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Jul to Sep 2017

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Press Releases for July, August & September 2017

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July 2017 August 2017 September 2017
  25/07/17     30/08/17     27/09/17  
18/07/17     22/08/17     19/09/17  
11/07/17     14/08/17     12/09/17  
4/07/17     9/08/17     4/09/17  
      1/08/17        

27/09/17

Southern Road Relays

A nice warm day at Crystal greeted the 92 BBHAC athletes representing the club in the annual SEEA 3, 4, and 6 stage road relays where the club had athletes in 9 age group races.

From a spectator point of view it’s not a great spectacle because each leg starts and finishes on the old running track but it’s not easy to watch the athletes once they leave the stadium. The track itself is in great shape but the stadium has been very neglected down the years which is a shame for such a once hallowed athletics venue.

Anyway this did not detract from some excellent team and individual performances with many happy Blackheath coaches also on display. First up was the under 13 boys 4 leg race where BBHAC rallied well to finish 4th of the 46 finishing teams. In the under 13 girls race the club were able to filed 4 different 3 girls teams and they ran well to finish, 11th, 27th, 30th and 39th.

Only one team up in the under 15 boys race who after a slow start rallied well for 24th place just before the under 15 girls race started with BBHAC fielding 6 x 3 girl teams. What a great performance from all the athletes as not only did the club win the race by a considerable margin, but the second team finished a very credible third despite last leg runner Zakia Mossi falling flat on her face with 60 yards to go,getting up and stealing back the third place she had briefly given up when falling. The other teams were also well to the front in 13th, 29th, 35th and 40th places. Ava White ran the fastest leg of the day in 9.18, Zakia Mossi 3rd fastest in 9.34, Anwen Thomas 6th fastest in 9.45 and Eliie Dolby 17th fastest in 9.52.

The under 17 men finished in a highly commendable 11th place fielding only one team, while the under 17 ladies fielded three teams who not only went onto win with the A team by a clear margin, but the B team finished 9th and the final team 19th. Yasmin Marghini ran the third fastest leg of the day with 9.16, Eloise ’Shaughnessy 9.24 for 5th, Sophie Hoare 6th fastest in 9.30 and Madalina Samolia 16th fastest in 10.01.

In the senior mens event (6 legs) we fielded many athletes and managed to complete two teams with the A team 16th and the B team 64th. On leg one Phil Sesemann was first back into the stadium and ran the fastest time of the day with 14.26, second leg runner Will Fuller ran a 15.10 leg and held a narrow lead and after that we just seemed to get caught by teams fielding their stronger athletes in the middle order. However we finished in the the top 25 and have qualified for the Nationals later this year so a great achievement. In the womens race the ladies raced well for 12th and 40th place with Carolyn Johnson and Niamh Bridson Hubbard getting round in under 13 minutes on their respective legs.

Elsewhere in Carshalton our pole vaulters were in action and proud coach John Wakeman was able to boast about 5 news pbs from his 8 athletes competing. Zoe Austridge jumped 2.73m, Ethan Kitterdige 2.93m, Ellie Barrett 3.13m, Coleman Corry 3.23m and George Pope 3.93m, every athlete making significant improvements.

Nick Brooks

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19/09/17

Our Junior Girls took 3rd place at the European Junior Clubs Cups Final in Brno CZE.

The Blackheath & Bromley Junior Women returned to Brno in the Czech Republic last weekend intent on improving upon their 3rd place result the last time the European Champion Clubs Cup was held there in 2013. The day dawned grey and wet and hardly conducive to athletic performance but not too different from too many evenings at Norman Park, so, although not entirely in our element, we weren't exactly in unchartered territory.

The first two events were those possibly most affected by wet weather: nevertheless, in the hammer, Victoria Wiltshire threw further than in Spain last year only to finish one place further down the field in a solid 3rd place, a position replicated by Sophie Dowson in the pole vault by keeping her head and beating more fancied vaulters who couldn't cope with the conditions. Triple Jump came next and Annie Davies, who has struggled with a nagging foot injury all season, produced a SB in round one , just shy of 12m, to take the lead, which she held until the end of round 3. Annoyingly, two more athletes squeezed past her in the final round of 4 (European field rules applying) and she ended up just outside the medals. As light rain continued to fall, attention moved to the High Jump. Rebecca Hawkins, wrapped in a blanket when not actually jumping, literally took it all in her stride and gained a fine 2nd place behind a very accomplished Danish jumper. Meanwhile, Hannah Macaulay, a first year U17 and youngest in the field, commenced battle in the discus. She threw well, but, in a tightly packed field ended on the wrong end of the results in 7th.

That finally brought us to the track programme with the 400H. Steph Fisher had missed a chunk of training during the late summer while she participated in a world challenge event in Asia, followed by illness. Recent training suggested she had recovered sufficiently to take this on and she was in the mix for 300m only to run out of legs resulting in an altercation with the last hurdle and another 7th place. Moving to the 800m, Katy-Ann McDonald controlled the race from the front for 700m only to miss out on 1st place in the run-in, but still securing our best result so far in 2nd. More good points then followed from Modupe Shokunbi in the 100m. Isolated in lane 8, she ran a measured race to secure 3rd.

So, no wins yet, but a series of fine performances saw us leading the other teams after 9 events. That lead improved further with Euro Junior 200m Champion, Maya Bruney, securing our first win, in the 400m. But then we stumbled. Our premier long jumper, Holly Mills, hoping to defend her title from 2016, had picked up a suspected calf tear in the YDL Finals and had been, in her own words, 'gutted' not to be able to make the trip. With Funminiyi Olajide just too young to be eligible, Jamiyla Robinson-Pascal stepped in at late notice. But, having thought her season had finished 2 weeks earlier, she wasn't quite able to produce the kind of jump she'd been reeling out earlier in the summer and ended up in 8th, less than 20cm behind 3rd. At the same time, Hannah Macaulay was producing a PB with the 4kg shot, but it was only good enough for another 7th place. Her time will come.

Back on the track, Yasmin Austridge was negotiating the extra distance of the 3000m s/c and ground out a gutsy 6th place. (Having never understood why European Athletics always insisted on Junior Women, who could be as young as 16, taking on an event that can reduce grown men to tears, it is hoped that the survey of teams carried out during the competition, suggesting a move to 2000m from next year, will meet with overwhelming support.) Such is the level of competition that we had now slipped to 4th equal in the standings. The team manager had also downgraded his prediction of the winning score to 112 points, a score we could still meet, but, with seven events to go, we would need to medal in every one of them and we couldn't afford too many of them to be bronze!

And so our fight back began. In the 200m, Immanuela Aliu was just run out of 2nd place, but we had the first of those medals. Katy-Ann McDonald was next back on the track. Again she controlled the race from the front, ensuring the early pace was manageable after her earlier 800m, and again she led into the final straight. In the closest race of the day there was nothing between her and her Danish opponent over the last 80m, with the latter just squeezing in at the finish. Another fine silver for Katy-Ann. We were still in with a chance.

The last field event of the afternoon saw almost half the field take a liking to Bekah Walton's javelin. She remained completely unfazed by this and ensured it was available for each of her 4 throws, allowing her to put together one of her best ever series. There was clearly a really big throw in there trying to get out and maybe two more attempts might have released it, but Bekah had to settle for 3rd. We weren't giving up and the travelling supporters had more to cheer with Issie Hilditch dominating the sprint hurdles to produce a comfortable defence of her title.

It was now between us, the Turkish defending champions and the local hosts from Brno and they weren't about to make things easy for us. We were picking up the medals we needed but every time we seemed to be joined by those two teams on the podium. Jess Keene, winner in both Istanbul and Castellon, was our rep in the final individual event of the day, the 3000m. In the previous races, Jess had led from the front and ground down the field before romping to victory. She applied the same tactics this year almost to the same effect, but she couldn't shake off the Turkish runner who made an early run for home with 800m to go, opening a gap that Jess was unable to close. The Czechs could 'only' manage 4th.

Thus, with only the relays to go, we were still in the hunt, but the odds were beginning to look against us. We don't usually think about losing the 4x100m, but we all know it's all about GTBR and our quartet of Parris Johnson, Maya Bruney, Immanuela Aliu and Modupe Shokunbi didn't disappoint, bringing us home comfortably, followed in by... Fenerbahce and AK Olymp Brno. The game was, barring something extraordinary, pretty much up and with Maya Bruney deciding she was unable to take her place in the long relay, even a miracle might not be enough. But we're not a team that gives in. Despite having undertaken one of the most gruelling doubles on offer and having had little recovery time, Katy-Ann volunteered to step in. After fine legs from Belinda Clark, Issie Hilditch and Megan Walsh, she ran a consummate anchor to bring us home in 2nd place... behind a very strong Czech quartet.

We'd won all the seven medals but had come up just short again: Fenerbahce had won with 110 points, AK Olymp Brno had 107 and we had 104, with a significant gap to the Danes, Sparta AM in 4th. Team Manager, Tim Soutar summed up the day: ' This was another magnificent performance from the girls and I'm immensely proud of them. We just missed out last year and, after what was an even better performance this year, we've done so again. But, they deserve to be European Champions and we'll go away and see if we can't make it actually happen next year, when we'll have the boys there too to cheer us on.

Tim Soutar

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12/09/17

Blackheath & Bromley Track Round Up

The penultimate weekend of the track season saw our athletes on duty in Newcastle, Oxford and Bromley in the Great North Games, the Southern Inter Counties for under 15 and under 20s and the Kent Relays.

First up was Dina Asher Smith on the quayside in Gateshead alongside the river Tyne competing in the rarely run 150m sprint on a specially constructed track. In a field of only four athletes Dina won comfortably in 16.70 on prime time BBC TV, a highly respectable time.

At the Southern Inter Counties match for u15/u20 athletes BBHAC had many athletes in action with 5 athletes recording wins. Matthew Knight won the under 20 mens 200m in a new pb of 22.01 and Luc Durant won the shot with an effort of 14.74m. In the under 15 boys events Ollie Briars won the 300m in 36.52, while in the under 15 ladies events Holly Mpassy won the 300m in 40.21, Morgan Squibb easily won the 1500m in 4.37.14 with Naomi Toft 2nd.

Funiminiyi Olajide an under 17 athlete jumped well for 2nd in the long jump against much older athletes, and Nicole Farmer was 2nd in the under 20 ladies triple jump. Coleman Corry was 4th in the 400m hurdles, George Pope 4th in the pole vault, and Anika Olalere 5th in the ladies shot, with Alice Prentice 9th in the high jump and Carys Marsden 8th in the discus. In the under 15 age group events, Ethan Kitteridge took 4th in the pole vault, Kyron Morgan took 4th in the 100m, Jacob Byfield 5th in the triple jump and 8th in the long jump, while Akeiyla Robinson Pascal finished 4th in the long jump.

At the time of writing there are no results to hand from the Kent Relays but results will be published once we have access to them.

This weekend sees the ladies under 20 team in action in Brno in the Czech Republic representing GB in the European clubs finals. One athlete per event plus relays, a strong team is participating, ably backed up by a team of strong reserves.

There is also the Will Bolton Cross Country Relays at Sparrows Den on Saturday in West Wickham preceded by junior races.

Nick Brooks

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Blackheath and Bromley Harriers Athletics Club are officially the best young athletes track and field team in Great Britain

BBBHAC were the only club to have teams in both age group finals at Birmingham Alexander Stadium and while our LAG (lower age group) U13 and U15 boys and girls placed a fantastic second in their final and only three points behind Sale but ahead of pre match favourites Southampton, the UAG (upper age group) went one better winning their final, securing a place in the European final, completing a historic weekend for the club in what is seen by many as the best weekend ever in the club history for youth athletics.

The UAG ladies were current champions and excelled once again to retain the title but the UAG men were outstanding and went one better than last year to grab the title for themselves and in doing so earning the right to represent Great Britain in the European Champions Clubs Cup Final in September 2018 alongside our ladies. Britain has never had just one club representing them in both mens and womens matches and this represents a massive achievement.

The BBHAC LAG team qualified for their final as South region runners up to Southampton AC and were also up against the Scottish champions and last years runners up Edinburgh AC, along with the other best club teams from across the UK. The competition was fierce and four teams crept ahead with Southampton leading early on followed by North region champions Sale Harriers, BBHAC and Edinburgh. As the afternoon progressed BBHAC and Sale pulled level in front with Southampton dropping back to 3rd. With the final few events being contested and no one club dominating the result was going to be tight.

A tense wait for the final results saw Edinburgh AC 4th with 536 points, Southampton in 3rd with 594.5 points, BBHAC second with 599 points and Sale 1st with 602 points proving what an exciting and tense competition it had been. Just 7.5 points separated the top three teams and only three points between BBHAC and Sale. A truly memorable final.

In the first finals (LAG) on Saturday there were many outstanding moments including Holly Mpassy’s impressive 300m race earning a league and club record of 40.15, earning her the “Norma Blaine MBE Award” for the most outstanding performance of the day and Lily Meers had the stadium on their feet as she showed so much guts and determination in holding off her rival for most of her under 13 1200m, with the last 100m being the most exciting end of the race, that saw Lily win by the smallest of margins. It brought a lump to most people's throat.

On Sunday when the older age group athletes arrived for action at the end of a long season there was a sense that the team wanted to try and win that much more having learned that the younger age group had been pipped the day before. Despite injuries and athletes being unavailable the entire team performed admirably in cold and damp conditions unlike the sunshine and warmth on Saturday. With 21 gold medals in the A string events, 19 silvers and 11 bronze backed up 25 golds in the B string, 7 silvers and 10 bronzes it is no wonder BBHAC won the match by a landslide recording 994 points to Shaftesbury’s 827 and Edinburgh’s 822. With athletes doubling up or covering because of injury BBHAC were to the fore in almost every event. They now rightly take their place in Europe in 12 months, the stuff of a club treasurer’s nightmare !

We wouldn’t have been able to achieve as much as we have without the great support we’ve had from BBHAC club officials, coaches, team managers, parents, grandparents, families and friends. Three coach loads and a lot of cars ensured all athletes arrived on time and had a great deal of support behind them.

Full results can be found here as there are far too many athletes to mention in one report.

http://www.thepowerof10.info/results/results.aspx?meetingid=195343 

Nick Brooks

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30/08/17

Great warm-up for many for the YDL Finals next weekend

The England Athletics Champs for under 15s and under 17s were held at Bedford this past weekend and BBHAC athletes registered 14 top 10 finishes which augurs well for the YDL Finals in Birmingham on September 2nd and 3rd.

The highlights of the weekend were clearly a great win in the under 17 mens 400m by Ethan Brown in 47.82 which is a new club under 17 record too, and Funminiyi Olajide winning the under 17 ladies long jump with 5.86m. Morgan Squibb ran strongly for second in the under 15 girls 1500m in 4.35.67 and Oliver Briars matched his English Schools performance with a fine 3rd place in the under 15 boys 300m in 36.56, and to complete the medal haul Ben Sutton took a great third place in the under 15 boys long jump with 6.68m.

There were hard earned 4th places for Izzie Bridge in the under 17 ladies 10km walk in a new club record of 28.46.95, Coleman Corry 56.44 and a new pb in the under 17 mens 400m hurdles and Hannah MacAulay in the under 17 ladies discus with 39.77m. Ellie Dolby ran well for 5th in the under 15 girls 800m in 2.18.04, Pedro Gleadall leapt a mighty new pb of 4.11m for 5th in the under 17 mens pole vault and Lauren Farley threw a new pb of 38.74m in the under 17 ladies javelin.

Other top 10 performances included Dillon Claydon 7th in the under 15 boys discus with 37.74m, Karina Harris 7th in the under 17 ladies triple jump, while Ethan Kitteridge vaulted 2.81m for 9th in the under 15 boys pole vault and Ellie Barrett leapt 2.91m in the under 17 ladies event.

Elsewhere at the ISTAF event in Berlin both Adam Gemili and Dina Asher-Smith continued their fine end of season form with Dina winning the 200m in 22.41 beating the world silver medallist, and Adam taking third in the 100m in 10.10.

At the Southern Counties Vets Champs at Kingston Tim Nash won the mens 50 age group 800m in 2.21.54, and at the London Inter Club Challenge at Lea Valley Rob Sutherland won the triple jump with 14.86m. Finally in Tonbridge Oliver Robertson took 4th place in the Kent Under 13 Champs in the heptathlon.

In Birmingham this coming Saturday the club are in action in the YDL under 13 and 15 national final, and on Sunday the under 17 and under 20 teams are in action in their final with the winning senior team going on to represent Great Britain in the European Clubs Final in September 2018.

Nick Brooks

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22/08/17

Busy weekend with BBHAC athletes at 6 venues across the land

Southern League
First up at home in Norman Park was the Southern League match for our men and women where a solid team performance would see BBHAC finish 2nd in the league out of 16 teams. They duly obliged winning the meeting with 221.5 points from Bedford on 206 points.

With 14 A string wins and 14 B string wins, the club were well to the fore in most events. The men won many A string events with Will Ruiz in the 5000m winning easily, Coleman Corry an easy winner in the 400m hurdles, Joss Barber in the 2000m steeplechase, Tom French in the long jump with three jumps in excess of 7m, a double by Louis Mascarenhas in the shot and discus, and Steve Timmins winning the javelin.

In the ladies A string events there were wins for Immanuela Aliu in the 200m, Krystal Galley in the 400m, Jess Keene the 1500m, Isabella Hilditch in the 100m hurdles, Zara Asante both the long jump and triple jump and Sam Milner the discus.

Notable B string wins for Coleman Corry in the pole vault with 2.90m for a new pb, and also 5.95m for a new pb in the long jump, and Dele Aladese 41.43m for a new pb in the discus. New member John Cooke won the B string javelin and for the ladies Jess Keene won the 800m, Niamh Bridson Hubbard the 1500m, Emma Rowland the 3000m , Parris Johnson the 100m, Jamiyla Robinson-Pascal the triple jump and Carys Marsden the discus.

BMC Meeting Stretford
Not content with racing the following day, Will Fuller ran 3.45.39 for a new pb in the 1500m and a nice cash prize just ahead of Phil Sesemann in 3.46.45, a nice warm up for both athletes to double on Sunday.

National League Division 1 Manchester
Some of the Southern team left sharply after the match to head to Manchester for the final league match of the season, and with a depleted team of 15 athletes compared to some teams with 25 athletes, the club finished a spirited 6th on the day with 238 points and 5th overall in the league which was a great achievement given we could still have won promotion on the final day if things had gone our way. We say good by to Cardiff and Swansea who won promotion with Basingstoke and Glasgow relegated to be replaced by Liverpool and Southampton coming down and Kingston and Herne Hill coming up.

No A string wins but some great efforts and a host of new pbs. Ever present Dan Putnam was a close second in the 100/200 in 10.74 and 21.26, also ran both relays including a 48.1 split in the 4x400m. Dan was easily the club’s highest point scorer across the whole season.

Rob Sutherland jumped a new pb in the long jump with 6.61m for 4th, and Ross Braden ran 15.05.97 for a massive new 5000m pb. Luc Durrant also threw a huge new shot pb of 14.73m for 3rd in the A strong shot. Will Fuller ran 3.51.66 to win the 1500m B string just behind Phil Sesemann who was 3rdin the A string, and then 20 minutes later ran a 14.29.87 for third in the A string 5000m, Phil also ran strongly for 4th in the 800m A string losing out in a tight finish with 1.54.91.

James Habergahm had also run 800m in the BMC event the previous night and then took 2nd in the B string 800m, ran the B string 400m and to finish with ran a 50.22 pb split in the 4x400m relay. Also spare a thought for teenager Matthew Knight who only 50 metres into his senior debut in the 200m pulled his hamstring meaning he could not finish the race and some frantic relay team rearrangements were needed as he was due to run both. Adam Herring had the previous day run 4 sprint events and he too travelled to Manchester where he ran the 400m and both relays, and Steve Timmins continued his multi event efforts on both days as had Louis Mascarenhas and Kieron Murphy.

IAAF Diamond League Birmingham
With Adam Gemili being disqualified in the 100m for a false start it was left to Dina Asher Smith to fly the club flag. Dina ran a seasons best 11.13 in the qualifying round and then ran a little slower in the final for 5th place but in doing so managed to beat Dafne Schippers the world 200m champion from London. Each week Dina is improving and no doubt soon will be breaking both 11 and 22 seconds for the 100/200m.

SEAA Under 15/17s Champs Crystal Palace
The weekend also saw many of the clubs young athletes in action with Holly Mpassy winning the under 15 girls 200m in 25.75, Morgan Squibb winning the 800m in a new pb of 2.12.14 with Zakia Mossi 2nd in 2.12.85, Ellie Dolby win the 1500m in 4.47.39. In the under 15 boys events Dillon Claydon won the discus with a throw of 37.85m.

In the under 17 ladies events Eloise Locke won the javelin with a throw of 37.97m, and in the mens under 17 events Ethan Brown won the 200m in 22.22 having taken 2nd in the 100m in 11.12 and a new pb.

There were also some events for the under 13 athletes and although not finals some of our athletes produced some amazing performances including Emily Kerr fastest in the 100m with 12.86 for a new club record, also 2nd in the 200m in 27.30 with Tiana Lewis 29.47 and Georhgia Sullivan 29.52. Amarisa Sibley continues her fine form winning the 800m in 2.23.94, Sophie Kerr second fastest in the 70m hurdles in 12.00 and a 4.75m long jump with Tianna Lewis leaping 4.14m.

Blackheath Open Meeting - Norman Park
Monday night saw an open meeting aimed at the hurdles with a few other events thrown in. Highlight of the evening was Amarisa Sibley running the under 13 600m in 1.39.37 for a massive new club record.

Nick Brooks

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14/08/17

World Gold and Silver Medals for Blackheath athletes

Dina Asher-Smith missed out on the bronze medal in the IAF World Championship womens 200m by 7/100ths of second to an athlete who should have won the 400m (Miller-Uibo), with Dina running 22.22 for 4th place and her third best time ever. Many of us are wondering what might have happened had Dina been injury free all season.

That performance was outstanding whether Dina had been injured or not and will have given her a great sense of achievement and any disappointment was shortlived as Dina ran the third leg of the 4 x 100m relay in both the qualifying rounds and the final where the team recorded fantastic times and more importantly in the final ran the US team close in winning silver medals.

This adds to the bronze that Dina won at the Olympics in Rio in 2016, hopefully with this trend gold is to follow in 2018 !

Adam Gemili had no such disappointment in the individual events because injury arguably robbed him of a place in the 200m because the trials came at a time when he needed rest and recovery. Anyway every cloud has a silver lining, or in this case a gold lining as Adam was selected quite rightly to run the second leg in the 4 x100m relay for the GB team. Qualifying was taken so seriously given the GBs track record in recent years in poor baton exchange that they put the strongest team out in qualifying and the final and like the ladies team ran superbly in both rounds. However, in the final the GB team held on to beat the USA team and win the gold medal in a new UK and European record. Adam ran brilliantly as did the rest of the team to give the GB team its first sprint relay gold at these championships. The club now looks forward to seeing what Adam can do in his individual events for the rest of the season now having recovered from injury, we could always use him in the Southern League or National matches at the weekend !!
 

Nick Brooks

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9/08/17

Blackheath see all age groups on action this week

Young Athletes

The BBHAC under 13s and under 15s were n action this week at the final Kent Young athletes match at Gillingham.

There were many fine performances pn the day but the highlights are understandably the following;

In the Under 13 Girls Emily Kerr won the 75m in 9.7 for a new Kent and Club Record and also won the 70m Hurdles in 11.5 equalling the Kent and Club Record. Amarisa Sibley won the 800m in 2.22.2 for a new Kent Record and Abigial Smith won the 1k walk in 5.03 also for a new Kent and Club Record.

In the Under 15 Girls Eve Ward, Shakanya Osahon, Eva Stephanou and Holly Mpassy won the 4 x 300m relay 2.54.9 in a new Kent record

The club won the Kent League with 31 league points from Meday & Maidstone in 2nd on 27 points, with the under 15 boys, under 13 girls and under 15 girls all winning their age group leagues. In Division 2 the club finished a close second on 83 points to Tonbridge on 84, with the under 15 girls inning their age group in the league.

Masters Athletes

Following her success earlier in the week in the womens age 60 age group, Helen Godsell went on to win the 200m in 29.71 and also participated in both winning relay teams . That is 100m, 200m, 4x100m and 4x400m with the added bonus that the British squad broke the world record in the last of these.

IAAF World Champs London

With Adam Gemili only selected for the sprint relay later in the week, it was left to Dina Asher Smith and Shannon Hylton to fly the club flag in the womens 200m. With tight qualifying conditions Shannon ran solidly, looked great for 150m and just failed to close it out finishing 4th in 23.39 and some way down on her pb. This unluckily was 1/100th short of the time needed to progress to the semi finals but no such problem for Dina who won her heat in 22.73 and a season’s best to progress to the semis as 4th fastest qualifier and every hope of making the final.

Nick Brooks

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1/08/17

Blackheath Round Up across the ages

The UK CAU championships took place at Bedford at the weekend and there were 7 club athletes representing their counties in basically what is the old Inter Counties event.

Jonathan Ilori jumped 15.89m for a great second in the triple jump and also 7.16m for 4th in the long jump, while Scott Huggins leapt 5.05m for 3rd in the pole vault. Zara Asante took 4th in the ladies triple jump with 12.44m, Matthew Blandford 5th in the discus with 53.18m, Dan Putnam 7th in the 200m in 21.73, and Rob Sutherland 14.75m for 7th in the triple jump. Continuing her fine form following European success the previous week, Maya Bruney finished 2nd the ladies 400m in a brand new pb of 53.18 narrowly missing the club under 20 record by 2/100ths.

Some of the under 13 athletes were also competing at Kingsmeadow in their inter counties event where Sophie Kerr ran new pbs in the 100/200 in 13.28 and 27.70, while Rianna Rennie also recorded new pbs of 13.79 and 28.47. Sophie’s twin sister Emily Kerr achieved a new pb in the 70 metre hurdles with 11.86 and also broke the club under 13 long jump record winning easily with 4.97m. With Oliver Robertson winning the 75m hurdles in 12.11 and Amarisa Sibley taking 3rd in the 800m, it was a great day for BBHAC athletes.

The previous week is was also noted that in 22 different 1500m races at the Watford Open Graded meeting there were fine new pbs for under 15 lady Morgan Squibb with 4.34.67 and for Dan Kennedy in a mens race with 4.04.67. Phil Sesemann ran 8.16.14 for 11th in a competitive 3000m but must have been feeling the efforts of his national league double a few days earlier.

At the other end of the age scale our evergreen Helen Godsell became the W60 100m European Champion, after winning on 29 July in Aarhus in a time of 14.37 into a -3.6 wind.

Nick Brooks

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25/07/17

Bruney wins European Under 20 - 200m Title

At the European under 20 championships in Grosetto in Italy, Maya Bruney ran superbly to win the ladies 200m by a clear margin and a great new pb of 23.04. Later Maya ran a leg in the Great Britain relay team which won the bronze medal.

After a disappointing performance in the discus, Divine Oladipo rallied well to take 4th place in the shot with 16.03m , while third team member James Whiteaker failed to make the men’s javelin final but did well to gain selection and will learn from his adventure.

Teenager Holly Mills was selected to carry the England team flag at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas where she went on to win the ladies long jump with a leap of 6.19m.

Last Friday Dina Asher Smith continued to prove the selectors right in selecting her for the 200m at the upcoming world champs in London by taking third place in the Diamond League in Monaco in a season’s best of 22.89 meaning that BBHAC will have two athletes running as Shannon Hylton will also be competing.

Finally at the Allianz Stadium in Barnet the under 17s and under 20s mens and womens teams were in action in the final league match of the YDL season and having already qualified for the final in September they duly won the last match with 791.5 points with SBH second on 737 points and Windsor third on 705.5 points.

In the under 20 mens events there were good A string wins for Camron Lyttle in the 100m in 10.99, Ricky Lutakome in the 800m in 1.53.23, Lewis Mills in the steeplechase in 6.23.14 and Luc Durant a massive new pb in the shot with 15.40m to rank 4th in the UK in the under 20s age group. The team also won the sprint relay and were backed up by B string wins for Matthew Knight in both the 200m and 400m and Charlie Davis in the steeplechase.

On the under 17 mens events there were A string wins for Kyle Reynolds Warmington in the 100m in 22.52, Peter Guy in the 800m with 1.58.90, Michael Eagling the 3000 in 9.16,89, Caelan Raju the 400m hurdles in 62.70, Harrison Thorne 1.90m in the high jump with the team winning the 4x400m relay. Good support came in the B string with wins for Callum Myatt in the 3000m, Prince Reid in the steeplechase, Cameron Swatton the hammer and Charlie Short in the discus.

In the ladies under 20 events there were A string wins for Modupe Shokunbi in the 100m in 12.31, Jess Keene won the 3000m in 10.14.37 with Niamh Bridson Hubbard winning the B string, Isabella Hilditch took the hurdles with Annie Davies winning the B string and also the B string 100m, Jamiyla Robinson Pascal won the long jump and also the B string triple jump, Anika Olalere won the shot and Bekah Walton the javelin. Also plenty of B string wins to report with Parris Johnson winning the 200m, Katy Ann McDonald the 400m, Amy Leach the 1500m and Anna Barnett the discus, while the team won the sprint relay to finish well.

In the under 17 ladies events wins were harder to come by but even so some solid performances including A string wins for Yasmin Marghini in the 1500 in 4.38.04, and for good measure also won the B string 800m, Eloise O’Shaughnessy in the 3000m, Funminiyi Olajide 5.59m in the long jump, Hannah MacAulay 12.20m in the shot backed up by B string wins for Imogen Sears in the pole vault and Eloise Locke in the shot putt.

Nick Brooks

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18/07/17

Great weekend across the whole club with Ladies avoiding relegation, young athletes winning the YDL match and the men finishing third in BAL.

Men’s Senior Team
Saturday was an all-day affair as the BAL combined all 5 league matches into one day at one location. Despite the early start the BBHAC were on duty with a strong team to finish a credible third place leaving them 5th overall but still in with a chance of promotion as 2 points cover 4 teams.

Phil Sesemann had his first outing for the club this season on the track winning the 3000m in 8.04.25 for a new league record and then winning the 1500m with ease, while Dan Putnam having narrowly come second in the 100m stormed to win the 200m in 21.24 and then spearheaded the team to a clear win in the sprint relay. Scott Huggins continued his winning ways by jumping better than the premier division vaulters to win the pole vault in 5.10m, with Jonathan Ilori winning the A string triple jump in 15.44m and Rob Sutherland winning the B string in 14.66m, while Matthew Blandford won the shot in a new pb of 14.86.

So all to play for at the final match in Manchester on August 20th, a similar set of performances could put BBHAC back into the top flight which is exactly where the women’s team will remain for next season following their Houdini act in Bromley on Sunday.

Ladies Senior Team
The ladies team showed what a difference it can make having a full complement of fit athletes and filling places in every event by finishing a fantastic third place on 176 points behind TVH on 234 and Birchfield 226. This meant that TVH won the league for the second year running but BBHAC did enough to gain 6th place overall on the same number of league points as 5th placed Swansea, but more importantly condemned Shaftesbury Barnet and Woodford Green to relegation down to Division 1, something that was a dream at the start of the day.

Wins were hard to come by as many clubs were able to field their international athletes, but strong performances across the board meant that BBHAC were well placed in most events and fully justified their third place finish. With athletes like Jess Keene, Niamh Bridson Hubbard and Caroline Johnson coming back to compete and Divine Oladipo coming to support the club in several events before going off to represent the GB Juniors, we had far greater cover on the events this time. Katy Ann McDonald continued her return to full fitness in the A string 800m while Caroline Ford took out the B string event strongly and only just got pipped at the end but ran a massive new pb of 2.06.48.

Rebecca Hawkins won the high jump with Deborah Martin 2nd in the B string, good 2nd places for Zara Asante and Chioma Matthews in the triple jump, Viv Olatunji 2nd in the B string 100m in 12.15, and Sam Milner 2nd in the B string discus. Isabella Hilditch having won the England Schools the previous weekend ran well with 14.00 in the 100m hurdles but found the competition far tougher than last week.

So the season has ended and BBHAC finished 6th and retain their league status. If we can do this for all three matches next season there is no reason why we should not be in the top three in 2018. Team Manager Brendan McShane was called “Houdini” by many after Sunday’s exploits, but probably better aimed at the whole ladies team for their fantastic performances.

Young Athletes U13/15
Having being second in the previous three YDL matches to national league champions Southampton, it was great to see the BBHAC youngsters finally turn the tables with a resounding win in the last league match at home in Bromley. A place in the final already assured, some great efforts were seen on Saturday.

In the under 13 girls events Sophie Kerr won the 150m race in a great 19.51 and also won the long jump with sister Sophie winning the 75m and the B string long jump, while Lily Meers won the B string 1200m in a massive new pb only just missing the magic 4 minute mark. The team also combined to win the sprint relay.

In the under 13 boys Connor Sutton won the 100 and 200m both in pbs of 12.88 and 25.82, while new member Tom Afelumo won the B string even quicker in 12.67 for a pb. With Max Gregson and Jake Anthony winning both strings in the 1500m and the team winning the 4x100 relay, this greatly helped the club to overall victory.

For the under 15 girls Holly Mpassy continued her fine form winning both the 200m and 300m and anchoring the victorious 4x300m to a brand new club record of 2.49.13 which is among the fastest ever run by a club side. The girls won the sprint relay as well while Zsiriah Thomas won the B string 100m, Eve Ward the B string 300m, Ellie Dolby the B string 800m, and Naomi Toft shared the lead duties with Ava White before winning with Ava taking the B string in a new pb in the 1500m.

For the under 15 boys Sam Reardon ran strongly to win the 800m, Ryan Mansbridge took the high jump, while Michael Burfoot won both the shot and discus, also a new pb of 40,31m. with Kareem Akarakiri wining the B string. Kyron Morgan won the B string 200m and 300m and Barnaby Corry jumped 2.40 for a new pb in winning the B string pole vault, and the team ran superbly to win the 4 x 300m in a UK leading 2.33.42 without England Schools bronze medallist Ollie Briars who was rested.

If the whole team can perform like this in the final on September 2nd they will be right in the winning mix.

Nick Brooks

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11/07/17

Isabella Hilditch wins England Schools hurdles

Being a great achievement to be picked to represent your county at the England Schools Championships is in itself a major accomplishment as these athletes are the best of the best. When your club has over 40 athletes making the finals in Birmingham and coming away with 3 golds, 5 silvers and 7 bronze medals its not hard to see why we are among the top clubs in the country for young athletes.
A host of pbs showed why these athletes train to peak at the right time and in the table below you will see how they all did as there are far too many to mention but each one has their own unique story. The club is incredibly proud of all of these athletes with pride of place going to Isabella Hilditch for winning the 100m hurdles, Ethan brown the inter boys 400m and higher competition athlete Ricky Lutakome the senior 800m.
Results from other events to follow as information comes to hand, but the club were second on the Southern League match at Crawley and Dina Asher Smith continues her road to recovery cloiking 11.51 in the 100m at the Anniversary Games in London.

Position

Name

Event

Age Group

Performance

 
           

1st

Ethan Brown

400m

Int Boys

48.22

pb

1st

Isabella Hilditch

100m hurdles

Sen Girls

14.09

 

1st

Ricky Lutakome

800m

Sen Boys

1.53.27

 

2nd

Camron Lyttle

100m 

Sen Boys

10.62

 

2nd

Holly Mpassy

200m

Jun girls

25.01

pb

2nd

Bekah Walton

Javelin

Sen Girls

44.62m

 

2nd

William Adedeye

Long Jump

Int Boys

7.13m

pb

2nd

Michael Burfoot

Shot putt

Jun Boys

13.65m

pb

3rd

Immanuela Aliu

100m

Sen Girls

11.94

pb

3rd

Ollie Briars

300m

Jun Boys

36.26

pb

3rd

Zakia Mossi

800m

Jun girls

2.13.97

pb

3rd

Funmi Olajide

Long Jump

Int Girls

5.83m

 

3rd

Luc Durant

Shot putt

Sen Boys

14.50m

 

3rd

Rebecca Hawkins

high jump

Sen Girls

1.69m

 

3rd

Sophie Dowson

pole vault

Sen Girls

3.70m

 

4th

Joe Fuggle

400m hurdles

Sen Boys

53.61

 

4th

Ben Sutton

Long Jump

Int Boys

6.71m

 

4th

Annie Davies

100m hurdles

Sen Girls

14.31

 

4th

Henry James-Cowie

1500m steeplechase

Int Boys

4.28.71

pb

5th

Anika Olalere

Shot putt

Sen Girls

11.16m

pb

5th

Angus Harrington

800m

Int Boys

1.54.95

pb

5th

Naomi Toft

1500m

Jun girls

4.37.24

 

5th

Josh Watson

100m hurdles

Int Boys

13.94

 

5th

Millie Smith

1500m steeplechase

Int Girls

5.15.39

pb

6th

Rico Cottell

100m hurdles

Int Boys

14.16

 

6th

Morgan Squibb

1500m

Jun girls

4.38.13

pb

6th

Hannah MacAulay

Discus

Int Girls

38.97m

 

6th

Eloise Locke

Javelin

Int Girls

41.54m

 

6th

Joss Barber

2000m steeplechase

Sen Boys

6.04.77

pb

7th

Stephanie Fisher

400m hurdles

Sen Girls

63.22

 

7th

Modupe Shokunbi

100m

Sen Girls

12.31

 

7th

Ava White

1500m

Jun girls

4.39.32

 

7th

Mary Adeniji

Triple jump

Sen Girls

11.37m

pb

7th

Matthew Francis

1500m steeplechase

Int Boys

4.32.24

 

8th

Jamiyla Robinson-Pascal

Long Jump

Sen Girls

5.47m

 

8th

Dele Aladese

Discus

Sen Boys

42.02m

 

9th

Kyle Reynolds-Warmington

100m

Int Boys

11.09

 

10th

Victoria Wiltshire

Hammer

Sen Girls

45.20m

 

12th

Karina Harris

Triple jump

Int Girls

10.81m

 

12th

Daisy Dowling

Javelin

Int Girls

38.90m

pb

13th

Yasmin Marghini

3000m

Int Girls

10.07.70

 

16th

Yasmin Austridge

1500m steeplechase

Sen Girls

5.22.31

 

 

Nick Brooks

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4/07/17

Shannon Hylton wins UK 200m Champs and selection for World Champs

A great win by Shannon Hylton in the British Champs in Birmingham equalling her pb of 22.94 gained her automatic selection for next months world championships in London. A clear winner against fancied runners, 20 year old Shannon hit top form at exactly the right time of the season and we wish her well next month.

Twin sister Cheriece Hylton also ran superbly in the 400m and after running a new pb in the heats had to settle for 4th in the final in a near best time of 52.98 which could earn relay selection next month. Second claimer Holly Mills jumped 6.31 for new pb in the long jump winning a bronze medal, and Jahisha Thomas leapt 13.25m for a new pb and a bronze medal in the triple jump, with Zara Asante 9th.

Elsewhere Jonathan Ilori took 5th in the mens triple jump with 15.74m, Scott Huggins vaulted 5.15m for 6th in the pole vault while Dina Asher Smith ran for the first time this season and did well for 6th in the 100m final having clocked 11.41 in qualifying and must have a good chance of making the team for the word champs now. Adam Gemili faded badly and appeared injured in earning 6th in the 200m but way off the pace by his own high standards, Joe Elis took 5th in the hammer, Tom French 8th in the long jump, Matt Blandford 7th in the discus and Sophie Dowson 12th in the ladies pole vault.

Notable qualifying performances from Dan Putnam with 10.54 and 21.33 in the 100/200m, Phil Sesemann 3.46.59 in the 1500m and a new pb of 14.74 for Reece Young in the 110m high hurdles.

The young athletes were in action at Ashford on Sunday in the Kent League for under 13/15s, winning the match and maintaining a healthy lead at the top of the league table.

In the under 13 boys match the team finished second on the day with Oliver Robertson winning the 75m hurdles in a magnificent new club record of 12.0 and the high jump with 1.43m, the team won the 4x100m relay, while in the under 15 boys they won the match with Ryan Mansbridge jumping 1.73m to win the high jump, Matthew Burfoot winning both the shot and discus, and the team winning the 4x300m relay. The under 13 girls finished second on the day with Emily Kerr breaking 10 seconds with 9.9 for the 75m hurdles, Amarisa Sibley won the 1200m in a shade over 4 minutes, Sophie Kerr won the long jump and the girls won the 4x100m relay. The under 15 girls also finished second team on the day winning both relays. All 4 teams were ably backed up by a total of 12 B string winners to secure a handsome margin of victory.

Next weekend is the England Schools Champs in Birmingham with over 25 club athletes competing for the various counties, and the Southern league for men and women at Crawley where the team currently sit second of the 16 teams.

Nick Brooks

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