Press Releases for
April, May & June 2015
30/06/15
Hardly a week goes by at the moment without a
Blackheath & Bromley athlete being selected for a representative fixture or
actually competing in one. This last seven days proved no exception with
Divine Oladipo the latest to be picked for an International event.
She has been chosen to represent England at the
Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa in September. She is picked for both the
discus and shot following some excellent performances this season. Missing
from last weeks report from Bedford was her new Club Record with the 3kg
shot . She broke 15 metre for the first time with a throw of 15.37.
The Hylton sisters Cheriece and Shannon, who have
featured in the Daily Mail recently, secured selection for the European
Under 20 championships at Bedford and also for the GB squad who competed at
last weekends Mannheim International in Germany. They both ran well with
Shannon second in the 200 metres in 23.16 and Cheriece runner up in the 400
in 53.69.
This weekend many of the Club’s senior athletes will
head to Birmingham for the Sainsbury’s British Championships which take
place from Friday evening through to Sunday. The Championships act as the
Trials for selection for the Great Britain team for the World Championships
which take place in Beijing in August. At least 26 Club members have been
invited to the Midlands.
Many have been putting the finishing touches to their
preparations for the Trials with some notable performances. European Indoor
60 metre hurdle bronze medallist Serita Solomon competed in the Paavo Nurmi
Games at Turku in Finland. She won both of her 100 metre hurdle races in
times of 13.03 and 13.22. Also in action was Kieran Daly who timed a windy
10.56 for the 100 metres as well as a legal 10.62.
Fellow sprinters James Alaka and Tremayne Gilling were
in Bilbao in Spain with James setting a seasons best of 10.53 for the 100
metres. He also ran 21.70 for the 200. Trem clocked 10.67 for the 100.
Jermaine Olasan has shown a useful turn of speed this
Summer having run 10.65 for the 100 but he stuck to his main event the long
jump at Montelimar in France. He leapt 7.51 for second place with the
benefit of a rather strong +6.4 metre per second wind.
However, you don’t have to travel the World to run
fast times as Graham Rush and Phil Sesemann proved at the British Milers
Club Grand Prix at Watford. They both set personal bests in the 5000 metres
of 14.09.19 and 14.21.26 respectively.
On the womens side Katy Ann McDonald broke the Club
under 17 1500 record which has stood since 1989. She timed 4.22.96 and she
is only in her first year in the age group. Seniors Carolyn Plateau and
Kelly Grant set seasons best of 4.24.50 and 4.26.08.
Katy Ann’s performance came just three day after she
had broken the Club Under 17s 800 record at the BMC and Cambridge Harriers
Open Meeting at Sutcliffe Park. She just dipped under the record she set
last year as an under 15 as she timed 2.06.45.
It proved a very successful evening for the Club’s
middle distance runners with many setting personal best. Henry James Cowie
was just outside his under 15s 800 metre Club record with 2.00.85 while
Angus Harrington set a new best of 2.02.74 and Peter Guy timed 2.08.40.
Oscar Hussey set a new best of 2.09.66 as did Yasmin Marghini with 2.21.43
while Kelsi Cornish timed 2.22.36.
Richard Webb was under four minutes again in the 1500
with 3.59.87 and there were personal bests for Joss Barber (4.05.62), Bertie
Harrington (4.46.34) and Sophie Hoare (4.59.22) plus a seasons best for Dan
Kennedy (4.12.60).
Louis Mascarenhas was just outside his best for the
discus as he threw 56.20 at the London Inter Club Challenge at Allianz Park.
He remains tantalisingly close to the 57.50 he needs to qualify for the
European Junior Championships. Training partner Divine Oladipo threw 43.19
and also 13.63 for the shot.
Jonathan Ilori leapt an impressive 15.63 in the triple
jump and Mark Cryer gave himself a good work out as he returns from injury.
He ran 15.33 for the 110 hurdles, leapt 6.86 in the long jump and went over
1.80 in the high jump.
Both Louis and Divine were back at the same venue the following day
competing for the Club in the latest round of the UK Development League
Upper Age Group Premier 1division. The Club finished in third place on the
day and remain in second position in the table with the top two teams
guaranteed a place in the National Final in September.
Both throwers were in winning discus form in the under
20 age group with distances of 54.72 and 42.33. Further field success came
with victories for Kerri Davidson in the triple jump with a leap of 12.30
and Helena Coleman in the pole vault with a clearance of 3.20.
Significantly Carys Marsden’s throw of 32.55 in the B
string discus would have won the A string had Divine not thrown and it was a
similar story on the track as Vivien Olatunji (12.33) and Charmont Webster
Tape (12.38) were the two fastest 100 metre runners.
Niamh Bridson Hubbard scored an impressive double
victory in the 800 and 1500 with times of 2.14.00 and 4.49.01 and Will
Fuller was a comfortable winner of the 3000 in 8.52.97.
Last under 20 victory of the day was the womens 4x100
team of Jamilya Robinson Pascal, Charmont Webster Tape, Toyin Orelaja and
Vivien Olatunji who timed 49.60. Three of these are under 17s and the
strength in depth in this age group was demonstrated by the fact that the
under 17s team of Elizabeth Ibinduni, Parris Johnson, Magda Cienciela and
Olivia Richer were even quicker as they won their age group race in 49.17.
Parris had earlier won both A string 100 and 200 metre
races in 12.40 and 26.27 with Magda and Charmont winning the B strings in
12.55 and 25.15 both of which would have won the A strings. In fact Charmont
was significantly quicker. More sprints success came with Will Pope winning
the 400 in 52.69.
Jessica Keene scored a middle distance double as she
won both the 1500 and 3000 metres in 4.41.60 and 10.15.65, with Amy Leach
securing maximum points in the 3000 B string.
Isabella Hilditch nearly achieved a double win as
having won the 300 hurdles in 44.38 she was second in the 80 metre hurdles
in 11.72 which was impressive given it was into a -1.2 metre per second
headwind.
To complete the hurdles success, Yasmin Austridge won
the 1500 metres steeplechase in 5.10.55
As well as throwing in the under 20s discus, Divine
Oladipo also competed in her own age group winning the shot with her second
furthest ever throw of 14.85. Anastasia Davies was also just outside her
best in winning the triple jump with a leap of 11.11; Jamilya Robinson
Pascal won an exciting long jump contest by a single centimetre with a leap
of 5.01; and Anna Barnett won the discus with a throw of 33.81.
A quartet of Elizabeth Ibidunni, Roisin Atkins-Dyke,
Georgina Taylor and new double Club record holder Katy Ann McDonald rounded
off the afternoon with victory in the 4x300 in 2.54.73.
Two under 20s were unavailable for the match as they
were competing in the Welsh Senior Championships with Cameron Starr 4th in
the 100 in 10.70 and Matthew Jones 8th in the 400 in 50.94.
There is no National Final for the Masters age group, only a Regional event
which takes place in September. The women’s team took a big step to
qualifying for this at the latest Kent Masters League match of the season at
Ashford. They finished second on the night and barring a disaster in the
remaining fixture will fill one of the two Area qualification places.
After a fourth place at Ashford the men need to rally
for the final fixture to secure qualification. They are now third in the
table, one league point and seven and a half match points behind second
placed Dartford.
Carole Penlington had a busy and successful evening in
the over 35s age group winning the 400 and 3000 metres as well as being part
of the winning 4x400 metres team with Helen Godsell, Jackie Montgomery and
Jenny Neal.
Jackie had earlier won the over 50s 400 metres and
although she didn’t win the high and triple jumps Helen Godsell competing as
an over 50 rather than an over 60 was just outside her over 60 Club Records.
For the men Gareth Evans won the over 35s 3000 metres
by over 10 seconds with Tim Nash winning the over 50s race by 24 seconds. In
the field Allan Williams, who is an over 60, won the over 50s pole vault
with a clearance of 3.20.
Another veteran Shaun Lightman finished in 17th place in the National 10km
walking championships at Hillingdon cycle track. The 1968 Olympian timed one
hour three minutes and fifty two seconds.
The previous Wednesday there was a bumper turn out of
members for the Johnson Bowl race walk. Roger Michell was third in 38.13
with Shaun Lightman 4th (41.01), Peter Hannell 7th (44. 10); David Hoben 8th
(45.27); Nolan Simmons 9th (50.49); and Club President Dave.Cordell 10th in
58.16 in his first ever race walk.
Niamh Bridson Hubbard is the latest recipient of a Jack Petchey Achievement
Award. Naimh has shown great character in overcoming long term injury to run
faster than ever before over the country, road and track.
23/06/15
Dave Heath provided the icing on the cake of another
highly successful weekend for Blackheath & Bromley’s athletes when he
smashed his own World Record for the over 50s 1500 metres.
He only broke the record, which had previously stood
for 31 years, two weeks ago when he timed 4.02.33. Now he has taken another
four seconds off this as he ran 3.58.26 at Castres near Toulouse in France.
Meanwhile three Club members have been in Russia over
the weekend competing for Great Britain at the European Team Championships
at Cheboksary. They had mixed fortunes. On the Saturday Dina Asher Smith was
in the 4x100 team who had to make late changes to their personnel after 100
metre winner Asha Phillip had to withdraw with a slight muscle tightness.
Her replacement was 400 metre runner Laura Maddox who came in on last leg
after Dina ran a strong second leg. Unfortunately the last changeover did
not go to plan. The team finished way down on what had originally been
expected.
Dina was scheduled to race the 200 on the Sunday and
was strongly favoured to win and become the first Briton to have ever won
the event. However, she went down ill overnight and had to withdraw.
Serita Solomon’s weekend didn’t go to plan either. She
was due to race on the Sunday but twisted her ankle on the Saturday.
However, treatment from the GB medical team saw her well enough to make the
start line.
It was a very strong field but Serita got away quickly
and held an early lead before catching the sixth hurdle. Remarkably she was
able to keep on her feet and finish the race but she was 6th in her heat.
There was better news for second claim member Isobel
Pooley who set a seasons best of 1.94 in the high jump to finish in 6th
equal place. This was a World Championship qualifying height and she had a
good attempt at what would have been a personal best of 1.97.
Two more Club members have received International
selections following their performances at the England Athletics Under 20
and Under 23 Championships at Bedford. Twins Cheriece and Shannon Hylton
from Mottingham have been selected to represent Great Britain at the
European Under 20 Championships at Eskilstuna in Sweden next month.
Athletes needed to win their event at Bedford and have
the qualifying standard. Shannon took the Under 20s 200 metres in 23.22 and
Cheriece was first in the 400 metres in 53.54. As a result they have been
picked for these events in Sweden. Shannon is also in the 4x100 metres. They
are also in a GB squad which will compete in Mannheim in Germany this
weekend.
Louis Mascarenhas secured the discus title with a
throw of 55.22. Crucially he is still slightly outside the qualifying
standard for Sweden of 57.50. However, he still has a couple of weeks to
obtain this.
Kerri Davidson picked up bronze in the triple jump
with a leap of 12.33 and it was third also for Richard Webb in the 3000
metres steeplechase with 9.27.8, just outside his personal best.
Jazz Crawford was 4th in the 200 metres in 24.35.
Niamh Bridson Hubbard and Will Fuller were 5th and 7th in their respective
1500 finals having set personal bests of 4.25.71 and 3.53.90 in their heats.
Likewise Shaun Cooke and Scott Barker who set bests of 48.70 and 48.56 in
their semi finals of the 400 before finishing 6th and 7th in the final.
Jessica Keene was 7th in the 3000 metres in 10.08.40.
There were no golds in the under 23 age group as
athletes attempted to win and gain selection for the European Under 23
Championships at Tallinn in Estonia. However there were three silver
medallists. Jonathan Ilori has only just got back from the States but he
still managed second place in the triple jump with a leap of 15.22. Matt
Blandford was over 50 metres again in the discus with a throw of 52.24.
Remarkably Divine Oladipo is still an under 17 but she
finished runner up in the womens discus with a throw of 42.56. Rachel
Dickens was third in the 200 metres in 24.35.
Oliver Newport took 5th place in the long jump with a
leap of 7.13.
Jessica Keene had also been competing the previous day
at the South East Schools Inter Counties Championships at Erith stadium
where she won the Intermediate Girls 3000 metres in 9.56.70. Further wins in
this age group came from Victoria Wiltshire in the hammer with a throw of
49.44; from Holly Mills in the long jump (6.03); and from Yasmin Austridge
in the 1500 steeplechase (5.07.91).
It was a high contest with runners up spots going to
Charmont Webster-Tape in the 100, Parris Johnson (200); Anastasia Davies (80
metre hurdles); and Toyin Orelaja (triple jump) while third places were
achieved by Kate Purser with a personal best in the 300 hurdles; Jamilya
Robinson Pascal (long jump) and Anna Barnett (discus).
For the boys Joss Barber was second in the 1500
steeplechase as was Dele Aladese in the discus.
Eloise Locke enjoyed a double victory in the Junior
Girls age group winning the shot in a new under 15s Club Record of 13.18 and
taking the javelin with a throw of 38.46. Eve Keith continued the throws
success as she won the discus with a distance of 35.03. Karina Harris was
third in the long jump.
Henry James Cowie moved up in distance to win the
Junior Boys 1500 metres in 4.16.65 while in the field James Lancaster was
second in the hammer with 50.56 and George Pope was third in the pole vault.
Many of these youngsters have been selected to
represent their various counties at the English Schools Championships at
Gateshead on the 10th and 11th of July. Those chosen so far include:
Junior Boys -Henry Cowie, Angus Harrington, Coleman Corry, James Lancaster,
Inter Boys - Joss Barber, Dele Aladese,
Senior Boys - William Fuller, Richard Webb, Shaun Cooke, Stefan Amokwandoh,
Scott Barker,
Junior Girls - Eloise Locke, Eve Keith,
Inter Girls - Magda Cienciala, Parris Johnson, Jessica Keene, Anastasia
Davies, Yasmin Austridge, Jamiyla Robinson-Pascal, Toyin Orelaja, Victoria
Wiltshire, Charmont Webster-Tape, Katy-Ann McDonald, Isabella Hilditch,
Divine Oladipo, Holly Mills,
Senior Girls - Vivien Olatunji, Jazz Crawford, Leah Everson, Kerri Davidson,
With so much taking place over the weekend it was
almost inevitable that the Club’s League teams would not be at full
strength. However, those not present at the Youth Development League, Lower
Age Group Southern Premier 1match at Reading missed one of the most exciting
matches in living memory. After over five hours of competition the Club won
by just half a point scoring 535.5 to Southampton’s 535 with the hosts a
mere six points behind.
Never has the mantra “every point is vital” been shown
to be so true and every youngster in every event may a crucial difference to
the team.
Fresh from their exploit’s the previous day the under
15 girls throwers continued their unbeatable form with Eloise Locke first in
the shot and javelin and Eve Keith taking the discus. They were joined by
Alexandre Kelsey who launched the hammer out to 37.14 for victory.
On the track Kelsi Cornish won the 800 and Karina
Harris the 300 and they joined Zoe Martial and Antonia Alapafuja in the
4x300 metres which they won in 3.00.3.
For the boys Angus Harrington continued to show his
great versatility by winning the 1500 and the javelin, the latter in a new
personal best of 40.96. James Lancaster won the discus and hammer and Nathan
Sureshkumar’s 31.34 to win the B discus would have won the A string had
James not been competing. Peter Guy was first in the 800 in 2.08.1.
In the under 13 girls events Jessica Neal dipped under
four minutes to win the 1200 metres in 3.59.7 and Akeiyla Robinson Pascal
was first in the high jump with a clearance of 1.43. The boys did not have
any A string wins but their talent, enthusiasm and team spirit did so much
to contribute to the overall success of the Club.
What this means is that with just one match remaining
the Club are almost certain to finish in the top two in the division and so
qualify automatically for the National Final in September. However, as they
head the table they will want to travel to Birmingham as Southern Champions.
It was not such a good result in the Southern
Athletics League match at Southampton where the Club finished last of the
four competing teams. This means that they are now in 13th place in the 16
team division after three of the five matches. The League placings are very
close, however, so there is plenty to play for in the remaining two
fixtures.
The best results came in the sprints with Duayne
Bovell and Grace Sheppard winning the mens and womens A string 100 metre
races. The only other winner was Christine Moore who cleared 3.30 in the
pole vault.
Two Club members were in action at the British Masters
5km road walk championships at Horwich, a race which this year included an
International competition. Shaun Lightman represented England and helped
them to victory over Ireland and Scotland. He timed 30.33 while over a
minute ahead was Roger Michell who timed 29.03.
Further Masters success came at last weeks Dartford
Open meeting where Tom Phillips broke his own Club over 60s record for the
100 metres with a time of 12.8. This moves him to top of the National
Rankings.
Down at Exeter Arena Chris Woodcock won the over 70s
South West Vets 1500 metre title for the third successive year.
Keen followers of the Sport who bought last weekends
Telegraph editions will have been disappointed to find zero coverage of the
European Team Championships. However, they were pleased to see vice
President Jane Bradshaw quoted in an article on buggy running. Jane is a
personal trainer specialising in post natal fitness and recommends running
as normally as possible with “hips held high and level and shoulders
relaxed” and “your feet should land normally underneath your body”. The Club
has running covered from the cradle to the grave.
16/06/15
Dina Asher Smith travels to Russia this weekend to
represent Great Britain at the European Team Championships at Cheboksary.
The Blackheath & Bromley athlete is selected to run the 200 metres on Sunday
and is also in the 4x100 metre squad on the Saturday.
After her performance at last weekends Diamond League
meeting in Birmingham, she is the fastest female 200 metre runner in Europe
with 22.30 just ahead of current European champion Dafne Schippers of the
Netherlands. With the meeting record standing at 22.71 there could be a
substantial revision.
John Blackie coaches Dina and another Club member Bill
Foster coaches Havering’s Lauren Deadman who is picked for the 3000 metres.
They are joined in the GB team by second claim member
Isobel Pooley who contests the high jump. It promises to be a very
competitive event and she warmed up for it by competing in the IAAF Diamond
League meeting in New York where she equalled her outdoor best this year
with a clearance of 1.91. At 22 she already has plenty of International
experience having won the silver medal at last years Commonwealth Games.
Fellow Commonwealth athlete Shaunagh Brown was the
Club’s most successful senior athlete at the South Of England track and
field Championships at Lee Valley. On Saturday she won the hammer with a
distance of 60.06 and she returned the following day to secure the shot
title with a throw of 14.64. She also won bronze in the discus with 48.44.
Silver medals were won by Kieran Daly in the 100
metres in a time of 10.66; Oliver Newport in the long jump (6.79); and Zara
Asante in the triple jump (12.49). Matt Blandford made a big improvement in
the discus to throw a new best of 53.08 for bronze.
More throws success came in the under 20 age group
where Louis Mascarenhas won both the shot and discus competitions with
distances of 15.46 and 54.80.
It was gold too for Stefan Amokwandoh in the triple
jump with a leap of 14.62; for Jack Messenger in the 400 hurdles in a
personal best of 55.15; and for Jazz Crawford in the 200 metres in 24.81
with runner up Kingston’s Nicole Kendall being coached by Club member
Richard Holt.
Jazz was also runner up in the 100 metres with 11.90
and it was silver also for Scott Barker in the 400 metres in 48.85. Leah
Everson was third in the 400 hurdles in 66.18.
The Kent Masters League is shaping up to be a very
close competition after the fourth match of the season. In the mens contest
the Club were beaten by just one point by Cambridge Harriers but the women
won by three points from Dartford.
This means that in the overall League table for the
season both teams are in second place. The men trail Cambridge Harriers by
two and a half League points. The women have the same League points as first
placed Dartford who have 11.5 more match points.
It was a particularly good evening for the Club’s 1500
metre runners as they won all the strings in the over 35s age group. Ritchie
Leccia and Gareth Evans took the honours in the mens race with times of
4.21.0 and 4.25.6 while in the womens contest Carole Penlington and Andrea
Pickup prevailed in 4.59.7 and 5.11.3. Tim Nash won the mens over 50s race
in 4.49.2.
Perhaps the most remarkable track performance of the
evening came, however, in the mens over 35s 2000 metre walk where Shaun
Lightman who is an over 70 beat all the younger opposition by over 20
seconds to win in 11.46.3.
Jackie Montgomery and Helen Godsell were similarly
dominant in the 200 metre races, Jackie winning the over 50s in 30.3 and
Helen the over 60s in 30.5. Jackie also won the over 50s pole vault in 2.50
with Anne Cilia equalling her best she set in 2005 in the over 35s event.
Steve Timmins was the Club’s other double winner on
the night as he threw 12.35 for the shot and 40.05 for the javelin in the
over 35s group. In the over 60s, javelin Colin Brand made a welcome return
to competition and, despite being an over 75, achieved second place.
Not only is Steve winning in the Kent Masters, he is
also a regular in the Club’s British League team and also coaches a number
of the Club’s youngsters in the javelin. The fruits of his efforts were seen
in the latest Kent Young Athletes League match at Norman Park where there
was a double first with the under 15 boys spear.
Angus Harrington won the A string event with a new
personal best of 39.18 while Pedro Gleadall was first in the B string with
33.82. The throws success continued with another double first in the discus
courtesy of James Lancaster (33.52) and Nathan Suresh Kumar (24.82).
Angus then joined Coleman Corry, Peter Guy and Vishnu
Dhir in the 4x300 metres team. They won by nearly 15 seconds in 2.41.8.
Outstanding throwing also took place in the girls age
group with Eloise Locke and Eve Keith achieving maximum points in the shot
and discus, all with National Grade One throws. Eloise won the A shot with
12.42 and Eve was first in the B with 11.43. They reversed strings in the
discus with Eve throwing 34.71 and Eloise 30.42.
There were maximum points also in the long jump from
Karina Harris (4.67) and Zoe Martial (4.10) and in the 100 metres from
Mhairi Brooks (13.0) and Gabrielle Dalsan (13.4).
Mhairi and Gabrielle were also in the 4x100 team with
Grace Fullerton and Sophia Harpur that won in 53.5 while Zoe and Karina
joined Antonia Alapafuja and Grace Scopes for victory in the 4x300 in
3.00.6.
Some outstanding middle distance running in the under
13s age groups saw maximum points in the boys 1500 and the girls 1200 metre
races. Rowan Fuss won the boys 1500 in 4.29.7 the fastest in the country
this year and a whisker off his own Club Record. Ellie Dolby was first in
the girls 1200 in a new best of 3.52.8 the second quickest in the UK this
year and just outside Naomi Kingston’s Club Record.
Morgan Squibb was first in the B string in 4.06.8 and
Sam Reardon not only won the boys 1500 B string (4.51.3), he was also first
in the 200 metres (29.1).
First in the A string 200 was Tareq Bannour in 26.5, a
National Grade One performance, as was his winning time of 12.5 in the 100
metres.
Michael Burfoot won the discus with 24.35, a new
personal best and a distance that puts him just outside the top 10 in the
country despite only having just joined the Club. Harry Cowie added to the
celebrations with a winning B string throw of 20.96.
The boys rounded off the afternoon with Rowan, Tareq,
and Sam joining Jacob Byfield in the 4x100 team that won in 55.8.
These performances and those of many others too
numerous to mention meant that the Club were first in the under15 boys and
girls and under 13 boys matches and 6th in the under 13 girls. They were the
best club overall on the day.
All these achievements were notable in themselves but
this was also the weekend of the County Schools Championships plus of course
it is the exam period.
At the Kent Schools at Ashford the Club‘s throwers
were again prominent. James Whiteaker was a class apart in the javelin as he
won the Intermediate Boys event with a distance of 67.38. There was also a
Championship Best Performance for Victoria Wiltshire in the hammer. The Mike
Davies coached athlete won with a throw of 50.16.
Further Intermediate victories were achieved by Anna
Barnett in the discus with 34.41; Jamilya Robinson Pascal (long jump 5.42);
Anastasia Davies (80 metre hurdles 11.91); Jessica Keene (1500 4.43.53) and
Joss Barber (1500 4.18.18).
In the Junior Girls age group, Eve Keith, who is
coached by Herbie Kuenstlinger, set a personal best in the discus as she
threw the furthest in the country this year with 35.90. Eloise Locke won the
javelin with 37.50 with Daisy Dowling second in 31.10. Eloise also won the
shot with 12.17.
Katie Woolcott won the 100 metres in 13.16 and more
track success came in the boys age group with a win for Ben Sutton in the
300 metres in 38.42; and Henry James Cowie in the 800 with 2.05.15. George
Pope won the pole vault with a personal best of 2.60. In the year 7
competition Jessica Neal won the 1500 in 5.18.25.
At the London Schools at Battersea Divine Oladipo won
both the Intermediate girls shot and discus titles with distances of 14.11
and 43.62. Isabella Hilditch was a double winner also in the 80 metre
hurdles (11.58) and 300 hurdles (44.20). Katy Ann McDonald was first in the
800 in 2.15.70.
In the Surreys at Kingston, Charmont Webster-Tape was
first in the Inter Girls 100 in 12.17 while in the Junior Boys 800 Angus
Harrington and Coleman Corry were first and second in the 800 in 2.05.09 and
2.06.29.
Off the track Peter Tucker won the Orpington High Elms
10km in a time of 38.11.7. Marco Arcuri in 4th in 40.26.0, Tony Crowder 6th
(40.35.2) and Andy Tucker 10th (42.28.4) all made the top 10 as the Club won
the team race.
After his victory in the Kent Masters League, Shaun
Lightman was back in action the following day in the Jack Fitzgerald 10.3km
at Tilgate Park in Crawley. He finished in 6th place in 1 hour 7 minutes and
51 seconds with David Hoben 8th in 1.15.14.
While all this success has been happening the Club has
also been mourning the death of one of its elder members Ron Chambers who
has died at the age of 80.
It is also saddened to hear of the death of multiple
world record holder Ron Clarke. Members spent two memorable evenings in the
company of the Australian distance great at the Clubhouse in the 1990s where
he recalled his career and conducted extensive question and answer sessions.
9/06/15
Three Blackheath & Bromley athletes broke Club records
in an astonishing half hour at the Sainsbury’s Birmingham Grand Prix at the
Alexander Stadium, one of the IAAF Diamond League meetings. The achievements
of Adam Gemili, Dina Asher Smith and Serita Solomon were not just notable
Club performances. They also shook up the UK all time list for their events.
Adam actually broke the Club 100 metre record twice in
one day. In the heats he improved his best to 10.00 so there was great
anticipation that he would time under 10 seconds in the final. This he
achieved dipping on the line to record 9.97 to finish in second place behind
America’s Marvin Bracey.
However, as he tumbled across the line Adam clutched
his hamstring and stayed sprawled on the track. He left on a stretcher but
was able to acknowledge the applause of the concerned and appreciative
spectators.
Adam’s performance means that he is the first Briton
ever to have run under 10 seconds for the 100 and sub 20 seconds for the 200
and he is still only 21. He is now 4th on the UK all time list for the 100
and 9th fastest in the world this year.
If he has worries about his hamstring injury he can be
encouraged by the progress of Dina Asher Smith since she pulled up with
injury at last years European Championships. The John Blackie coached
athlete broke the British record for the 100 metres two weeks ago and on
Sunday she moved to second on the UK all time list for the 200 metres.
After a lightning start and fine run round the bend
she held her form on the home straight against the challenge of Jeneba
Tarboh and Allyson Felix. In the closest finish of the day the three crossed
the line together with Dina given third in 22.30 just one hundredth behind
winner Tarboh and runner up Felix who were both given 22.29.
This improved Dina’s personal best by over three
tenths of a second and is the 7th quickest in the World this year. In the UK
only Kathy Cook has run quicker, 22.10 in 1984.
Just ten minutes later, in her first Diamond League
race, Serita Solomon, who like Dina is from Orpington, smashed through the
13 second barrier for the 100 metre hurdles for the first time. She recorded
12.87 which is inside the qualifying standard for the World Championships
which take place in Beijing, China in August. This moves her to 7th on the
UK all time list.
In the field second claim member Isobel Pooley was 4th
in the high jump with a clearance of 1.94.
Isobel and Dina have both been selected to represent
Great Britain in the European Team Championships in Cheboksary in Russia on
the 20th -21st June. Dina is picked for the 200 and is in the 4x100 squad
while Isobel goes in the high jump.
All this came the day after Dave Heath broke a World
Record. Competing at Toulouse in France he ran 4.02.33 for the 1500 metres
at the age of 50. This took nearly three seconds off the previous over 50s
world best of 4.05.3 which had stood since 1984 when Dave was a teenager.
While Adam, Dina, Serita and Isobel still have to gain
selection for Beijing, Dave already has his place booked as he has been
chosen to race in an invitation M50s 800 race which will be included in the
World Championships programme. Dave ran 1.59.62 just prior to turning 50,
his best ever is 1.50.01 set while representing the Club in the GRE Cup
Final in Sheffield in 1992. The current M50 World Best is 1.58.65.
Also in France at Argentan, Tremayne Gilling ran his
two fastest 100 metre times of the season stopping the clock at 10.51 and
10.58 in his two races. He finished in second place in both as did Chioma
Matthews in the triple jump with a leap of 13.02.
Elsewhere in Europe, Kieran Daly ran seasons bests in
the 100 and 200 at the Sprakassen meeting at Regensdorf in Germany. He timed
10.31 and 21.06. Jermaine Olasan leapt 7.25 in the long jump, two days after
reaching out to 7.41 at the Lies Prokop Memorial meeting at St Polten in
Austria.
More jumps success came in America last week as
Jahisha Thomas set a new personal best of 6.17 in the long jump at the NCAA
Championships DI West Preliminaries in Austin, Texas. Jonathan Ilori was a
good form in the triple jump with a leap of 15.47.
With athletes competing elsewhere, it was inevitable
that the Club were not able to field as strong teams as it would have hoped
in the latest rounds of the UK Womens League and the British Athletics
League.
The women travelled to Edinburgh for the first Premier
Division match of the season at the Meadowbank Stadium which hosted the 1970
Commonwealth Games. They finished in 6th place in a division that contains
the top 8 teams in the country. If the competition was challenging so was
the weather with a 50 mile an hour wind. It was not a day for wearing a kilt
and the conditions forced the cancellation of the pole vault contest as it
was considered too dangerous.
The best results for the Club came in the sprints
where Shannon Hylton and Jazz Crawford scored maximum points in the 200
metres winning in times of 23.18 and 24.55. Shannon had earlier finished 2nd
in the 100 metres in 11.47 with Vivien Olatunji second in the B string in
12.03. Cheriece Hylton and Rachel Dickens finished third in their respective
400 metre strings in 55.07 and 57.68, and then Shannon, Cheriece, Vivien and
Jazz teamed up to win the 4x100 metres.
It was third too for Carolyn Plateau in the 1500
metres in 4.38.23. Second in the B string was Niamh Bridson Hubbard in
4.42.39 and she was 6th in the A string 800. She was not the only middle
distance runner to double up with over 50s athlete Clare Elms in action in
the 800 and 3000 and Charlotte Rhule in the 3000 and 2000 metres
steeplechase.
Natalie Jones and Leah Everson were similarly busy
competing in both hurdles events and Natalie also threw the javelin. They
were both in the 4x400 metre relay team along with Cheriece Hylton and
Rachel Dickens who finished 7th.
Biggest points scorer for the Club in the field was
Shaunagh Brown who was third in the discus and 4th in both the shot and
Hammer. Sam Milner did the B strings of these events, her best performance
being second in the discus with 44.32.
Zara Asante took third place in the triple jump with a
leap of 12.60 and she was also 6th in the long jump with 5.03. Robyn Pettet
was 5th in the high jump and also helped out in the triple jump. Sonia
Woolhouse who had come to contest the vault kept herself busy by scoring
points in the long jump and javelin.
After a fourth place in their opening match in May the
men finished in 6th in their second BAL Division One fixture at Southampton.
It was a difficult match since they did not have a single jumper available
due to athletes either being abroad, injured or doing exams. They were also
light in the throws and only had one sprinter. What they did have was some
very talented and committed athletes who made sure that every event was
covered.
So 6th was not a bad result in the circumstances and a
breakdown of the results showed Blackheath & Bromley to be the strongest
track team on the day but the weakest in the field.
Best event of the day for the Club was the 5000 metres
where Graham Rush took the lead half way through the race and just ran away
form the field to win in 14.35.43. Alex Bruce Littlewood took maximum points
in the B string and finished ahead of all the other clubs A string runners
in a time of 14.43.02. It was only half hour after he had won the B string
1500 metres in 3.56.55 with Phil Sesemann second in the A string in 3.55.32.
Between these two races James Alaka won the 200 metres
in 22.26 to add to the second place he had achieved in the 100 metres
earlier in the day.
Busiest man of the day, however, was Luke Smallwood.
He was first to arrive at the venue bringing the Club tent but he didn’t
have much time to use it as he soon sprang into action to contest the long
jump. Then he was onto the track to finish third in a very strong 400
hurdles in 53.41. He went on to win the 400 B string inn 48.71 and take 4th
in both the 100 and 200 B strings as well as being in both relay teams. He
would have done more but athletes are limited to competing in seven events.
He wasn’t the only one to do more than their usual
share of events. Tom Parker finished his exams at Cambridge University the
day before but was up at the crack of dawn to head to Southampton for the
first event at 11.30, the hammer. He was third in the A string with 54.16
and was then happy to contest the remaining throws for a point and also the
triple jump. However, as so often happens, he did better than expected as he
was 6th in the B string triple jump and discus and 7th in the shot.
Likewise, the aforementioned Phil Sesemann scored
important points in the long jump, triple jump and pole vault; Jack
Messenger, whose main event was the 400 hurdles also competed in the 110
hurdles, high jump and both relays; and Alex Pope was in action in the high
jump, pole vault, shot, discus and javelin.
Junior Will Fuller set a new best of 1.55.85 in the A
string 800 and Dan Kennedy’s 2.01.63 in the B string was his fastest for
three years. Elsewhere on the track Richard Webb and Alex Gibbins scored
good points in the 3000 metres steeplechase; as did Shaun Cooke in the 400
and Kertis Beswick on his League debut in the 110 hurdles.
A hand injury meant Steve Timmins could only compete
in the Hammer but he gained an important second place in the B string.
The result means that after two of the four matches
the Club are in 5th place in the table. The next match will take place at
home at Norman Park on Saturday the 11th of July, where there will be a BBQ
and beer tent.
It has been a busy but successful few days for the
Club’s walkers. The VAC 5 mile walk at Battersea Park was a Championship
race and Shaun Lightman won gold in the over 70s race in 50.26. He was 9th
overall with David Hoben 13th in 56.45.
Shaun was back in action the next day in the B&B 3000
track walk championships at Norman Park. He won the Club Championship in
18.07. David Hoben was next in 20.42.1 with Nolan Simmons third in 23.32.5.
Next up was the Moulton 5 mile race where Shaun was
19th in 49.55 and David was 37th in 56.24.
Somehow David also managed to win the over 60s 3000
metres at the Surrey and Sussex Masters Championships at Ewell in 20.30.9.
Barbara Terry won the over 65s shot, discus, javelin and heavy weight
contests while Jackie Montgomery was second in the over 50s 200.
After all the weekend excitement the Club hosted the
second of its Open Graded Meetings at Norman Park track. As the meeting also
incorporated some Club Championship events there were a wide range of age
groups represented from under 13s to over 60s. In fact in the over 60s there
was even a Club Record in the 100 metres. It wasn’t quite as quick as Adam
Gemili but Tom Phillips improved his existing record to 13.03 as he edges
ever closer to breaking the 13 second barrier.
2/06/15
Another week, another two Senior Club Records at
Blackheath & Bromley. After Dina Asher Smith set a British record over the
100 metres last week and Lorraine Ugen moved to third on the long jump all
time list the week before, it was the turn of Adam Gemili and Serita Solomon
to take centre stage.
Serita was in action in the Salzburger Leichtathletik
Gala in Austria where she improved her best over the 100 metre hurdles to
13.04.
Adam was at Bedford for the stadiums annual
International Games and he took full advantage of a +3.7 per metre second
wind to run under 10 seconds for the first time finishing in 9.97. The
breeze was above the legal limit for record purposes but is the fastest wind
assisted 100 metre time by a Club member. In his first race of the day he
ran a legal 10.12.
It was a good day for the Club’s sprinters with Kieran
Daly timing 10.42 after injury; Tremayne Gilling 10.62; Duayne Bovell 10.79
and Cameron Starr 10.81. In the 200 metres Kieran Daly and James Alaka timed
21.12 and 21.32 and Shannon Hylton won her race in 23.01. Twin sister
Cheriece ran 54.31 in the 400 metres while Rachel Dickens clocked 55.22. In
the mens 400s Shaun Cooke timed 49.38 and Matthew Jones 52.56.
Molly Scott timed 13.83 and 14.12 in her 100 metre
hurdles races.
In the field events, new second claimer Isobel Pooley
won the high jump with a clearance of 1.91 and it was first also for Chioma
Matthews in the triple jump with a leap of 13.39. Shaunagh Brown was second
in the hammer with 62.17 and third in the discus with 47.48. Louis
Mascarenhas threw 52.95 in the mens contest although he was throwing the
junior implement.
Lorraine Ugen finished in third place in the long jump
at the Diamond League meeting at Eugene, Oregon in the United States. She
jumped a wind assisted 6.89 for third placed and also leapt a below the
legal limit 6.81.
Fellow jumper Jermaine Olasan stretched out to 7.02 in
the Athletisma meeting at Namur in Belgium.
Phil Sesemann made a big improvement over the 1500
metres at the British Milers Club event at Sports City, Manchester. He
dipped under 3.50 for the first time as he clocked 3.48.68.
The Club finished third in their second Southern
Athletics League match of the season at Chelmsford. Highlight on the mens
side was a new over 40s Club record from Steve Timmins in the Hammer. The
previous best of 40.68 had stood to Chris Ellis since 1987 so Steve’s throw
of 45.18 was a mighty improvement. This was the only victory in the mens
events all afternoon, A or B string.
The women got off to the best possible start on the
track with a double victory in the 400 hurdles for Becky McLinden and Leah
Everson. Jessica Keene won the 3000 metres in 10.21.2 with Kelsey Fuss
making it maximum points in the B string. The other A string win came from
Anastasia Davies in the 100 metre hurdles in 15.2.
Highlight in the field was a personal best throw of
45.63 by Divine Oladipo in the discus less than half a metre off Shaunagh
Brown’s Club Record for an under 17. It is the furthest in the country this
year by an under 17. Christine Moore won the pole vault with a clearance of
3.30.
The Club’s youngsters won their second Southern
Premier Division One fixture of the UK Youth Development League, Lower Age
Group at their home match at Norman Park. They reversed positions with
Southampton , who won the opening fixture, and with a superior points score
they head the table with both clubs on 11 League points.
Under 15 boys 800 metre Club record holder Henry James
Cowie did not compete in his number one event. Instead he won three other A
strings. He equalled his personal best of 12.2 in the 80 metre hurdles to
win in the same time as the runner up. He also took the 300 metres in 38.8
and the high jump with a clearance of 1.60. He wasn’t needed in the 800
because of the quality of the Club’s middle distance runners. Angus
Harrington won in a national grade one time of 2.04.7 and Peter Guy’s 2.07.0
would have won the A string had Angus not been competing. All three rounded
off the afternoon in the 4x300 metres with Thomas Mills which they won by
some distance in 2.42.1.
The under 15 girls team of Antonia Alapafuja, Zoe
Marshall, Karina Harris and Grace Scopes won their 4x300 in 3.02.0 and
further track success came from Katie Woolcott with a grade one 12.6 victory
in the 100 metres and a 2.22.8 clocking for Kelsi Cornish in the 800.
Some fine throwing saw Eloise Locke and Eve Keith win
both strings of the shot with grade ones of 12.55 and 11.30 respectively.
Eve set a personal best of 35.61and Eloise was runner up in the javelin with
a grade one of 33.96.
Tareq Bannour continues to impress in the under 13s
age group with wins in the 100 and 200 in times of 12.9 and a personal best
of 26.0, the third fastest in the country this year. Middle distance success
came courtesy of Rowan Fuss who won the 1500 in 4.32.1, having taken part in
the Bromley park run in the morning. This is the fastest time in the country
this year. Ellie Dolby moved to 7th in the National rankings as she won the
800 in 2.26.1; and Jessica Neal took the 1200 in 4.03.7.
Highlight in the field came in the girls high jump
where Akeiyla Robinson Pascal cleared 1.44.
The success wasn’t just on the track and in the field
as with good weather and a bumper crowd, including at least one local
councillor, there were healthy sales of refreshments. A sale of second hand
kit raised more valuable cash to support the Club’s under 20 womens team who
represent the UK in the European Champions Club Cup in Istanbul in September
and the under 13s and 15s National Final expenses. On the basis of Saturdays
result they are on course to be one of the two Southern qualifiers.
As well as equalling the Club 800 metre record Henry
James Cowie has also recently broken the Under 15 boys pentathlon record at
the London and Kent Schools Combined Events Championships at Lee Valley.
Wayne Gray’s record has stood for 20 years but Henry exceeded this by over
100 points to score 2993.
He won four of the five individual events, the 800 in
2.03.8; 80 metre hurdles 12.2; long jump 5.25 and the shot 13.45. He was
second in the high jump with 1.65 just two centimetres off his best. Wayne
Gray went on to become a professional footballer as did sprinter and
sometime cross country runner Kieran Richardson who played in the FA Cup
Final this weekend for Aston Villa.
It has been a busy couple of weeks for Henry as he
also ran in the Westminster Mile races over the Bank Holiday weekend
finishing 7th in the under 15 boys race. Niamh Bridson Hubbard was 2nd in
the under 20 womens race in 5.03 with Tom Desborough 7th in the mens race in
5.06. Naomi Kingston was 4th in the under 15 girls race in 5.17. Holder of
five senior Club Records Shireen Bailey was runner up in the Olympians race
only beaten by Steve Cram. She timed 6.03.
On this form Shireen would no doubt be picking up
medals in Masters competitions in the over 55s age group. As it was, those
Club members who competed in the Southern Counties VAC Championships at
Ashford all came home with at least one gold medal. Most decorated were
Barbara Terry and Jackie Montgomery who won three gold medals each. Barbara
was first in the shot, discus and hammer in the over 65s age group with
distances of 7.00, 18.27 and 22.83. Jackie won the over 50s pole vault with
a clearance of 2.40; took the long jump with 4.12; and the 200 in 32.14.
Tom Phillips and Helen Godsell both won sprint doubles
in the over 60s age group. Tom won the 100 in 13.10 and then added the 200
title in 27.45. Helen won the womens titles in 14.65 and 31.18.
All four were back in action on Monday night for the
latest fixture of the Kent Masters League at Canterbury where both mens and
womens teams finished in second place and are second overall in the League
for the season.
Helen Godsell and Barbara Terry scored maximum points
for the women in the over 60s age group. Helen won the 100 in 15.1 and
Barbara the discus with 19.52, nearly nine metres further than the runner
up.
Wins for the men came from Tom Phillips in the over 60
100 metres in 13.4 and from Tim Nash in the over 50s 800 metres in 2.26.7.
Masters team manager John Turner was in action himself
over the weekend but not on the track. He timed 4.06.18 in the Kent
Roadrunner Marathon at Gravesend to finish in 153rd place. Alexis Tobin was
first home for the Club in 110th (3.53.50) with Pete Rogers 269th (4.47.16).
Race Walker David Hoben has been competing over an
even longer distance. He was in action in the Dutch 50km race at Weert where
he was 7th in 7 hours one minute and 15 seconds.
Following her British record last weekend, Dina Asher
Smith will compete at the Sainsburys Birmingham Grand Prix this weekend over
the 200 metres. She faces a top class field which includes Allyson Felix and
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who between them hold 14 world sprint titles.
Competing in the Midlands will mean Dina misses the
Club’s opening Premier Division fixture of the UK Womens League at
Edinburgh. With the top eight Clubs in the country going head to head it
will be a tough match for the Kent Club but their preparations had been
facing severe disruption. Having spent a considerable amount of money on
train fares there was a proposed strike by the Rail Maritime and Transport
Union which meant they might have been forced to make alternative travel
arrangements at the last minute. Thankfully the strike has now been called
off.
The men travel to Southampton for the second British
Athletics League Division One of the season. They will be looking to build
on the solid fourth place achieved in the first match but again they will
face strong opposition against some of the best teams in the country.
With all this travel they will need something to pass
the time and what better than the latest edition of Athletics Weekley which
features a report of Dina’s British record together with an interview with
her and coach John Blackie; plus an interview with the remarkable Dave Heath
who is set to break British and World Masters over 50s age group records 13
years after suffering a heart attack following a blood infection.
26/05/15
Dina Asher Smith is now the fastest ever British
female 100 metre runner. The 19 year old Blackheath & Bromley athlete timed
11.02 at the IAAF World Challenge meeting at the FBK Games at Hengelo in the
Netherlands to take three hundredths of a second off Clubmate Montell
Douglas record that had stood since 2008.
She actually finished in second place in the race,
defeated by European Champion Dafne Schippers who Dina beat over 150 metres
at the Great City Games in Manchester two weeks ago. Schippers set a Dutch
record of 10.94 to win the race but after leading at half way Dina still
closed in just eight hundredths of a second behind. This meant she improved
her previous best of 11.14 by over a tenth of a second in her first race
over the distance this season.
For most athletes it takes ten years to become an
overnight sensation and the same is true of Dina who started her Athletics
career at the Bees Academy at Norman Park with coach John Blackie.
Since then she has been English Schools champion at
200 metres at Junior, Intermediate and Senior level.
She has been England champion at the 100 and 200
metres in the under 15, under 17 and under 20 age groups. She is the current
World Junior Champion at the 100 metres and European Indoor 60 metre silver
medallist and was a member of the Great Britain 4x100 metre relay team who
won bronze medals at World Championships in 2013.
The Kings College undergraduate was thrilled with her
time and somewhat surprised as she felt her start could have been better and
also thought she tightened up at the end.
Prior to Montell Douglas performance in 2008 the
British record had stood to Kathy Cook since 1981. So in the last 34 years
the only athletes to have run quicker have both been from the same Club.
The result is all the more impressive as it has been
recorded in May with the season only just begun. Her achievement is
receiving great attention with former World 100 metre record holder Maurice
Greene visiting her at her training base at Norman Park to record an
interview for Eurosport.
Clubmate Adam Gemili was also in action at Hengelo
competing in his first race since last August. The European 200 metre
champion finished in third place in the 100 metres in a time of 10.19. This
is actually his fastest ever start to a season.
Like Dina his main target for the season is the World
Championships which do not take place until August and after this the 2016
Olympics.
Scott Overall also has the Olympics in his sights.
After finishing first Briton at the Virgin London Marathon, he returned to
racing and finished in 5th place in the BUPA London 10000 metres in a time
of 29.18. Alex Bruce Littlewood was 23rd in 30.30, Phil Sesemann 29th
(30.53) and Peter Tucker 79th (33.05) two places behind European womens
10,000 metre champion Jo Pavey who made a late decision to race after being
ill the night before.
Peter had not been unwell but he had also been
competing at the weekend in the Kent Championships at Ashford where he was
4th in the 5000 metres.
It proved to be a highly successful couple of days for
the Club’s athletes as they won 30 gold medals, 25 silvers and 22 bronze and
set two Championship Best Performances, both in the Hammer.
One of these was in the Senior Womens event where
Shaunagh Brown threw 61.36. She also added the shot and discus titles with
distances of 14.91 and 46.19, thus collecting a tenth of the Club’s gold
medals.
The sprint success at Hengelo was mirrored at Ashford
with Duayne Bovell winning both the Senior Mens 100 and 200 metre titles in
10.86 and 23.04; and Grace Sheppard annexing the short sprint crown which
means she has won three times in the last four years.
Last year the Club’s athletes only won one gold in the
Senior age group so with Danielle Critchley taking the 800 metre title in
2.18.54; Becky McLinden the 400 metres hurdles (65.28); and Christina Moore
the pole vault (3.30), this was a marked improvement on 12 months ago.
Next seasons Seniors also had a good weekend with
Louis Mascarenhas first in both the shot and discus with throws of 15.20 and
53.04. On the track Will Fuller took the 1500 metre title in a time of
3.55.91; Leah Everson the 400 hurdles in 66.55; and Jazz Crawford the 100
metres in 12.30.
The second Championship Best came in the womens under
17 hammer where Victoria Wiltshire threw a distance of 46.48 for victory.
More throws success came with James Whiteaker first in the javelin with
66.11 and Carys Marsden heading the discus field recording a distance of
32.86.
Isabella Hilditch won both the short and long hurdles
races. She timed 11.86 in the 80 metre hurdles and 45.00 in the 300 hurdles
while in the even longer hurdles, the 1500 steeplechase, Joss Barber
prevailed in a very useful time of 4.36.88.
Jamilya Robinson Pascal won the long jump with a leap
of 5.09 and two Club members were involved in the closest event of the day,
the triple jump. Both Toyin Orelaja and Anastasia Davies leapt 11.16 but
Toyin took gold as she had a superior second longest leap.
Eloise Locke was a double winner in the under 15s age
group taking both the shot and javelin titles with throws of 12.64 and
37.82. She was also second in the discus but her 30.87 was beaten by Eve
Keith who won with a distance of 34.20.
Elsewhere in the field George Pope won the pole vault
with a clearance of 2.60 and Karina Harris the long jump with a leap of
5.05.
On the track Angus Harrington took the 800 metre title
in 2.07.28 and he was also second in the 1500. Millie Smith went one better
for the girls winning in 4.48.73 and more sprint success came from Katie
Woolcott who secured the 100 metre title with a time of 12.94.
Tom Parker would normally have contested the Kents but
being at Cambridge University it was more convenient to attend the
Cambridgeshire Championships. He won the hammer with a throw of 57.57.
At the Surreys at Kingsmeadow, Cameron Starr won the
under 20 mens 100 in 10.79 with Charmont Webster Tape first in the under 17
womens event in 12.13. Emily Martin won the senior long jump title in 5.67
and there was double jumps success for Kerri Davidson who was first in both
the under 20 womens long and triple jump contests with distances of 5.42 and
12.21. Shaye Emmett took the under 17 womens pole vault title with a
clearance of 3.60.
Laura Graham won the under 17 womens javelin at the
Suffolk Championships with a throw of 34.78.
Shaun Lightman did not win gold at the Middlesex
Championships at Lee Valley but despite being in his 70s he did still finish
in third place in the 3000 metres walk in 17.47.75.
The previous Monday the Club hosted it’s first Open
Meeting of the season at Norman Park and the most notable performance of the
evening came from Henry James Cowie. He front ran the 800 metres to win and
equal Jonathan Murray’s under 15 Club record of 1.59.27 which has stood
since 1988.
On a weekend of such success, one of the Club’s oldest
members featured prominently on the BBC programme “Britain’s Greatest
Generation” which highlights the courage of servicemen and women during the
Second World War. Life Member Fergus Anckorn is now 96 years of age but
having survived nearly four years as a Prisoner of War of the Japanese it is
a wonder he lived this long.
When he was finally released he weighed only five
stone and at times had had to eat dogs, cats, snakes, rats and insects to
stay alive. He survived the mass killing of doctors, nurses and patients at
a hospital; was bombed, shot, and covered in creosote by a Japanese guard.
Any athlete feeling some pain while training might
like to consider that it could be a lot worse.
19/05/15
Lorraine Ugen celebrated her graduation from Texas
University by moving up to third on the UK all time list for the long jump.
The Blackheath & Bromley athlete leapt 6.92 at the Diamond League meeting at
Doha in Qatar.
As well as being a new personal best it also improves
her own Club Record and is further than the wind assisted record of former
Commonwealth champion Joyce Oladapo.
She wasn’t the only athlete to be in Club record
breaking form this weekend. At the Loughborough International, Serita
Solomon won the 100 metre hurdles representing England. In doing so she
improved her own Club record to 13.05.
A number of Club members were selected for various
representative teams and enjoyed considerable success. Chioma Matthews
(England) won the womens triple jump with a new personal best of 13.53 and
is now just 11 centimetres off Rachel Kirby’s 21 year old Club Record. Zara
Asante (Scotland) was 4th with a leap of 12.83 and Kerri Davidson (Great
Britain Juniors) was 7th in 12.11.
Shannon Hylton (GB Juniors) was second in the 100
metres in 11.48 but was not selected in the 200. She was allowed to run as a
guest and she duly beat the whole field to win in 22.94 a new personal best.
The wind was bang on the legal limit of +2.0 m/s. Sister Cheriece was not so
lucky with the wind speed as her impressive 23.15 was back up with a +2.9
m/s tail wind.
Both were also involved in the relays. Shannon was in
the GB Junior 4x100 metre team that won in 44.49. Cheriece was in the
winning GB Junior 4x400 team which finished ahead of the field in 3.37.24.
Richard Webb made his International debut for the GB
Junior team in the 3000 metre steeplechase. He rose to the occasion taking
over nine seconds off his best as he finished 7th in 9.26.42. It was 7th too
for Stefan Amokwandoh who guested in the triple jump. He leapt 14.71.
The Club were well represented in the guest sprint
races. In the 100s Serita Solomon timed 11.89, James Alaka 10.72 and Dean
Hylton 10.81. James and Dean also ran in the 200s clocking 21.70 and 21.79
while Femi Owolade was even faster with 21.67 and Oweka Wanogho clocked
22.32.
With a number of Juniors competing at Loughborough, it
was inevitable that the Club were not able to field their strongest team the
day before in the Premier Division 1 of the Upper Age Group of the UK Youth
Development League at Lee Valley. They finished in second place again to
Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow and are in second place after two of the
four matches.
There were plenty of individual winners in the under
20 age group with Louis Mascarenhas winning both the mens shot and discus
contests in personal bests of 15.77 and 56.71. Holly Mills had another
excellent day beating Windsor’s World Junior Heptathlon Champion Morgan Lake
in the long jump with a leap of 6.16.
More field success came with Helena Coleman first in
the pole vault with a clearance of 3.35 and maximum points in the high jump
from Tabitha Lisciotto and Robyn Pettit who both cleared 1.60.
Not a point was dropped in the womens sprints. Vivien
Olatunji and Jazz Crawford won both 100s and Jazz then returned to win the A
200 with Magda Cienciala first in the B string. Jazz and Vivien were then
joined by Jamilya Robinson Pascal and Charmont Webster Tape for victory in
the 4x100.
Scott Barker won the mens 400 in a new personal best
of 48.60 while Niam Bridson Hubbard took the honours in the womens 1500 in
4.42.38.
The sprints success continued in the under17s age
group and the women again achieved maximum points in the 100 and 200.
Charmont Webster Tape took the A string 100 with Parris Johnson first in the
B race. Parris then won the A 200 with Olivia Richer winning the B string.
Marco Arcuri was first in the mens 3000 and there was
a win also for the mens 4x400 quartet of Aleksander Wiltshire, William Pope,
Matthew Knight and Edward Adams.
Highlight of the day, however, came in the field where
on her debut for the Club, Shaye Emmett broke the pole vault record by 30
centimetres with a clearance of 3.70. James Whiteaker easily won the javelin
with a massive throw of 68.94, the furthest in the country this year by
seven metres.
The throws success continued with Victoria Wiltshire
winning the hammer (48.58); Anna Barnett the discus (31.11); and Divine
Oladipo the shot (14.32). Although an under 17 Divine was also runner up in
the under 20s discus with a personal best of 43.87.
Elsewhere Tom Parker threw 57.26 for the hammer while
representing Cambridge University in the Varsity match against Oxford.
The Club had another successful day in the second Kent
Young Athletes League match of the season at Medway Park. The youngsters won
three of the four age groups to give themselves the biggest overall points
score of the day.
In the under 15s age group the throws proved big
points events for the team. James Lancaster won the boys hammer with a grade
one distance of 53.18 and he was also first in the discus with 32.28 and the
B string shot. Henry James Cowie took the day off from middle distance
duties but he still won the shot with 11.20 and the high jump with a
clearance of 1.60 as well as placing second in the 80 metre hurdles. Also on
the track Angus Harrington and Coleman Corry won both strings of the 800
metres in times of 2.10.18 and 2.14.07. Had Angus not been in the A string
Coleman’s time would have been sufficient for victory. The two then joined
Henry and Vishnu Dhir for victory in the 4x300 metres.
Eve Keith won both the shot and dis cus contests in
National Grade One standards of 10.72 and 34.15. Katie Woolcott dominated
the 100 metres winning by over half a second in 12.52. Mhairi Brooks took
the honours in the 200 in 25.98 with Antonia Alapafuja securing maximum
points in the B string. It was maximum points also in the 200 walk with
victories for Lily Tappenden and Alice Prentice.
There were wins for both relay teams with the 4x100
quartet of Mhairi, Katie, Sophia Harpur and Gabrielle Dalsan winning in
52.61; and Lily, Antonia, Karina Harris and Zoe Martial first over the line
in the 4x300 metres in 3.03.82, nearly six seconds ahead of the runners up.
Among the 17 personal bests in the under 13 boys age
group, Tareq Bannour achieved grade ones in both the 100 and 200 metre races
with 12.52 and 26.05. These are the second and third fastest times in the
country this year. Rowan Fuss and Samuel Reardon achieved maximum points in
the 800 with 2.22.46 and 2.27.87 and Samuel then joined Tareq, Archie
Shipley and Jacob Byfield in the 4x100 team who won by over 1.5 seconds in
55.01.
The Kent Masters League is delicately balanced after
the second round match at Sutcliffe Park. Having won their opening matches,
both the men and women finished in third place which means they are both one
of three teams on 10 League points.
This means current positions are determined by match
points which leaves the men second behind Cambridge Harriers and the women
second to Dartford Harriers.
Highlight in the mens match was the maximum points
achieved in the 1500 metres over all three age groups. Ritchie Leccia and
Gareth Evans won both strings in the over 35s age group with Tim Nash and
Andy Lawes first in the single string over 50s and over 60s events. The
other winner was Steve Timmins in the shot with a distance of 12.03.
Helen Godsell moved down an age group to win the over
50s 200 metres in 31.2 and she was also part of the winning over 35s 4x100
metres team along with Charlotte Stickings, Jenny Neal and Jackie
Montgomery. Charlotte also won the over 35s 200 metres.
12/05/15
Dina Asher Smith showed outstanding early season form
at the BT Great City Games in Manchester as she defeated European 100 and
200 metre champion Dafne Schippers over 150 metres. A lightning start saw
the Blackheath & Bromley athlete away from the field and she timed 16.82 to
hold off Schippers who tried to close the gap but had to settle for second
in16.95.
Dina then took part in a 2x100 metre relay race with
each duo being made up of one male an one female athlete. Teamed up with
Chijundu Ujah, they won in 20.30.
Serita Solomon was in action in the 100 metre hurdles.
Lining up, against Jessica Ennis Hill amongst others, she finished in 4th
place in 13.33. The European indoor bronze medallist was not that pleased
with her time but she had received a late invitation to compete and had
already trained hard earlier in the week.
Her mother Michelle Bovell was following with great
interest on television at Eton where the Club’s senior mens team finished in
a solid 4th place in the opening British Athletics League Division One
match.
This is an extremely competitive division with many
Internationals in action. As a consequence there were no individual A string
winners from the Club although there were plenty of top three placings.
Five of these were achieved by under 20s led by Louis
Mascarenhas who was 3rd in both the discus and shot with distances of 47.55
and 14.28, the latter a new personal best. Stefan Amokwandoh had his first
competition after injury and finished in second place in the triple jump
with 14.48. Will Fuller was third in the 3000 metres in 8.31.6 as was
Richard Webb in the 3000 steeplechase in 9.57.86 picking up the Club
steeplechase challenge goblet in the process.
Dan Putnam opened his season with a 48.01 clocking to
place second in the 400 metres but a toe problem after this restricted him
to a leg in the 4x100. Phil Sesemann missed the whole of the 2014 season
with injury but he made a welcome return to the team finishing second in the
1500 metres out kicking Great Britain international Gareth Warburton of
Cardiff who was third. Alex Bruce Littlewood secured maximum points in this
race as well as in the 3000 metres.
In the field Tom Parker travelled down from Cambridge
University to finish second in the hammer with 54.33 and also made a
surprise appearance in the non scoring 100 where he was trying to get a
place in Cambridge relay team for the Varsity match. He timed 11.96.
Mark Longhurst was down on his best in the pole vault
as he cleared 4.20 for third place but he also picked up some important
points by covering the javelin and long jump events as well.
Similarly Phil Sesemann also took part in the triple
jump and Dan Kennedy came 2nd in the B string steeplechase almost
immediately after running the 800. B string 800 runner Peter Tucker was
racing considerably below distance as two weeks ago he was the Club’s second
finisher in the London Marathon in 2.24.00
Highest points scorer for the Club was James Alaka. He
also missed the whole of the 2014 season and is now on his way back to
fitness. He was fourth in both the 100 and 200 and was also in action in
both relays. In the 4x100 metres he teamed up with B string 100 and 200
runner Duayne Bovell, and 400 metre runners Dan Putnam and Shaun Cooke to
finish in 4th place in 41.78
He then joined Sam Cartwright, Jack Messenger and Mark
Cryer in the 4x400 metre quartet who placed 3rd in 3.20.44.
Both Mark and Jack had earlier set personal bests in
the 110 hurdles of 15.24 and 16.35 respectively. Jon Pairman equalled his
best of 3 metres in the pole vault.
The ever dependable Alex Pope picked up a lot of
points in the B string throws and Richard Holt was another to make a welcome
return to the first team, competing in the 400 hurdles at the age of 43.
Dave Heath is six years older than Richard and will
shortly turn 50 but his recent performances have been quite startling. His
latest race was over 800 metres where competing at St Junien in France he
timed 1.59.61.
In the United States at the Louisville Twilight
meeting , Oliver Newport won the long jump with a leap of 7.31.
Closer to home at the BMC PB Classic at Corby, Niamh
Bridson Hudson set a new personal best of 4.31.0 for the 1500 metres.
Further bests came from Millie Smith (4.51.5) and Kelsi Cornish (4.54.1)
while Grace Scopes timed 2.26.1 for 800 and Will Ruiz 9.32.0 for the 3000.
On the roads Graham Rush finished in 19th place in the
Morrisons Great Manchester 10km in a time of 30.26. Fresh from his 800
metres in Eton, Peter Tucker finished in second place in the Larkfield 10km
which incorporated the Kent Championships. He timed 33.09 with Chris Tuck
21st in 36.46, Mike Simms 113th (43.15) and Chris Randall 168th (46.01).
Steve Cooper was 13th in the Colchester 10km in 37.49.
The Clubs youngsters also had a successful day in the
latest Kent League fixture at Medway Park. Full results are not yet
available so a report will appear next week.
This weekend is the Loughborough International and a
number of Club members have already been selected to compete. The Great
Britain under 20s team includes Richard Webb in the 3000 steeplechase,
Shannon Hylton in the 100 and 4x100; and Cheriece Hylton in the 4x400.
Montell Douglas lines up for England in the 100
metres; Serita Solomon in the 100 hurdles and Chioma Matthews in the triple
jump.
5/05/15
It has been a busy Bank Holiday for Blackheath &
Bromley kicking off with the Kent Masters League at Norman Park on Friday,
the youngsters in action at Southampton on Saturday; the whole Club coming
together at the Bromley track for the Ted Pepper Memorial race on Monday;
and throughout the three days the British Universities Championships being
contested at Bedford.
Three Club members won gold medals at the BUCS. Kieran
Daly (Middlesex) started his season on the right note by winning the 100
metres in 10.50. In the field Zara Asante (Brunel) took the triple jump
title with a leap 12.68 into a minus 1.2 metre per second headwind. Samantha
Milner (Loughborough) claimed the discus title with a throw of 46.41 and she
was also 10th in the shot.
Graham Rush and Phil Sesemann set seasons bests of
14.51.62 and 14.52.44 in finishing first and third in their heat of the 5000
metres and they were 6th and 9th respectively in a tactical final. Other
finalists included Robyn Pettit 6th in the high jump; Rachel Dickens 8th in
the 400, Matt Blandford 9th in the discus and 11th in the javelin; and Tom
Parker 7th in the hammer with a new best of 58.23.
There was a personal best also for Sam Cartwright who
ran 50.60 in heat of the 400 while Matthew Jones produced a promising 49.5
split in the 4x400 for Bath.
Some of the Club’s university athletes were not in
attendance as they are studying in the United States. However, they were
still competing over the weekend. At the Tom Botts Invitational at Columbia
Jonathan Ilori leapt 15.75 in the triple jump. Oliver Newport had to settle
for 6.71 for the long jump at the UT Challenge in Knozville while at the
Musco Invitational Jahisha Thomas posted a distance of 5.95. Lorraine Ugen
was in action at the Horned Frog Invitational in Fortworth but instead of
long jumping she toed the line in the 100 metres setting a new personal best
of 11.42.
Meanwhile the seniors of the future travelled to
Southampton for the opening round of the Premier Division of the UK
Development League for the lower age groups. They finished in second place a
good result against the strongest under 15 and under 13 teams in the South
Of England.
James Lancaster had a highly successful afternoon in
the under 15s age group winning the hammer with a new best of 54.43 the
furthest in the country this year. He also won the shot and discus and Angus
Harrington made it a clean sweep of throws victories by winning the javelin.
Henry James Cowie showed his versatility by not only
winning the 800 metres but also the high jump with a leap of 1.67.
More throws success came in the girls events with Eve
Keith winning both the shot and discus, the latter in a new personal best of
35.52 and the furthest in the UK this year. Millie Smith took the 1500
metres.
Ellie Dolby dominated the under 13 girls 1200 metre
race winning in 3.56.4, the second fastest in the UK, while Sam Reardon took
the boys 1500 race in 4.52.2. Tareq Bannour took the honours in both the 100
and 200 metre race with times of 12.9 and 26.5.
The previous evening the Clubs Masters opened their
Kent League season with victories for both the men and women at Norman Park.
Highlight for the women was a new Club Record in the over 60s triple jump
for Helen Godsell. She won with a leap of 7.60. She was also first in the
400, just outside her own Club Record, while Jackie Montgomery won the over
50s race by over five seconds.
Steve Timmins has the Club over 40s hammer record of
40.68 in his sights. He turns 40 shortly and he threw 45.56 for victory.
Ritchie Leccia and Gareth Evans won both strings of the over 35s 3000 metres
with Tim Nash first in the over 50s race. Allan Williams won the pole vault.
The Club were back in force again at Norman Park on
the Bank Holiday for the annual Ted Pepper 10km contested over a multi
terrain course of track road and country. Fresh from running the London
Marathon the week before Peter Tucker was a comfortable winner. Starting and
finishing on the track, he soon took the lead and was never caught finishing
in 35.28. Young Marco Arcuri took 8th place in 38.09 and third home in 11th
was Len Crowder in 38.24.
Like Peter, second claim member Clare Elms ran the
marathon last week and she was first woman to finish in 15th place overall.
Jess Keene was 24th in 40.45 with Jane Bradshaw 51st and Amy Leach 52nd.
28/04/15
Scott Overall was the first Briton to finish in this
years Virgin London Marathon. The Blackheath & Bromley athlete finished in a
time of 2.13.13. This is over two minutes faster than any Briton has run so
far this year and is inside the qualifying standard for the World
Championships which take place in Beijing, China at the end of August.
Next home for the Club was Peter Tucker in 2.24.04 a
remarkable performance considering his best for a half marathon this year is
71.55. Fintan Parkinson (2.33.21), Kev May (2.46.22) and Andy Rayner and
Alex Gibbins (both 2.57.51) were also under the three hour mark.
First woman for the Club was Carole Penlington in
3.08.24 followed by Sarah Belaon (3.24.04) and Tracey Ashenden (3.52.01).
The reason Andy and Alex came in together and, were
not considerably quicker, was that they were raising money for a very
special cause. Last November, Andy’s wife Elaine went into premature labour
and gave birth to a baby boy just 24 weeks and three days into her
pregnancy. Sebastian weighed only 1lb 9oz at birth.
He spent the first three months of his life being
cared for by the doctors and nurses in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
at King’s College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London. During this time Seb
endured kidney failure, a bleed on his lungs and a hole in his heart. He
also had a number of blood transfusions and required ventilation support to
get him through his first few weeks of life.
He is now back at home and creating all the noise
which a child of his age would be expected to make.
The couple are profoundly grateful for the tireless
work of the doctors and nurses in the NICU at King’s College Hospital, who
have helped give Seb a fighting chance at life.
It costs £1,500 per day to look after one baby on this
specialist unit, £10,500 per baby, per week.
To give back something to King’s and to help other
parents at this difficult period in their lives, Andy set himself the target
of the Marathon to raise money for the NICU at King’s College Hospital. His
goal was to pay for the cost of treatment for one baby for a week. Training
for the race has not been easy with so much going on but he completed the
course and has achieved the target figure, although more donations would be
extremely welcome.
Numerous other Club members finished in the race
including David Hoben who race walked the distance finishing in a time of
5.52.43.
Of course many others were supporting around the
course and working at the finish area on the baggage lorries.
The Club’s youngsters also featured prominently in the
accompanying mini marathon. The majority were representing the Borough of
Bromley but there were other athletes competing for Bexley, Croydon,
Wandsworth and Westminster.
Katy Ann McDonald and Yasmin Marghini won their races
and the Bromley squads won four out of six team races titles against the
other 32 London Boroughs.
In the under 17 girls race Niamh Bridson Hubbard
finished in 2nd place and Jessica Keene in 4th. With Kelsey Fuss 16th,
Shannon Riskey 24th , Georgina Taylor 35th, Charlotte Rhule 37th, Joanna
Clowes 56th and Mary Guy 82nd Bromley won the team race.
First home in the boys race was Joss Barber in 6th
place running for Bexley. Charlie Davis was 38th, Alek Wiltshire 69th, James
Crawley 71st, Bertie Harrington 103rd, Will Pope 141st, Finley Baldwin 161st
and Scott Bulmer 191st.
Katy Ann McDonald running for Wandsworth reigned
supreme in the under 15 girls race nearly a minute clear of her nearest
challenger, a huge margin. The race also incorporated a National team event
and she won this as well and helped the London team to second place.
Meanwhile the Bromley squad were taking a grip of the
team race. Yasmin Austridge closed in 12th, Millie Smith 18th, Amy Leach
26th, Stephanie Taylor 34th, Grace Scopes 35th, Tammy Falshaw 51st, Megan
Bullen 55th, and Carlotta Weitzel 96th.
Naomi Kingston (Westminster) was13th. Madalina Samoila
(Wandsworth) 23rd and Kate Purser (Croydon) 178th.
It was gold again for Bromley in the boys race led
home by Henry James Cowie in second place. His team mates were not far
behind with Micheal Eagling 13th, Angus Harrington 14th, Lewis Mills 16th,
Oscar Hussey 51st, Robert Perry 71st, Coleman Corry 77th, Callum Myatt 84th.
Lewis Stickings and Harry Keene were 95th and 106th for Bexley with Lewis
Warren 112th for Lewisham.
It was first again for the under 13 boys with Peter
Guy 5th, Joseph Georgiadis 6th Sam Reardon 14th, Justin Strover 16th, Leo
Braden 33rd, Robert Suckling 39th, Jake Leng 44th And Keir Lundy 56th. Ben
Gardiner was 30th for Bexley.
Yasmin Marghini was the Club’s second winner of the
day in the girls race. She won by a second. The Bromley team finished in
third place with Ellie Dolby 13th, Jess Neal 14th, Morgan Squibb 25th,
Gracie Horton 28th, Lily Tappenden 35th, Niamh Milmo 59th, Alice Prentice
69th and Zoe Austridge 178th.
So after all the excitement of the London, Club member
Mark Steinle remains the second fastest Briton of the Century with the
2.09.17 he ran in 2002. This is of course a Club Record but one of Mark’s
other records fell in the last week. At the Watford open meeting last
Wednesday Will Fuller took his Club under 20 3000 metre record when he timed
an outstanding 8.21.99.
The middle distance achievements didn’t stop there as
Dave Heath produced an extraordinary performance at Toulouse in France. Now
aged 49 he timed 3.59.93 for the 1500 metres easily the fastest by a Club
member of any age this year. It is thought this is a World Age 49 best. Dave
turns 50 next month and will have the World over 50s record well and truly
in his sights. It is currently 4.05.2 and has stood since 1984 but there are
few who think it will last much longer.
Also abroad a number of Club members were in action at
the Tom Jones Memorial meeting at Gainsville, Florida. It’s not unusual for
Britons to show some fine early season form at this event and Lorraine Ugen
duly obliged with a leap of 6.72 in the long jump. This is just five
centimetres off her own Club Record. and is a qualifying performance for the
World Championships. She also ran 23.81 in the 200 metres.
Chioma Matthews leapt 13.05 in the triple jump while
sprinters Oweka Wanogho and Dean Hylton timed 10.98 and 11.09 in the 100.
However, it is not always necessary to travel the
world to produce and witness top class performances as at the opening
Southern Athletics League match of the season at Norman Park four League
records were set, three of them by Blackheath & Bromley athletes.
The first of these came from Cheriece Hylton who won
the 400 metres in 53.91. This meant that she actually held two records but
this was not to last for long as her twin sister Shannon proceeded to take
her 200 metre record when she won her race in 23.38.
The twins then joined European indoor 60 metre silver
medallist Dina Asher Smith and under 17 Magda Cienciala to obliterate the
League 4x100 metre record. Previously it had stood at 47.7 but they reduced
this to 45.59 winning the race by over six and a half seconds.
Dina was also part of the 4x400 team that just missed
out on another League record. Despite some fine efforts from herself, Leah
Everson, Rachel Dickens and Cheriece Hylton their 3.53.31 was just over a
second outside the record.
Shannon had earlier won the 100 metres and another
triple winner on the day was Luke Smallwood who was first in both the 400
metre hurdles and the 400 before anchoring the 4x400 quartet to victory.
There was a double victory in the womens 400 hurdles
with Leah Everson first in the A string and Isabella Hilditch winning the B
string. Rachel Dickens time of 55.72 would have won the A string 400 by
three seconds but she won the B string by four.
Anastasia Davies is still an under 17 but she still
won the 100 hurdles and also helped the Club to maximum points in the triple
jump as she won the B string with Kerri Davidson taking the A string with
12.45 the second furthest in the country by an under 20 this year.
Continuing the jumps success Jamilya Robinson Pascal
won the A string long jump and Mark Longhurst soared over 4.70 to win the
pole vault by half a metre.
The throwers did the Club proud with Louis Mascarenhas
winning the discus with a new best of 47.87 and Steve Timmins first in both
the shot and hammer. Victoria Wiltshire was an impressive winner of the
womens hammer with Carys Marsden securing maximum points in the B string.
Both are under 17s.
Richard Webb ran a grade one of 6.05.54 for the 2000
steeplechase which on most days would have won the race. On this occasion he
had to settle for third with two runners going under the previous league
record.
James Alaka made a welcome return to competition after
a 20 month break. He was second in the 200 metres in 21.91 but is looking to
run significantly faster as the season progresses.
Elsewhere at Loughborough, Samantha Milner threw
seasons best of 46.09 to win the discus with Divine Oladipo 4th in 41.55.
Divine was also third in the 3kg shot with 13.30. Jack Messenger timed 56.89
in the 400 hurdles and Molly Scott timed 13.84 for the 100 metre hurdles.
Ben Cockburn finished 3rd in his age group and 11th
overall at European duathlon champs. This was despite getting a puncture
about 3-4km from the finish of the bike.
21/04/15
Blackheath & Bromley’s track and field season roared
into life over the last few days with many senior competing in meetings in
the United States; the opening round of the Youth Development League for the
Upper age group; and the opening round of the Kent League for the under 15
and under 13 age groups.
Fresh from a successful Winter that saw her claim the
bronze medal in the 60 metre hurdles at the European Indoor Championships,
Serita Solomon opened her outdoor campaign in impressive style at the NT
Pure Athletics Sprint Elite Meeting at Clermont in Florida. She timed 12.7
for the 100 hurdles with the help of a strong following wind of +2.6 metres
per second. She also ran a 13.32 which was under the legal limit and this
leaves her third ranked in the country this year.
The highlight of Serita’s season last year was
competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and another member of that
team Chioma Matthews also started her season at Clermont. She leapt 13.36 in
the triple jump to move to second on this years lists.
Serita also ran in the 100 metres where she clocked
11.98. Her brother Duayne Bovell showed good early season form with a 10.86
while Dean Hylton timed 10.92. Duayne also ran 22.30 for the 200 with Oweka
Wanogho recording 22.40.
Meanwhile at the Georgia Tech International at
Atlanta, Oliver Newport leapt 7.21 in the long jump; and at the Beach
Invitational at Norwalk, Jahisha Thomas set a seasons best of 6 metres
exactly, again in the long jump.
Back in the UK at the Stevenage, the Club were just
seven points off winning the opening match in the Premier League Division
One of the Upper age Group of the UK Youth Development League. There were
numerous individual wins, personal bests and great examples of athletes
going the extra mile, sometimes quite literally, to score points for the
team.
Highlight of the highlights was a new League record in
the under 20 womens long jump from Holly Mills. Holly is actually an under
17 and is a first claim member of Andover, competing for B&B in the YDL as
her club are not in the League. Her leap of 6.17 won the contest . It is not
clear if the League will also recognise this as an under 17 record as she
was competing out of her age group but it is the furthest jump by an under
17 this year.
The jumps success continued in this age group with
Kerri Davidson winning the triple jump with a leap of 12.12.
Other wins in the under 20s came from Louis
Mascerenhas in the discus with a 54.04 personal best; Charmont Webster Tape
(100); Gen Allan (1500); Richard Webb and Yasmin Austridge (both 3000);
Anastasia Davies (100 hurdles); Divine Oladipo (shot); Leah Everson (400
hurdles) and the womens 4x 100 metre team of Charmont, Jamilya Robinson
Pascal, Vivien Olatunji and Isabella Hilditch.
This completed a highly successful day for Isabella as
earlier she had won both the under 17 womens 80 metre hurdles and 300
hurdles races, and she was also in the winning 4x300 metre relay team along
with Megan Beamon Brown, Holly Mills and Anastasia Davies.
Parris Johnson also won two individual events with
victories in both the 100 and 200 metres. Further first places came from
Jessica Keene (1500), Joss Barber and Naomi Kingston (both 1500
steeplechase), Anna Barnett (discus ) and Toyin Orelaja (triple jump).
Over 30 athletes set personal bests.
There was a similarly promising start for the Clubs
youngest competitors as they won the opening Kent League match of the season
at Ashford. Again a mixture a high quality and great team spirit combined to
secure overall victory.
Leading the way in the under 15s age group was Eloise
Locke, who not only won the shot and javelin contests with National grade
ones of 11.66 and 35.14, but she also contributed a leg of the winning 4x300
metres quartet along with Karina Harris, Antonia Alapafuja and Grace Scopes.
Grace had earlier won the 300 metres.
Katie Wolcott’s ran a national grade one of 12.6 to
win the 100 metres and joined Mhairi Brooks, Sophia Harper and Gabrielle
Dalson for victory in the 4x100 metres. Stephanie Taylor enjoyed victory in
the 1500.
For the boys Henry James Cowie continued his
impressive early season form with a comfortable victory in the 1500 metres
and was then part of the 4x300 metres team with Coleman Corry, Lewis
Stickings and Peter Guy who won by over 10 seconds. Pedro Gleadall won the
javelin with a distance of 34.37.
The success continued in the under 13s age group where
Tareq Bannour enjoyed an impressive afternoon with victory in both the 100
and 200 metre races, the latter in a grade one of 26.7. It was a grade one
also for Rowan Fuss in the 1500 metres in 4.39.6 and there was victory too
for the 4x100 metre relay quartet of Jacob Byfield, Sam Reardon, Ethan
Kitteridge and Tareq Bannour.
For the girls Ellie Dolby won the 1200 metres in
3.58.4 and Akeilya Robinson Pascal the high jump with a leap of 1.36.
As reported last week the Club retained the Alpha
Trophy at the meeting at Lee Valley winning both the Senior and under 15
contests.
The throws proved a particularly strong area for the
Club. Shaunagh Brown has not always competed in this match in the past but
keen to impress new senior manager Steve Hollingdale she won both the shot
and discus events in grade one performances of 14.44 and 49.53. Samantha
Milner did likewise in the B strings recording distances of 12.08 and 44.44.
Further field success came in the high jump where new
first claim member Robin Pettit won with a clearance of 1.60. Under 17 Toyin
Orelaja secured maximum points in the B string with 1.55.
On the track Shannon Hylton made a rare appearance in
the 400 metres recording a swift 56.81 to win the B string having just seen
Krystal Galley take the honours in the A string in 59.77. Under 17 Anastasia
Davies won the 100 metre hurdles in 15.04 and Rachel Dickens the 200 metres
in 26.1.
Rachel then joined Grace Sheppard, Parris Johnson and
Magda Cienciala to win the 4x100 in 49.47.
The Club won the senior event by 25 points but the
result was a lot tighter in the under 15 age group with B&B and Enfield &
Haringey both finishing with 146 points. B&B won because they had a greater
number of individual wins.
That result was therefore greatly helped by the
contribution of Eloise Locke who won the shot, discus and javelin events.
Her distances of 36.24 and 12.40 in the javelin and shot were both grade
ones and further field success came with Antonia Alapafuja winning the high
jump with a clearance of 1.50.
Katie Woolcott won the 200 metres in 27.5 with Karina
Harris making it maximum points in the B race.
The Sward and Kinnaird meeting gave the senior men the
opportunity for some early season competition. New member Sam Cartwright set
an outdoor best of 50.84 in the 400 metres and Richard Holt timed a useful
58.01 in the 400 at the age of 43. First year senior Ishmael Smith John had
a useful afternoon running 11.5 in the 100 and 22.84 in the 200.
14/04/15
Blackheath & Bromley finished in 31st place in the
National 12 Stage Road Relay at Sutton Coldfield. Their best spell came at
the start of the race. On the opening stage Alex Bruce Littlewood came home
in 5th place in a time of 27.20, one place behind second claim member Graham
Rush who was representing his first claim club Cheltenham Harriers. Alex’s
time proved to be the 8th fastest of the day with Graham the 7th quickest.
Phil Sesemann replicated his run from the Southern
relay by moving the Club into the lead on the second stage. His time of
15.29 was the 8th fastest short stage leg of the day.
It wasn’t to last and from there the Club began to
move backwards down the field despite good efforts on short legs from James
Poole (16.02) and under 20 Richard Webb (16.32). The Club did not field a
womens team.
Meanwhile, Scott Overall travelled to Dublin to
compete in the SPAR Great Ireland Run on 10km. He won the race in a time of
29.59 nearly three minutes clear of the runner up.
On Sunday the Club retained the Alpha Trophy at Lee
Valley winning both the Senior and Under 15 girls contests to win the
overall title. Full results are not yet available so further details will
appear next week.
Many Club members have been preparing for the coming
track and field season by competing in various Open Meetings. At Lee Valley
new member Divine Oladipo set a new womens Club Under 17 Record of 14.65
with the 3kg shot. More throws success came from Tom Parker who set a
seasons best of 55.51 in the Senior mens Hammer and Victoria Wiltshire was
over 50 metres again in the under 17s event with 50.43. On the track new
second claimer Jack Messenger timed 56.39 for the 400 hurdles.
Highlight of the event at Tonbridge came in the under
15s age group with two athletes setting UK Leading performances. In the
hammer James Lancaster opened his season with a throw of 53.54 over four
metres further than anyone else has thrown in the country this year. On the
track Henry James Cowie timed 4.16.74 for the 1500 metres over two seconds
quicker than this next fastest in this age group.
Numerous athletes set personal bests.
Henry was back in action in the Hercules Wimbledon
young athletes open meeting at Wimbledon Park. He won the 800 metres in the
fastest time by an under 15 in the country this year. His 2.00.92 leaves him
with Jonathan Murray’s 27 year old Club record of 1.59.27 well and truly in
his sights.
The middle distance success continued with Katy Ann
McDonald winning the under 17 womens 1500 metres in 4.36.61, the second
quickest in the country this year.
In the field Louis Mascerenhas won both the under 20
shot and discus events while in the under 15s age group Eve Keith set a new
best of 11.78 in the shot and her throw of 31.80 in the discus is the fourth
furthest in the UK this year.
On the walking front Shaun Lightman timed 18.04.93 for
3000 metres at the Tonbridge Open Meeting to finish in 7th place. He was
soon back in action competing in the Development 5km race at Lewes where he
was 10th in 32.57.
7/04/15
With Club competitions this weekend, the athletes of
Blackheath & Bromley have been in action in a variety of events both home
and abroad.
However, missing from last weeks report was the fact
that the Great Britain over 60s winning 4x200 metres time at the European
Masters was a new British record. Club member Tom Phillips was part of that
quartet.
In addition, Roger Michell was part of the winning GB
team in the 5km road race walk.
Fresh from her recent impressive long jump exploits
Lorraine Ugen concentrated on the sprints at the Baylor International
meeting at Waco, Texas. She timed 11.61 for the 100 metres and 23.71 for the
200. Both were wind assisted with following winds of 2.2 and 3.3 metres per
second respectively.
At the Florida Relays in Gainsville, Jahisha Thomas
ran 13.83 for the 100 metre hurdles which is the second fastest by a Briton
this year. She also leapt 5.82 in the long jump.
Phil Sesemann was in the Isle of Man for the annual
Easter running festival with Leeds University also known as Doss AC. He won
the 10km road race on Good Friday in 31.32 a very useful time on a testing
course. He was also part of the winning 4x5km road relay team on Easter
Sunday and his leg of 14.54 was the fastest of the day.
Also on the roads Peter Tucker finished in second
place in the Folkestone 10 mile road race in 54.30. Ian Montgomery was 56th
in 65.16, Steve Pairman 103rd (69.25) and Deniz Mehmed 257th (79.30).
Fintan Parkinson was 8th in the Self Transcendence
10km at Battersea Park.
