in hot pursuit, Jodie had to dig deep to hang on to her lead — crossing the line in a personal best 63.55secs. It was an unexpected victory and a slender one with the runner-up just three hundredths of a second behind Jodie at the finish.

 

Another North of England Championship medal followed by selection for the North in the inter-area match confirms Jodie’s current good form.

 

Sprinter Julia White qualified for the 100 metres senior women’s championships final, in recording 12.13secs.

Progressing to the final, Julia once again dipped under 1.2secs to finish in fourth position.

 

*****

 

A series of junior races held as a curtain raiser for the Boston 5 Road Race produced some encouraging performances. At under-7s level Tiana Hicks won the girls' race and Grace Johnson was second while Steven Cragg won the boys race.


In the under-9s category Nicki Cragg finished first with Olivia Gallichan second after 200 metres of the girls race and Oliver Huckle was first in the boys contest. In the under-11s section 600 metres challenge Maria Hollingsworth (BADAC) proved a good winner of the girls event with Taryn Bunn runner-up.


Two Gold Tops were first two finishers in the boys competition with Andrew Hicks leading Henry Warren over the line. The under-15 race over 3,000 metres had Stephen Brockett (Grantham AC) a worthy winner of the boys’ competition. Jake Brittain (BADAC) was second and Jeremy Baily (BADAC) third. First to finish in the girls contest was Chelsea Brockett (Grantham AC) with Gold Tops Louise Rutt second and Kayleigh North third.

 

 

*****

 

Holland District representatives had a measure of success at a distinctly low level Lincoln shire Schools Track and Field Championships at Grantham. In hot and windy conditions the championships lacked both quantity and quality with just three athletes achieving English Schools entry standards on the day.

 

A measure of the decline in the overall standard was illustrated by the fact that many events went through as straight finals. And not all districts were represented in the relay events held at the end of the programme.

With just 11 qualifiers at this stage it looks as if the Lincolnshire contingent at the English Schools AA Championships at Gateshead will fall well short of the possible 24 team members. The Holland junior boys produced the best team result, finishing well ahead of Lincoln.

 

In the 200 metres Sam Lawrence finished second when recording 25.3secs behind Boston and District AC’s Shamon Langham representing the Lincoln Association. Alex Pycock (Boston Grammar) was a close third, recording 25.7secs. Over 400 metres Matthew Lee was second (55.3secs) and Scott Forman ran a determined 1500 metres finishing second in 4mins 44.5secs.

 

The gold vests of Holland filled second and third places in the high jump with Giles School’s Tom Dust clearing 1.57m and Alex Pycock (Boston GS) leaping 1.54m in third position. A leap of 5.34m won the long jump for Roger Kissane and Jake Brittain (Thomas Cowley HS) cleared 2.20m for victory in the pole vault. Ben Naylor was outstanding in triple jump (11.43m) and javelin (42.29m) while Joseph Wild (Giles School) added a victory in discus throwing 33.85m. In the hammer Haden Brittain (Cowley’s) threw a personal best of 16.69m to win and the 4x100m relay team emphasised Holland’s sprint superiority in 48.9secs.

 

Holland junior girls were less successful than their male counterparts. Kelly Lawrence was the district’s only individual champion, winning shot by a 70cm margin on 8.74m. Chloe Turner (Boston High School) was second in the discus throwing 20.70m and Lucy Brentnall (Middlecott, Kirton) filled the same position in 75m hurdles (13.2secs) and added a third in javelin throwing (25.88m). Giles School’s Natalie Walker claimed runners-up position in high jump when clearing 1.40m assisting Holland to third place in the team competition.

 

Three Holland lads won individual titles in the intermediate boys section. James Munn (Boston GS) was a convincing winner of the 3,000 metres recording 10mins 08.1secs in difficult conditions. A clearance of 1.85m gave Jake Mason first place in the high jump and the Boston Grammar School representative claimed second place in the 100m sprint hurdles, clocking 15.8secs.

 

Sean Band (Middlecott) won the discus with a throw of 36.86m and finished second in high jump leaping 1.80m.

Adding value for Holland, Chris Cooper (Cowley’s) ran a determined race to finish second in the 1,500m steeplechase (5mins 14.2secs) and Rhys Cox was third in the triple jump (10.68m). Kieran Stocks crossed the line second in the 400m and Alex Gibb clinched the same position at the end of the 1,500 metres (4mins 28.0secs) as did Russell Watts (Giles) in the pole vault (1.80m).

 

Holland intermediate girls won the team championship and provided four individual county schools champions before winning the 4x100m relay title. Emily Moss was a double champion in long jump (5.04m) and 80m sprint hurdles (13.1secs). Lauren West (Boston High) was strongest over 200 metres (29.2secs). In the javelin Emily Richardson (Haven High) was the clear winner with 30.39m and also added third place points in the high jump (1.44m). Sophie Hallam had a double second in 300 metres (44.8secs) and javelin (26.93m) and Becky Wycherley battled hard for second place in the 800 metres (2mins 30.9secs).

 

The senior boys category provided sparse inter-district competition and the Holland team achieved a resounding victory. Sprinter Leon Pycock (Boston GS) was a double champion, recording 11.8secs for 100m and 24.0secs for 200m. Mark Bridges won the long jump (6.21m) and triple jump (11.80m) and secured second place in the 100 metres (12.0secs). Aaron Shepherd (Boston College) took the 3,000m title in 9mins 50secs and Jamie Stevens (Boston College) won the 110m sprint hurdles.

 

In the throwing events Stuart Smith (Boston High) was well out in front in shot (10.68m), discus (39.50m) and hammer (27.41m) while Simon Poole (Giles) won the javelin (33.78m) and pole vault (2.10m). The 4x100m quartet recorded 47.8secs to win the relay race.

 

Competition was even less challenging at senior girls level with two events uncontested. Lucy Nell won the longest event, the 3,000 metres (12mins 18.2secs) and Natalie Grimer (Boston High) cleared 2.0m to win the pole vault title and added a second in both high jump (1.44m) and triple jump (9.03m). S Blake won the hammer (13.07m).

 

 This Sunday (June 24) Boston and District AC under-13s, under-15s and under-17s boys and girls tams take up the challenge of the National Young Athletes League with the third match in the series at Cudworth (Barnsley). Transport leaves the Princess Royal Sports Arena at 8.30am.

 

*****

 

Boston High School junior girls team narrowly missed out on a place in the ESAA Sainsbury’s Track and Field Cup final at Bournemouth on July 1. Competing at the North Midlands regional final at Mansfield last week, the High School Year 7 and 8 athletes finished in second place behind Lady Manners School, Bakewell, who now progress to the national final.

 

The Boston girls improved their performances considerably from their first round win in May finishing with a total of 329 points behind Lady Manners’ 360 points and ahead of Wakefield Girls’ High School who had 324 points.

Four team members excelled in scoring 20 or more points in their individual events.

 

Two throwers topped the achievement list, each contributing 24 points. Jade Mason’s 8.60m shot putt earned her two dozen points. Andrew Jackson also achieved 24 points from a javelin throw of 23.39m. Ashleigh Frankish cleared 1.38m in the high jump for 20 points and on the track Lara Busch recorded 13.9secs for 100 metres to add another 20 points to the BHS team total. Amy Harrison (7.76m shot), Ellis Whyler (1.35m high jump) and Ashleigh Frankish (13.9secs 75m hurdles) all chipped in with 19-point efforts and Louise Rutt contributed 18 points through a 1500 metres run of 5mins 47.8secs.

 

Both Boston Grammar School intermediate and junior boys teams finished in fourth place. Highest points scorer for the junior boys team was Alex Pycock who contributed a magnificent total of 46 points. Recording 12.5secs for 100 metres for 25 points in his track event, Alex then cleared 1.53m for an additional 21 points in high jump. A 10.37m triple jump earned Jeremy Baily 20 points.

 

In the intermediate boys competition Jake Mason scored an exceptional 56 points. Recording 11.6secs for 80m hurdles, Jake achieved 27 points and added another 29 points by clearing 1.86m in high jump. Rhys Cox also exceeded 20 points in hurdles recording 12.5secs (22 points) and cleared 5.57m in long jump to contribute a further 20 points. Liam Bull ran 400m in 57.4secs (20 points) and Alex Beck’s 11.57m triple jump added 19 points.

 

Spalding High School were second in the regional B final at Derby, scoring 297 points and George Farmer’s intermediate boys team was also second with 365 points.

 

Week ending Sunday June 11

 

A series of good performances at Scunthorpe saw Boston and District AC in joint first place in the provisional results at the end of the second of this season's Young Athletes League matches. In warm dry conditions the young Gold Tops responded to the challenge provided by Lincoln Wellington, Doncaster and Stainforth, Hull Achilles, Barton and District and Scunthorpe and, for the second time, provided a "male of the match" sprinter Shammon Langham was awarded this accolade for his AAA grade one standard victory in the under-15 boys 200 metres. Shammon clocked 24.1secs for a runaway win in the A race.


For good measure the outstanding young sprinter also won the A 100 metres in 12.1secs (AAA grade two standard) and the long jump, clearing 5.22m. Emphasising the Gold Tops’ superiority in the under-15 boys’ section, Alex Pycock had emphatic wins in the B 100m in 12.4secs and B 200m in an AAA grade two 24.9secs.
To crown a great day for the two, Alex also achieved a “treble” in winning the 80 metres hurdles in 13.7secs.
In the same age group Jake Brittain won both the pole vault clearing 2.20m and the high jump 1.40m and Jeremy Baily finished first in discus throwing 17.68m and claimed first in the B 1500 metres (5mins 13.9secs).


Other event winners were Michael Robinson 80m hurdles 13.7secs and Hadan Brittain (hammer, 14.35). Over 400 metres Jake Clare impressed (second in 65.0secs) and Aston Perrin looked fitter in the 1500 metres (second in 1500m 5mins 10.5secs). With Michael Robinson claiming second in the B high jump in 1.40m and Hadan Brittain and Aston Perrin winning B discus and shot putt plus Jason William and Grant Fixter contributing well, BADAC had an outstanding under-15 boys section result.


The under-15 girls had their share of successes with Lucy Brentnall winning the javelin with 22.92m and 75m hurdles in 13.2secs and then claiming second position in shot putt (7.05m). Rachel Holland won the B 75m hurdles (13.4secs) finished second in the 200 metres 28.1secs and third in the 100 metres (13.7secs). A lap of 1.35m gave Ashleigh Frankish a win in the high jump and she ran 1,500 metres in 5mins 59.8secs for second position. Melanie Bristow won the B high jump (1.25m) and Chelsea Ironmonger and Lara Bush contributed well to the team effort.


At under-13 level, Ellis Whyler and Paige Mitchell featured. Ellis achieved three second places in 150 metres (20.6secs, AAA grade two standard), 70m hurdles in 12.4secs (grade two) and long jump 3.95m. for her part Paige scored points in 75m hurdles (15.1secs) and shot (5.14m).

 

In the under-17 men’s category there were some impressive performances. Jake Mason was out on his own in the high jump contest clearing a new personal best of 1.88m for an AAA grade two standard. She also won the long jump with 5.74m and finished second in the 100m hurdles recording 15.6secs. In the high jump, Mark Tebbs improved his personal best for the second time in two days raising his performance to 1.55m to win the B event.
Chris Bloom was the outstanding horizontal jumper on the day, winning triple jump in 11.82m and the B long jump when clearing 5.60m and then ran third in the B 200 metres (28.1secs).


On the track Chris Cooper won the 3,000 metres 10mins 39.1secs and finished second in both 1,500 metres steeplechase (5mins 24.7secs) and 400m hurdles (87.8secs) and Mark Tebbs was the winner of the 1,500m steeplechase B race (5mins 31.1secs) and the 400m hurdles B event (68.2secs). Over 200 metres, 400 metres and spring hurdles Chris Chester contributed valuable points by winning the B 100m hurdles in 18.9secs.


In the under-17 women's section Emily Richardson took the honours in the javelin with 27.76m and finished second in shot (6.40m) and high jump (1.40m). Isabelle Whitehead won the triple jump contest when leaping 8.86m and finished second in both 80m hurdles (16.2secs) and 300m hurdles (52.3secs). In the throws Rochelle Park threw 17.53m to win the discus event and 14.30m for second place in hammer. After their second place in the first match of the season the Gold Tops were delighted with their provisional joint first place at the end of the Scunthorpe fixture.

Over the weekend June 17 and 18 there is another double competition at the Princess Royal Sports Arena.
The Finnforest Athletics Arena hosts the annual Anglian Inter-Counties Schools Track and Field Championships on the Saturday (June 17). With a full programme of events for under-15, under-17 and under-19 boys and girls, Lincolnshire selected teams will be challenged by representative teams from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. On the Sunday (June 18), the Tommy Clay track is the start and finish for the Boston 5 road race. The contest starts at 11am.

 

*****

 

Boston and District AC hosted the second of this season’s Eastern Veterans Track and Field League matches at the Finnforest Athletics Arena. Steve Peters returned to competitive athletics taking a break from his duties as medical officer for the British Olympic Association. He made an impact in winning the 50-plus 200 metres in a sparkling 24.2secs despite his lack of training and competitive experience this year. Geoff Battista won the 40-plus 200 metres recording 24.8secs and Bob Whyler finished second in the 50-plus discus throwing 23.96m.


In the 3,000 metres Ivo Rodrigues ran away from the field after just half a lap securing a convincing victory in 9mins 39.1secs. The veterans’ fixture gave younger Gold Tops the opportunity to officiate and help in the organisation of the events with senior under-20, under-17 and under-15 members providing help and support to local officials.

 

*****

 

Jodie Favell has won the North of England outdoor combined athletics events title, a success that adds to her indoor championship title won over the winter. Competing at Stoke on Trent on Sunday June 10, the Boston and District Athletic Club captain achieved personal best performances in two events and finished fifth overall in the AAA of England Championships.

 

Opening with a 16.4secs for 100m hurdles sprinting into a 5.4secs wind Jodie — captain of the female Gold Tops — then cleared 1.48m in high jump. A 9.79m shot putt increased her PB and this was followed by 27.0secs for 200metres despite a 6.1metres per second head wind. A leap of 5.15m in long jump was followed by 34.60m in javelin.

 

In the 80cm five seconds came off Jodie’s personal best when, despite the hot, windy conditions, she recorded 2mins 30secs to take the North of England Senior Women’s heptathlon title. Jodie’s points total of 4,316 put her in an outstanding fifth place in the AAA championship. 

 

*****

 

Boston and District Athletic Club’s B team finished fourth in the second North of England Division Four match at Sheffield. The Gold Tops scored most points in the men's 110m hurdles where Karl Wright (21.0secs) and Chris Chester (21.5secs) finished second in the A race and first in the B contest.


The male throwers added a considerably proportion of the team's points total. Anthony Fenner threw 21-10m for third place in hammer and collected a third in B javelin (22.00m), fourth in B discus (22.05m) and also took third position in shot with an impressive 10.24m. Karl Wright contributed through shot (second B 8.89m), discus (fourth, 25.24m), javelin (fifth, 32.70m) and featured in 400m hurdles (fourth, 73.8secs), high jump (fifth, 1.50m) and pole vault (third 2.80m).


In the jumps Mark Tebbs cleared a personal best 1.50m for third place in the B event and cleared 10.63m (fourth) in triple jump and added value in the 800 metres (fifth B, 2mins 27.7secs) and as a member of the 4x400m relay team (fifth, 4mins 27.5secs). Over 200 metres, Matthew Harness recorded 27.5 seconds in fifth position and finished in the same place in long jump (4.75m). Jose Ferreira had a full day of competition running the 5,000 metres (fifth, 20mins 53.8secs), 400 metres (sixth, 64.5secs), 100 metres (fifth, 14.1secs) and also jumped 4.44m for fifth in the B long jump. Chris Cooper was also busy on the day with 100 metres (fifth, B 14.1secs), 800 metres (sixth 2mins 25.6secs) and 1,500 metres (fifth, 5mins 10.5secs). Completing the male section of the B team was Chris Chester with 400m hurdles (78.8secs), 110m hurdles (21.5secs) and hammer (16.67m).


For the women's section veteran Charmaine Donald had a full programme of competitions with long jump (3.32m), triple jump (7.53m), hammer (15.99m), 100m (17.2secs), discus (13.53m), javelin (10.58m) and shot (5.83m).
Isabelle Whitehead did well with a 77.9secs fourth place in the 400m hurdles, second in sprint hurdles and fourth in triple jump with an encouraging 9.20m. Rochelle Parkes threw 19.66m in discus (fifth), 13.70m in javelin and 14.92 in the hammer.


A points total of 219 maintained the BADAC B team in fourth place behind host club Hallamshire (first), Hull (second) and City of Sheffield (third) and ahead of Grimsby and Wombwell.

 

Week ending Sunday June 4

 

Squad members from teams representing Boston and District Athletic Club were in track and field action at Barnsley, Sheffield and Scunthorpe over the weekend of June 3 and 4. On Saturday the senior and under-17 A and B teams made a great impact in Divisions Two and Four of the North of England Leagues at the two Yorkshire venues.

On Sunday in the second of this season’s national young athletes league fixtures at Scunthorpe, the Gold Tops were joint winners on the provisional end of match team results.

After their fourth place in the opening North of England Division Two match last month the A team excelled, rising to second place at Cudworth (Barnsley) on Saturday.

Despite the unavailability of some first choice representatives the combined support of the remaining track and field selections produced an outstanding result. Finishing just 20 points behind winners Rotherham, the BADAC team hauled themselves into a position where they are now contenders for a Division One play-off place.

With one match in Derby next month, followed by a fourth fixture at the Princess Royal Sports Arena, the Gold Tops have all to play for. Once again it was the hurdlers and throwers who spearheaded the points scoring. In the women's javelin Jodie Favell 35.10m and Emma Richardson 30.14m achieved maximum points with Emma creating a new personal best performance in winning the B competition.

For the men, Jake Louth had another outstanding day. He won the javelin with 54.59m and the discus with 43.32m and went on to claim second place in shot 12.28m and despite his hammer throwing inexperience he added fourth place points with 29.86m.

In the sprint hurdles Jodie Favell looked sharp in winning the A 100m hurdles race and Anna Lenton took first place in the B race for full marks for BADAC. Jodie was also superior in the 400m hurdles and once again Anna was the B contender returning in second position. Mark Bowler scored a good double taking the 400 metres version in 60.7secs and the 110m hurdles in 15.8secs with Phil Peatling gaining second in the B sprint hurdles race.

Victories were not exclusively confined to throwers and hurdlers on a day when the Boston team member responded to the challenge in warm dry conditions. Eberechi Eseonu impressed over 100metres recording 10.8secs to win the A race and Leon Pycock made it a double celebration by taking the B event and clocking 11.7secs in a tight sprint finish. “Ebbs” then added a third over 200 metres distance in 23.1secs and Mark Bridges claimed second in the B contest (24.8secs).

The men’s triple jump competition harvested maximum points for the Gold Tops with Chris Bloom overall winner with a leap of 12.57m and Mark Bridges second and B contest winner with 12.27m.

For the ladies, Emily Moss achieved 10.96m for runners-up position in 'the triple' with Natalie Grimer third in the B event with 9.02m

Jake Mason produced a 6.27m leap for a narrow long jump victory and once again Mark Bridges provided excellent support finishing third in the B competition. Equalling his personal best of 1.85m in high jump, Jake clinched second place ably supported by Phil Peatling who was third in the B event (1.55m).

Natalie Grimer and Stacey Worth both cleared 1.40m in high jump and Jodie Favell 5.28m (third) and Emily Moss (B second) 5.01m contributed valuable points.

 

Two pole vaults distinguished themselves relishing the good weather conditions and clearing new best performances. Natalie Grimer cleared 2.00m for third position and Phil Peatling advanced to 2.80m for the same position in the men's section.

In the distance races Geoff Knight claimed third place in the 3,000m steeplechase (10mins 52.3secs) and fourth in the demanding 5,000 metres in a rewarding 17mins 08.2secs before adding value as a member of the 4x400m relay squad.

Stuart Smith again provided good support in the throwing events adapting well to the senior weight implements. Having moved up to a higher level of performance this season Stacey Worth threw an excellent 18.24m in a debut hammer competition and again went over nine metres in shot (9.15m) and added 28.85m in discus.

Owen Msimango contributed on the track and both Chris Bloom and Stuart Smith, together with Geoff Knight added value in track competition.

Vicky Odlin returned to North of England competition with some promising performances and Julia Moore was again consistent over 400 metres.

In the final analysis the provisional match result had Rotherham on 443 points with Boston and District AC on 420 ahead of Lincoln Wellington 394, Barnsley 370, Chesterfield 329, Grantham 249 and Derby 191 points.