Press Releases for
July, August & September 2020
Due to the Covid-19 virus all athletic activity
was halted and there was/is nothing to report from mid March to mid August
2020.
15/09/20
New UK Discus Record for Obamakinwa
On Saturday Zara Obamakinwa broke the UK U17 discuss
record with 51.69m at Moulton College which was a record dating back to 1990
held by Emma Merry of Rugby with 51.60m. This is a fantastic achievement and
world under 18 leading mark.
At the DASH series of meetings at Bromley’s Norman
Park, Dina Asher Smith recorded one of the fastest times over 150m ever run
by a british female athlete and it will be only a matter of time before Dina
sets the best UK mark.
Dina’s time was 17.12 with Kaliyah Young our next
fastest with 18.62, Mallory Cluley 18.79 and Tianna Haynes 19.19, while in
the men’s event Dan Putnam clocked 16.06 with Chizute Ogbedeh clocking 16.61
and Adam Islam-Medeaux 17.30. Dan also ran 33.99 in the 300m.
The following day at open meeting in Dagenham Dan
Putnam was back on the track and ran 21.87 over 200m with Abdul-Rahamann
Jolaoso running 10.82 over 100m, and Morgan Squibb ran 2.19.64 over 800m.
Late last week at Aldershot Alex Bruce-Littlewood ran
3.54.8 over 1500m which is his fastest time for 6 years and puts him top of
the club rankings.
Blackheath held their first Open Meeting of September
last night with one more to come next Monday, and the results showed a lot
of great performances. Overall club athletes achieved 71 new personal bests
and 11 seasons bests across the 75m, 200m, 600m and 1500m races held, and in
the discus and pole vault. Highlights included massive new pbs in the 1500m
for Henry Fisher (3.59.00) and Tom Brash (4.00.94), while in the field Holly
Platt vaulted over 2.93m for a new pb with Dillon Claydon recording 49.74m
in the under 17 mens discus and Hannah MacAulay recording a new pb of 44.8m3
in the under 20 ladies discus. Lets see if we can exceed this next Monday at
the final open event of the season.
Nick Brooks
7/09/20
James Whiteaker is British Javelin Champion
Its now very late in the track and field season and
with many athletes already ending their season early or in some cases not
even allowing it to start, it means there are opportunities for those
athletes who have chosen to continue competing, to shine.
At the British Championships held at Sportscity in
Manchester, James Whiteaker threw the javelin 75.99m to win by over 5 metres
from second place, truly back in form after an injury enforced absence.
James was not our only medallist as Jonathan Ilori took bronze in the triple
jump with 15.17m, a little below par for him but nevertheless a great
achievement.
Other notable performances were Sarah Abrams who
jumped 6.07m for fifth in the ladies long jump while Bekah Walton took 5th
in the ladies javelin with 47.65m and Lauren Farley 11th in 41.96m. Second
claim athlete Phil Sesemann ran well for 5th in the mens 5,000m with
13.56.53, and teenager Alex O’Callaghan Brown ran a brilliant 53.86 in
qualifying for the mens 400m hurdles final, but could not repeat it in the
final where he took 8th spot and gained valuable experience, as did Benjamin
Gardiner who ran in the heats of the mens 800m but not quick enough to
progress. Another one of our talented youngsters Mallory Cluley ran well to
the make the final of the ladies 100m hurdles where she took 7th place and
clocked 13.99 for a seasons best.
Further down the age groups some of our athletes were
in action at an Inter Club Challenge at Lea Valley where Daisy Snell
(11.75), Emily Algeo (12.48) and Amber Cockburn (13.99) all clocked pbs in
the under 15 girls hurdles. Not to be outdone in the under 15 boys 80m
hurdles, Rayhan Mourtada ((12.35) and Jonathan Ellerton (14.13) both also
clocked new pbs.
Elsewhere at a pole vault competition in Southampton
Holly Platt equalled her pb with 2.90m and Barnaby Corry leapt 4.10m.
It is also good to see Alex Bruce-Littlewood getting
back into form as he clocked a useful 8.24.9 recently over 3,000m at an
event in Wimbldeon.
Nick Brooks
24/08/20
Blackheath athletes back in
action at long last
August has seen a return to action for many athletes
via open races and invitations, and already many great efforts have been
achieved.
First up has been Adam Gemili who ran 10.28 over 100m
in Szekesfehervar on the 19th August in Hungary, having run 20.68 for 200m
and 5th place at the Monaco leg of the Diamond League on August 14th. This
past weekend Adam ran 20.61 over 200m to win the Stockholm Diamond League.
News from other venues include a massive new club
record and UK rankings lead for James Whiteaker with 77.81m in the javelin
at Nuneaton on August 2nd, while Joe Rogers clocked a new pb in the 800m
with 1.51.56 at the same venue on August 11th.
Last Friday night at Bromley’s Norman Park the Bromley
Twilight Meeting took place which was an invitational meeting for middle
distance runners. The club had several athletes in action with pride of
place going to Phil Sesemann who clocked 7.52.42 over 3,000m for a massive
new pb. The 4 in front of him are now the fastest four in the world this
year over this distance. In other races Will Fuller clocked 8.14.63 and Ross
Braden 8.28.35, with Hannah Clark posting 10.36.05 in a ladies race. Phil’s
run is not far behind Scott Overall’s club record of 7.48.92.
In the mens 800m races there were massive new pbs for
Ben Gardiner in 1.50.94, Sam Reardon 1.52.82 who now tops the UK under 17
rankings, and Henry Fisher with 1.53.18.
On Saturday afternoon Blackheath hosted its first Open
Meeting of the season with almost 300 athletes taking part. Key performances
saw Dina Asher Smith back on the track contesting the rarely run 150m
clocking 17.20, leaving fellow international Desiree Henry way behind. Over
300m Bailey Stickings clocked an impressive 34.95 with Megan Walsh posting
39.68 in the ladies event, while in the 400m there were massive new pbs for
Sam Reardon again, with 48.87, and Alex O’Callaghan Brown with 49.10.
Finally at the Dartford Invitational Pole Vault Open
Barnaby Corry just missed his pb with a vault of 4.22m.
Nick Brooks
