Last updated
11 November 2019
Press Releases for
April, May & June 2006
27/06/06
Dwayne Grant has been called up for the Great Britain team
for the Spar European Cup which takes place in Malaga, Spain this Wednesday and
Thursday. He gained selection for 4x100 squad after the withdrawals of Jason
Gardener, Mark Lewis Francis and Darren Campbell. Grant was part of the 4x100
squad that won gold at the 2004 Olympics but has been dogged by injury since.
This year he has run 10.37 for the 100 and is getting back to his best form.
Hammer throwers Amir Williamson and Rachel Blackie have
also gained International selection. They are part of the Great Britain Junior
team that competes in the Mannheim International meeting on the 7th and 8th of
July.
Just back from International duty is Paul Sutherland. He
won the 400 hurdles for Great Britain in the Masters International against
France and Belgium in Le Touquet. His time of 58.02 was just outside his Club
over 40s record and with a sub 52 relay split he should go quicker.
In the latest of the Nike BMC races at Solihull, Michael
Skinner set a new best of 13.51.61 in the 5000 metres. He finished 4th overall
and second Briton and now prepares for the European Trials in two weeks time.
Dave Taylor was in action over the same distance in the
Horwich road race which incorporated the AAA's of England Championship and the
British Masters Championships. He won the over 40s race with an impressive
14.38, seventeen seconds clear of the runner up.
A number of athletes were selected to represent the South
Of England in the Inter Area match in Birmingham with some useful performances.
Montell Douglas was runner up in both the 100 and 200 with times of 11.89 and
24.48. Her 100 metre time was the same as the winner.
It was second also for Jamie Atkinson in the 1500 with
3.53.32 while Danny Doyley was 6th in the 100 metres in 10.87.
Two of the Club's more mature athletes won National titles
at the British Masters Throws Pentathlon at Milton Keynes. Colin Brand's total
of 4206 points in the men's over 70's category was a new British best by 136
points. His best of the five events (hammer, shot, discus, javelin and heavy
weight) was the discus where his throw of 39.32 not only gained him a mighty 986
points but it was also a British best for the event.
This performance catapulted him into the lead in the
competition and he pressed home the advantage by setting another British best in
the javelin with a throw of 37.79. His final tally of 4206 was over 400 clear of
the runner up in what was a very high standard contest.
Club mate Gordon Hickey was 4th with 3328 points but he
had the satisfaction of putting the furthest in the shot with a distance of
11.32. Beatrice Simpson began her afternoon in the women's over 50's event with
an excellent 35.01 in the Hammer and she was never headed after this. She won
the contest with 3310 points, over 550 more than the runner up. Her points score
improved the British best by over 300 points and her throw of 10.98 with the
heavy weight was also a British best.
The Club were stretched to it’s limits in the latest
Southern Women’s League at Plymouth with a huge number of athletes unavailable.
As a result they finished in 4th place with a very low points score of 111.
Despite this they avoided finishing in last place beating Exeter by 5 points and
there were some good performances.
Katy Benneworth won 100, 200, long jump and B string
triple jump in preference to competing for the South Of England in Birmingham.
There were wins also for Sarah McLellan in the 400 hurdles, Jade Castell Thomas
in the triple jump and Christine Lawrence in the javelin.
Jennie Butler and Debbie Shearing doubled up in the 800
and 1500 and Debbie also made her 400 hurdles debut. Catherine Thomas and Cathy
Murray, in her first appearance for the Club scored valuable points in the
throws.
For the under 15’s Rebecca Cook set new bests of 13.4 and
4.58 for the 100 and long jump. Katie Vistuer had a useful win in the B 200 with
27.2.
Diandra Beckles and Emma Hook both had busy days competing
in the high jump and hurdles and Emma also did the 800.
Chigo Orunta had a busy day in the throws scoring useful
points in the throws as did Nicole George in the shot, discus and 200.
Three Club members were in action in the South West
Veterans Championships in Exeter where Bob Minting set two new Championship
bests. In the over 55s he timed 26.0 for the 200 metres to take half a second
off the previous best. He also improved the 800 metre best to 2.08.0.
Peter Hamilton was just outside the Championship record in
the 5000 as he timed 18.08.5 in the over 55's race while Chris Woodcock clocked
20.56.3 in the over 60's category.
Many Club members took part in the Orpington 10km, a multi
event course from Darwick Wood school. Peter Tucker retained the title he won
last year with 33.50 and with Anthony Draper 4th and Nick Gasson 5th the Club
took the team prize.
First over 40 was Roy Smith in 37.16 and first over 50 was
Graham Coates with 41.03.
20/06/06
After edging closer and closer in recent weeks Amir
Williamson finally achieved a qualifying performance for the World Junior
Championships in Beijing in August. He burst through the 68 metre barrier with a
throw of 68.97 to win the South Of England Junior title at Crystal Palace. His
throw won him the gold medal and was a new Club Record.
It was a well earned achievement for the 19 year old who
has worked hard under coach Mike Davies and with help from former Olympians
Chris Black and BBC commentator Paul Dickenson.
It was a double celebration in the Williamson household
with his brother Alistair picking up the silver medal with 58.27
Like wise the event was a double celebration for coach
Mike Davies as the previous day Rachel Blackie and Victoria Thomas had picked up
another one-two for Blackheath & Bromley in the Junior Women's event. Rachel's
throw of 56.74 was a new Championship best performance and five of her six
throws bettered the previous record. Her distance is just 26 centimetres off the
qualifying distance for Beijing and would also have been good enough to win the
Senior title as well. Victoria’s 53.22 also bettered the previous CBP and she
may have thrown further had she not been carrying an injury.
Rachel’s winning throw was both a Club Senior and Junior
record and heralded a golden hour for the Club with four Club Records being
broken in the first 60 minutes of the Championships.
On the track Paul Sutherland lowered the Club over 40's
record to 58.00 in the heats of the 400 hurdles and Clare Cooper broke the
Junior Women's 400 hurdles record by winning her heat in 61.90.
Clare's reward, however, was a sprained tendon in her foot
and unfortunately she was unable to contest the final. She will be on crutches
for a week.
A sixth Club Record came in the Senior Women's
steeplechase where Shavaun Henry ran 7.15.31 to win the silver medal.
Jamie Atkinson made a big breakthrough in the Senior Men's
1500 metres. Last week he broke 3.50 for the first time and this weekend he took
the Southern title with a new best of 3.47.49. There was a silver in the 200 for
Dwayne Grant with 21.43.
Montell Douglas ran her fastest time of the year to claim
silver in the Senior Women's 100 in 11.75 and then picked up bronze in the 200.
Fourth in the 100 but second in the long jump was Katy Benneworth who leapt a
new best of 5.91. There were bronze medals also in the Senior Women's events for
Sandra Alaneme in the triple jump with 12.33 and for Bella Clayton in the 800
with 2.10.21.
In the Junior Men's age group Daniel Haque made a big
improvement to run 21.40 and take the silver in the 200. It was second also for
Alex AlAmeen in the sprint hurldes with 14.91. Second claim member James Lindor
Thomas went one better however taking the long jump title with a leap of 7.15.
One of the most pleasing sights of the weekend was to see
the return to competition of Scott Huggins in the pole vault. He has been out of
action since the start of April after missing the landing mat at the Tonbridge
Open Meeting and injuring his foot. He bounced back by winning the bronze medal
with a clearance of 4.20.
For the women defending 400 metre champion Rebecca Syrocki
has to settle for silver this year but she nevertheless set a new best of 56.67.
Amy Godsell also ran a new best to take bronze in the 200 metres in 24.75. There
was a silver for Shaunagh Brown in the discus despite still being an under 17
and competing against athletes up to three years older than herself and there
was a silver too for 2nd claim member Jade Dodd in the javelin.
Many other athletes set season’s best or personal bests
making it an extremely successful weekend for the Club.
13/06/06
The National Junior League hosted in Haringey last weekend
saw many successes for the Blackheath and Bromley Harriers team; despite the hot
weather it did not hinder the squad's performance. Both female and male athletes
of the match were awarded to B&B athletes. Alistair Williamson for the Hammer
and training partner Victoria Thomas for the Hammer also. Further successes came
from Mike Davies' Hammer training group with Richard Alameen winning the
B-string with 46.85m alongside A-string Alistair Williamson with a throw of
59.89m. Alistair also placed 2nd in the men's Discus with a throw of 45.19m.
Further gains in the men's competition came from James
Lindor Thomas who jumped 7m.15 in the Long Jump achieving 1st place. Simon
Hemmings came 2nd in the 110m hurdles, and Daniel Haque came 1st in the 200m
with a time of 22.0s. In the women's competition Amy Smith made a worthy
performance in the 3000m earning herself 1st place. Her B-string Sarah Coombes
placed 4th. In the Javelin Jade Dodd threw 38.15m which earnt herself 2nd place.
Shaunagh Brown managed to throw out to 41.35m in the Discus winning 1st place
she also came 2nd in the Shot Put. Florence Clark received 2nd place in the
Discus and 1st place in the B-string Shot. Concluding the days efforts
Blackheath and Bromley finished 3rd place overall just one point behind 2nd
place.
The Club's athletes have been performing all over the
world in the last few days. In the States Scott Overall was in action in the
NCAA nationals in the 5000. He qualified for the final by timing 14.01.01 in his
heat. The Final itself was a much slower affair. Starting off at 70 second laps
the field crawled through the first 3km in around nine minutes. From there,
however, sparks flew. Having been running in lane three for much of the race
Scott elected to drop back so that he could run on the inside lane.
Unfortunately as he did so a break was made at the front. A frenetic race for
the line was underway and he eventually placed 11th in 14.27 with the winner
having run 4.01 for the last mile.
In Geneva Dwayne Grant ran the fastest times in the Club
this year over 100 and 200 as he timed 10.37 and 20.75. Likewise in the women's
sprints Montell Douglas timed 11.85 and 24.35. The previous weekend she had been
in Rehlingen in Germany where she clocked 11.84 and 24.82 for the same
distances.
Julian Golding raced in San Ligure in Italy but missed his
outbound flight and had to travel on the day and compete. Thus his times of
11.04 and 21.99 were below what he had been aiming for. He then travelled to the
Bedford International Games where he clocked 10.79 and 21.85. Jonathan Barbour
ran 10.63 for the 100 and 21.76 for the 200 while Duayne Bovell clocked an
excellent new best of 10.78 for the 100.
Highlight of the day, however, came from Amir Williamson
whose throw of 60.86 with the 7.26kg hammer was both a new Senior and Junior
Club Record. This performance was all the more notable as he had only returned
from warm weather training in Spain the day before where he had been training
three times a day in temperatures of 42 degrees. Training partner Rachel Blackie
threw a very useful 54.01.
Amongst the others in action were a trio of B&B sprinters
in the women’s 200. All were pitched against each other with Amy Godsell winning
in 25.04, Anike Shand Whittingham second in 25.11 and Vickie Cole third in
25.58. Alex AlAmeen ran a useful 14.75 in the 110 Hurdles.
Katy Benneworth travelled to Norway as part of a South Of
England representative team and came away with a new best for the 200. She timed
24.94 the first occasion she has broken the 25 second barrier. She also ran
12.62 into a headwind in the 100.
James Alaka ran in the Young Athletes Invitation 100
metres at Gateshead and finished in 3rd place in 10.96. Michael Skinner was in
action at Watford where he timed 3.43.90 in the 1500 A race in the BMC Nike
Grand Prix. Jamie Atkinson set a big personal best as he won the D race in
3.48.31 and super veteran Dave Taylor won the F race in 3.50.45. There was also
a new best for Bella Clayton of 2.09.00 in the 800.
These competitions may seem far removed from the Kent
Young Athletes League but many of these Seniors took their first steps in
Athletics in this competition and it may well be that some who competed in the
first match of the season at Canterbury will go on the compete at the highest
level.
The Club’s youngsters enjoyed a good start with the girls
winning overall and the boys coming second which means they hold a marginal lead
over Tonbridge in the overall standings.
Grace Sheppard was in impressive form in the under 15
girls 200 metres winning the race by nearly a second in a new best of 26.1 a
national grade one performance. There were A string wins also for Jessica
Saville (300), Danielle Critchley (1500), Nenisha Nelson Roberts (High jump) and
Katherine Jones (shot and discus)
For the boys wins came from Stephen Camacho (long jump)
Danny Duffin (javelin), Charlie Hine (shot) and Alex Scott (discus).
More promising performances came in the under 13’s age
group not least from Letitia Noel and Sian Duffy whose 10.2 for the 100 and 12.0
for the 70 metre hurdles were both grade one performances. Christine Lyston
(150m), Laura Ashley Ward (shot) and Mollie Norris (discus) also enjoyed A
string wins.
Anton Daly enjoyed a double win in the boys sprints giving
the Club it’s only individual A string victories.
Highlight of the Club Championships at Norman Park was a
new Senior and Junior record for Rachel Blackie in the Hammer. She smashed
training partner Victoria Thomas’ previous best by over a metre as she threw
56.04 with Victoria second with 54.13.
A number of the Club’s athletes were in action in the
County Schools Championships. Highlight form the Kents at Ashford was a new
Intermediate Girls Championship record for Lauren Blackie as she leapt 11.59 in
the triple jump, a new personal best. There was a new best also for runner up
Isobel Ivy with 11.34.
On the track Amy Smith ran an excellent 10.27.4 to win the
3000 metres and Amy DeMatos was also impressive winning the Junior Girls 1500 in
4.48.8. Other wins came from Sarah McLellan (Inters 300 hurdles), Holly Williams
(Inters 2000 walk), Jessica Matthews (Junior High Jump), Helen Silvester (Junior
Javelin), Elliott Cox (Junior 100), Dan Putnam (Junior 200) Grace Sheppard
(Junior 100) and Stephen Cavey (Junior 800).
At the Surreys there were wins for Amy Godsell (Senior
200), Jade Castell Thomas (Senior Triple jump), Frances Athawes (Senior Javelin)
and Estelle Patten (Junior Discus)
On the roads the Club provided the individual victor and
the winning men’s and women’s teams at the Beckenham 10km. Nick Kinsey crossed
the line first in 35.20 an impressive performance from an over 45 on a testing
course. Supported by the Crowder brothers, Len and Tony they won the team race.
Gemma Viney was first woman home for the Club and with backup from Annie
McDonough and Claire Lodwig the Club again took the team title.
Norman Park track is now shut for refurbishment. Details
of temporary training arrangements plus further details of the above matches can
be found here...
6/06/06
Blackheath and Bromley had a mixed weekend of results on a
hectic weekend of League action. While the Senior Women had a useful start in
finishing 3rd in the UK Women's League Division Three match at Bedford, the men
slipped to 7th in a tight finish in the British League Division One match at the
same venue. The men also struggled in their two Southern League matches at
Norman Park on Saturday but the Club's youngsters won their National Young
Athletes match at the same venue quite easily the following day.
Best performances for the newly promoted Senior Women's
team at Bedford came from hammer throwers Rachel Blackie and Victoria Thomas.
They threw 53.44 and 53.17, the two furthest distances of the day, to gain
maximum points in the Hammer.
There was a double win also from Christine Lawrence and
Jade Dodd in the javelin with Sandra Alaneme the other A string victor with an
excellent 12.35 in the triple jump.
Katy Benneworth again impressed with a new best of 5.88 in
the long jump and added a very useful 11.97 clocking in the 100 metres, the
first time she has been under 12 seconds. B string wins came from Anike Shand
Whittingham in the 100 and Captain Liz Hughes in the shot to add to her runner
up spot in the pole vault.
The afternoon was rounded off with resounding wins in both
relays courtesy of Benneworth, Vicki Cole, Shand Whittingham and Sam Singer in
the 4x100 and Singer, Bella Clayton, Rebecca Syrocki and Clare Cooper in the
4x400.
It was not so easy for the men's team as there were a
number of key field eventers and middle distance runners unavailable. Most
pleasing aspect of the day was the return to League competition of Julian
Golding and former captain Mensah Elliott. Commonwealth 1998 200 metre champion
Golding ran in both the 100 and 200 B string events taking 2nd and 3rd, while
2002 Commonwealth Games representative Elliott surprised himself by placing 2nd
in the 110 hurdles despite having done no hurdles training.
Jonathan Barbour also returned to League action timing
10.69 in the 100 and there was an excellent performance from Danny Doyley who
was 2nd in the 200 in 21.36. Best event for the Club on the day was the pole
vault where 52 year old Allan Williams was 2nd in the A event with Loughborough
student Alex Pope winning the B string. Both cleared 4 metres. Alex and Paul
Sutherland were the two busiest athletes of the day competing in 6 and 5 events
respectively.
Weakness in the field events cost the teams dear in the
Southern Men's League Division Two and Three matches at Norman Park. In the
Division Two match the Club were the second best of the five Clubs in track
events but the worst in the field. Similarly in Division Three they were the
best track team but last in the field. This meant they finished 4th in both
matches. Best performance in the Division Two match came from Daniel Haque who
ran 11.0 and 22.0 in the 100 and 200 while in the Div 3 match there was a useful
22.9 from James Summersby in the 200.
There was much better news the following day as the Club's
youngsters comfortably won their UKA National Young Athletes League match at
Norman Park. They led for virtually for the whole afternoon with new Club Hammer
Record holder Richard AlAmeen starting the day with a win in the Hammer.
With so many good performances it is difficult to single
out individuals or do justice the efforts of all who made such a valuable
contribution to the team result while not necessarily winning their events.
Some of the highlights from the under 17 age group were an
English Schools qualifying time of 4.35.9 for Alex Bruce Littlewood as he led
from gun to tape in the 1500 steeplechase. Emily Godley set a new best of 3.15
to win the pole vault with Rachel Arnheim winning the B string. Isobel Ivy again
showed what an important member of the team she has become with a wins in the
long and triple jumps while captain Sarah McLellan (300 hurdles) and Banke
Jemiyo (Hammer) both achieved grade one standards.
The under15's again looked mightily impressive with
Elliott Cox, and Dan Putnam dominant on the track. Andrew Jordon stacked up the
points in the field events with wins in the hammer, shot and discus. For the
girls Amy Dematos was in fine form on the track in the 800 winning by 7 seconds.
The under 13's relished the competition and tackled their
events with characteristic vigour. There was a new best for Oliver Taylor as he
won the 800. Leticia Noel and Anton Daly again impressed in the sprints.
The Club remain unbeaten in the League since 2003 but the
team face a big test in the next match when they meet two of the top teams in
the country Enfield & Haringey, and Shaftesbury Barnet in the next match which
is hosted by Herne Hill at Battersea on the 25th of June.
Full details of these matches will appear on the Club
website at www.bandbhac.org.uk
along with information on the Club's training activities while Norman Park Track
is closed for refurbishment.
Club members of all ages descended on Norman Park track
last Wednesday to take part in a Marathon Relay. Teams of ten runners ran the 26
miles in legs of 400 metres to raise funds to help with the costs of the sending
the Club’s Under 20 women’s team to Moscow to represent the United Kingdom in
the European Junior Champion Clubs Cup.
Fastest team of the day was the squad organised by Vice
President Nick Gasson who completed the distance in 1 hour 48 minutes and 30
seconds. Slowest was the Past Presidents team who ran the distance in 2.45.31
and included Ian Wilson and Graham Botley who had travelled down from the
Midlands to take part.
Further details about the Moscow expedition can be found
on the Club website.
30/05/06
Mark Steinle and Julian Golding, two of Blackheath &
Bromley's Sydney Olympians have been back in action recently at National Level
after long periods out with injury. After an outing in the Club's Ted Pepper
10km Mark travelled to Manchester for the Bupa Great Manchester Run. He finished
the 10km course in 29.42 nearly a minute and a half quicker than his previous
race. This will give him confidence as he prepares for the AAA's 10,000 metre
championships in a couple of weeks time.
Julian ran his first races for two years when he competed
at the Inter Counties Championships at Bedford. Understandably rusty, he was,
nevertheless, happy with his performances. He timed 10.72 in the heats of the
100 metres although he was slower in the semi final where he eased down to clock
10.81. Returning the next day he won his heat of the 200 in 21.61 before
deciding to end his weekend of racing. He returns to Bedford this weekend with
the Club's Senior Men's team for the second British Athletics League match of
the season. The Club's women's team are also in action at the same venue in the
UK Women's League.
Only one Club member won a medal at these high profile
Championships and that went to Rachel Blackie who is still an under 20. She
picked up the bronze medal in the Hammer with a throw of 51.98. Another under 20
who excelled was Danny Doyley. He reached the Final of the 200 metres and
smashed his personal best with a 21.35 in the heats. He also set a new best of
10.75 in the 100 while Chelsea O Rawe Hobbs, an under 17 was 5th in the 3000
walk with 15.11.56
Others to come close to medals were Sam Bobb who was 4th
in the triple jump (15.09); Ed Harrison 5th in the 400 hurdles (55.22) and Liz
Hughes, 5th in the pole vault with 3.70. Allan Williams, at the age of 52 was
8th in the men's vault with 4.10.
A number of the Club's athletes enjoyed great success at
the South Of England Under 17 and Under 15 Championships at Chelmsford picking
up 5 gold, 6 silvers and 5 bronze medals. This was an excellent haul as the area
covers 19 counties.
In the under 17 age group the throwers were in dominant
mood. Richard AlAmeen picked up the Hammer title with a mighty 60.84 effort with
Joe Stockton second with 53.03. Shaunagh Brown took the discus title with 41.08
and then claimed bronze in the shot with a putt of 10.99.
Last year Sarah McGuire won the under 15's shot title.
This year she moved up an age group and changed event. The result was the same,
however, as she took the javelin with a last round effort of 34.82. James Alaka
picked up two bronze medals in the sprints with times of 10.97 and 21.95 and
there was a bronze too for Rachel Arnheim in the pole vault with a clearance of
3.10, the same height as Emily Godley who placed 5th.
In the under 15's Jessica Matthews smashed the Club long
jump record with a leap of 5.38 and added a silver in the high jump with a leap
of 1.60. Andrew Jordan stamped his authority on the hammer contest with a throw
of 59.69 which won the event by over 10 metres.
Helen Silvester took silver in the javelin with 29.16 and
there were runners up spots too for Dan Putnam (400), Matthew Fletcher (triple
jump) and Stephen Cavey (800)
Danny Duffin produced a new best in the javelin of 48.60
which won him bronze.
23/05/06
Loughborough International and Nike BMC
races.
Amir Williamson broke two Blackheath & Bromley Club
Hammer records at the Loughborough International match. The 19 year old was
invited to compete as a guest and totally justified his selection as he launched
the Senior Hammer out to 60.46.
This distance broke both the Club Junior and Senior
records and the distance is just short of the qualifying distance for the World
Junior Championships in Beijing this August. Amir receives vital support from
the For Goodness Shakes Company, the same Company that supports decathlete Dean
Macey and Amir's profle can be found on their website at
www.forgoodnessshakes.com
Also in action at Loughborough was fellow Club record
holder Christine Lawrence who took part in her first International as part of
the England team. She finished in 4th place in the javelin with 45.46, her
second best throw ever.
Amy Godsell was in the Great Britain Junior squad for the
4x100 but did not get to run. However she did compete in the Invitation 200
where she timed 24.97. Her brother Joe ran in the 400 and set another new best
finishing in 48.86.
Danny Doyley set a new best of 10.86 in the 100 and Alex
AlAmeen ran 15.28 in the Junior Mens 110 hurdles.
The evening before at the Nike BMC races at the same venue
two juniors James Poole (1.56.11) and Richard Davies (1.59.58) set new bests for
800 while Jamie Atkinson timed a useful 1.55.21. Michael Skinner was 4th in the
3000 in 8.10.62.
Meanwhile Alex Pope improved his best by 400 points in a
decathlon at Woodford. He set new bests in the 100 (11.76), high jump (1.76),
400 (53.94) and 110 Hurdles (17.06) to improve his overall best to 5936 points.
National Masters Road Relays, Sutton
Coldfield.
The Club’s over 50’s are National Road Relay Champions winning the title
by just one second in an exciting finish at Sutton Coldfield.
Bob Minting set off on the last 5km leg with a lead of
1.48 but this was steadily closed by Oxford City. By the bottom of the final
hill they were level but Minting, who is National Over 55’s 400, 800 and 1500
metre champion on the track, used all his experience to summon the energy for
one last sprint and secure victory.
It was an ideal birthday present for Alan Camp who turned
50 the day before and the icing on the cake was that his time of 15.57 was the
quickest of the day.
Tim Soutar (16.26) and Con Griffin (16.40) also recorded
quick times with Peter Hamilton(17.56) and President Ken Daniel (17.16)
completing the sextet.
UKA National Young Athletes League,
Bedford
The Club's youngsters continued their unbeaten run in
the UKA Young Athletes League at Bedford but only after being pushed very
closely by the host Club. The League became a joint boys and girls scoring
competition in 2004 and since then the Club have won every match twice becoming
National Champions.
At Bedford a large number of athletes were not available
to compete and the Club's cause was not helped when the Hammer events were
cancelled because work on the cage had not been completed because of the wet
weather.
It is hoped that conditions this week will allow the
necessary work to be completed so the event can take place at the Inter County
Championships this weekend.
Normally the Club could expect to get near maximum points
in these events. Add to this a few disasters on the day, and a points penalty
for not supplying a full complement of officials and the match became one of the
tightest for some time.
Fortunately there were some excellent performances from
the athletes who were there, not least from Sarah McGuire who won the under 17
women's shot, discus and javelin, the latter in a new best of 32.88. Captain
James Alaka was dominant in the Under 17 men's sprints.
Isobel Ivy had a useful win the triple jump and the pole
vault duo of Emily Godley and Rachel Arnheim both produced grade one
performances of 2.70 and 2.60.
The under 15 throwers boys and girls dropped just one
point out of 48. In fact the under 15 girls only dropped five out 88 points
across all the events.
On a day when the team were short in numbers there were a
number of athletes who did more events than they were expecting to do. For
example, Jessica Saville won the B 200 before heading to the 800 start where she
placed second in the A string.
Grace Sheppard timed a very useful 13.2 to win the 100 and
Amy DeMatos and Michelle Fewster were dominant in the 1500.
Double wins came from Jessica Matthews (75 hurdles and
Long jump), and from Katherine Jones and Estelle Patten who won both strings of
the shot and discus. Estell also won the B 75 hurdles.
The boys were almost as dominant led by Danny Duffin who
won the javelin and B string shot before helping out in the high jump and
running in the 4x400. Andrew Jordon would probably had a clean sweep of throws
wins had the Hammer taken place, while on the track there were grade one
performances from Elliott Cox (100) and Dan Putnam and Stephen Cavey (both 400)
Oliver Taylor and George Gregory scored maximum points in
the under 13's 800 and George returned to grab victory in the sprint hurdles.
For the girls there was an impressive debut from Leticia Noel in the 150 metres
as she timed an excellent 20.8 in difficult conditions while Sian Duffy edged a
very tight 70 metres hurdles race.
Southern Leagues
The Club also had teams competing in the Southern
League. In the Mens matches at Luton and Portsmouth good performances on the
track were negated by a lack of field eventers. As a result the Division Two
team finished 5th and the Division Three team were 3rd. The Women's problem in
their match at Southampton was a lack of Senior athletes and while the under
15's performed admirably their efforts were undermined by yawning gaps in some
of the Senior events. Best performances here was a new best of 64.7 in the 400
hurdles from Clare Cooper and another fine throw in the Hammer from Victoria
Thomas who reached 54.15.
Particular credit should go, however, to youngsters Emma
Armstrong and Rebecca Cook who made the trip to Southampton and then travelled
to Bedford the next day.
16/05/06
Blackheath & Bromley enjoyed another highly successful
Kent Championships at Ashford as athletes from the Club won nearly 50 individual
gold medals and set a number of Championship best performances.
Amazingly five of these Championship bests were set by
Mike Davies' Hammer group. In the under 20's Amir Williamson smashed his best to
win in 66.35 with his brother Alistair picking up silver in 59.18. It was a
one-two in the women's event also as Victoria Thomas broke the Championship
record only to see Rachel Blackie exceed this and win the competition with
52.59. In the Under 17's Richard AlAmeen celebrated his 16th birthday a day
early by winning with a CBP of 59.54 while in the under 15's Andrew Jordan
excelled as he launched the Hammer out to 61.44.
The other Championship best came from English Schools
International Shaunagh Brown who won the discus with a throw of 41.72.
In the Senior age group Jamie Atkinson retained his 800
metre title as well as winning the 1500. Ed Harrison was a comfortable winner of
400 hurdles and there were wins too for 52 year old Allan Williams in the pole
vault and Sam Bobb in the triple jump. Under 20 Stuart Harvey contested the
Senior javelin and won having taken the Junior title as well.
Katy Benneworth leapt a new best of 5.84 to win the
women's long jump and looks set to pepper the 6 metre mark. She ran an
impressive 100 metres to win in 12.09. There was a double victory also for Bella
Clayton in the 400 and 800 and good wins too for Vicki Cole (200) Clare Cooper
(400 hurdles), Liz Hughes (pole vault) and Christine Lawrence (javelin).
James Poole dipped inside 4 minutes in the under 20's 1500
while Alex AlAmeen took the 110 hurdles in a useful 14.96 despite running into a
strong headwind. For the women there was a good wins for Anike Shand Wittingham
in the 200 in 25.12; Rebecca Syrocki (400) Jo Wood (100 hurdles), Jade Castell
Thomas (long jump) and Flo Clark (discus).
Despite still being an under 17 James Alaka ran the
fastest time by a Club member this year to win the 100 metres in 10.88. This was
quicker than the winning time in the Senior Men’s race. He followed this with
21.79 to win the 200.
There was a sprint double also for Vanessa Nakangu who won
the 200 and 300. Isobel Ivy leapt an excellent 5.27 to win the long jump and
there were wins too for Rachel Arnheim ( pole vault), Holly Williams ( 3000
walk) and Rebecca Taylor (800).
Elliott Cox was another double winner taking both sprint
titles in the under 15's age group and Amy DeMatos was mightily impressive in
winning the 800 and 1500. Dan Putnam took the 400 title and runner up Stephen
Cavey won the 800 metres by an astonishing 10 seconds. Daniella Annon won the
100 with some ease and there were wins too for Jessica Matthews (long jump)
Jessica Nicol-Smith (pole vault), and Helen Silvester (javelin)
There was more success for the Club at the Surrey
Championships at Kingston with wins in the Senior Men’s contest for Jonathan
Barbour in the 200 with 21.83 and for Joe Godsell with a new best of 48.97 in
the 400, the first time he has dipped under 49 seconds. His sister Amy won the
under 20 women’s 200 in 25.51 and there were also wins for second claimers Jade
Dodd (javelin), Marcus Williams (shot), Jeremy Odametey (triple jump).
Christine Lawrence’s excellent early season form has been
recognized with selection for the javelin for the England team which competes in
the Loughborough International match this Sunday. Amy Godsell has been picked
for the GB Under 20 sprints squad.
The first National Junior league of the season kicked off
in Copthall Sunday May 7th proving many successes for the Blackheath and Bromley
Harriers team.
The team's effort lead them to earn 3rd place in the match
leaving them only 16 points behind the strong competition of Shaftesbury Barnet
Harriers.
Impressive performances were delivered from Rebecca
Syrocki and Clare Cooper in the 400m with times of 58.43s and 60.18 securing
them 1st place in the A and B string.
Training partners, Rachel Blackie and Victoria Thomas
continued to intimidate competition in the women's hammer as they both threw
over 53 metres securing them two well deserved first places and in amongst the
top three U20 women in the UK this season.
Shaunagh Brown and Florence Clark also delivered in the
Discus throwing themselves into first place for both A and B string, Shaunagh
also achieved national standard for U17 women.
In the 400m hurdles, Katie Murray came first with a time
of 60.6, her B-string Sarah McLellan also enjoyed success earning 2nd place with
a time of 70.41.
Isobel Ivy achieved a PB in the Triple Jump with a jump of
11.08 placing her 1st in the B-string.
Further performances came from Frances Athawes in Javelin
32.59, Ella Fisher in the 800 and 1500m, earning the club 2nd place in the
B-string and Bryony Proctor also won 2nd place in the 3000 metres with a time of
10.16.72 this was also a P.B.
Meanwhile in the men's events Stuart Harvey launched the
Javelin out to 59.58m which respectfully allowed him 1st place in the A-string.
The hammer competition continued to thrive like the
women's, when Richard Alameen threw 50.76 and B-string Joe Stockton threw 49.53
earning themselves a 2nd and 1st place. Both relay teams achieved 3rd place,
with James Alaka contributing to the 4x100, 100m 10.98 and 200m 22.20, earning
2nd place in the 100 and 200 B-string. Daniel Doyley also competed in the 100m
with 10.91 earning himself 3rd place in the A-string, and in the 4x100 relay.
The next National Junior League match will be held on 11th
June, and the Club will need to ensure the team is at its strongest to make the
clubs aim to reach the finals in Derby this September.
9/05/06
Blackheath & Bromley opened their British League season
with fifth place in their opening Division One match at Copthall. With a number
of athletes missing for a variety of reasons the result showed that with a
stronger team in the remaining three matches, the Club are perfectly capable of
challenging for one of the two promotion places to the Premiership .
There were a number of good individual performances. Ed
Harrison got the track programme off to the right start winning the 400 hurdles
in 52.91, a particularly good run as he was in the outside lane.
Captain Michael Skinner doubled up in the middle distance
winning the 1500 metres with some ease in 3.56.56 following his third place in
the 800 metres, and there was a welcome return to League competition for Dwayne
Grant. Having just arrived back from warm weather training the British
International just ran the opening leg of the 4x100 and looked in tremendous
form. Unfortunately the team were disqualified due to an infringement at a later
changeover, a great shame as they crossed the line first. Anchor man Duayne
Bovell had earlier claimed an excellent third place in the A string 100 metres.
There was better fortune for the 4x400 who placed second
in a very useful 3.15.91 with splits of Neil Simpson (50.0), Bomene Barikor
(49.2), Ian Allerton (49.1) and Alloy Wilson (47.7) In the field Stuart Harvey
threw 59.05 despite the rainy conditions to gain second place in the javelin and
there was a welcome return to competition for Tom Robinson who cleared 3.60 in
the pole vault. Man of the match for the Club was Alex Pope who competed in
seven events setting a personal best in the Hammer and gaining a valuable second
place in the B string javelin. Veteran Paul Sutherland also scored valuable
points as he place third in the B string 400 hurdles, fifth in the A string
sprint hurdles and competed in the shot and discus.
Match Result. 1. Trafford (381) 2. City Of Sheffield (376)
3. Border (323) 4. Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow (298) 5. Blackheath &
Bromley (236) 6 Cardiff (205) 7. Bedford and County (173) 8 City Of Edinburgh
(157)
The Club's Masters (and Mistresses) made a successful
start to their 2006 campaign in the Kent Veterans League with both the men's and
women's teams winning their matches.
The women finished 9 points clear of Dartford and
significantly they had more athletes at the match at Sutcliffe Park than they
had at the Southern Final last September when all events are contested. Most
notable performances coming from Beatrice Simpson who broke the over 50's Club
Records in the javelin with 25.48 and in the shot with 25.48.
Maureen Miller made a welcome return to competition
winning her 200 metres, putting the shot and helping the 4x100 team to victory.
In fact the team scored near maximum points in the sprints
with wins also for Mel Healey and Helen Godsell and a second place for Nanette
Cross to add to her first place in the shot Miranda Porritt and Viv Mitchell
secured maximum points in the 1500 with times of 5.24.4 and 5.36.4.
For the men the best performance came from Alan Camp who,
two weeks before he moves up to the over 50's age group, timed 4.34.1 for second
in the 1500.
New over 50 Craig Mitchinson won the high jump and also
scored well in the javelin. There was a promising debut for Joe Camacho in the
200 and a win for Ken Daniel in the 1500.
2/05/06
A busy weekend of Athletics saw Blackheath & Bromley
achieve some outstanding individual and team performances. In the States Scott
Overall smashed the Club 5000 metre record at Stanford with a time of 13.38.19,
bettering Jamie Harrison's old record which has stood since 1992 by over 5
seconds.
His time is the fastest by a Briton this year and is
inside the UKA Development standard for the European Championships of 13.42
Closer to home in the Southern Men's League Division Two
match at Kingston, Amir Williamson improved the Club Record for a Junior using
the Senior weight Hammer launching the 7.26kg implement out to 57.78 to win the
competition and the match.
His brother Alistair won the B event with a new best of
52.37 and together with Alex Pope and Stuart Harvey they achieved near maximum
points in the throws.
Highlight of the Division Three match at Deangate was the
appearance of a 4x400 team made up entirely of members of the same family. The
Daniel brothers Chris, Mark, and Richard ran solid legs before handing over to
their father and Club President Ken, who ran a useful 62 seconds for a 55 year
old.
The Club’s youngsters travelled to Harrow for a
potentially tough match against the host Club, Tonbridge and Basildon in the
first round of the Southern Premier Division of the National Young Athletes
League. The National Champions came away with an excellent victory which means
they have not been beaten since the League went joint scoring in 2004.
All four athlete of the match awards went to Blackheath &
Bromley athletes. On the track Dan Putnam scooped the award for his 53.1 winning
time in the 400. Vanessa Nakangu took the women's prize for her time of 41.2 in
the 300.
In the field Emily Godley's three metre leap in the pole
vault gave her the award while the boys title went to Andrew Jordan who threw
52.14 in the hammer.
It was, however, a real team effort that saw the squad win
the match with many youngsters making promising debuts for the team.
A number of the Club’s athletes were in action at the
British University Championships in Birmingham and there were again some good
performances. Highest placed was Sandra Alaneme who was 4th in the women’s
triple jump with 11.82 while there was a new best for Joe Godsell in the men’s
400 with 49.01 and Katy Benneworth claimed a useful 6th place in the 100 metres.
Mark Steinle dominated the Club's Ted Pepper 10km race at
Beckenham on Bank Holiday Monday. The marathon star won the race by over two
minutes from Club mate Peter Tucker in 31.02. Steve Holmes placed 9th having run
the London Marathon the week before and timed 4.12 for 1500 on the Saturday in
the Southern League. Youngsters Danny Brewer (11th) and Jonathan Vintner (15th)
both made good debuts at the distance while over 50 runner Con Griffin did well
to finish in 36.35.
First woman home from the Club was Viv Mitchell in 41.31
followed by Annie McDonough and Kate Pratten.
In a related discipline Anthony Draper had an impressive
win in the Sevenoaks Triathlon. He timed 6.59 for the swim; 44.35 for the bike
and 29.54 for the run to win the title by nearly two and a half minutes.
25/04/06
Runners from Blackheath & Bromley were out in force for
the London Marathon and Mini Marathon seeking personal bests and raising money
for Charity. The race also incorporated the Club Marathon Championships.
First home was Rob Hall in 223rd with 2.40.38 followed by
veteran Nick Kinsey (254th) in 2.42.12 and John McConville (756th) in 2.54.33.
Michael Beaton (2.56.56) and Steve Holmes (2.58.19) also dipped inside 3 hours.
Annie McDonough took the Women's title. She placed 3155th
in the race with 3.19.24 followed by Kirsty Philip 3.39.36 and Clare Lodwig
3.53.51.
Mike Peel continued his record of having finished every
London Marathon since the first race in 1981. He made it round in 5.25.11.
Immediate Past President Anne Cilia nominated the St
Mary's Wrestwood Children's Trust as the Club's chosen Charity for 2006. St
Mary's is a non-maintained mixed special school for pupils with speech, language
and communication difficulties. Many pupils have additional areas of need
including moderate learning difficulties, physical disability, hearing
impairment, autistic spectrum disorders or complex medical difficulties.
The School educates and cares for up to 144 students
between the ages of seven and nineteen, sharing with parents the responsibility
of preparing them to become as independent as possible, and ready to realise
their full potential.
Club Member John Leeson was running the Marathon to raise
funds for the school for a special reason. His son Tom attends the school. They
ran the race together and finished in 5.25.15.
If anyone would like to contribute to the fundraising Anne
can be contacted on 07733 335759.
There were some outstanding results from some of the
Club's youngsters in the Mini Marathon. Katie Murray won the 15-17 year olds
race for the second year in a row. This was an achievement in itself but more so
as she is now training primarily for the 400 hurdles.
Hector Kurtyanek finished an excellent 4th in the 11-12
year olds race just one place clear of Oliver Taylor, while Michelle Fewster was
5th for the girls in the same age group.
Others to achieve top 10 placings were Cameron Ward (6th
in the 13-14 boys), Danny Brewer (9th 15-17 boys), Jonathan Vintner (10th 15-17
boys) and Amy DeMatos (10th 13-14 girls)
The Club hosted a particularly successful initial match to
the Southern Women’s League at Norman Park on Saturday the 22nd despite opposing
Wndsor and Herts Phoenix who accomplished first and second in the League last
year.
Blackheath and Bromley triumphed with 209.5 points
achieving a particularly strong result in the Senior throws, securing 38 out of
a potential 40 points.
Shaunagh Brown performed outstandingly, obtaining two
first places in the Discus and Shot, consecutively exceeding her previous p.b in
the Discus and simultaneously acquiring the U17 and U20 club records with 43.22.
Christine Lawrence additionally achieved a pb of 47.69
metres and the Club’s Senior javelin record, with Sarah McGuire also winning the
B string.
Rachel Blackie further improved her Hammer best to 53.95
and Katy Benneworth achieved a useful 5.60 in winning the long jump.
Further double wins came from Bella Clayton and Sam Singer
in the Senior 400; Estelle Patten and Emma Armstrong in the discus U15s; and
Daniella Annon and Jessica Matthews in the U15’s 200 metres.
Jessica also achieved 1.60 in the high jump situating her
1st and her B string Emma Armstrong also gained a well deserved 1st place with
1.45.
Jade Castell Thomas and Lauren Blackie accomplished two
first places in the Senior triple jump both above grade three standard.
Bryony Proctor excelled in the Senior 3000 metres with
10.21.8, which was not only a personal best and accomplished first place, yet a
time which exceeds any of her Clubmates performances from the previous year.
Congratulations go out to Jessica Nicol Smith, who
participated in the non scoring pole vault and achieved 2.50. Despite being
twelve years of age, she comfortably obtained a grade oneU15 Pole Vault
standard.
There was more success for the Club’s athletes at the
South East Counties April Throws Pentathlon camp at Ewell Court Track. Colin
Brand and Gordon Hickey took first and second places in the over 70’s
competition.
Colin won three of the five throws and took first place by
over 850 points. Not only this he set a new British best in the javelin of
39.24, improving the previous best by over five metres. His points score
bettered the previous competition record by fifty-two points. Gordon Hickey was
over 200 points clear of third.
Meanwhile up at Loughborough Joe Godsell opened his
outdoor season by timing 49.5 for 400 and 22.7 for 200. This qualifies him for
the Loughborough team for this weekends British Universities Championships which
take place in Birmingham.
18/04/06
Victoria Thomas made an astonishing start to the track and
field season by breaking both the Junior and Senior Blackheath and Bromley
Hammer records. In her first throw at the open meeting at Tonbridge she launched
the hammer out to 54.95 to improve her previous best from last season by almost
six metres. This distance would have ranked her 12th in the country as a Senior
last year and means she is close to the 57 metres qualifying distance for the
World Junior Championships in Beijing in August. It is the 7th furthest ever
thrown by a Junior Woman.
Inspired by Victoria's performance training partner Rachel
Blackie, the previous junior and senior record holder, improved her best to
52.55 and she will no doubt go further as the season progresses. Her throw puts
her 15th on the UK Junior all time list for the event.
Another from their Mike Davies training group, Alistair
Williamson, set a new best of 59.50 in the junior men's event and Richard
AlAmeen opened his under 17 season with a useful 54.37.
At the Sward and Kinnaird meeting at Kingston the Senior
Men won the Kinnaird trophy for the best track team on the day. Best performance
here came from Ed Harrison who won the 400 hurdles with some ease in 53.7. In
the B string there was another new Club Record as Paul Sutherland smashed the
Club Over 40's record timing 59.0 to take over 5 seconds off the previous
record. He also timed a useful 16.9 in the 110 hurdles.
Elsewhere Duayne Bovell equalled his best of 10.9 to win
the 100 metres and there were new bests for Dan Snow (800), Dan Ryan (1500) Nick
Gasson (3000) and Richard Hall (2000 chase).
Up at Haringey the Club had mixed fortunes for the Senior
women and Under 15 girls teams at the Alpha Beta Meeting. The Seniors finished
in 8th place in a very close match whereas the under 15's won comfortably. This
meant that overall the Club finished in 2nd place, but they probably would have
won had they had athletes competing in all the Senior events.
In the under 15's there was maximum points in the middle
distance events from Rebecca Smith, Danielle Critchley, Amy DeMatos, and
Michelle Fewster as there were in the jumps from Jessica Matthews, Nenisha
Nelson Roberts and Leah Forbes Morris. Emma Armstrong and Estell Patten took
maximum points in the discus.
For the Seniors, Amy Godsell, Katy Benneworth and Sam
Singer all took second places in their sprint events but the windy conditions
prevented fast times. Katy's leap of 5.40 for runner up spot in the long jump
was the same as the winner while Jade Castell won the B string with 5.19. There
was a B string win also for Vaness Nakangu in the 400 and runner up spots for
Shaunagh Brown and Florence Clark in the discus. Sarah Olney opened her season
with a new best of 22.94 in the javelin.
Peter Tucker was a comfortable winner of the Club 10,000
metre championship last Wednesday at Norman Park. He lapped nearly all the field
to finish in 34.37.9 with Rob Hall second in 35.30.5. Over 50 runner Con Griffin
timed an excellent 36.19.5 for third.
Prior to this, the first of a new Grand Prix for young
middle distance runners took place. First home over the 1500 distance was
Stephen Cavey in 4.31.2 but first in the handicap competition was Nancy
Carney. The next race in the series is the 800 on the 3rd of May.
11/04/06
A number of Blackheath & Bromley Club members are just
adding the finishing touches to their preparations for the London Marathon on
the 23rd of April. As usual many will be running for Charity. Outgoing President
Anne Cilia has nominated the St Mary's Wrestwood Children's Trust as the Club's
chosen Charity for 2006. St Mary's is a non-maintained mixed special school for
pupils with speech, language and communication difficulties. Many pupils have
additional areas of need including moderate learning difficulties, physical
disability, hearing impairment, autistic spectrum disorders or complex medical
difficulties.
The School educates and cares for up to 144 students
between the ages of seven and nineteen, sharing with parents the responsibility
of preparing them to become as independent as possible, and ready to realise
their full potential.
Club Member John Leeson will be running the Marathon to
raise funds for the school for a special reason. His son Tom attends the school
and Tom will be running with his father.
The Winter season came to a close with the Nike National
12 and 6 Stage road relays at Sutton Coldfield. Although understrength both the
men and women's team acquitted themselves well and finished in the top half of
the fields. The men closed in 19th having being given a discretionary place
after the Southern Relays date was altered so that it clashed with a date when
over 30 Club members were away warm weather training. The women finished in 21st
place, a good effort with much promise for the future.
Fastest long leg for the men came from the evergreen Dave
Taylor. The 42 year old timed 27.09 on a very windy course, 20 seconds quicker
than Jamie Atkinson who ran a very good opening stage. There was also an
encouraging performance from 18 year old James Poole who timed 29.01 in his
first 12 stage road relay.
Quickest short leg came from Welsh International Joe Mills
who ran 15.20 in his first race for some time following injury.
Fastest in the women's 6 stage event was Shavaun Henry on
the opening stage. She ran 17.49 to bring the team in 21st. Bryony Proctor
showed that she is becoming an important member of the Senior squad. Still a
junior she was the second quickest for the Club as she timed 18.28 on the third
stage. Bella Clayton (19.19), Fran Green (19.38), Gemma Viney (19.29) and
captain Kate Pratten (20.42) completed the team.
The track and field season is getting underway and a
number of athletes were in action at open meetings last weekend. At Havering
Alloy Wilson opened his season with a useful 49.5 to comfortably win the Senior
Men's 400. Daniel Haque won the Junior Men's 100 metres in 11.4 despite running
the last 30 metres with and injury. His problem may not be serious.
Conditions were not easy for the pole vaulters but,
nevertheless, there was a one-two for Rachel Arnheim and Rebecca Haywood with
clearances of 2.80 and 2.30. Despite being well below her best Rachel's
clearance was still a national grade one performance as was Lauren Blackie's
10.73 in the triple jump, although this also was below her best. There was a new
best for Marcus Morrison in the men's event as he leapt 13.02 while on the track
Katrina Cosby ran a useful 42.6 to win the 300 metres.
First year under 15 Matthew Fletcher produced an
outstanding new best of 5.72 in the long jump in his first year in the age
group. His 12.5 in the 100 metres was also a new best.
More were in action at Crystal Palace in the Hercules
Wimbledon Open Meeting. Stephen Cavey opened his outdoor season by winning the
under 15 boys 800 by over seven seconds in 2.06.2 and there were national grade
one performances also from Dan Putnam in the 100 and 200 with clockings of 11.9
and 24.2; and from Jessica Matthews who soared over 1.60 in the high jump.
Amara Jacobs produced very promising times of 14.5 and
29.3 in the under 13's 100 and 200 and in the under 11s there was a very good
win in the 600 metres from Bromley Primary Schools cross country champion Hannah
Cook who timed 1.58.5.
4/04/06
Scott Overall opened his 2006 outdoor track and field
campaign with a new personal best in the 5000 metres at the Stanford Relays
Meeting. The Blackheath & Bromley athlete, who represented Great Britain at last
years European Under 23 Championships improved his best to 14.00.32, a time that
would have ranked him in the top ten in Britain in 2005. He actually placed 10th
in a high quality field.
One result from a little earlier was his 12th place in the
3000 metres at the NCAA Indoor Championships, a race which could certainly never
be described as even paced. The first 1000 metres took 2.52 but the next 1000
was 2.32. He finished in 8.16.56.
Otherwise, this was a very quiet weekend, a lull before
the storm as the Summer season gets underway.
The Summer track and field season is fast approaching. The
Club is always looking for new blood to join what is one of the oldest and most
successful Athletics Clubs in the world.
Athleticism forms the basis of all Sports and former B & B
members who have gone on to excel in other Sports include England International
and Manchester United footballer Kieran Richardson, Southend striker Wayne Gray
and England and Sale rugby International Andrew Sheridan.
There may be athletes from other disciplines who would
like to maintain their fitness over the Summer months by taking part in
Athletics.
The Club will be holding an open meeting for youngsters
from School Years 6 to 11 on Good Friday, April the 14th at Norman Park track.
Entry is only a £1 in advance of £2 on the day. Entry forms can be obtained by
downloading from the Club website at
www.bandbhac.org.uk or by sending an SAE to Mike Davies at 21 Tudor
Way, Petts Wood, Orpington, Kent. BR5 1LH
