Apr to Jun 2005

April 2005		May 2005		June 2005
	26/04/05		31/05/05		28/06/05
	19/04/05		24/05/05		21/06/05
	12/04/05		17/05/05		14/06/05
	5/04/05		10/05/05		7/06/05
			3/05/05

A hectic few days of Athletics has seen a British Record, a League record and more Club Records for Blackheath & Bromley athletes. The Senior Women moved closer to promotion in the UK Women’s League and the Young Athletes are almost certain to be defending their National title at Birmingham in September. The Senior Men need to produce a strong performance in their next British League match after struggling in their match at Copthall.

In addition to Alex AlAmeen, Ashley Harris has been selected for the European Youth Olympics in Italy next month and a staggering 40 of the Club’s athletes have been picked for next months English Schools Championships in Birmingham.

British Athletics League Division Two, Copthall
After a couple of mid table positions in the opening two fixtures of the British Athletics League Division Two, Blackheath & Bromley’s Senior Men slumped to last place in the third of the four League matches at Copthall.

The result leaves them 6th in the 8 team division with the bottom two relegated. They have 10 League points, equal to 5th placed Cardiff, compared to Harrows 8 with City Of Stoke propping the table on 5 points.

The relegation places will be decided at the last match at Stoke at the end of July. A result such as Saturdays would send the Club down. One of which they are capable of would see them survive.

Main reason for this disappointing result was the unavailability of athletes due to injury, work commitments, a clash with the British Milers Club races at Solihull, and people resting before this weekends AAA’s Under 20 and Under 23 championships.

In fact although the team came last on the day it was actually a fine effort by the athletes who competed as a number achieved personal bests.

There won’t be many youngsters in this country who will be able to go into school this week and say that the previous weekend they raced an Olympic gold medallist. St Olave’s schoolboy Daniel Haque will. The 16 year old was involved in a blanket finish in the 100 metres, a race won by Sale’s Darren Campbell in 10.6.

Daniel was just one tenth of a second adrift in 10.7 but had to settle for 5th place. Hopes were high that he would be even closer to the Olympian in the 200 metres but disaster struck on the bend with the youngster pulling up with a hamstring tear.

This was a blow for the Club as despite his tender years he would have been one the Club’s top points scorers of the day. This was the preserve of the Club’s more Senior athletes. Vice captain Sam Bobb led by example with second place in the triple jump to add to the useful points he scored in the long jump. Andy Hodge has been competing for the British League team for 20 years and continues to do the Club proud. While the spring may have sprung from his high jump (his 1.75 on Saturday was someway off his best of 2.10) his natural talent shone through in the third place achieved in the “B” triple jump; his 4th place in the B javelin and 7th in the A sprint hurdles.

Likewise Spencer Newport has been a stalwart of the League teams for years and he ran his fastest time for two years in the 5000 metres as he ran 14.59.5. In the B string newly crowned Kent 10,000 metre champion Peter Tucker also ran his best for some time as he clocked 15.30.9.

A number made their League debuts. Junior James Poole showed maturity beyond his years to be competitive in the 800 metres and made a huge contribution the team by coming in at short notice to race the 400 B string and running a strong leg in the 4x400. Both Nick Gasson and Jon Thorpe ran personal bests in the 1500 metres; as did Alex Gibbins in the steeplechase.

In the field Steve Timmins gained valued points in all four throws as did Alan Fairbairn in the hammer and shot.

Seasons bests came from Ernest Duncan in the 400 Hurdles (56.6), Chris Hogg 3000 steeplechase (10.37.3) and Dan Ryan 800 (2.01.1)

UK Women’s League, Stoke
The Club’s Women’s team seem set for promotion from Division Four of the UK Women’s League after another second place in their match at Stoke. The top two teams are promoted each season and after the second of the three matches the Club lie in second place three League points clear of third.

Best performer of the day was Sam Singer who ran a seasons bests of 56.9 to place 2nd in the 400 metres and 25.2 to come 2nd in the 200 metres.

Training Partner Bella Clayton also had a good day. She was taken ill during the last match at Ware but returned to action in some style in the Midlands running close to her season’s best in the 800 before storming to victory in the B string 200 metres.

Bella only ran the 200 after Amy Godsell had to pull out of the event after injuring herself coming a good 3rd in the 100 metres

Christine Lawrence just missed out on first place in the javelin while Rachel Blackie showed an indication of the improvement she has made in the Hammer this year in being disappointed to have thrown 48.96.

Personal bests came from Bryony Proctor in the 1500 metres (4.56.0), and Clare Cooper in the 400 B string (59.1) but just as crucial in the team result were the performances of individuals who competed in more than their normal event.

The Club finished just one point ahead of Thames Valley Harriers so a crucial two points were scored by Carolyna Jones Baldock who was 7th in the Hammer and former Commonwealth and Olympic Swimming Champion Diana Mantoura who was also 7th in the Discus, just a metre down on the Club over 50’s record

Annie McDonough started in Athletics as a road runner but she performed admirably on her track debut to place third in the B string 3000 metres.

Jo Wood had another good day as she won the 400 hurdles B race in 70.8; Katy Benneworth impressed with a win in the B string 100 metres; and Rachel Chadwick (400 hurdles), Ella Fisher (800 and 1500) and Leanne Critchley (high jump and hurdles) made important contributions to the team.

Icing on the cake was the return to competition of Sandra Alaneme who scored good points in the long and high jumps and shot before contributing a leg in the 4x100.

The Olson sisters Hannah and Natalie are still awaiting clearance to compete in League competition but showed what an asset they will be to the Club by both clearing 3.50 in the pole vault. This meant they both equalled Natalie’s Junior Club record of 3.50.

When they are cleared to compete in team competition they will greatly strengthen the squad and with a further 9 of those who competed at Stoke still in the Junior age group, the future looks bright.

National Young Athletes League, Havering
A sparkling performance by Blackheath and Bromley’s under 13 girls 4x100 metre relay team saw them break the British best for the event at the latest match in the Southern Premier Division of the UKA National Young Athletes League. The quartet of Jasmyn Raikes, Nenisha Nelson-Roberts, Sheridan Lewis and Sian Hurlock timed 52.6 to smash the previous best of 53.09 which was set in 1999 by Wigan and is of course a League record and Club record as well.

The performance came at an important stage of an exciting match in which the Club just maintained their unbeaten record in the Division with a narrow victory over a strong Harrow team.

Both Clubs went into the match unbeaten and mid way through the afternoon there was nothing separating the two squads. Blackheath & Bromley then edged clear and this British best was the first of the Club’s eight wins in the nine relays.

The result means the Club have now beaten the strongest teams in the Division from last season and barring a complete disaster will qualify for the National Final in September to defend the title they won in 2004. In fact since the League became a joint boys and girls scoring last season the Club have won all nine matches in which it has competed.

The relay was not the only League record. The under 17’s triple jump has been included in the programme for the first time this year and Lauren Blackie broke the record with a leap of 11.16, two centimetres further than training partner Jade Castell Thomas produced to win the B string.

Club members also collected two of the four “Athlete Of The Match” awards. Danny Doyley took the men’s track title for his 22.0 victory in the under 17 men’s 200. Jessica Matthews received her award for a clearance of 1.55 in the under 15 girls high jump, a new personal best.

While there were many outstanding performances, the other story of the day was how athletes were able to switch events at short notice to cover for others as local traffic congestion prevented some arriving at the venue on time. For example, middle distance runner Emma Hook took part in the shot but she won the B string with a putt of 5.42. Similarly Jessica Saville came in at short notice to race the under 15 girls 800 after Amy Dematos had to withdraw through injury and javelin thrower Danny Duffin did so also in the boys event. Likewise Tom Doig returned from injury to throw the under 17s javelin over 40 metres but also ran in the 400 hurdles and 3000 metres.

Many of those competing were rewarded for their hard work during the Winter months with National Grade One performances. Apart from those mentioned above, Under 17 Serita Solomon achieved three in the 100, 200 and 80 metre hurdles. Others in this age group came from James Alaka (200), Scott Blackwell (400) Joe Stockton and Richard AlAmeen (both Hammer), Scott Huggins (pole vault) and Shaunagh Brown (shot and discus).

Additionally Sarah Coombs set personal bests to win both the 800 and 1500, and Sarah McLellan ran her self to near exhaustion for the team in the hurdles, and there was a welcome return to racing for Claire McNamara who won the B string 3000 metres.

In the under 15 age group Jermaine Alexander continued his outstanding Summer with grade ones of 11.6 and 23.5 in winning the 100 and 200. For the girls Katrina Cosby timed an excellent 42.3 to win the 300 metres.

For the under 13’s the grade ones came from Matthew Fletcher in the 200 and Jasmyn Raikes in the 150 metres.

British Milers Club races, Solihull
Three Club members travelled to Solihull for the latest British Milers Club races and two were rewarded with personal bests. Michael Skinner broke the 14 minute barrier in the 5000 metres for the first time as he clocked 13.56.68.

Andrew Rayner moved closer to a sub 3.50 time in the 1500 as he ran a new best of 3.51.00. Russell Bentley remains tantalisingly close to qualifying time for the World Championship Trials over 800 metres. His target is 1.51.00 which is three hundredths of a second quicker than his best. He is still searching for the time after running 1.51.91

South East Schools Inter Counties Match, Sutton Arena
Many of the Clubs athletes were in action at the South East Schools Inter Counties match at Sutton Arena as the Schools bodies took a last look at athletes before making their selections for their teams for the English Schools Championships in Birmingham next month.

Highlights of the day were the new Club Records set by Rachel Arnheim and Helen Silvester. Rachel added a further 5 centimetres to the under 17 Women’ pole vault record as she cleared 3.10. Helen improved her under 15’s javelin record from 27.62 to 29.38 and will be looking to break the 30 metre barrier in the near future.

In the Intermediate Boys age group Danny Doyley comfortably won the 100 metres in 11.0 and there were other wins for Scott Huggins in the pole vault with 3.90 and for Ashley Harris in the long jump in 6.64.

For the girls Katie Murray had a good win in the 800 in 2.21.9 as did Llauren Blackie in the triple jump with 11.15.

Marcus Morrison produced a fine leap of 12.68 to win the Junior Boys triple jump, a performance which is the second best in the country this year. Quickest in the 100 this year is Jermaine Alexander and he didn’t disappoint with a routine victory in the short sprint. Andrew Jordon won the Hammer by over 5 metres with a throw of 43.84 and Sarah McGuire took the girls shot putt with 9.83.

South Of England Championships, Ashford
Gold, silver and bronze medals and two new Club Records were the highlights for Blackheath and Bromley at the South Of England Senior Championships at Ashford.

Due to timetabling pressures the under 17 men’s Hammer could not be held with the other age group events at the Under 20 Championship at Portsmouth last month and so it was included in the Senior Schedule at Ashford. The wait may have helped Richard AlAmeen who has improved steadily in recent weeks culminating in a new best of 56.83 at Ashford to win the Area title. Only just 15 he still has another year in this age group as does Joe Stockton who took bronze with 51.14.

First year Senior Shavaun Henry won silver in the women’s 2000 metre steeplechase and her time of 7.28.56 took over 10 seconds off her own Club Record

There was bronze for Natalie Olson in the Senior Women’s pole vault. Still a junior, her clearance of 3.50 is a new Club under 20 record. Sister Hannah took 5th place with 3.20. County champion Katy Benneworth finished 6th in the long jump with 5.49.

Highest placed Senior male was Sam Bobb who was 5th in the triple jump with 14.91 with Ian Allerton 6th in the 400 in 49.97; Andrew Rayner 6th in the 1500 in 3.55.19, and 52 year old Allan Williams 8th in the pole vault with 4.20.

Fabian Collymore timed 10.95 in the heats of the 100 and Tawanda Chiwira qualified for the 200 final after clocking 22.09 in his semi. However he withdrew from the Final as a precaution against injury. Likewise Ed Harrison qualified for the 400 hurdles final timing 54.75 in his heat but did not start because of a virus. Michael Claff timed 4.09.17 in his heat of the 1500.

National Junior Athletics League, Ware
Blackheath & Bromley’s Senior Women maintained their unbeaten run in the Southern Premier Division of the National Junior Athletic League with a 47 and a half point victory over Woodford Green With Essex Ladies at Ware in Hertfordshire.

This was the third time this season that the team have defeated last years National Champions and ensures that, with one match to go, the team has qualified for the National Final at Derby in September.

Joining them there will be the men’s team who finished in second place at the same venue, their best placing this season. The great significance of this is the League will be a joint scoring competition in 2006 and the combined team could become National Champions. Both will be challenging for this individually this season.

Highlight of the afternoon was a new Junior and Senior Club Hammer Record from Rachel Blackie. She threw 51.10 while Victoria Thomas made it maximum points in the B event with 47.53.

One of the surprises of the day was Katie Murray’s clearance of 1.63 in the high jump to win an event for which she does not train.

There were new bests also in the long jump as Lauren Blackie and Hayley Nouch adapted their run ups to take advantage of the following wind to leap 5.42 and 5.38. Hayley also got a new best of 11.04 in the triple jump as did Rebecca Haywood with a 2.45 clearance in the pole vault.

Elsewhere in the field events 2nd claim member Jade Dodd was a class apart in the javelin winning with a throw of 40.47 and Shaunagh Brown, Flo Clark and Victoria Thomas scored near maximum points in the shot and discus.

It was a similar story on the track where Amy Godsell, Serita Solomon, Clare Cooper, Rebecca Syrocki and Kara Aretha Graham dropped few points in the 100,200 and 400.

They with the addition of Leanne Critchley, who had earlier run a seasons best of 70.2 in the 400 hurdles, Rebecca Taylor and Katie Murray rounded off the day with wins in both the 4x100 and 4x400.

For the men good wins came from Southern Champions Daniel Haque in the 200 and Stuart Harvey in the javelin while Scott Huggins won the pole vault.

There were some new winners for the Club too. Danny Brewer sprinted to a surprise but deserved victory in the 3000 metres and 2nd claim members Jeremy Odametey and Dextor Nichols gained maximum points in the long jump with leaps of 6.89 and 6.83. Jeremy also won the triple jump with a distance of 14.48.

Danny Doyley just missed out on victory in the B 100 but returned to win the B string 200 event..

In the throws the Williamson brothers, Amir and Alistair, picked up second places in the discus with 41.47 and 41.05. Alistair had earlier finished runner up in the Hammer with Richard AlAmeen winning the B event. A most unlikely pairing of events was made by Adam Atkinson. He set a best of 36.20 in the B javelin and also helped the team by running the 3000 metres. Similarly Dale Willis competed in the high jump and steeplechase showing that a successful a team not only needs talented athletes but also people who will put themselves out for the squad.

No doubt they were inspired by Club President Anne Cilia who travelled straight to Ware after completing the 26 mile Moonwalk overnight around London.

Club Championships
The Club held a very successful Club Championships at Norman Park. The Senior men’s 800 provided one of the most memorable races of the day as Junior James Poole timed his finish to perfection to beat Kent Senior Champion Jamie Atkinson and British League regular Martin Airey. He recorded a best of 1.58.0. Daniel Haque won the 200 with ease and also made a rare excursion into the triple jump where he leapt 13.17 for victory.

In the Under 20s Paul Rochester continued his recent good form with a win in the 200 in 23.6 and there was a new personal best for Victoria Thomas who threw 48.22 in the Hammer. Training partner moved down a weight to use the 5kg implement in an attempt to achieve the qualifying mark for the European Youth Olympics. He threw 63.24 but this was still outside the qualifying standard of 67 metres.

In the under 17s new member Doug Palmer won the 200 and some brave front running ensured victory for Richard Davies in the 800. Richard AlAmeen and Joe Stockton were both over 50 metres in the hammer with 54.81 and 50.16.

Katie Murray enjoyed her evening with a win in the 300 hurdles in 45.9 and a win in the 200 in 27.1. Rebecca Taylor had a good win in the 800 in 2.15.5.

A large entry in the under 15 girls 200 meant three heats to decide the finalists with Katrina Cosby winning in 26.4. Amy Dematos dominated the 800 winning in 2.22.8. For the Boys Jermaine Alexander won the 200 in 23.8 from Aston Stockdale (24.0) and Stephen Cavey ran 2.07.9 to win from Cameron Ward (2.09.8)

Matthew Fletcher impressed in the under 13s 200 winning in 26.4 and Sian Hurlock took the girls 150 metres in 21.0.

BMC Nike Grand Prix
Mark Steinle, Britain’s 8th fastest marathon runner of all time, made his return to track racing when he finished 5th in the AAA’s 10,000 metre championships that were incorporated into the BMC Nike Grand Prix at Watford.

This was his first track race for three years and has followed 18 months of injury problems so it was no surprise that he did not challenge his best of 28.04. He actually finished in 29.18.79 which was a promising performance as he timed over 31 and a half minutes for the same distance on the road just six weeks ago.

In the 1500 Michael Skinner was just outside his best in the A race as he closed in 12th in 3.42.86. One who did improve was Andy Rayner who clocked 3.51.94 to finish 2nd in the E race. Jamie Atkinson ran 3.55.80 in the D race.

Russell Bentley returned from a recent injury niggle to run a new best in the 800 of 1.51.03 while Shavaun Henry timed a very useful 11.32.30 in the steeplechase.

Most notable performance at the Bedford Games came from Natalie Olson. She cleared 3.45 in the pole vault to break the Club Junior Record by 40 centimetres. She and her sister Hannah have recently joined the Club from Birchfield Harriers. Both have bests of 3.90 which means that, with 4.16 vaulter Liz Hughes, the Club has three of the top 10 vaulters in the country from 2004. Unfortunately at Bedford Liz failed to clear a height.

On the track Fabian Collymore timed 10.73 in the 100 metres with a following wind that was just over the legal limit. Under 17 Danny Doyley clocked 10.92 in his heat.

In the 400 Alloy Wilson was third in the 400 B race in 48.49 but the most pleasing result of the day was a new personal best for Bomene Barikor who timed 49.31 in the same race. Ed Harrison returned from illness to run 54.57 in the 400 hurdles.

South Of England Championships, Portsmouth
Full results for the South Of England Under 20 Championships at Portsmouth a couple of weeks ago have now been produced and these show Blackheath & Bromley to have been the most successful Club. The South Of England Area covers 19 Counties so competition is of a high standard. Nevertheless, the Club’s athletes won 11 gold , Six silver and 5 bronze medals. The next best Club won 5 golds and 89 Clubs in total won medals.

The golds went to Stuart Harvey (U20 javelin), Christine Lawrence (U20 javelin), Rebecca Syrocki (U20 400) Daniel Haque (U20 200), Rachel Blackie (u20 hammer) Danny Doyley (U17100), Scott Blackwell (U17 400),Serita Solomon (U17 80 hurdles), Flo Clark (U17 Discus), Jermaine Alexander (U15 100) and Sarah McGuire ( U15 shot).

Alex AlAmeen, an under 17, ran in the under 20s 110 hurdles and finished in 5th in a new best of 14.79. What this did was secure him selection for the England team in the sprint hurdles in the European Youth Olympics in Lignano, Italy at the start of July.

Veterans
Allan Williams was in sensational form in the Senior pole vault competition that was incorporated into the Kent Youth Games at Ashford. The 52 year old smashed the British over 50’s record with a clearance of 4 metres 40 centimetres, his best clearance for three years. His clearance added 15 centimetres to his previous record.

Some of his fellow Masters were in action in the Southern Championships at Battersea Park. They returned with a hatful of medals. Greatest achiever for the women was Helen Godsell who won the over 50s 100, 200 and 400. Her time of 13.24 in the 100 was her fastest in two years.

New member Mel Healy took the over 35’s 100 and 200 titles while it was silver in the over 60’s 100 for Nanette Cross who added 2nd in the javelin and third in the hammer.

For the men Colin Brand also achieved a hat trick of gold medals in the shot, javelin and discus, the latter throw of 38.56 being his best ever in the 65-69 age category. Jim Day was very close to a hat trick as well but lost the over 70’s high jump on count back. He did, however, win both the pole vault and the 80 metre hurdles. Gordon Hickey also picked up gold in the javelin and shot in this age group.

On the track there was double gold for Peter Hamilton in the over 55s 800 and 1500 while in the field in this age group Mike Martineau won the long jump.

With such talent in its ranks it is no wonder that both the men’s and women’s teams top the Kent Veterans League table albeit by small margins. The 4th of the six fixtures took place at Norman Park with the men winning and the women finishing joint first.

Mike Cronin (1500), John Robinson (high jump) and Colin Brand (javelin) produced a clean sweep of victories in the men’s over 60s age group but the key to the overall victory was the squads strength in depth across the age groups.

Likewise with the women where a number competed in three events, most notably Nanette Cross who picked up a first, and two seconds in the over 60s age group in the high jump, javelin and 1500.

Kent Schools Championships, Ashford
Highlights of the Kent Championships at Ashford were Championship Records for Serita Solomon, Scott Huggins and Rachel Arnheim. Serita won the Intermdiate Girls title in 11.7 by nearly a second from Clubmate Sarah McLellan.

Scott won the Intermediate Boys pole vault contest by over a metre with a clearance of 4.05 while Rachel won the corresponding age group contest with a height of 3.05. Second placer Emily Godley also broke the previous championship record as she cleared 2.85.

As with the County Championships last month Club members took the lions share of the medals that were on offer.

The only Senior competition to take place was the 2km walk and Robert Bain timed an excellent 8.32.5 to win this.

James Alaka was in eye catching form in the Intermediate Boys 200 timing 22.0 in his heat and following with 22.2 to win the final. Other wins in the Intermediate age group came from Scott Blackwell (400), Rebecca Taylor (800), Lauren Blackie (triple jump), Joe Stockton (hammer) and Flo Clark (discus).

It was a similar story in the Junior age group with wins for Sarah Harrison (100), Katrina Cosby (200), Stephen Cavey (800), Amy Dematos (1500), Julia Stacey (2k walk), Marcus Morrison (triple jump), Banke Jemiyo (discus) and Helen Silvester (javelin)

Southern Women’s League, Colchester
Blackheath & Bromley finished 3rd in the latest round of the Southern Women’s League, a result that, at the half way stage of the season, leaves them in 5th place in the 25 strong division. This was a good result because of the clash with the UK Women’s League and the National Young Athletes League.

Lauren Blackie returned from two months of injury to set a new best of 11.53 to win the Senior Women’s triple jump, despite the fact that she is only a first year under 17. Her leap would have ranked her 4th in the country in her age group in 2004. She followed with another new best in the long jump of 5.32 as well as winning the B string pole vault in 2.60.

Winner of the A string in the vault was Rachel Arnheim who also took the B triple jump. The other notable performance in the field came from Catherine Thomas who improved her best in the Hammer to 26.20. She also score important points in the shot and discus.

On the track Southern Under 20 Champion Rebecca Syrocki was in superlative form in the 400 metres winning by nearly two seconds in 57.8 and she also ran a new best of 12.5 to finish second in the 100 metres.

The Club were also indebted to super veteran Helen Godsell, who as well as competing in her specialist events, the sprints, also moved up to race the 800. Similarly Louise Smith made a welcome appearance for the team in the 1500 and high jump; Reading university student Christina Mantoura amassed a wealth of points in the hurdles and throws; as did Stephanie Allerton in both hurdles and the B 400.

Also back in action for the team was Abi Jacobs who ran a useful 28.1 in the 200 while ever reliable Sam Singer not only made her usual contribution to the team in the middle distance and relays but also took time to throw the javelin. Rebecca Haywood timed a useful 13.0 in the 80 hurdles to add to her 51.4 clocking in the 300 hurdles.

The under 15’s scored maximum points in the 800 and 1500 races with wins for Ruby Samuels, Lucy Price, Rebecca Smith and Laura Kastoryano.

There were wins also for Estelle Patten (75 hurdles and B discus), Grace Sheppard (A high jump) and Katherine Jones (Discus and B high jump)

Road Racing
The Club won both the men’s and women’s team races at the Beckenham 10km. Former Great Britain record holder for the Ironman Triathlon Nick Kinsey was just outsprinted and had to settle for second place in 34.52. However with Darryl Hilliar in 6th (36.23) and Tony Crowder 10th (37.27) they took the team prize.

Bridget Davey made a rare race appearance finishing in 42nd place overall in 42.37. Kate Pratten 55th (43.47) and Annie McDonough 56th (43.50) completed the scoring for the Club.

Andy Rayner finished 2nd in the Brands Hatch 10km in 34.04 and it was runners up spot too for David Warrington in the Serpentine 5km in 15.55. Chris Hogg was 3rd in the Lindfield 10km, a multi terrain race, in 43.00.

British Athletics League, Eton
Blackheath & Bromley’s Senior Men’s team improved a place on the 5th they achieved in the opening British Athletics League Division Two fixture at Cardiff when they snatched 4th in the second match at Eton. Half way through the afternoon they were last of the 8 teams but a flurry of points in the second half of the match saw them surge four places to score 240 points just seven more than 7th placed Harrow.

The poor start was due to the absence of some key people from the early events for legitimate reasons plus the non appearance of athletes who unacceptably failed to inform management in good time that they would not be able to take part.

Offsetting these disappointments were the spirited efforts of Sam Bobb who jumped a near personal best of 6.86 in the long jump; Alex Pope who did set a best in the Hammer; javelin thrower Stuart Harvey who picked up a couple of useful points in the long jump; and Alloy Wilson and Michael Champion who filled in at short notice in the 100 metres.

Alloy also set a seasons best of 48.13 to take the runner up spot in the 400 and there was a massive breakthrough in the B string for Bath University student Ian Allerton who smashed the 49 second barrier for the first time to clock 48.83.

Pleasingly all the first team debutants performed with distinction. Southern Junior Champion Daniel Haque set a legal best of 21.6 to take runner up spot in the 200 metres; Dale Willis equalled his best of 1.70 in the high jump as did Jon Thorpe in the 5000 metres.

Captain Mike Skinner scored good points with 2nd and 3rd places in the 800 and 1500 while Kent County champions Jamie Atkinson and Andy Rayner were 4th and 1st in the B strings.

Best results in the field came from Sam Bobb again who won the triple jump with a leap of 14.83 and Stuart Harvey, who showed how much he has improved this year, by being disappointed that he “only” threw 61.13 in the javelin.

UK Women’s League Ware
The Club’s Senior Women made a notable return to the UK Women’s League when they finished in second place in the opening Division Four match at Ware. With the top two promoted the squad could move up to Division Three at the first attempt.

It was a young team but experienced International Liz Hughes got the day off to the best possible start by winning the pole vault with a leap of 3.80.

Inspired by this Rachel Blackie and Victoria Thomas picked up third and first in the Hammer and Katy Benneworth and Hayley Nouch both leapt 5.19 in the long jump.

This was a new best for Hayley as was her 1.40 leap in the high jump and her 11.01 in the triple jump. She rounded off with a useful 64.2 split in the 4x400.

The other personal best of the day came from Shavaun Henry who returned from injury to time 10.23.2 in the 3000 metres.

Amy Godsell impressed in the sprints with 2nd places in both the 100 and 200 the day after being involved in a car crash. Bella Clayton scored good points in the 800 and 400 before being taken ill, and Sam Singer was 2nd and 1st in the B string 200 and 400.

Christine Lawrence finished the afternoon off for the Club with a high as she produced the winning throw in the javelin in the last round of the competition.

National Young Athletes League, Norman Park
The Club’s youngsters took a big step towards earning a place in this years National Final when they won their second match of the season at Norman Park. Although the Club are current National Champions they faced strong opposition from Enfield And Haringey whose boys team were the National Champions two years ago before the League became a mixed boys and girls points scoring contest.

However at the end of the afternoon not only did Blackheath & Bromley win by a mighty 105 points but when the points were broken down to boys and girls scores the B & B boys had been their North London rivals by 35 points.

The Club won three of the four “Athlete Of The Match” awards and finished the day in the best possible manner with the under 17 women’s team of Sarah McLellan, Sarah Coombs, Rebecca Taylor and Katie Murray breaking the League Record for the 4x400 metres with a time of 4.11.7.

The Athlete of the Match Awards came for Nenisha Nelson Roberts who won the under 13 girls high jump with a leap of 1.45; for Andrew Jordon who won the under 15 boys hammer with a throw of 44.20 to add to his win in the sprint hurdles; and for Serita Solomon who won the under 17 women’s 80 hurdles by a second and the 100 in a sparkling 12.1.

In the under 17s age group Danny Doyley and James Alaka took maximum points in the sprints with Scott Blackwell setting another best of 49.7 in the 400 and Alex AlAmeen half a second clear in the 100 metre hurdles.

In the field Scott Huggins took the pole vault title with a clearance of 4 metres.

For the girls there was near maximum points for Katie Murray, Rebecca Taylor, Sarah Coombs and Debbie Shearing in the middle distance as it was for Shaunagh Brown, Flo Clark, Frances Athawes and Rosanna Carter in the throws.

Jermaine Alexander was again in superlative form in the under 15 sprints achieving maximum points in the sprints with Stephen Cavey smashing his personal best to win the 800 metres in 2.02.8. There was a big breakthrough too for Cameron Ward who set a new best of 4.27.4 to win the 1500.

However perhaps the most impressive aspect in this age group was the sheer quality of performance from boys and girls. Some guide to the standard was that Jessica Harding broke the League Record for the Under 15 girls 300 metres but still had to settle for second place.

One of the finds of the season is under 13 sprinter Matthew Fletcher. He won the 100 metres in 12.7. Philip Sesemann found that even running a grade one 2.23 for 800 was not enough to win. Sian Hurlock and Jasmyn Raikes again scored well in the girls sprints but again they key to the overall win was the depth in quality throughout the squad.

On a weekend when former club member Kieran Richardson marked his Senior football International debut with two goals for England, many of Blackheath & Bromley’s current and future Internationals were in action on a busy weekend’s Athletics.

The Seniors headed for the Inter County Championships at Bedford while the under 20’s under 17’s and under 15’s travelled to the South Of England Championships at Portsmouth for a medal bonanza.

At Bedford, Great Britain International Liz Hughes completed a hat trick of Inter County victories when she cleared 3.90 to win the pole vault competition by 10 centimetres.

Former European Under 23 champion and World Championship representative Jonathan Barbour opened his season by running the fastest 100 time by a Club member this year. He clocked 10.62 in his heat of the 100 but was knocked out in the semi finals.

Alloy Wilson showed that he is rounding into good form as he timed 48.24 in the semi finals of the 400. Other promising runs came from Bella Clayton who was 5th in the women’s 800 with 2.11.37; Jamie Atkinson 6th in the men’s 800; Russell Bentley 5th in the mile and Robert Bain who set a new best of 13.22.2 to finish 7th in the 3000 walk.

Robert is still a Junior as is Stuart Harvey who took 8th place in the javelin with 64.26.

Stuart arrived at Bedford having been crowned Southern Champion at Portsmouth. He threw 62.40 and it was a double celebration for coach Brian Benn as Christine Lawrence won the women’s event as well.

Highlight in throws came in the under 20’s hammer where Rachel Blackie broke 50 metres for the first time as she won the competition with 50.96, an improvement of nearly three metres. This was not only a Club Junior Record but a Senior one as well. Training partner Alistair Williamson set a new best of 59.05 in the men’s contest, but had to settle for silver, just 17 centimetres off gold

The other gold in under 20’s age group came from Daniel Haque. He took the 200 metre title in 21.62 to lead a onslought on the men’s sprint medals.

In the under 17’s Danny Doyley took full advantage of the following wind to time a sparkling 10.75 to win the 100 metre title with James Alaka picking up the silver with 10.91. Danny also picked up bronze in the 200. Not to be outdone Scott Blackwell burst through the 50 second barrier for the first time to win the 400 metres.

It was gold too for Jermaine Alexander in the under 15’s 100 in 11.06 which he followed with silver in the 200.

Serita Solomon took the under 17 women’s 80 hurdles title with an excellent 11.40 while Vanessa Nakangu won bronze in the 300 metres.

In the field the two new Club record holders Rachel Arnheim and Scott Huggins both took silver in the pole vault with clearances of 3 metres and 3.80 respectively, and there was a win for Flo Clark in the discus despite the fact that she was only runner up in the Kent Championships earlier in the month and the Southern region covers 19 counties!

It was, therefore, a double surprise to see Sarah McGuire replicate this achievement in the under 15’s age group. Runner up in the shot at the Kents, the Herbie Kuenstlinger coached athlete waited until the last round of the contest to launch the shot out to a new best of 10.45. She also collected a bronze medal in the discus.

Not all results were available immediately and so some medal winning performances may have been missed. However what has been so far is a continued improvement in the Club’s standards at these Championships. In 2003 3 gold medals were won. Last year it was 9 but so far this year 10 wins have been highlighted. Full B & B results will be available soon on the website.

National Junior League, Ashford
Blackheath and Bromley’s Junior men’s and women’s teams are on course to reach the Final of the National Junior Athletics League in September after the second round match of the Southern Premier Division at Ashford. The women remain unbeaten and could be on the way to becoming National Champions. The men remain in third place but with the top four going to the Final they should get there. As they have not fielded their strongest team yet, they could still produce some surprises.

Three new Club Records were set. Rachel Arnheim’s clearance of 3.05 in the pole vault was a new women’s Under 17 and Under 20 record. At the start of the season the Junior record was held by current Great Britain International Liz Hughes but as Rachel is only a first year under 17 she still has another three and a half years to improve it further.

Not to be outdone Scott Huggins broke the Club Under 17 men’s record as well clearing 4.15. He was very close to clearing 4.25 which would have been a Scottish outdoor record.

However neither of these performances qualified for the Athlete Of The Match award. This went to Rachel Blackie, the Club Hammer record holder, who threw 46.15 to win her specialist event. It was maximum points for the Club in this event as Catherine Thomas won the B string event to prove a more than adequate replacement for her sister Victoria who had to miss the fixture.

Other wins in the field came from Christine Lawrence who won the javelin with the first throw of the competition; Rachel Arnheim, again, who set a new best of 10.12 to win the B triple jump, and from Anna Smith who cleared 1.55 to take the B high jump.

On the track sprinters Amy Godsell, Clare Cooper, Kara Aretha Graham and Vicki Cole were in impressive form gaining near maximum points. Team Captain Cooper also won the B string 400 in her first attempt at the distance with Rebecca Syrocki winning the A string event. Other wins came from Katie Murray who front ran the B 800 and Lauren Smith who set a best of 11.54.8 to win the B 3000.

For the men Stuart Harvey continued his winning streak in the javelin with a throw of 64.40 and enjoyed his excursion into the world of long jumping.

The other win in the field came from Richard Al Ameen in the B hammer with Alistair Williamson throwing a 58.50 best for 2nd place in the A event.

Richard’s big brother Alex won the 110 hurdles on his debut for the junior team in a very useful 15.3. The other track wins came from Daniel Haque and Danny Doyley who gained maximum points in the 200 metres.

Loughborough International
A number of Club members were in action at the Loughborough International Match. Fabian Collymore represented Wales timing 10.95 in the 100 metres and helping the 4x100 team to 4th place in 41.75.

Liz Hughes guested in the women’s pole vault clearing 3.80 while Michael Skinner timed 14.16.70 in the 5000 metres and Alloy Wilson ran 48.84 in the 400.

Southern Women’s League
Blackheath and Bromley maintained their unbeaten record in the Southern Women’s League as they won their home match in Division One at Norman Park by an emphatic scoreline. They finished with 225 points, 48 clear of Enfield and Haringey (177) followed by Bedford (155) Radley (145) and Harrow (143).

It was a fine team performance from a squad that ranged in age from under 13 Nenisha Nelson Roberts to newest Club member Heather Symmons, an over 50, who scored some useful points in the javelin.

Nenisha’s 1.46 leap to win the under 15’s high jump was a grade one performance while Serita Solomon produced two. She won the under 17s 80 metre hurdles in 11.6 and was 4th in the Senior Women’s 100 in 12.5. The other grade ones came from under 17 Rachel Arnheim who equalled her Club Record with a 3 metre clearance in the pole vault; Shaunagh Brown who was 2nd in the Senior Discus with 37.54 and from Rachel Blackie whose 48.05 in the Hammer was a season’s best.

The blustery conditions did not always favour fast times on the track but this did not prevent a string of victories in the Senior track events. Under 17 Katie Murray won the 400 by nearly two seconds with Ella Fisher making it a double first in the B event.

It was maximum points also for Sam Singer and the evergreen Maureen Miller in the 800 metres while Bella Clayton strode to victory in the 1500 metres 8 seconds clear of the runner up.

Sam and Bella then linked up with Katy Benneworth who had earlier won the B200 and super veteran Helen Godsell to win the 4x100 in 49.8.

There was a double victory for Sarah McLellan in the 300 hurdles and the B 80 hurdles.

The under 15’s achieved National graded performances in nearly every event in which they competed. Sarah McGuire enjoyed the afternoon with a hat trick of wins in shot, discus and javelin with other A string wins coming from Katrina Cosby (200) and Amy Dematos (1500). B string wins came from Banke Jemiyo in the shot and discus, Helen Silvester in the javelin, Estelle Patten (75 hurdles) and Ruby Samuels (800).

A fine afternoon finished with the 4x100 of Sarah Harrison, Jessica Harding, Isobel Ivy and Katrina Cosby winning the 4x100 by over two seconds, a huge margin.

The Club’s older members have also been enjoying team success. Both the men’s and women’s have won their last two matches in the Kent Veterans League and both could qualify for the Southern Final in September.

Particularly pleasing was seeing new members taking part with Chris Mitcheson winning the men’s over 40’s triple jump on his debut for the Club at Deangate.

Club President Anne Cilia led by example by setting a new Club record in the over 35s pole vault with a clearance of 1.65. New member Heather Symmons set an over 50’s Club Record as well and the excellent team spirit was demonstrated by European Sprints champion Helen Godsell running the 5000 metres to score points for the team.

Kent Championships
The Club enjoyed a hugely successful Kent County Championships in Ashford where its athletes won 49 gold, 31 silver and 17 bronze to confirm that, while it is one of the top Clubs in the country, it continues to improve. In 2004 36 gold medals were won and in 2003 this numbered 30.

Winners were spread across the age groups with the oldest being Allan Williams in the Senior Men's pole vault. At the age of 51 he took the title with a leap of 4.20 to show he is recovering from a recent back problem. There was a double celebration as one of the athletes he coaches, National silver medallist, indoors and outdoors, Liz Hughes, won the Senior Women's event in 3.85.

Andrew Rayner got the better of Jamie Atkinson to win the 1500 metres on Saturday but Atkinson returned on Sunday to snatch the 800 title in a grandstand finish.

Bella Clayton was a comfortable winner of both the 800 and 400 for the women and encouragingly first year Senior Ian Allerton took the men's 400 in a useful 49.7.

Katy Benneworth retained her long jump title with a leap of 5.56 as did Sam Bobb in the Men's triple jump with a new personal best of 15.21.

Two Junior athletes both won Senior titles. Stuart Harvey dominated the javelin both days winning the Senior Men's event with a mighty throw of 64.54. Rachel Blackie was also a comfortable winner of both the Junior and Senior Women's Hammer with 47.68.

Daniel Haque was another double winner. The English Schools International took both the 100 and 200 titles while another International Ed Harrison took the 400 hurdles. In fact the Club's athletes won all the sprint titles in this age group as Vicki Cole took the 100 metre title and Clare Cooper the 200. Jo Wood picked up a well earned gold in the 100 metre hurdles and another who continues to improve is Rebecca Syrocki who scored a comprehensive victory in the 400 metres.

Completing the track success Robert Bain won the 3000 metre walk 30 seconds inside the grade one performance for the event . Back in the field Amir Willaimson and Christine Lawrence were comfortable winners in the Hammer and Javelin and Hayley Nouch took the triple jump title in her first County Championships.

The future looks bright at the Junior and Senior level judging by the success in the younger age groups. First year under 17 Serita Solomon sped to victory in both the 100 metres and 80 metre hurdles. Like wise James Alaka took the 200 title with Vanessa Nakanga winning the women's event. She also won the 300 as well

Scott Blackwell dominated the 400 wining in 50.80 and Rebecca Taylor won the women's 800 by 6 seconds.

In the field there were fine wins for Scott Huggins in the pole vault, Shaunagh Brown (discus), Jade Castell Thomas (triple jump), Richard AlAmeen (Hammer) and Rachel Arnheim who equalled her Club Record in the pole vault with a clearance of 3 metres.

One who did break a Club Record was Helen Silvester who threw 27.62 to win the under 15 girls javelin. This broke her sister Clare's record set four years ago.

The sprints again brought many medals. Jermaine Alexander took the boys 100 and 200 titles while the girls races were won by Sarah Harrison and Katrina Cosby respectively. Aston Stockdale took the boys 400 and there were wins in the 800s from Stephen Cavey (2.07.22) and from Amy Dematos (2.23.74). Julia Stacey took the gold in the 3000 walk.

In the field there were further wins for Andrew Jordon (hammer), Leah Forbes- Morris (long jump) Sarah McGuire (discus) and Jessica Matthews (high jump).

Club members also took gold in some of the other County Championships. At the Surreys at Kingston Russell Bentley won the Senior Men's 800 by over three seconds in 1.52.71. Danny Doyley took both the 100 and 200 titles in the under 17s age group while Ashley Harris set a new Championship best of 7.04 to win the long jump. There were also wins for second claim members Marcus Williams (u20 shot) and Jade Dodd (u17 javelin).

At the Essex champs at Havering Chelsea O Rawe Hobbs timed an excellent 16.32.4 to win the 3000 walk by a staggering nine minutes. Oxford University student Eve Bugler won the Senior Women's 800 title at the Oxfordshire Championships at Abingdon while Jon Thorpe reigned supreme in the Senior Men's 1500 metres at the Dorset Championships.

National Young Athletes League, Bedford
Blackheath & Bromley youngsters lived up to their title of National Champions with a comprehensive win in the opening Southern Premier Division match at Bedford. Pitted against last year's runners up in the National Final, Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow, the B & B team ran out winners by 76 points from WSEH with Bedford third and the City Of Norwich 4th. Highlights of the day were two more new Club records both in the Under 17's age group. In the women's discus Shaunagh Brown and Flo Clark both smashed through the 40 metre barrier for the first time. Shaunagh's throw of 42.43 added nearly two metres to the previous Club Record which has stood for 14 years. Flo added nearly four metres to her previous best with 40.20 and these two performances are probably the best in the country so far this year.

In the men's pole vault Scott Huggins broke his Club Record yet again. The Charles Darwin schoolboy cleared 4.10 to win the competition by nearly two metres.

With a team brimming with talent it is difficult to do justice to the efforts of each individual who took part but there were a number of notable performances.

In the under 17 women's sprints Serita Solomon was in blistering form as she timed 12.2 for the 100 and 24.8 for the 200 and in between posted an outstanding 11.5 in the 80 metre hurdles. Sarah McLellan made a fine return from illness to time 48.5 for the 300 hurdles and 12.8 for the 80 hurdles as well as contributing a leg to the victorious 4x400 team. They were anchored home by team captain Katie Murray who led by example, bringing the house down as she clawed back a 35 metre deficit to secure victory.

The Men's sprinters were in devastating form securing near maximum points in the 100s, 200s, 400s and both relays. On his debut for the team Danny Doyley timed 10.9 and 22.3 for the 100 and 200 with English Schools champion James Alaka taking the B string races in 11.0 and 22.9 despite still recovering from a chest infection. Scott Blackwell won the 400 by over a second in 51.3 with Alex AlAmeen over three seconds clear in the B race in 52.3.

It was a similar story in the under 15 girl's age group with Sarah Harrison, Grace Sheppard and Jessica Harding scoring near maximum points and Isobel Ivy clocking a useful 12.5 in the 75 hurdles.

Jessica also cleared a good 1.46 in the high jump while there was an excellent throw in the javelin from Helen Silvester of 27.21 just shy of the Club Record.

Jermaine Alexander took the Boys 100 and 200 races in 11.2 and 23.0 while Aston Stockdale's B200 win of 24.3 and Jide Muji's B100 runner up spot with11.9 were also grade one performances.

There were more good sprints in the under 13s age group. For the girls Jasmyn Raikes ran an impressive 20.5 to win the B150 metres with Sian Hurlock also timing a good 20.8 for the runner up spot in the A race. Both won their strings of the 75 metres, Sian in 10.4 and Jasmine in 10.5. In the middle distance Danielle Critchley won the 1200 by eight and a half seconds.

Nenisha Nelson Roberts had another good day. Her leap of 1.40 to win the high jump was a grade one performance and she added to this with a win in the B string of the 70 metre hurdles.

Kieran Daly made a promising YAL debut winning both the A200 and B100 boys races.

British Athletics League Division Two, Cardiff
A depleted Blackheath & Bromley squad produced a fighting team performance in the opening National League Division Two match at Cardiff. Their 5th place is a marked improvement on their opening results from the last two seasons when they have finished 8th in the 8 team division.

With more people available the team could have been challenging for one of the two promotion places but this was not to be after a string of late withdrawals.

The strong winds caused problems for everyone not least the hurdlers. In the 400 hurdlers Ed Harrison picked up 2nd place in the opening track race in 55.2 and another new member of the team Ernest Duncan took 3rd in the B race in 60.1.

In fact the Club had a clutch of 2nd places in the A string events but no wins. On the track Russell Bentley was runner up in both the 800 and the 1500. Tawanda Chiwira was 2nd in the 400 and he, Lash Lashore, Michael Champion and Neil Simpson were runners up in the 4x100 to Sale Harriers who were anchored home by Olympian Darren Campbell.

The meeting attracted a number of top sprinters and Lash Lashore commented that he felt like he was lining up in a AAA's final as he went head to head with Cardiff's Christian Malcolm Sale's Allyn Condon and Sheffield's teenage sensation Gerald Phiri. All three timed 10.3 with Lash in 6th with 10.7.

In the field runner up spots went to first year junior Stuart Harvey with 62.16 in the javelin with Sam Bobb second in the triple jump with 14.60.

Alex Pope achieved a new best of 37 .81 in the discus and also scored valuable points in the shot, vault and hurdles. Amir Williamson and Alistair Tawanaee score the most points in the hammer for the Club for some time with 5th in the A and 2nd in the B string and Simon Williams grabbed third in the B javelin after a very late call up to the team.

Bomene Barikor picked up good points in the jumps and 200 metres. Emphasising the high standards, the only actual win of the day came from former Junior International Alloy Wilson who took the B string 400 in 49.92. Jamie Atkinson picked up good third places in the B 800 and 1500 while Chris Hogg doubled in the steeplechase and 5000, accompanied in the latter by Mark Ellison who came in at short notice when Joe Mills was held up because of trouble on the trains.

1. Sale Harriers Manchester (390) 2. Thames Valley Harriers (342) 3. Windsor, Slough Eton and Hounslow (276) 4. City Of Sheffield (267) 5. Blackheath & Bromley Harriers AC (259) 6. Harrow (226) 7. City Of Stoke (222) 8. Cardiff AC (213)

One of the athletes who had to pull out of the fixture at short notice was high jumper Michael Whitehouse. The Great Britain Junior International was rushed to hospital last Tuesday with meningitis. He is now back at home but can expect his recovery to be anything between 4 to 10 weeks. The Club also fielded two teams in Southern League. The Division One team were 5th and the Division Three team 3rd.

National Young Athletes League, Bedford
The Club's youngsters lived up to their title of National Champions with a comprehensive win in the opening Southern Premier Division match at Bedford. Pitted against last year's runners up in the National Final, Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow, the B & B team ran out winners by 76 points from WSEH with Bedford third and the City Of Norwich 4th.

Highlight of the day came in the Under 17 women's discus where Shaunagh Brown and Flo Clark both smashed through the 40 metre barrier for the first time. Shaunagh's throw of 42.43 added nearly two metres to the previous Club Record which has stood for 14 years. Flo added nearly four metres to her previous best with 40.20 and these two performances are probably the best in the country so far this year.

Further details of this match to follow as full results have yet to be received.

Southern Women's League, Crawley
Blackheath & Bromley's women's team started their Southern League campaign in good form with a comfortable victory in the Division One match at Crawley. They finished 21 points clear of the Channel Islands team and produced a Club Record and a number of personal bests.

The Club Record came in the first event of the day, the pole vault. At last weeks Junior League match, Rachel Arnheim suffered the misfortune of no heighting in the difficult blustery conditions. She bounced back in the best possible way by setting a new best of 3 metres. Not only does this break her own jointly held Club Under 17 record but it also equals Great Britain international Liz Hughes' Under 20's Record as well. Emily Godley equalled her best of 2.90 in the B string to secure maximum points for the Club.

The good start continued with hammer throwers Rachel Blackie and Victoria Thomas both securing maximum points. Elsewhere in the field events there were wins for Katy Benneworth in the long jump with a leap of 5.38 and for under 17 Frances Athawes who threw an impressive 34.00 personal best in the javelin. Such is the Club's depth in the pole vault that young Rebecca Haywood was not able to compete in her preferred event. Instead she set a new best of 1.45 for 3rd place in the B high jump and also scored more valuable points in the long and triple jumps.

On the track Bella Clayton set a new best of 55.5 to win the 400 and there were B string victories also from Sam Singer in the 200 with 25.4 and from Katie Murray in the 3000 with 11.07.3.

Final win of the day came in the 4x100 with Katy Benneworth, Bella Clayton, Amy Godsell and Sam Singer timing 49.1.

Best performance in the under 15's competition came from Sarah McGuire whose 9.89 win in the shot was a new best. She also won the discus and javelin with Banke Jemiyo picking up maximum points in the B shot and discus. Isobel Ivy also had a good day winning the B string 75 hurdles in 12.4 and leaping a useful 4.65 in the long jump. Other B string wins came from Jessica Harding (200), Jessica Findlay (800) and Katrina Cosby (long jump) Match Result. 1st. Blackheath & Bromley 204, 2nd. Channel Islands 183, 3rd. Exeter 176, 4th. Dacorum & Tring 149, 5th Crawley 138

Ted Pepper 10km, Beckenham
Mark Steinle continued his tentative return to competition with a comprehensive victory in the Club's Ted Pepper 10km in Beckenham. Steinle, the fastest British Marathoner who is still competing, took the lead from the start and was never headed. He finished the twisty course in 31.35 just under a minute outside his own course record.

He was nearly three minutes clear of 2nd placer Peter Tucker (34.22) with veteran Roy Smith the third Club finisher in 35.02 After racing the National 12 Stage road relay and Sam Haughian Memorial run last weekend Steinle now plans to put in a solid block of running before racing again in three weeks time.

His girlfriend Gemma Viney did not have quite so easy a win in the women's race finishing 15 seconds clear of 2nd claimer Viv Mitchell in 42.31. Annie McDonagh was the third Club finisher in 42.59 a performance that gave her the prize for the first over 45 year old. Jim Tateson was the Club's other age group victor taking the over 60s title with 49.22.

Kent Young Athletes League, Deangate
The Club's four new Kent Young Athletes team managers Jonathan Stockdale, Mike Sheppard, Sarah O Connor and Viv Mitchell all started their terms of office with victories for their teams in their respective boys and girls under 13's and under 15's matches. This ensured overall victory in both the boys and girls contests.

Highlight of the day was a new Club Record in the Under 13 girl's high jump where Nenisha Nelson Roberts cleared one metre 50 centimetres to add a centimetre to the previous record. She also had a good win in the 70 metre hurdles.

Best performances in the under 15 boys came from Stephen Cavey in the 800 and Luke Wooldridge in the javelin. Stephen won by over 4 seconds in a new best of 2.09.1 and later ran a 53 second split in the 4x400. New member Lee opened his account with an excellent 41.02 throw. B string winner Daniel Duffin's 38.38 would also have won the A string event.

Other A string victories came from Aston Stockdale (100), Cameron Ward (3000) and the 4x100 team but the narrow 5.5 point team victory could not have been achieved without strength in depth as shown by B string wins for Daniel Hammond (100), Robert Shearing (800), Scott Li (pole vault) and Andrew Jordon (shot).

The girls enjoyed a 45 point victory with Katie Vistuer (300), Jessica Saville (800), Estelle Patten (75 hurdles), Julie Stacey (2000 walk), Leah Forbes Roberts (long jump), Katherine Jones (shot and discus) and Helen Silvester (javelin) all achievng A string wins.

Significantly Grace Sheppard in the 100, Lucy Price (2000 walk) and Estelle Patten (discus) all won won B string events with performances that would have won the A strings.

Many of the under 13's were making their first appearances for the Club and celebrated with a string of good performances. Harry Isaac (100), Bob Coles (200 and high jump) Philip Sesemann (1500) Benjamin Hopkins (75 hurdles) and Alan Jolaoso (javelin) all enjoyed A string wins.

For the girls Sheridan Lewis (75 metres and long jump), Sian Hurlock (150) Danielle Critchley (600), Emma Armstrong (discus) and Amy Mitchell (javelin) all secured A string wins as did the 4x100 team.

More track and field
Further afield at Stanford, USA, new member Scott Overall produced an important new personal best over 5,000 metres. His time of 14.03.10 was nearly two seconds inside the Great Britain qualifying time for the European Under 23 Championships that take place in Erfut, Germany in mid July. A qualifying mark is not a guarantee of selection but it is certainly a foot in the door. The trials take place at Bedford at the start of July.

Kent Veterans League
The Club's Masters made a low key start to the season in the Kent League match at Dartford. The men are the reigning South Of England Champions but had to settle for joint second place behind the hosts.

Sole winner was Colin Brand who took the over 60's shot with 9.71. He also made a rare appearance in the 200 metres where he finished third.

The women finished in 4th place with two individual winners. Throws specialist Beatrice Simpson won the over 35's javelin with a throw of 22.23 while Nanette Cross took the over 60's 200 metres in 38.6.

National Road Relays, Sutton Coldfield
A committed team performance gave Blackheath & Bromley's Senior Men a good 13th place in the National 12 Stage Road Relays at Sutton Coldfield.

Top marathoner Mark Steinle made a welcome return to competition after a long spell out with injury. Although not back in full training he made a valuable contribution to the team.

Barry Stephenson and Spencer Newport also returned to racing and will need a few more competitions before they hit their best form.

These three were joined on long legs by Michael Skinner, Russell Bentley and Andy Rayner, all former pupils of Langley Park School for Boys. Skinner ran the quickest of B & B's 5.3 mile long legs with 26.27 and the trio will now be putting the finishing touches to their track preparations.

Best of the 3 mile short stages came from Joe Mills who stormed round in 14.49. Super vet Bill Foster showed he is still capable of mixing it with Seniors as he timed 15.55 while Jamie Atkinson, Jon Thorpe, Peter Tucker and Roy Smith all produced solid legs.

Team Manager Nick Gasson was pleased with the result and the Winter season as a whole and feels that the great team spirit shown in the last few months is the springboard to success in the short to medium term. Certainly with the 12 who ran at Sutton Park plus runners of the calibre of Scott Overall, Dave Taylor, Tim Dickinson and more the Club has the ability to challenge for National success in distance racing.

Unfortunately the Club were unable to fill a complete team in the accompanying women's 6 stage event Kate Pratten, Clare Lodwig and Gemma Viney all ran inside 21 minutes for the three mile course. It was a shame that the season ended with a blip as overall this Winter the squad has performed well and has increased in size and quality. With a thriving training group at Norman Park and the Clubhouse there is promise of much to come.

National Junior League
The Club's women's team were in formidable form at the opening match of the Southern Premier Division of the National Junior Athletic League at Havering.

They produced four new Club Records, won the match and in doing so defeated last years National Champions and runners up Woodford and Havering. On this showing they not only look a good bet to make the National Final but they could win it.

Christine Lawrence smashed both her Junior and Senior javelin club records when she launched the spear out to 44.19 to win the competition by over 10 metres. Second claim member Jade Dodd made it maximum points in the B string event with 35.21, a performance which, but for Christine's effort would have won the A string event.

The other two Club records came in the relays. In the 4x100 Kara Graham, Serita Solomon, Amy Godsell and Montell Douglas sliced over half a second off the previous record by timing 48.40. Thy won the race by over two and a half seconds.

A Club Record in the 4x400 of 4.12.2 was only good enough for third however, and shows the high standard of competition in this League. The time was over 4 seconds off the previous best. Kara Graham, Vanessa Nakangu, Ella Fisher and Katie Murray were the quartet here.

Amongst many highlights International sprinter Montell Douglas moved up in distance to win the 400 metres with some ease in 57.15 with Katie Murray taking the B event. In the sprints themselves Amy Godsell, Serita Solomon and Kara Graham scored near maximum points and posted good times considering the blustery conditions. In the field Shaunagh Brown, who is only a first year under 17 won the discus competition with a throw of 39.03, a new personal best. She also set a best of 11.28 in the shot in second place with Victoria Thomas winning the B event with a new best of 10.21.

Victoria also won the B Hammer (44.85) with Rachel Blackie third in the A string event with 45.51.

Most pleasing performance in the jumps was that of new girl Hayley Nouch. She leapt 10.78 for 4th place in the triple jump in her first ever competition.

The Club were so close to claiming a double victory as the men's team finished in 3rd place just 6 points behind winners Enfield And Haringey. This is good news as the League is set to switch to joint scoring men's and women's competitions in 2006.

Again the Club were prominent in the javelin with Stuart Harvey receiving the Athlete Of The Match award for his 63.35 winning throw in the javelin. However judging by some of the other performances some of his team mates could be picking up the award in future competitions. Daniel Haque beat many of the country's top sprinters when he won the 200 metres in 21.85, a time that would have been much quicker had it not been into a -1.9 metre per second headwind. He was also third in the A string 100. Danny Doyley got first and second in the B string sprints.

English Schools champion Ed Harrison opened the season with a 53.93 win in the 400 hurdles, again the blustery conditions preventing a fast time. Amir Williamson was aiming to break 60 metres in the Hammer and did not disappoint. His throw of 60.08 beat the runner up, Windsor's Micki Finn, by nearly 10 metres and B string winner Alistair Tawanaee's throw of 52.88 would also have won the A string event.

Scottish Indoor record holder Scott Huggins took the pole vault with a clearance of 3.80.

It was pleasing to see these established names being joined by new members such as Mandeep Stoker, Alex Babb, Alex Littlewood, Shavar Stevens, Sam Simpson and Marcus Williams and on the basis of this performance team manager Brendan McShane will feel the squad has a good chance of making the National Final in September.

Ted Pepper 10km
The Club will be hosting it's annual Ted Pepper 10km road race this Bank Holiday Monday. The race takes place at Langley Park School for Boys and entries are accepted on the day. The race starts at 11am.

London Marathon
Dave Taylor finished an excellent 22nd in the Flora London Marathon out of over 36,000 starters. The Blackheath & Bromley athlete was the first over 40 runner to finish and his time of 2.18.47 was the equal 12th fastest on the British all time list. At the age of 41 he was the 7th Briton to finish the race, yet even on the day he was not sure he was actually going to start.

A niggling calf injury had been troubling him for the previous three weeks. "I went to the race prepared to get back on the train and go home if I felt anything wrong in my warm up, but decided to go ahead. My main worry was pulling up in the first mile and having to go into work on Monday telling everyone I dropped out after one mile!"

So after the pre race reservations things went well. "I was happy with my run. I felt good for the first half but kept it quite steady, then had to work a bit along the Embankment at the end, but I got lots of support from the many Blackheath & Bromley people around the course, which really helped". Another veteran, Nick Kinsey was the second Club member to finish in 232nd in 2.41.42 with Rob Hall third in 2.44.39.

Also dipping under three hours were Alex Gibbins (2.47.57), Darryl Hilliar (2.48.01), Andrew Tuckey (2.51.36) and John McConville (2.57.09) First woman to finish was Annie McDonough in 3.30.21 with Nicole Sullivan second in 3.42.24 and Sally Herd third in 4.14.14.

Mike Peel and Pete Shepheard continued their remarkable record of having run in every London Marathon.

Many of the Club's youngsters were in action in the Mini Marathon event which takes place over the last two and a half miles of the Marathon course. Highest placed Club member was Danielle Critchley. She was second in the 11-12 year olds race in 16.30 with Rebecca Smith 11th. For the Boys, Philip Sesemann was third with Robert Yates 16th and William Andrew 27th.

In the 13-14 year olds races the Club's athletes just missed out on medals in both the boys and girls races. Alex Littlewood was 4th in the boys race and Amy DeMatos and Amy Smith were 4th and 5th in the girls race. There were also good runs from Michael Thorpe (18th) and Cameron Ward (26th) for the boys and Hannah Garcia 15th for the girls.

Katie Murray led the Club's runners home in the 15-17 year olds competition with a fine 4th place. Bryony Proctor continued her recent run of good form by placing 8th with Rebecca Taylor 13th and Sarah Coombs 21st. Jonathan Vintner was first home for the boys in 28th place.

The Club's top marathon runner Mark Steinle decided against competing in the London. He has been recovering from various injuries but has now started to put together a reasonable block of training with the aim of doing a marathon later in the year. His best of 2.09.17 is quicker than the best set by Jon Brown in Sundays race and also faster than the bests of previous London winners Hugh Jones, Mike Gratton and Eamonn Martin. His first race in some while should be the Nike National 12 stage road relay at Sutton Park this coming weekend.

Last years President, Margaret Baldwin, chose the Evalina Children's Heart Organisation (ECHO) as the Club's charity for support by our members running in the London Marathon. ECHO is a charity raising funds for the treatment of children suffering with congenital heart conditions treated at Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital. The reason for choosing ECHO was that the teenage grand daughter Mollie of club member Gordon Hickey, had received treatment from birth and in early 2004 underwent successful final surgery. Mum, Ingrid and Aunt, Lene, both non-athletes, decided to take part in the event by walking the course, and we are pleased to report that they finished together in high spirits. It may be a different story the following morning, but they will now be looking forward to finding out the final total raised.

Track and Field
Daniel Haque continued his good start to the track season with wins in both the 100 and 200 metres at the Sward And Kinnaird Trophy Meeting at Kingston. The first year under 20 athlete was competing against Seniors but won comfortably in times of 10.9 and 21.8. He also anchored the 4x100 team of himself, Danny Doyley, Michael Champion and Neil Simpson to victory in a useful time of 51.7.

Doyley an under 17 who joined the Club from Croydon Harriers had earlier timed 11.5 and 22.9 in finishing 3rd and 2nd in the 100 and 200 metres while Champion had won the non scoring 200 in 23.0.

Simpson ran a useful 50.2 to finish runner up in the 400 metres. Third placed in the B string was Russell Bentley who had earlier won the 800 metres in 1.54.9 so winning the CT Leslie Trophy awarded for the fastest 800 time of the day.

First year under 17 James Alaka opened his season running above his usual distance in the 400. The English Schools Junior Boys 100 metre champion looked impressive before tying up in the last 50 metres. He still won comfortably in 51.7 and admitted afterwards that he had started to fast. Hopefully his father did not make the same mistake when running the London Marathon the next day.

Out in the field Sam Bobb picked up second in the triple jump off a short run up with a leap of 14.11. Steve Timmins and Alan Fairbairn were the Club's pairing in the throws. Their bests of 41.87 and 30.17 in the Hammer when combined were just further than the British 2005 best set by Andy Frost of St Mary's College in winning the A string event. However, as Steve has been struggling the last three months with injury and Alan's aim was to break 30 metres it wasn't a bad start to the season. Alan also threw 35.46 in the discus with Steve putting 11.81 in the shot and throwing 41.39 in the javelin.

Meanwhile one of the Club's newest members Scott Overall was in action at the meeting at Walnut, California. He set a new best of 14.14.89 in the 5000 despite being in a ridiculously large field. Around 70 athletes toed the line and he spent most of the first half of the race just trying to keep his feet. He finished feeling as if he had never really started racing. As a warm down he ran 3.48 for 1500!.

Dave Liston
Yet another Club Official has had his contribution to the Club and Athletics recognised. At the Invicta FM Kent Awards, Dave Liston was presented with the award for Outstanding Contribution to Sport.

New recruits
The Club welcomes new members of all ages and ability and has a Competition Policy to help ensure that all athletes are able to participate at a level appropriate to their development. With the track and field season getting underway it is particularly keen to recruit people who may take part in other Sports over the Winter months. There are many rugby, football and hockey players who would be able to maintain and enhance their fitness over the Summer by taking part in Athletics.

Alpha Beta Meeting, Haringey
Blackheath & Bromley made a promising start to the season by winning the Alpha Beta Meeting at Haringey defeating a number of other National League Clubs. Individually it was a successful day with some impressive early season performances.

This trophy meeting sees the top 8 Clubs compete for the Alpha trophy and the next 8 for the Beta Cup. Each year the bottom two from the Alpha Meeting are relegated to the Beta competition for the following season. It was only two years ago that the Club were promoted from the Beta match so a win in the Alpha represents significant progress.

The Senior age group was a mixture of talent from the under 17, juniors, Seniors and veterans age group and the best two performances came from the two youngest under 17's. Serita Solomon ran an eye catching 12.2 to dominate the B string 100 metres, while in the field Shaunagh Brown recovered from opening with two no throws to eventually launch the discus out to 37.05, like Serita's effort a National Grade One performance.

Best event for the Club was the long jump where Katy Benneworth and Jade Castell Thomas secured maximum points with leaps of 5.40 and 5.07. In fact Katy's was the only A string win of the day but Sam Singer (400) Maureen Miller (800) and Bella Clayton (1500) all picked up useful second places on an extremely blustery afternoon. Bryony Proctor's reward for some brave front running in the 1500 was a win in the B string in a new personal best of 5.03.66.

Flo Clark was the other B string winner taking the discus with a throw of 34.58.

Despite these efforts the Seniors finished 3rd in their match but when this was combined with a comprehensive victory from the under 15's the Club won the overall match by a healthy margin.

No one athlete stood out in the younger age group such was the all round high standard of their performances.

On the track Sarah Harrison, Rebecca Cook Katrina Cosby and Isobel Ivy chalked up near maximum points in the sprints and hurdles culminating in an impressive 4x100 relay performance that saw them win by half the length of the straight in a time of 52.73.

Catherine Chambers, Lucy Price, Danielle Barley and Georgina Chew demonstrated there is more success to come for the Club in the middle distance events posting some useful times in the 800 and 1500.

In the field Jessica Matthews, Nenisha Nelson Roberts and Leah Forbes Morris scored maximum points in the high and long jumps. Jessica and Leah's leaps of 4.71 and 4.61 in the long jump were both personal bests.

Banke Jemiyo, Sarah McGuire and Helen Silvester kept the points coming in the throws.

Other track and field Meetings
A small group of athletes from the Club were in action at the Havering Open Meeting with some significant results. First year Junior Daniel Haque set a new best of 21.6 to win the 200 metres and after his recent UK best of 16.2 for the 150 metres it promises to be an exciting Summer for the St Olaves Schoolboy.

Rachel Blackie made a welcome return from injury to win the Under 20's Hammer with 45.44. Rachel Arnheim again equalled her Club Record in the Under 17 women's pole vault with a clearance of 2.90 to win the competition. Rebecca Haywood took the runners up spot with 2.30.

Andrew Jordon continues to impress with personal bests in the 100 and 80 hurdles of 12.7 and 13.0.

There was a big turn out from the Club at the Hercules Wimbledon Open Meeting at Crystal Palace. In the Under 17's age group Scott Blackwell won his heat of the 100 metres in 11.7 and Danny Brewer was third in the 1500 in 4.24.9.

Daniel Hammond had a useful afternoon in the under 15 sprints with times of 12.5 and 25.8 in the 100 and 200. Number one under 13 in the country last year Stephen Cavey opened with a good 2.13.1 in the 800, while Michael Thorpe and Cameron Ward took 2nd and 3rd places in the 1500.

There was plenty of Club interest in the girl's sprints and Grace Shepherd and Daniella Annon both opened their seasons with 13.6 clockings in the 100 metres. Grace also ran 28.8 for the 200 with Rebecca Cook timing 29.0 There was a one-two-three in the shot from Katherine Jones, Sarah McGuire and Banke Jemiyo.

Perhaps the best results of the day came in the under 13s age group where Philip Sesemann posted an excellent 4.53.1 for the boys 1500; Sian Hurlock sped to 28.7 for the 200 metres; and Danielle Critchley timed 2.33.5 for the 800. In the field Emma Armstrong won the shot by nearly a metre with a putt of 6.97.

As ever, the new season brings new faces and it was particularly pleasing to welcome a number of youngsters to their first track meet. In the girls sprints Jasmyn Raikes caught the eye by running 13.9 in the 100 metres, the same time as the aforementioned Sian. Sareena Stratford, Emma Parrett, Alex Portious and Samantha Harris all posted useful season openers.

For the boys Kieran Daley, Anton Daley and Kyle Trotman all showed good early season sprint form and Robbie Fraser gained valuable experience in the 1500.

London Marathon
This weekend sees the 25th running of the London Marathon and for two Club members it will be a special day. Both Mike Peel and Peter Shepheard have run in all 24 Londons so far and hope to make it a silver jubilee of finishes. Peter's best in the event is 2.28.16 but he has gone round as slowly as 5.25.12. Mike boasts a best of 2.40.30 and last year went round in 3.46.51.

Many of the Club's youngsters will be in action in the accompanying mini marathon representing the London Borough Of Bromley.

There was another landmark performance in the Marathon this weekend as John Turner completed his 100th race over the distance. He timed 3.23.36 in the Paris Marathon to join an elite group of Club members who gone over a century.

National Young Athletes Road Relays, Sutton Coldfield
Blackheath & Bromley's Under 13 girls team are National champions as they pulled off a surprise win at the AAA Nike Young Athletes Relays at Sutton Coldfield.

The girls finished 7th in the National Cross Country Championships in February but at Sutton Park they beat all the teams that defeated them on the mud, finishing 26 seconds clear of runners up Stockport Harriers.

Nearly ninety teams from around the country started the 3 x 3.8km race and the Club were in contention for medals from the beginning. Amy Dematos brought the team home in 2nd place in 14.40, a time which proved to be the third equal fastest of the day.

Rebecca Smith ran a fine second leg to hold the silver position with a 15.23 before Danielle Critchley swept into the lead on the final stage recording 14.59, the 10th equal fastest time of the day.

Next best team performance came from the under 17 girls as the team of Bryony Proctor (15.40) Sarah Coombs (15.31) and Katie Murray (14.28) finished in 17th position.

The boys did not fare quite so well with James Poole (13.28), Richard Daniel (13.44) and Jonathan Vintner (13.25) closing in 38th.

In the under 15's age group the girls team of Hannah Garcia (16.33), Laura Kastoryano (17.12) and Rebecca Taylor (14.57) were 30th with Rebecca moving up 23 places on the last leg. The boys team of Alex Littlewood (13.27) Cameron Ward (14.01) and Edward Martin (15.03) closed in 41st.

The under 13 boys team again showed great promise closing in 17th. Robert Yates (14.39), George Gregory (15.09) and Philip Sesemann (14.19) were the successful trio.

Nike MK Relays incorporating the South of England Championships
The Club's Senior Men comfortably qualified for the National 12 Stage Road Relays by finishing 9th in the Southern event at Milton Keynes.

Best moments for the team came on the early stages. Andy Rayner ran a good opening long leg to close in 6th place in 24.36. He was followed by another former pupil of Langley Park, Russell Bentley. Russell has been concentrating on 800 metre indoor racing during the Winter and has improved his best to 1.51. He showed he is also pretty good outdoors as he moved the team up to second place. His short leg time was 16.52 which proved to be the 9th fastest time of the day.

Joe Mills (17.06) and Jamie Atkinson (17.15) also ran good short legs while it was good to see Spencer Newport clocking a very useful 25.20 on a long stage.

The team finished way off the medals but there is no doubt the Club has the athletes to challenge for a top three placing if it were to field a full strength team.

The Senior Women finished in 18th position in the 6 stage event. Highest they reached on the day was 11th place which was where Jennie Butler closed on the opening stage as she timed 20.11. Other good legs came from Miranda Porritt (22.50) and Bella Clayton (22.24) while it was good to see Gemma Viney return to racing.

Throws Meeting, Sutton
Stuart Harvey made a sensational start to the track and field season by breaking the Club Under 20 record for the javelin at the throws meeting at Sutton. This was his first competition in the Junior age group and his throw of 65.21 broke the record of Steve Harrison which has stood since 1991. The distance is less than three metres short of the qualifying distance for this Summers European Junior Championships.

There was more good news for the Club's athletes as a number achieved English Schools qualifying performances. One of these was Sarah McGuire who won the discus with a throw of 28.29 to add to her 9.60 putt in the shot. Runner up was Banke Jemiyo who threw 27.29 and also 8.21 in the shot. Katherine Jones threw 23.52 and 8.70 while Emma Brown continued her return to competition with a throw of 7.91 in the shot and 16.98 with the discus. Amir Williamson threw the Junior Hammer 58.23 and will soon be over 60 metres while his brother Alistair Tawanaee was just shy of 50 metres with 49.84. Richard AlAmeen secured an English Schools qualifying distance in the under 17's event with a throw of 49.89. Victoria Thomas threw 37.54.

Last updated 28 June 2005

Press Releases for April, May & June 2005