Press Releases for
January, February & March 2014
25/03/14
Alex Bruce Littlewood made his debut for England when
he competed in the Home Countries International at Nottingham. The
Blackheath & Bromley athlete helped his country to victory as he finished in
4th place in 32.00.
Michael Skinner represented Great Britain at the World
Cross Country Championships last year but he was in action in a less high
profile race. He won the Whole Foods Market Breakfast Run over 16.2 miles in
Kingston in a time of 1.28.09. He was over a minute clear of the runner up.
Closer to home the Club cross country season came to
an end with the Closing 5 mile yacht handicap at Hayes. With the slowest
starting first and the quickest last , a perfect handicap would see all
cross the line together.
However, this never happens as there is always someone
who slips under the Handicapper’s radar. On this occasion it was youngster
Coleman Corry who won in a net time of 26.14 just over a minute clear of his
team manager Paul Austridge with his father Nic Corry a further two minutes
behind in third.
Fastest time around the course was Fintan Parkinson in
30.55 with Tom Desborough second and Dave Beadle third. Andrea Pickup was
the quickest woman in 36.58 followed by Rosemary Ferguson and Sarah Belaon.
This was the final event in the nine race Bennett Cup
competition, a Handicap series which has been running throughout the Winter
months. Positions at the top have been changing regularly and last Saturday
was no exception as Andy Tucker burst through to take the overall title with
385 points.
Just one point behind were Steve Pairman and leader
prior to the race Barry Wetherilt. Steve took the runner up spot as he ran
the quicker time in the final race. Graham Coates, Anne Cilia and Nigel
Bulmer were all close behind.
The Club Annual General meeting followed in the
evening at which out going President Bob Cliff announced his successor. “I
won’t let you down” said Dick Griffin when he was introduced to the Past
Presidents the previous week and Club members know he won’t.
A veteran of over 230 (Two Hundred and Thirty)
marathons around the World; the Comrades Marathon over 53 miles in South
Africa; the London to Brighton race; and two 24 hour races; he also recently
won the gold medal in the Southern Counties Veterans Marathon Championships
in the over 60s age group.
Supporter of Mob matches and social functions at the
Club, he has organised the Wednesday Nighters Christmas Supper for many
years; and has recently, with his wife Sheila, taken over the job of
distributing the Club kit and the organisation of the Parris Handicap races
over the Summer months.
That he has achieved all this is remarkable in itself
but is even more impressive when one considers over this period he was
looking after the most important person in the country. In 1999 he was
appointed Personal Protection officer to Her Majesty the Queen a role he
held for 14 years. Prior to this he worked for 13 years with the Duke Of
Edinburgh and prior to this he was Protection Officer to Prince Edward while
he attended Cambridge University.
He visited over 150 countries as a Protection Officer
and in 2010 was promoted to Superintendent and held the position known as
“The Queen’s Police Officer” until he retired in 2013, a year later than
intended as he was invited to stay on an extra year to cover the Queens
Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Eagle eyed viewers will have noticed that as Her
Majesty and Prince Philip travelled from Buckingham Palace to attend the
wedding of Prince William the man at their side was wearing a Blackheath &
Bromley Club tie.
Having protected the Monarchy, the Club Presidency is
in a safe pair of hands and he is looking forward to supporting the
membership in their myriad of activities over the next 12 months.
Following the announcement of his successor, Bob Cliff
introduced five new Club Vice Presidents. Julie Asher Smith has become
increasingly involved in the Club after her daughter Dina began competing.
She is one of the Kent County’s top track officials; has helped raise
thousands of pounds for the Club through fund raising activities; and
organised Awards ceremonies for the Clubs’ Young athletes.
Jane Bradshaw has been a prolific racer for the Club
on the track, road and cross country both as a Senior and veteran. In
addition she has been team manager of the Senior womens cross country team
and this Summer will be the womens manager of the Clubs’ Southern Athletics
League team.
It has often been commented that there are a
disproportionate number of steeplechasers who have become President of the
Club, Bob being the latest. This looks set to continue as all three new male
Vice Presidents have competed in the chase in the British Athletics League.
The trio are the three retiring Senior mens cross
country team managers Alex Gibbins, David McKinlay and Richard Hall. Alex
has competed for the Club on track, road and cross country for over 20 years
as Young Athlete, Senior and Master. David also has competed as a youngster
and Senior and has also acted as a point of contact for athletes who are at
university and has been Southern League team manager. Richard joined too
late to compete as a young athlete but has more than made up for it since.
Like David he has also been a Southern League team manager.
Another former steeplechaser and President Tim Soutar
has been elected to the Board of Directors of England Athletics. This is the
first time there have been elections to the Board and Tim and Neil Costello
of Cambridge & Coleridge were the two successful candidates from the seven
nominations.
Following his elevation to the Vice Presidency,
Richard Hall was in action the next day at the Hastings Half Marathon where
he was the Club’s first finisher in 51st in 84.21. Also on the road, Shaun
Lightman finished in 10th place in the Pat Furey 5 mile race walk at
Enfield. He timed 48 minutes and 38 seconds.
Indoors there were some promising performances at the
London Pole Vault Academy Invitation meeting at Sutton Arena. Organiser
Allan Williams cleared 3.47 while Emilie Blackwell and Helena Coleman both
jumped 3.17. Murray Hilborne celebrated recent fatherhood by launching
himself over 2.72.
The latest recipient of a Jack Petchey Foundation
Achievement Award is Yasmin Austridge. She has been an ever present this
Winter for the Club’s cross country teams, helping the under 15 girls team
to win the National title, as well as the Area and County championships. She
also finished in 13th place in the English Schools Championships. As well as
being a talented athlete Yasmin is also an enthusiastic supporter of all her
fellow athletes both young and not so young.
18/03/14
Blackheath & Bromley athlete Lorraine Ugen took the US
National Collegiate indoor long jump title at Alburqurque. Her leap of 6.73
is the second furthest by a Briton this year, a performance which will see
her challenging for International representation this Summer. Likewise,
Shaunagh Brown who opened her outdoor campaign at the European Cup Winter
Throwing contest at Leiria in Portugal. She launched the hammer out to
64.88, the second furthest in the country so far this year.
One who has just secured an International selection is
Alex Bruce Littlewood. On the back of his 11th place at the Inter Counties
Cross Country Championships in Birmingham last weekend he has been selected
to represent England at the Home Countries international at Nottingham this
Saturday.
Alex is temporarily based in Ireland and so was not
able to represent the Club at the South Of England 12 stage road relay at
Milton Keynes. Despite this the Club were still able to finish in 13th place
and so gain qualification for the National relay at Sutton Coldfield on the
5th of April.
Highlight was the performance of Scott Overall who
continued his build up to the London Marathon on the 13th of April by
running the 5th fastest long leg of the day. His time of 23.20 moved the
team up from 15th to 4th place on the third leg. Great Britain’s fastest
marathon runner this Century, Mark Steinle made a welcome return to action
timing 26.43 on leg 7. The previous weekend he had won the Kent 10 mile road
race at Sidcup.
Alex Gibbins, Andy Rayner, Sam Barnes and David
McKinlay completed the other long stages
Fastest short leg of the day for the Club came from
James Poole who timed 15.45 on leg two with Georges Vacharopoulos, Steve
Cooper, Gareth Evans, Jon Vintner and Daniel Kennedy the other short
stagers.
Three athletes who will no doubt be challenging for
places in the team in the not too distant future were representing Kent at
the English Schools Cross Country Championships at Castle Donington. In the
Senior Boys race Will Fuller finished in an excellent 15th place leading the
Kent squad to victory. Richard Webb was 37th and Will Ruiz 185th.
In the Intermediate Girls race Jessica Keane finished
in 19th place with Kelsey Fuss 28th, Joanna Clowes 266th and Mary Guy 290th.
Highest placed Club member of the day was Yasmin Austridge who finished in
13th place in the Junior Girls race. She was just 9 seconds off 8th place
which would have qualified her for an England vest. Naomi Kingston had to
cope with a split shoe but still finished in 17th place while Millie Smith
on her way back from illness was 204th.
In the boys race Henry James Cowie was 71st and Jake
Potter 144th.
Indoors a number of Club members competed at the Kent
Championships at Lee Valley with plenty of success. In the Senior age groups
golds were won by Serita Solomon (60), Krystal Galley (400) second claimer
Clare Elms (800) at the age of 50, and Christina Moore (pole vault).
In the under 20s age group there was a very welcome
return to competition for Louis Mascerenhas after missing the whole of last
year with injury. He won the shot with a throw of 14.17. Further wins came
from Vivien Olatunji in the 60 and from Nathanielle Jones in the 200.
Shannon Riskey was the Club’s only double gold
medallist of the weekend as she claimed both the under 17 800 and 1500 metre
titles. Bailey Stickings won the mens 800 and further golds came from
Isabella Hilditch in the 60 metre hurdles and Phillippa Croft on her debut
in the pole vault.
Eloise Locke set a personal best of 10.51 to win the
under 15s shot, the 5th furthest throw in the country this year.
The Middlesex Championships took place at the same
venue and Toby Olubi won the mens 60 metre title timing 6.89.
Back outside the Club were beaten in the annual Mob
match against South London Harriers at Hayes. With Gareth Evans 3rd, Kev May
4th , Tom Desborough 16th and Andy Tucker 18th the only four finishers to
make the top 20 the Club were well beaten by the visitors. The race
incorporated the Club 7.5 mile championships with Gareth, Kev and Tom taking
the top three places. Carole Penlington took the womens title with Sarah
Belaon 2nd and Rosemary Ferguson 3rd.
The race incorporated the penultimate Bennett Handicap
race of the season and winner was Cath Messent with Nick Corry second and
Alexis Tobin third. The final race in the 9 event series is incorporated in
this Saturdays Closing 5 yacht handicap race at Hayes. Remarkably nine
athletes could still win the title headed by Barry Wetherilt who currently
leads on 342 points. He cannot afford to be complacent, however, as Andy
Tucker is just three points behind on 339 with Graham Coates on 332, Nigel
Bulmer 331 and Steve Pairman 330.
Adding to the end of season excitement, the Club AGM
takes place in the evening at the clubhouse in Hayes and as the membership
speculates who will win the Bennett Cup they will also be looking forward to
finding out who outgoing President Bob Cliff has appointed as his successor
for the 2014-15 year. All will be revealed
Shaun Lightman finished in 6th place in the
Slater/Bryce Memorial 10km track walk at Horsham. He timed one hour one
minute and 54.31 seconds with Peter Hannell 9th in 1.04.31.36
11/03/14
This is a period of exceptional performances by
Blackheath & Bromley’s young female sprinters and the latest to receive
International recognition is Vivien Olatunji. She was selected to represent
England at the Welsh Athletics Under 20 Indoor International at Cardiff. She
finished in third place in the 60 metres in 7.67.
In the field, the Club’s recent jumps success
continued as Kerri Davidson set a new personal best of 12.40 to finish in
second place in the triple jump. This is the third furthest by an under 20
athlete in Britain this year.
Jahisha Thomas is now an under 23 but she was also in
action in Wales winning the long jump with a leap of 6.00.
A number of the Club’s athletes were selected to
compete in the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships at Birmingham’s
Cofton Park. In the Senior age group Alex Bruce Littlewood flew in from his
base in Ireland to finish in 11th place in a top class field. Amber Reed was
158th in the Senior Womens race.
Will Fuller was 16th in the under 17mens race while
Niamh Bridson Hubbard was 45th in the womens.
Highlight of the day came in the under 15 girls race
where Kent won the team race with three of the scoring runners being members
of B&B. Cambridge Harriers Sabrina Sinha won the race while Kelsey Fuss was
8th, Naomi Kingston 11th and Jessica Keene 23rd. In addition Yasmin
Austridge was 30th and Georgina Taylor 56th.
Highest placed runner from the Club on the day was
Henry James Cowie. He finished a fine 4th place in the under 13 boys race
with Dillon Robertson 32nd, Michael Eagling 35th and Peter Guy 39th. This
helped Kent to bronze medals. Jessica Sellar was 102nd in the girls race.
Although there were not a large number of Club members
competing at the British Masters Indoor Championships at Lee Valley, they
did pick up a disproportionate number of medals. Five golds, three silver
and three bronze made it a very successful couple of days.
Allan Williams took the over 60 pole vault title with
a clearance of 3.50 but was not able to break his own national record of
3.61. Clem Leon was equal first in the over 55s high jump with a height of
1.45. On the track Peter Hannell won the over 70s 3000 walk in 18.09.46.
Helen Godsell took the over 60s 60 metre title with a time of 8.91. Outside
in the throws Mike Van Den Dobbelsteen claimed the over 40s javelin title
with a distance of 50.89.
Silver medals came from Helen Godsell in the 200
metres with 30.61; Jackie Montgomery with a clearance of 2.40 in the vault;
and from Clem Leon with a distance of 10.22 in the triple jump.
Peter Hamilton picked up bronze medals in both the
over 65s 1500 and 3000 metre races. Roger Michell was third in the over 65s
3000 metre walk; and just a couple of weeks before he moves up to the over
60s age group Tom Phillips took bronze in the over 55s 60 metres.
There were also useful performances from Richard Holt
in the over 40s 400 metres and Tom Phillips in the over 55s sprints.
A number of the Club athletes were in action at the
Better Athletics 60 metres at Crystal Palace. Again the fastest of the day
was Toby Olubi who timed 6.88. Amongst the other performances there were
personal bests for Magda Cienciela (7.97) and Ryan Poyroo (7.56).
Alex Gibbins continued his build up to this years
London Marathon as he finished in 2nd place in the Roding Valley Half
Marathon. He timed 74.40. Meanwhile at the Surrey Half Marathon at
Guildford, Sam Barnes finished in 11th place in 73.22. Abroad Ross Braden
timed 76.10 in the 40th Roma Ostia Half Marathon.
Tom Desborough is the latest winner of a Jack Petchey
Foundation Achievement Award. Tom is a regular member of the Clubs cross
country, road and track teams. He has recently gained his first Kent vest.
Bromley Mini Marathon Trials at Crystal Palace
1 17.16 Richard Webb 2 17.28 William Fuller 3 17.57 Marco Arcuri 4 18.15
Alexander Wiltshire 5 18.31 Niyi Akin-Agunbiade 6 18.32 Michael Eagling
7 18.33 Charlie Davis 8 18.46 Marco Foxhall 9 18.49 Jessica Keene 10 18.56
Peter Guy 11 19.15 Coleman Corry 12 19.21 Rowan Fuss 13 19.27 Georgina
Taylor 14 19.41 Oscar Hussey 15 19.41 Angus Harrington 16 19.47 George Pope
17 19.48 Arthur Carey 18 19.51 Keir Lundy 19 19.56 Yasmin Austridge 20 20.05
Kelsey Fuss 21 20.16 Millie Smith 22 20.17 Callum Myatt 23 20.20 Finlay
Lovatt 24 20.35 Jamie Gosnell 25 20.47 Shannon Riskey 26 20.47 Niamh Bridson-Hubbard
27 20.50 Bertie Harrington 28 20.58 Anna Myers 29 21.04 Frankie Scrivener 30
21.07 Benjamin Gardiner 31 21.12 Emilie Penlington 32 21.17 Charlie
Scrivener 33 21.30 Tammy Falshaw 34 21.30 Grace Scopes 35 21.38 Alice
Prentice 36 21.55 Samantha Leighton 37 22.08 Amy Leach 38 22.10 Lauren
Goddard 39 22.10 Mary Guy 40 22.43 Chloe Kibblewhite 41 23.00 Harrison
Parker 42 24.08 Scott Bulmer 43 24.08 Lily Tappenden 44 24.11 Jennifer
Sheasby 45 25.15 Isabelle Bridge 46 25.23 Claire Springett 47 26.38 Zoe
Austridge 48 27.01 Chloe Haffenden 49 27.39 Kareena Galley
Recent Parkruns
Crystal Palace 01/03/2014. 5 Naomi KINGSTON 00:19:08 1st woman 7 David
BEADLE 00:19:20 14 Peter HAMILTON 00:21:05 28 Thomas PENLINGTON 00:22:12 43
Andrew CLOWES 00:23:38 61 Nigel HAFFENDEN 00:24:37 66 Sally HAFFENDEN
00:24:47
Dulwich 01/03/2014. 20 Neil AYRTON 00:19:11 50 Mark ELLISON 00:21:33 107
Anne CILIA 00:24:27
Greenwich 01/03/2014. 9 Adrian PERRY 00:21:32 69 Rich GRANT 00:26:39
Killerton 01/03/2014. 23 Bob MINTING 00:21:41
Orpington 01/03/2014. 19 Harry William KEENE 00:22:34 27 Mick KEENE 00:24:00
105 Karen DESBOROUGH 00:36:08
Bexley 22/02/2014. 27 Mike SIMMS 00:23:48
Crystal Palace 22/02/2014. 7 Nick PERRY 00:19:17 19 Robert PERRY 00:20:03 26
Rowan FUSS 00:20:49 35. Charlie SCRIVENER 00:21:11 36. Adrian PERRY 00:21:11
44. Arthur CAREY 00:21:36 64. Thomas PENLINGTON 00:22:37 98. Nigel BULMER
00:25:02 131. Claire SPRINGETT 00:26:28
Dulwich 22/02/2014. 3 Ben COCKBURN 00:16:12 38 Nigel HAFFENDEN 00:20:06
68 Tim WARD 00:22:27 86 Sally HAFFENDEN 00:23:02 154 Millie HAFFENDEN
00:28:08
Forest Rec , 22/02/2014. 24 Mick KEENE 00:23:53
Killerton 22/02/2014. 25 Bob MINTING 00:21:29
Lloyd 22/02/2014. 15 Ian TAYLOR 00:23:21 16 Sarah BELAON 00:23:22 1st woman
Maidstone 22/02/2014. 3. Luke SMALLWOOD 00:19:25
Newport 22/02/2014. 7 Neil AYRTON 00:19:22
Orpington 22/02/2014. 25 Andrew CLOWES 00:24:18 86 Karen DESBOROUGH 00:36:00
Shorne Woods 13 Glen READ 00:22:45
4/03/14
A new National record for Dina Asher Smith crowned a
spectacular weekend for Blackheath & Bromley’s young female sprinters at the
England Athletics Under 20, Under 17 and Under 15 Indoor championships at
Sheffield. Adding to the celebrations the Club’s jumpers weighed in with a
clutch of medals and personal bests.
Dina’s record came in the Under 20 womens 200 metres
final. Going into the race she already held the Championship best and was
joint holder of the British record with 23.20. Yet at the end of a weekend
in which the John Blackie coached athlete had already raced five times, she
tore to victory in 23.15 a time which is just one hundredth of a second shy
of her outdoor best. She needed to be quick as well since finishing in
second place was training partner Shannon Hylton whose 23.39 was also inside
the previous Championship Best Performance.
It could so easily have been two National records for
Dina except that in the 60 metres final the electronic timing did not
function. She was given a hand timed 7.2 which means her electronic
performance would have been under 7.2 seconds. The National record is 7.19.
That said her time of 7.22 to win her semi final was a new personal best and
is the equal second fastest for a senior in the country this year, and is
the fastest by an under 20.
Again it was Shannon who won silver in 7.5 and it
would have been a clean sweep of the medals but Vivien Olatunji was adjudged
to have finished fourth having been given the same hand time as the third
placed finisher. A number thought Vivien had got third but without the
electrics there was no way of verifying. Shannon had actually run 7.43 in
her semi final, a new personal best and Vivien was just six hundredths
outside her best with 7.62.
Shannon’s twin sister Cheriece was also in the medals
as she picked up bronze in the 400 metres in a time of 55.47.
There was more great success in the field as Oliver
Newport won gold in the long jump with a seasons best of 7.41. Like Dina he
will be targeting a place in the Great Britain team for this Summers World
Junior Championships.
Stefan Amokwandoh and Kerri Davidson are both coached
by John Vernon and both set personal bests in winning bronze medals in their
respective triple jump competitions. Stefan leapt 14.68 a six centimetre
improvement on his best from last Summer. Kerri produced a 12.37 effort to
exceed her best by five centimetres.
Elsewhere in the under 20 age group Leah Everson was
5th in the 800 metres in 2.20.25 and Helena Coleman was 10th in the pole
vault with a clearance on 3.20.
More medals came in the under 17s age group and again
they came in the womens sprints as Maya Bruney finished in second place in
the 60 metres in 7.56 with Jazz Crawford third in 7.63. Both of these were
personal bests, where better to achieve this than in a National Final.
Isabella Hilditch was another to run quicker than ever
before both in her heat of the 60 metre hurdles in 8.83 and then again in
her semi final with 8.76. She was not able to replicate this in the final
but she is a first year in the age group so there will be much more to come.
The Club success was not just in the younger age group
over the last week, nor was it restricted to the UK as at the Big 12 Indoor
Championships at Ames in the United States Lorraine Ugen won the long jump
with a leap of 6.59 the equal second furthest distance by a Briton this
year. She was also fourth in the 60 metres in 7.51.
Meanwhile, at the SEC Indoor Championships at College
Station in Texas, Jonathan Ilori set a new best of 15.76 in finishing third
in the triple jump. He was also second in the long jump with a leap of 7.14.
Alex Bruce Littlewood’s reward for winning the Irish
National 3000 metres title a couple of weeks ago was an invitation to race
in the Athlone International. Lining up in the 3000 metres again, he
finished in third place in 8.11.80, a very good time but down on what he had
been hoping for as he had run 8.02 to win the indoor title.
Just back from a period of training in the States,
Scott Overall showed his preparations for this years London Marathon are
going well as he won the Mizuno Reading Half Marathon. The 2012 Great
Britain Olympian timed 64.44, six seconds clear of Serpentine’s Nick Torry.
Michael Skinner was 21st in 67.51 and David McKinlay 138th in 77.19. Claire
Austridge finished in 7059th.
Shaun Lightman, a 1968 Olympian, travelled to the
Midlands where he finished in 8th place in the Molly Barnett 10km race walk
at Coventry. Now an over 70, he timed one hour one minute and 26 seconds,
around a minute quicker than some of his recent race times.
Gareth Evans was the Club’s first finisher in the
Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon. He was 10th in 78.30 with Fintan Parkinson
20th and Andy Tucker 52nd. First woman for B&B was Jenny Neal in 158th in
92.15 with Carole Penlington 178th.
Back indoors Toby Olubi equalled his personal best for
the 60 metres at the Better Athletics 60 metres open meeting at Crystal
Palace. His training with the Great Britain bobsleigh team is obviously
paying dividends as his 6.82 matched the best he set just before Christmas.
Other bests included efforts from Ife Okikiade, Edward
Adams, Parris Johnson, and Tajera Baldie. Toby also competed at the last
Windsor open meeting where he twice clocked 6.93 for the 60 metres.
Georges Vacharopoulos was in outdoor action at the
Warwick University v Coventry University Varsity match. Competing for hosts
Warwick he won the 800 metres in 2.00.7 and was also third in the 2000
metres steeplechase in 7.01.1.
25/02/14
Blackheath & Bromley’s Under 15 girls cross country
team are the National Champions! They secured the title on a sunny day at
Nottingham’s Wollaton Park as athletes from the Club flew the flag in all of
the ten races. As well as the team gold, four athletes achieved top 10
placings, no mean achievement when competing against the best in the
country.
The under 15s girls have been in unbeatable form this
season taking the County and Area titles with ease. They knew they had a
good chance of winning medals at Nottingham and produced a golden
performance on the day as they placed five athletes in the first 28 places.
First home was Naomi Kingston who worked her way up to
5th place as Jessica Keene also crept up the field to 10th place. Kelsey
Fuss finished in 16th and Yasmin Austridge 22nd to complete the scoring four
places. Such was the dominance of the B&B squad that if Georgina Taylor’s
28th place were added to the team total they would still have won the
contest.
Showing the healthy depth of the squad, Amy Leach was
183rd, Mary Guy 253rd, Darcy Kirwin 295th and Francesca Pickup 330th.
This is the first time the Club has won gold medals
since the under 17 men won in 1997 and 1998. Michael Skinner was one of the
winning team in 1997. Now a seasoned International, he was 10th in the
Senior Mens race which was his target given his recent injury problems.
He was part of a team that finished in 17th place with
Ben Harding 102nd, Andy Rayner 191st, Danny Brewer 262nd, a sickly Alex
Gibbins 305th and Sam Barnes 314th.
The Senior womens race saw three of the parents of the
youngsters in action with Carole Penlington 245th , Charlotte Stickings
307th and Claire Austridge 444th. Unfortunately they needed one further
athlete to complete a team.
Likewise, the Club were short in the under 20s age
group where for the women Amber Reed was 71st and Bethany Frost 100th while
Will Ruiz was 96th for the men. With some promising athletes moving up from
the under 17s they will be hoping to complete full teams next year.
One of those is Will Fuller who finished in an
excellent 11h place in the under 17 mens race. With Richard Webb in 44th ,
Tom Desborough 128th and early leader Bailey Stickings 264th they were 12th
in the team race.
Niamh Bridson would have finished higher in the womens
race but for losing her shoe in a particularly sticky part of the course,
but her 22nd position was still an outstanding effort. Leah Everson in
115th, Samantha Leighton 148th ,Jennifer Sheasby 186th and Chloe Haffenden
208th ensured the team finished in 10th place.
Marco Arcuri led the under 15 boys team home in 96th
place ahead of Aleksander Wiltshire 119th, Charlie Davis 186th and Oscar
Hussey 251st. This gave them 20th place.
The under 13 boys came so close to medals finishing
just 11 points off 3rd place. Star here was Club under 13s Hammer and
Pentathlon record holder Henry James Cowie who worked his way up to 5th by
the end of the race.
Michael Eagling took 39th, Angus Harrington 57th and
Peter Guy 65th to give them a fine 5th place. Just as pleasing was that the
Club had another 10 finishers with Joseph Georgiadis 103rd, Coleman Corry
113th, George Pope 162nd, Lewis Stickings 168th, Keir Lundy 197th, Billie
Keene 209th, Ben Gardiner 221st, Callum Myatt 276th, Cameron Swatton 301st
and Charlie Short 380th.
Millie Smith had an exceptional run in the girls race
to finish in 19th place and with Jessica Sellar 74th, Grace Scopes 102nd and
Emilie Penlington 123rd the team finished 8th. Again there was good strength
in depth with Lauren Goddard 205th, Claudia Pickup 257th, Lily Tappenden
348th and Zoe Austridge 379th.
A handful of the Clubs athletes were competing at the
BUCS championships at Sheffield. Tremayne Gilling and Grace Sheppard both
made the semi finals of the 60 metres and Grace also featured in the 200
metres. Georges Vacharapoulos set a new best of 1.56.22 in the 800 with
Craig Morten timing 1.59.32.
It was a busy weekend for the Clubs walkers with Shaun
Lightman completing back to back races. On Saturday Shaun finished in 16th
place in the Enfield 5 mile race walk League. He timed 50.21. David Hoben
was 39th in 57.52.
Shaun was back at Enfield the next day at the Lee
Valley Indoor Centre where he was 5th in the Veterans Inter Area 2km walk in
11.34.55. Although he is an over 70, he was the third in the over 35s race.
Peter Hannell was 7th in 12.12.55.
18/02/14
Six months after being part of the Great Britain team
who finished third in the 4x100 metres at the World Championships in Moscow,
Dina Asher Smith has finally received her medal.
The delay for the Blackheath & Bromley athlete was
because third place was only confirmed after the late disqualification of
the French quartet. The GB team had already left the stadium.
It was all worth the wait, however, as Dina, Ashleigh
Nelson, Hayley Jones and Annabelle Lewis were presented with their medals in
front of a sell out crowd at the Sainsbury’s British Athletics Grand Prix at
the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.
Dina was also competing in the event finishing in
fourth place in her heat of the 60 metres in a time of 7.30. Montell Douglas
was 7th in 7.40.
In the United States, Jonathan Ilori was just one
centimetre off his best when he leapt 15.52 at the Tyson Invitational at
Fayetteville. He also recorded 6.94 in the long jump.
In Ireland Alex Bruce Littlewood made a big
breakthrough at the AAI National Indoor Championships at Athlone as he won
the Irish National 3000 metres title in 8.02.13 taking nearly nine seconds
off his previous best.
The Club’s athletes won a number of titles at the
Surrey Indoor Championships at Carshalton. Oliver Newport claimed the Senior
mens long jump title, although he is still an under 20, with a leap of 7.30
and Jahisha Thomas took the womens event with a leap of 6.04, a new personal
best by a centimetre. Javari Cameron also set a personal best of 6.53 in
finishing 4th in the mens event. Jahisha was also runner up in the 60
metres.
Kerri Davidson won both the long jump and the triple
jump in the under 20 womens age group. Her leap of 12.23 in the triple was
the second furthest by an under 20 in the country this year,. It is her
second best ever jump and an indoor best. Her long jump distance of 5.39 was
a new personal best. Stefan Amokwandoh won the under 20 mens triple jump
with a leap of 13.89.
In the under 17s age group Maya Bruney claimed the 60
metres title in a time of 7.61. This is the fastest time in the country this
year by an under 17. She also ran 7.69 in both her heat and semi final.
At the Welsh Under 20 indoor championships in Cardiff,
Matthew Jones was third in the 400 metres final in 51.32.
More success came at the Southern Counties Veterans
Athletic Club championships at Lee Valley. The Club only had three
competitors in action but all won gold medals. Helen Godsell enjoyed her
first competition in the over 60s age group claiming gold in both the 60 and
200 metre races in times of 8.97 and 30.23. Jackie Montgomery secured the
over 45s pole vault title as she cleared 2.50. For the men Peter Hamilton
won the over 65s 3000 metres in 11.54.87.
At the Midlands Open Meeting, again at the NIA in
Birmingham, Serita Solomon was second in the 60 metre hurdles in 8.42.
Warwick University student Georges Vacharapoulos timed 4.06.88 in the 1500
metres.
Plenty of Club members were in action at the Better
Athletics Indoor 60 metre races at Crystal Palace last Wednesday. Fastest of
the day was Toby Olubi. Having just missed out on selection for the Great
Britain bobsleigh team at the Winter Olympics, he timed 6.87. A number of
youngsters achieved personal bests including Isabelle Hilditch (7.96), Harry
Taylor (7.92), Mhairi Brooks (8.25), Myles Xavier (8.36), Karina Harris
(8.54), Emily Sheppard (8.63), Caelan Raju (8.64) and Ife Okikiade (7.53).
Toby was back in action at the Newham 60 metre open
races but he was not so quick timing 6.98 in one race and being disqualified
on his other contest. Second claim member Oweka Wanogho was quicker with
6.92. Under 20 Seyi Daramola set a new best of 7.07.
Given the talent at the Club it is no surprise that a
number of it’s athletes have been successful in their applications to the
Ron Pickering Memorial Fund, which supports talented athletes who are in
full time education.
The successful applicants are Stefan Amokwandoh, Dina
Asher Smith, Kertis Beswick, Kerri Davidson, Cheriece Hylton, Shannon Hylton,
Samantha Milner, and Dan Putnam.
A disappointing turn out for the annual mob match
against Ranelagh Harriers at Richmond Park resulted in an inevitable defeat
with the hosts scoring 308 to B&B’s 1057. The Club only had three runners
under the age of 40 and only had six finishers in the top 30.
First home was Gareth Evans in 3rd place with a time
of 46.36 for the 7.5 mile course. Neil Ayrton in 10th, Nick Kinsey 15th and
David Beadle 16th also made the top 20. Carole Penlington was the Club’s
first female finisher in 48th with Anne Cilia 79th and Maz Turner 100th.
The race included the latest round of the Bennett Cup,
a handicap series of nine races which take place over the Winter months.
Winner on this occasion was Jim Phelan, his first victory for around 20
years, with Graham Coates second and Nigel Bulmer third. With two races left
Barry Wetherilt still holds the lead on 308 points but Nigel Bulmer’s
performance has catapulted him up to second place just six points behind.
Andy Tucker is third on 300 with Graham Coates just one point adrift. There
is still everything to play for.
David Hoben competed in the Leicester Walking Club 15
mile race finishing in fourth place in 3 hours and 9 minutes. He would have
been quicker but he had to stop at one point as the road was temporarily
closed to enable a damaged tree to topple down.
Parkrun results
Crystal Palace : 6 Arthur CAREY 00:19:56 9 Yasmin AUSTRIDGE 00:20:15
(1st woman) 10 Millie SMITH 00:20:16 13 Keir LUNDY 00:20:32 14 Rowan FUSS
00:20:38 18 Callum MYATT 00:20:44 22 Charlie SCRIVENER 00:21:03 30 Shannon
RISKEY 00:22:05 31 Emilie PENLINGTON 00:22:11 42 Thomas PENLINGTON 00:23:03
48 Niamh BRIDSON HUBBARD 00:23:23 49 Jessica Zara KEENE 00:23:23 51 Lily
TAPPENDEN 00:23:31 58 Mick KEENE 00:24:03 61 Jason SHORT 00:24:12 111 Zoe
AUSTRIDGE 00:27:35 112 Claire AUSTRIDGE 00:27:36 131 Charlie SHORT 00:29:15
Greenwich : 63 Chloe HAFFENDEN 00:28:53 64 Nigel HAFFENDEN 00:28:54
Hilly Fields : 18 Mike SIMMS 00:24:18
Maidstone : 5 Luke SMALLWOOD 00:20:09
Orpington : 1 Thomas DESBOROUGH 00:19:14 19 Joseph GEORGIADIS 00:24:43 65
Karen DESBOROUGH 00:37:12
Poole : 46 Joanna CLOWES 00:21:59 86 Andrew CLOWES 00:23:27
11/02/14
Dina Asher Smith’s victory in the 200 metres at the
Sainsburys British Athletics Indoor Championships in Sheffield was the
highlight of a very special weekend for female sprinting at Blackheath &
Bromley. Still an under 20, she claimed her first Senior title as the Club
won four out of six medals in the 60 and 200 metres.
The 200 metre final was almost like a Club
Championships as Dina ran an indoor best of 23.20 for victory. The time is
six hundredths shy of her outdoor best. Just behind in the silver medal
position was Shannon Hylton who ran 23.24, a personal best both indoors and
outdoors. Fourth was Shannon’s twin sister Cheriece in a time of 24.25. All
three are under 20s and coached by John Blackie.
Dina and Shannon’s times are the two fastest in the
country this year for both the Senior and Junior age groups, and Dina’s was
also a stadium record. Cheriece’s 24.05 time in her heat leaves her equal
fourth fastest Senior in the UK and third under 20.
The day before Dina had won the silver medal in the 60
metres final in 7.25, having run a personal best of 7.22 in the semi final.
In third place was Montell Douglas who clocked 7.30. Cheriece ran a best of
7.60 in her heat and Shannon timed 7.54 in the semi final.
The 200 metres is no longer contested at the World
Championships but Dina’s 7.22 in the 60 metres is a qualifying performance
and she will await the selectors deliberations to see if she is picked to
compete in Sopot in Poland next month.
It was silver also for Serita Solomon in the 60 metre
hurdles in a time of 8.24 and to add to the celebrations Chioma Matthews won
bronze in the triple jump with a leap of 13.18.
Elsewhere Oliver Newport was 7th in the mens long jump
with a distance of 7.29; Dan Putnam made the semi final of the 400 having
run 47.84 in his heat; Rachel Dickens was 4th in her heat of the 400 in a
seasons best of 55.63; Jahisha Thomas was just outside her best with 8.64 in
the 60 hurdles; and Toby Olubi timed 6.95 in the 60 metre heats.
Had they not been attending Universities in the United
States, Jonathan Ilori and Lorraine Ugen would both have been at Sheffield.
Instead Jonathan competed at the Armory Collegiate Invitational at New York
where he leapt 15.29 in the triple jump.
Lorraine took the weekend off jumping to do some
sprinting. At the Texas A&M Aggie Invitational at College Station in Texas
she timed 7.57 for the 60 metres and 24.93 for the 200.
It has been an eventful couple of months for Elaine
Rayner. Newly married, settling into a new home and now back in race mode
after a long period out through illness. She won the final Kent League
Senior Womens race at Swanley.
Another newly wed Jennie Butler was 7th and Sarah
Belaon 17th to give the Club second place in the team race and ensure second
place overall for the season. With Jenny Neal 18th, Carole Penlington 20th
and Charlotte Stickings 27th the Club were also second in the 6 to score on
the day and overall for the Winter. Carole and Charlotte were 4th and 5th
overall individuals for the season.
Alex Gibbins was first home in the mens race in 12th
place and with David McKinlay 26th, Neil Ayrton 48th and Andy Tucker 62nd
the team were 7th. This left them 5th overall. There were insufficient
numbers to compete in the 12 to score. Alex was 4th overall individual.
While his wife won at Swanley, husband Andy competed
in the Surrey League at Richmond Park finishing in 16th place.
Shaun Lightman finished in 6th place in the Cambridge
Harriers 5km League race walk at Bexley. He timed 29.49.
Parkrun Results
Brockwell park : 84 Mike SIMMS 00:22:48
Crystal Palace : 1 Richard WEBB 00:17:12 3 Marco ARCURI 00:18:20 4
Aleksander WILTSHIRE 00:18:23 6 Jessica Zara KEENE 00:18:48 (1st woman) 7
Alex LEGGATT 00:19:06 10 Charlie DAVIS 00:19:22 16 Angus HARRINGTON 00:20:07
18 Yasmin AUSTRIDGE 00:20:15 23 Arthur CAREY 00:20:26 28 Keir LUNDY 00:20:43
32 Millie SMITH 00:20:49 35 Callum MYATT 00:20:53 38 Tammy FALSHAW 00:21:01
42 Shannon RISKEY 00:21:21 45 Lewis WARREN 00:21:28 48 Alice PRENTICE
00:21:38 57 Grace SCOPES 00:22:05 63 Nigel HAFFENDEN 00:22:26 64 Harrison
PARKER 00:22:27 75 Lauren Bethany GODDARD 00:22:55 79 Chloe KIBBLEWHITE
00:23:00 80 Mick KEENE 00:23:06 82 Lily TAPPENDEN 00:23:21 83 Imogen MEERS
00:23:26 140 Zoe AUSTRIDGE 00:26:18 141 Paul AUSTRIDGE 00:26:19 142 Chloe
HAFFENDEN 00:26:20 144 Sally HAFFENDEN 00:26:26
Greenwich : 5 Niamh BRIDSON HUBBARD 00:20:58 (1st woman)10 Adrian PERRY
00:23:04
Leamington : 1 Georges VACHAROPOULOS 00:17:15
Lloyd park : 1 Georgina TAYLOR 00:21:19 16 Ian TAYLOR 00:26:08
Orpington : 22 Harry William KEENE 00:24:38 77 Karen DESBOROUGH 00:36:49
4/02/14
Blackheath & Bromley athletes of all ages have been in
action across the world and the UK in recent days competing in a variety of
indoor and outdoor competitions. Some have produced performances that have
left them highly ranked Nationally. Many have set personal bests.
Having completed a period of training in the South
African Summer, Serita Solomon flew into a snowy Linz in Austria for the
Gulgi Games. In her first competition of the Winter she timed 8.21 in the 60
metre hurdles, the second fastest by a British athlete this year. She was
delighted to be rewarded for her efforts with a chocolate cake!
Over in Finland at the Botnia Games at Korsholm,
Chioma Matthews also opened her season and put herself in second place in
the National rankings. She finished runner up in the triple jump with a leap
of 13.20.
In the United States, at the New Mexico Team
Invitational at Albequerque, Lorraine Ugen moved up to second in the UK long
jump rankings with a leap of 6.42. At Lexington, Kentucky, Jonathan Ilori
went 5th in the UK triple jump rankings with a leap of 15.25.
Much closer to home a host of Club members set
personal bests at the Better Athletics Crystal Palace 60 metre open meeting.
Fastest of the day was Kieran Daly whose 6.87 was just one hundredth of a
second off his best.
One who did set a best was Korede Osibini in the under
17s age group with 7.92. Others came from Jacob Sheath (8.26), and Toyin
Orelaja (8.36).Best performance in the under 15s came from Magda Cienciala
whose time of 8.01 moves her up to 9th in the National Rankings. Mhairi
Brooks was just one hundredth off her best with 8.32 but there were pbs for
Karina Harris (8.56), Emily Sheppard (8.72), Sophia Harper (8.72), Rachel
Yeldham (8.91), Antonia Alapafuja (8.57).
In the under 13s Grace Fullerton dipped under 9
seconds with a new best of 8.99.
Some of these and others competed at the London Indoor
Games at Lee Valley. Among the personal bests were those achieved by
Anastasia Davies (8.33) in the 60 metres; in the 200 by Luca Taylor (24.86),
Karina Harris (28.64), Sophia Harper (29.79) and Rachel Yeldham (31.08);
Catrin Murphy (43.98) in the 300; and by Isabella Hilditch 8.89 in the 60
hurdles. New bests came too in the long jump from Karina Harris (4.90),
Antonia Alapafuja (4.12) and Rachel Yeldham (3.94).
In the field Eloise Locke was second in the under 15
girls shot with 9.71 with Eve Keith fourth with 9.03.
At the Newham 60 metre races Duayne Bovell set a
seasons best of 7.06 while at the Windsor indoor meeting Fabian Collymore
ran 7.05.
Meanwhile at the other end of the age range British
over 60s record holder Allan Williams cleared 3.45 in the pole vault at the
Vault Cardiff meeting.
Kev May was an emphatic winner of the Club 10 mile
cross country championships at Hayes. He won in 65.24 just over three
minutes clear of Alex Gibbins (68.29), who was using the race as a training
run as he builds up his mileage in preparation for this years London
Marathon. Neil Ayrton took third in 71.11.
First home in the womens race was Jane Bradshaw in
77.08. Rebecca Taylor, who is also running the London Marathon this year,
was second in 79.05 and Carole Penlington third in 83.07.
The race incorporated the latest round of the Bennett
Cup, a series of handicap races which take place throughout the Winter
months. Winner on this occasion was Barry Wetherilt with Claire Austridge
second and Dick Griffin third.
Barry’s victory swept him into the lead of the overall
standings with 271 points. However, as always, there is everything to play
for as David Carton is just five points behind on 266 with Andy Tucker third
on 262. With three races left and 60 points up for grabs for the winner of
each race there are bound to be more position changes.
Four Club members were competing for their
Universities in the BUCS Championships at Stirling. In the mens race Georges
Vacharopoulos (Warwick) finished in 121st with Ross Braden (Canterbury)
161st. Amber Reed (Keele) was 148th in the womens race with Melody Kane
(Brunel) 188th.
Many of the Club’s youngsters represented Kent at the
South Eastern Schools Inter Counties at Southampton. Will Fuller was 5th in
the Senior Boys race and with Richard Webb 11th, Will Ruiz 24th and Tom
Desborough 48th they were 3rd team. First home for the girls was Anna Myers
in 30th with Samantha Leighton 38th and Sonia Woolhouse 46th. Kent finished
3rd again .
In the Intermediate age group Joss Barber finished in
28th in the boys race with Aleksander Wiltshire 47th and Andrew Leggatt
49th. Joanna Clowes was 48th in the girls race while Chloe Kibblewhite
closed in 51st and Leah Everson 69th. They were 6th and 7th respectively in
the team races.
Highlight of the day was a win for Yasmin Austridge in
the Junior Girls race. To add to the celebrations Kent won the team race
with Millie Smith in 8th , Jessica Sellar 32nd and Lauren Tucker 69th among
the finishers. For the boys Jake Potter was 8th, Henry James Cowie 14th and
Coleman Corry 45th as Kent placed 3rd.
Shaun Lightman finished in 10th place in the 10km
London Open Walks meeting at Victoria Park. His time was 62.23 with Peter
Hannell 13th in 65.16 and David Hoben 23rd in 74.16.
Parkruns:
Crystal Palace : 4 Naomi KINGSTON 00:19:19 (first woman) 42 Mike SIMMS
00:22:41 43 John FENWICK 00:22:54
Greenwich : 74 Rich GRANT 00:28:12
Lloyd park: 4 Jessica Zara KEENE 00:20:30 (first woman) 44 Mick KEENE
00:27:39 Newbury : 21 Peter HAMILTON 00:21:18
Orpington : 2 Joseph GEORGIADIS 00:20:16 18 Harrison PARKER 00:23:37 20
Harry William KEENE 00:23:48 23 Adrian PERRY 00:24:04
28/01/14
So fair and foul a day many had not seen at Parliament
Hill Fields. Bright sunshine and near Spring like weather turned to heavy
rain and gale force winds, and the new Blackheath & Bromley Club tent which
stood resplendent at the start of the day ended the afternoon damaged and
only saved from orbit by quick thinking supporters and passers by. So Clean
it did not look. The only constant on the day was the mud.
Blackheath & Bromley’s fortunes at these South Of
England Cross Country Championships were similarly varied. A magnificent
team performance by the under 15 girls squad was the highlight of the day
and there were some tremendous performances in the other younger age groups
but the Senior men will be looking for an improved placing at the National
Championships next month.
It does not seem long ago that the Club dominated the
Senior Mens race winning the Championship seven times in eight years in the
1990s. However, a team is only as good as it’s last race and History will
show that in 2014 the Club are 20th best team in the South Of England, and
if Serpentine Running Clubs B team were scored, the 21st.
Too many runners were not available to compete but
there were some good runs from those there, not least from Alex Gibbins, who
despite being in marathon training, came in 53rd place in a field of nearly
a 1000 finishers.
Similarly Sam Barnes put up a good effort to place
122nd , Kev May powered round to place 162nd and Gareth Evans continues to
improve with a 171st finish. Jonathan Vintner in 268th and Danny Brewer, who
started behind the whole field after mislaying his electronic finishing
chip, in 403rd completed the scoring.
The Senior Women finished in 23rd led home by
improving Carole Penlington in 122nd place. She was backed by team manager
Jane Bradshaw in 127th, Sarah Belaon 162nd Charlotte Stickings 194th and
Claire Austridge in 302nd. Carole, Charlotte and Claire had all had children
racing in the younger age group races.
The Club did not complete teams in the under 20 races
but Will Ruiz had a good run in the mens race in 35th with Amber Reed 39th
and Bethany Frost 67th in the women race.
The under 17 men were also one light of a team member
but Will Fuller had a fine run to finish in 6th place and had to hurdle a
dog at one point. Richard Webb had good run in 20th and Tom Desborough in
97th achieved his best ever placing.
The womens team finished in an excellent 4th place led
home by Niamh Bridson Hubbard who continued her successful Winter by
finishing in 15th place. Charlotte Rhule in 51st, Anna Myers 62nd and
Samantha Leighton 95th completed the scoring.
Going into their race the under 15 girls looked a good
bet for medals but they dominated proceedings with their four scorers in the
top 11 places. After steady starts they moved through the field much to
delight of an increasingly noisy band of supporters. Jessica Keene swept up
to 4th ; Kelsey Fuss, who for much of the race was the Club’s lead runner,
held 6th , and Naomi Kingston and Yasmin Austridge battled together to
finish 8th and 11th respectively.
They won by 41 points from Aldershot Farnham and
District, a big margin. The National Championships should be interesting.
What was also so pleasing was the depth in quality and numbers with another
seven athletes in support.
Marco Arcuri was first home for the boys in 74th and
with Aleksander Wiltshire 88th, Charlie Davis 107th and Joss Barber 116th
they finished in 14th place in the team contest.
Both under 13 squads had fine performances with the
boys 5th and the girls 6th. Henry James Cowie just missed out on a medal as
he came in 4th and he was backed up by Michael Eagling in 31st, Coleman
Corry 61st and George Pope 76th. Demonstrating the quality and enthusiasm of
the squad another nine runners finished for the Club and this was despite
some being unavailable.
For the girls Millie Smith was 21st with Imogen Meers
47th, Jessica Sellar 55th and Emilie Penlington 85th. With a further seven
finishers the squad is looking extremely healthy.
The athletes now look forward to the National
Championships which take place at Nottingham on the 22nd of February.
Alex Bruce Littlewood is currently based in Ireland
and on this occasion could not get over to compete at Parliament Hill. He
was not without a race, however, as he made his debut over 10 miles on the
road. Conditions in the Dungarven 10 in Cork were far from ideal and the
runners were not helped by having to wait on the start line for 15 minutes
in a hail storm while a funeral procession passed by. With strong winds to
contend with as well, 6th place in a time of 50.39 was a good first effort.
A number of the Club’s athletes competed in the London
Indoor Games at Lee Valley with some good results. Dina Asher Smith set a
new best of 7.31 in the 60 metres which is the third fastest in the country
this year and the quickest by an under 20. Montell Douglas time of 7.34 sees
her ranked 4th in the nation. Dina’s time of 24.00 for the 200 metres is the
best Senior and Junior clocking of 2014.
Shannon Hylton timed 24.62 for the 200, while sister
Cheriece’s 55.61is the fastest under 20 400 of the year. Rachel Dickens ran
a seasons best 400 of 55.90 and Dan Putnam started his season with a very
useful 48.23 while Craig Morten timed 50.86.
Jahisha Thomas set a new best of 8.59 in the Senior
womens 60 metre hurdles and Kertis Beswick was just a hundredth of a second
off his best in the under 20 mens event with 8.00. In the field Jermaine
Olasan was second in the long jump with a leap of 7.09.
Shaun Lightman finished in 7th place in the Steyning
15km walk in a time of one hour, 37 minutes and 42 seconds. Peter Hannell
was 9th in 1.40.25
Park runs
Crystal Palace : 31 Glen READ 00:22:07 36 John FENWICK 00:22:25
Dulwich : 16 Fintan PARKINSON 00:18:43
Greenwich : 1 David MCKINLAY 00:17:39 7 Robert PERRY 00:20:10 11 Adrian
PERRY 00:21:34 18 Mike SIMMS 00:22:52
Killerton : 25 Bob MINTING 00:21:43
Princes : 3 Georges VACHAROPOULOS 00:17:25
21/01/14
Blackheath & Bromley athletes brought home 15 medals
from the South of England Indoor Championships at Lee Valley. This meant
that a high proportion of those who competed made the podium.
In the Senior age group Jermaine Olasan claimed gold
in the long jump with a leap of 7.21. Rachel Dickens now has a full set of
Senior sprint medals. Having won the 400 metre title last week, she took
silver in the 200 metres with 24.42 and bronze in the 60 metres in 7.70 the
same time as fourth placed Grace Sheppard.
Like Rachel, Jahisha Thomas is in her first year in
the Senior age group and she celebrated with bronze medals in the 60 metre
hurdles and long jump with performances of 8.67 and 5.94. Kieran Daly and
Oweka Wanogho reached the semis of the mens 60 metres.
Most eye catching race of the day was the under 20
womens 60 metres where three John Blackie coached athletes provided a clean
sweep of the medals for the Club. Dina Asher Smith lived up to her pre race
favourite tag and sped to victory in 7.34, having equalled the Championship
best performance of 7.32 in the Semi final. Shannon Hylton took the silver
medal spot in 7.51 just two hundredths of a second ahead of Vivien Olatunji.
Also on the track, Kertis Beswick’s impressive
finishing dip saw him snatch silver in the 60 metre hurdles in a new
personal best of 7.99 while in the field Kerri Davidson was second in the
triple jump with a leap of 11.88.
The Club only had two athletes in the under 17 womens
60 metres so they could not win a full set of medals. They did, however, do
the next best thing with Maya Bruney first in 7.63 and Jazz Crawford second
in 7.68. Both were personal bests.
Isabella Hilditch took silver in the 60 metre hurdles
in 8.93 in her first year in the age group and with a better start will go
quicker still. Meanwhile in the field two Herbie Kuentslinger coached
athletes won medals in the shot. Eloise Locke was second with 9.79 with Eve
Keith third in 9.72.
The previous weekend five Club members competed in the
hugely successful Vault London which took place at Sutton Arena. The event ,
organised by Club member, International pole vaulter and coach Allan
Williams saw 88 vaulters from across the country take part in an all day
extravaganza.
Amongst those in action were Mark Longhurst who won
the Under 23s contest with a clearance of 4.52. Christina Moore was 3rd in
the senior womens event with a 3.32 while in the under 20s Helena Coleman
set a personal best of 3.22 to finish 3rd. Murray Hilborne cleared 2.62 in
the mens over 45s while Jackie Montgomery went over 2.42 to win the womens
event.
Outdoors many of the Club’s younger athletes were
competing in the County Schools cross country championships striving to gain
selection for the English Schools Championships which take place in March.
The majority of these were at the Kents at Wilmington
with most representing the Bromley squads who enjoyed a most successful
afternoon.
In the Senior Boys race Will Fuller was 5th with Will
Ruiz in 8th and Tom Desborough 19th. Anna Myers was the first of the Club’s
athletes in the girls race finishing in 8th place while Samantha Leighton
was 10th, Lucy Sidey 11th , Sonia Woolhouse 15th and Bethony Frost 16th.
Best turn out of Club runners came in the Intermediate
Girls race where fine packing saw Jessica Keene place 2nd, Georgina Taylor
3rd, Niamh Bridson Hubbard 4th, Kelsey Fuss 5th and Joanna Clowes 9th. Chloe
Kibblewhite in 11th, Shannon Riskey 15th and Leah Everson 20th also made the
top 20.
For the boys Joss Barber was 8th , Marco Arcuri 11th,
Charlie Davis 14th and Aleksander Wiltshire 18th.
Yasmin Austridge continued her fine Winter season with
a third place in the Junior Girls race. Millie Smith placed 8th, Jessica
Sellar 15th and Tamsin Falshaw 20th. The versatile Henry James Cowie took
5th place in the boys race with Jake Potter 7th.
In the accompanying year 7 races races Joseph
Georgiades took second place with Ben Gardiner 10th and Keir Lundy 16th. For
the girls Alice Prentice was third with Imogen Meers 8th, Emilie Penlington
9th and Lauren Goddard 20th.
At the Surrey Schools in Reigate Charlotte Rhule was
19th in the Intermediate Girls race. Best placed Club member, however, was
Michael Eagling who was 10th in the Junior Boys race.
The youngest now look forward to competing in the
South Of England Championships at Parliament Hill this weekend.
Shaun Lightman finished in 16th place in the Enfield
League 5 Mile Race walk at Lee Valley. He timed 49.28 a step up after recent
injury problems.
Park run
Bexley : 13 Harry William KEENE 00:22:50 20 Christopher PIKE 00:23:21 26
Mick KEENE 00:23:49
Crystal Palace : 6 Fintan PARKINSON 00:19:26 8 David BEADLE 00:19:39 44 John
FENWICK 00:22:35 48 Glen READ 00:22:43
Dulwich : 85 John E. TURNER 00:22:28 202 Maz TURNER 00:29:11
Lloyd : 57 Andy TUCKER 00:28:38
Orpington : 11 Graham John COATES 00:21:42 62 Mike SIMMS 00:28:18 92 Adrian
PERRY 00:31:48 106 Karen DESBOROUGH 00:36:18
14/01/14
Rachel Dickens made an instant impact in her first
year in the Senior age group as she won the South of England indoor 400
metre title at Lee Valley. This was particularly pleasing for the 19 year
old Blackheath and Bromley athlete as her Summer season was disrupted by
injury.
She won her heat in 56.52 and then took the title in
56.43 over half a second clear of Windsor’s Lesley Owusu.
Her coach John Blackie enjoyed more success in the
under 20 age group where Shannon and Cheriece Hylton were first and second
respectively in the 200 metres with times of 24.17 and 24.38.
More success came in the under 17s age group where
Isabella Hilditch won the bronze medal in the 300 metres. Having won her
heat in 42.16 she then improved to 41.96 for victory in the semi final. She
improved further to 41.53 to take third in the final.
Days two and three of these Championships take place
this weekend at the same venue.
Meanwhile in America, Jonathan Ilori leapt 7.23 for
the long jump at the Missouri Open in Columbia. He also timed 7.20 for the
60 metres.
Samantha Milner won the shot at the Loughborough Open
Meeting with a throw of 10.98
Alex Gibbins celebrated becoming a father by winning
the Blackheath & Bromley Open 10km cross country race at Hayes, which
included the Club Veterans Championships, the latest Bennett Cup handicap
race and a mob match against Beckenham Road Runners.
In fact the Club had the first five finishers with
Alex winning by 46 seconds in 37.06 from youngster Richard Webb with Gareth
Evans 3rd, Tom Desborough 4th and Neil Ayrton 5th. Sarah Belaon was the
first woman from the Club in 33rd overall, the second female to finish.
In the mob match the Club scored 1359 points to
Beckenham Road Runners 1397 while in the vets championships there were
victories for David Beadle in the over 40s; Neil Ayrton over 50s, Graham
Coates over 60s and Tony Pontifex over 70s. Sally Haffenden won the over 35
womens race with Claire Austridge taking the over 45s title and Maz Turner
the over 55s.
First in the handicap race was Tom Desborough with
David Carton second and Sally Haffenden third. In the overall Bennett Cup
Handicap series after five events David Carton leads on 230 points with
Nigel Bulmer second on 212. With four races still to go there is still
everything to play for as Barry Wetherilt and Steve Pairman are both locked
together in third on 211 points and a further four athletes have over 200
points.
The next race in the series is the prestigious Club 10
mile cross country championships which take place on Sunday the 2nd of Feb
at 10.30.
Andy Rayner finished 23rd in the latest Surrey Cross
Country League race at Putney.
Park runs
Bexley : 58 Nigel HAFFENDEN 00:26:42 59 Chloe HAFFENDEN 00:26:45
Brockwell : 92 Mike SIMMS 00:23:07
Crystal Palace : 4 Kelsey FUSS 00:19:16 5 Naomi KINGSTON 00:19:28 7 Rowan
FUSS 00:19:49 35 Mary GUY 00:22:32
Dulwich : 47 Peter HAMILTON 00:20:54
Greenwich : 3 Aleksander WILTSHIRE 00:18:54 7 Niamh BRIDSON HUBBARD 00:20:07
74 Rich GRANT 00:27:02
Orpington : 13 Jessica Zara KEENE 00:21:53 18 Joseph GEORGIADIS 00:22:39 35
Harry William KEENE 00:24:02 38 Joanna CLOWES 00:24:21 55 Mick KEENE
00:26:13 68 Adrian PERRY 00:27:49 70 Andrew CLOWES 00:27:52 126 Karen
DESBOROUGH 00:35:43
7/01/14
Blackheath & Bromley athletes defied the foul weather
conditions and a testing course at the Kent Cross Country Championships at
Hythe to win six sets of team and seven individual medals.
Michael Skinner made a rare appearance at these
Championships picking up the silver medal in the Senior Mens race. Alex
Bruce Littlewood, whose flight from the United States had only landed at
9.30 that morning, finished in 4th. With Andy Rayner 24th, Danny Brewer
28th, Gareth Evans 33rd and Ross Braden 36th the Club won bronze in the six
to score team race. However, they did not have sufficient finishers to
feature in the 12 to score.
There were bronze medals also for the Senior Women led
home by Carole Penlington in 15th with Jane Bradshaw 16th and Sarah Belaon
19th, but with five finishers there were not enough for the 6 to score
contest.
Amber Reed was back from University to finish in 5th
place in the under 20 womens race with Kate Curran 9th. They missed a third
runner to score in the team race and unfortunately no under 20 men were
available to race on the day.
Niamh Bridson Hubbard finished in second place in the
under 17 womens race and with the support of Samantha Leighton in 10th and
Chloe Haffenden in 18th the Club were 4th in the team race.
For the men Will Fuller was 5th, Richard Webb 6th and
Tom Desborough 19th . It was a 4 to score contest in the team race.
Having won the Kent League title before Christmas, the
under 15 girls were favourites for the team race and did not disappoint. The
only uncertainty was what their finishing order would be. On this occasion
it was Jessica Keene who was first home in 3rd place, with Naomi Kingston
4th, Georgina Taylor 5th, Kelsey Fuss 6th and Yasmin Austridge 7th. Jessica,
Naomi and Georgina made up the winning team and if the County scored B teams
Kelsey and Yasmin plus 18th placed Chloe Kibblewhite would have been third.
he boys team won silver medals led home by Marco
Arcuri in 6th place with Jake Potter 9th, Niyi Akin Agunbiade 11th and Alek
Wiltshire 13th.
Most successful squad of the day were the under 13
boys who provided a clean sweep of the individual medals. Henry James Cowie
won the race by nearly half a minute in 11.50 with Dillon Robertson 2nd and
Peter Guy 3rd. Coleman Corry in 6th was the fourth scorer for the winning
team and, again, if B teams were scored the next four Club members Angus
Harrington in 9th,George Pope 11th , Joseph Georgiadis 14th and Lewis
Stickings 18th would have finished third.
The girls team came second with Millie Smith wining
the individual bronze medal. Jessica Sellar in 8th and Grace Scopes 10th
completed the scoring trio.
The squads should now just about have time to get
their kit cleaned ready for the South Of England Championships which take
place at Parliament Hill Fields on the 25th of January. The Nationals follow
at the end of February.
Conditions were more clement for those competing
indoors. Mark Cryer made the long journey to Sheffield for the England and
Wales Combined Events Championships. He was rewarded with personal bests of
1.85 in the high jump, 8.76 in the 60 metre hurdles and 11.24 in the shot.
Along with his performances in the 60 and 1000 metres, long jump and pole
vault, he finished in 13th place overall in a personal best points score of
4718, an improvement of over 200 points.
With the other indoor Championships soon to take
place, many athletes were putting the finishing touches to their
preparations by competing in various open events.
At the Metaswitch Games at Lee Valley an impressive
showing from the John Blackie training group saw Dina Asher Smith, Shannon
and Cheriece Hylton, Vivien Olatunji, Grace Sheppard and Jazz Crawford all
under 7.80 seconds for 60 metres. New Club member Jazz’s time of 7.76 was a
personal best.
Isabella Hilditch also set a new best of 8.96 in the
60 metre hurdles while the evergreen Helen Godsell timed 8.95 for the 60
metres flat.
At Windsor, Reece Young set a new best of 8.24 in the under 20 mens 60 metre
hurdles.
Meanwhile at the South London Athletic Network races
at Sutton Arena, Kieron Daly returned from injury to time a very useful 6.86
for the 60 metres. There were also new bests for youngsters Myles Xavier,
Caelan Raju, Mhairi Brooks and Greta Elliott.
Parkruns
Cambridge : 10 Oliver RUSSELL 00:19:44
Crystal Palace : 4 Rowan FUSS 00:20:02 31 John FENWICK 00:23:45
Dulwich : 8 Marco ARCURI 00:18:38 15 James PERRY 00:19:45 26 Nigel HAFFENDEN
00:20:20 35 Adrian PERRY 00:21:35 39 Mike SIMMS 00:22:07 69 Sally HAFFENDEN
00:23:21 81 James MORRIS 00:25:32 117 Chloe HAFFENDEN 00:26:30 Finsbury Park
: 23 Austin ADAMS 00:24:57 52 Austin ADAMS 00:25:06
Greenwich : 3 Steven PAIRMAN 00:20:15 10 Robert P BROWN 00:22:29 13
Christopher PIKE 00:24:54 17 David CARTON 00:23:36
Kingston : 29 Peter HAMILTON 00:21:40
Lloyd Park: 10 Iain SWATTON 00:23:11 19 Iain SWATTON 00:22:47 31 Nick PERRY
00:24:37 48 Nigel BULMER 00:25:52 53 Adrian PERRY 00:26:25 74 Andrew PINO
00:30:08
Orpington : 10 Harrison PARKER 00:24:11 23 Anne CILIA 00:26:25
Roundshaw Downs : 21 Angus HARRINGTON 00:22:51 26 Nick PERRY 00:23:26 61
Adrian PERRY 00:27:24
Sunderland : 4 Jessica Zara KEENE 00:19:33 33 Harry William KEENE 00:23:25
34 Billy KEENE 00:23:31 35 Mick KEENE 00:23:33
Some of the above results feature times and positions from two races at the
same venue
