Press Releases

Last updated 25 May 2022

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27/04/22 25/05/22 LATEST

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5/04/22 4/05/22

25/05/22

Diamond League for Adam and Dina, Loughborough International, YDL Action and new Club Hammer Record

The Diamond League came to Birmingham at the weekend where we saw Dina Asher Smith win the 100m in a world class field with 11.11. Adam Gemili was in action also over 100m where he clocked a respectable 10.38.

The club also had over 20 athletes competing in the Loughborough International, some representing GB Juniors, some the NAL and others Loughborough and various other teams competing. There was a 1-2 in the mens 800m with Angus Harrington winning in 1.50.51 and Sam Reardon 2nd in 1.50.82, and Bailey Stickings improved his 400m hurdles pb even further when finishing 5th in 51.18. Jahisha Thomas won the ladies triple jump with 13.39m and Bekah Walton won the ladies javelin with 54.75m, Lauren Farley picked up 6th with 46.34m, and Zara Obamakinwa was 9th in the discus with 46.13m.

Kelechi Aguocha leapt 2.16m for second in the high jump, and Ben Hawkes threw a pb in the hammer with 69.88m for 3rd. Others in action included Kieran Daly who ran the 100/200m in 10.40 and 21.50 respectively, and there were pbs for both Faith Akinbileje and Louise Evans over 200m with 23.68 and 23.70, and Dan Putnam ran 47.51 for 5th in the 400m, with Pablo Seema Roca clocking 48.93 in a non scoring race. Annie Davies clocked 13.85w and Mallory Cluley 13.90w over the 100m hurdles, and Rico Cottell ran 14.89 over the 110m hurdles. In the 400m hurdles non scoring races Sophie Elliss clocked 60.50 and Alex Hill 61.93, and Darcey Kuypers ran 12.21 over 100m.

In the Great Manchester 10k Run Scott Overall finished a highly credible 18th in 29.49, while in Tucson, Arizona, Joseph Ellis threw another pb and club record of 74.52m in the hammer.

The YDL was back in action for our under 13 and under 15 athletes, this time winning the match with 536 points to Readings’ 497 points, having narrowly lost out in the first match to them now puts back on top. There were 16 A string wins and 9 B string wins.

There was great 100m sprinting by Reo McCausland in 11.6 and Ryen Rennie in 11.8, and Ellis Ibrahim threw the javelin out to 47.59m in the under 15 boys events. In the under 15 girls events there was a fine 100m win for Chizam Boniface in 12.7, while Alyssa Firla clocked 41.4 over 300m for 2nd spot with Megan Barlow running 42.4 to win the B string, and then winning the A string 800m in 2.17.3. Erin Simpson won the discus with 27.81m and the javelin with 26.84m.

In the under 13 boys Piers Spencer Simms clocked a stunning 19.4 for 2nd in the 150m, and in the under 13 girls Emelia Adese won the 75m sprint in 9.9, the 150m in 19.5 and the shot with 10.06m.

The next few weeks look like this.

Saturday, 28 May - UKYDL Upper Age Group at the Stone X Stadium (formerly Allianz Arena) at Hendon.

Saturday 4 June - National Athletics League at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston upon Thames.

Sunday, 5 June - Kent Young Athletes League at Tonbridge School, Tonbridge.

Nick Brooks

18/05/22

GB Selection for Obamakinwa, Reardon and Quainoo

Three of our rising stars have been selected by Great Britain & Northern Ireland Under 20s for the Loughborough International on 21st May. Zara Obamakinwa has been chosen for the discus, Sam Reardon for the 800m and the 4 x 400m relay, and Jeriel Quainoo for the 4 x 100m relay. This is a fantastic achievement for all three BBHAC athletes and the club is very proud of them all.

https://www.britishathletics.org.uk/news-and-features/gb-ni-u20-team-named-for-2022-loughborough-international/

At the Diamond League event in Doha, Dina Asher Smith got her season fully underway with a fine 22.37 for third pace in the 200m, and at the BMC event in Birmingham there were great 800m performances by Angus Harrington with 1.49.20, a pb for Henry Fisher with 1.49.91, and Sam Reardon clocked 1.50.76.

On the US Collegiate circuit Divine Oladipo threw the shot putt to 17.97m on two occasions, while Katy Ann McDonald ran 2.03.09 over 800m and a new club under 23 record of 4.12.30 over 1,500m all at Oxford MO. Yasmin Austridge ran a pb of 4.22.72 over 1,500m and also another great 3,000m steeplechase with 10.17.14, and at the same meeting Lewis Mils clocked 15.08.03 over 5,000m and then ran a great new pb of 8.52.37 over the 3,000m steeplechase, also for an under 23 club record. In Lubbock, TX, Ethan Brown ran a new pb of 46.18 also for an under 23 club record and not far short of the club record set 20 years ago. Holly Mpassy ran 200m in 24.72 and 400m in 54.78 in Williamsburg, VA.

Other results from around the UK include several fine 100m performances from Kieran Daly in 10.37, Jeriel Quainoo in 10.45, Kyle Reynolds Warmington 10.63, Brandon Murray 10.73 and Charles Nortey 10.88. Dan Putnam ran 47.83 in Coventry, and Thomas Sugden clocked 1.55.76 and Morgan Squibb 2.11.42 over 800m in Gillingham (Kents) both for new pbs. Sophie Elliss ran 60.26 at Kingston over 400m hurdles and Mary Adeneji jumped 5.71m in the long jump in Cambridge.

The Kent County Champs were held at Gillingham and the club had over 30 county champions listed below, with many other silver and bronze medals won, and a lot of personal best and seasons best.

There were championship bests for Rayhan Mourtada n the 100m hurdles (U17) in 13.58, and also in the pole vault (U15B) for Charlie Platt with 3.60m. Other outstanding performances were by Bailey Stickings with 51.32 over 400m hurdles and also 2nd in the flat 400m, and three fine efforts by Morgan Squibb in the under 20 ladies 800m, 1500m, and 2000m steeplechase with 2 victories and a pb. There was a triple win for Qi Chi Ukpai in the jumps in the under 15 girls events, and the same for Erin Simpson in the throws, with Megan Barlow double winning the 800m and 1500m.

Faith Akinbileje won both the 100m and 200m in the under 17s, while Lauren Farley returned to form with a 50.92m effort in the javelin and James Whiteaker threw 69.49m in the mens javelin, both athletes winning by huge margins. There were pole vault wins for the John Wakeman contingent of Barnaby Corry, Oscar Witcombe, Charlie Platt and Holly Platt.

This weekend there is the YDL Under 13 and Under 15 match at Bracknell, and on Sunday there is a Southern League match at Gillingham

Category

Event

Athlete

Performance

Senior Men

2000m Steeplechase

Blair Wilson

6.56.25

Javelin

James Whiteaker

69.49m

Discus

Dele Aladese

48.79m

Under 20 Men

800m

Matthew Smith

1.55.45

Pole Vault

Barnaby Corry

4.50m

Discus

Dillon Claydon

46.25m

Under 17 Men

Pole Vault

Oscar Whitcombe

3.71m

100m Hurdles

Rayhan Mourtada

13.58

CBP

High Jump

Andrew Nikoro

1.76m

Javelin

Felix Mcardle Hodge

56.89m

Under15 Boys

Pole Vault

Charlie Platt

3.60m

CBP

Javelin

Ellis Ibrahim

46.60m

Senior Women

Pole Vault

Holly Platt

2.70m

Javelin

Lauren Farley

50.92m

Under 20 Women

1500m

Morgan Squibb

4.33.85

1500m Steeplechase

Morgan Squibb

5.08.96

400m Hurdles

Kelsey Pullin

67.08

Discus

Zara Obamakinwa

49.24m

Under 17 Women

100m

Faith Akinbileje

11.82

200m

Faith Akinbileje

24.29

1500m

Liberty Whyte

4.46.71

1500m Steeplechase

Carys Firth

5.35.00

Under 15 Girls

300m

Alyssa Firla

42.07

800m

Megan Barlow

2.17.35

1500m

Megan Barlow

4.47.92

High Jump

Qi-Chi Ukpai

1.60m

Long Jump

Qi-Chi Ukpai

4.99m

Triple Jump

Qi-Chi Ukpai

11.10m

Shot Putt

Erin Simpson

9.90m

Discus

Erin Simpson

28.02m

Javelin

Erin Simpson

28.13m

Nick Brooks

11/05/22

Fantastic NAL Premiership Win for BBHAC

Sportscity in Manchester was the venue for the opening NAL match where BBHAC went on to win the match with 457 points due to a great combined effort from both the mens and womens teams.

Youngster Jeriel Quainoo tied for 1st place in the 100m with an amazing 10.48 clocking later winning the 200m in 21.37, and there was a great win for Angus Harrington in the 1,500m in 3.57.01 with Harry Cox winning the B string in 3.57.46. Evergreen Scott Overall continued his great form winning the 5,000m in 14.35.44 having two weeks previously recorded the fastest leg in the British Masters road relays. In the field Kelechi Aguocha is coming back to form nicely and he won the mens high hump with 2.14m, and there were B stings wins for Theo Adesina in the long jump and Thomas Sugden in the 3,000m steeplechase. Other notable performances included Barnaby Corry with a 4.30m pole vault for 3rd, a 52.39 over 400m hurdles for Bailey Stickings, 6.67m in the long jump for Ben Sutton and 14.62m in the triple jump for Toby Dronfield.

In the womens part of the match teenager Fleur Todd Warmoth continued her great form winning the 1,500m in 4.28.11, and Morgan Squibb won the 2,000m steeplechase in 7.05.47. There were B string wins for Sophie Ellis in the 400m hurdles and Jade Oni in the triple jump, and Louise Evans is back competing again with a fine 11.99/24.17 in the sprints both for 2nd place. The ladies took third place in both relays.

In the US some of our college athletes were in action this week with Lois Warden clearing 3.50m in the pole vault in Emmitsburg, MD, and Elizabeth Ibidunni clocked 11.96 over 100m for a pb and 24.53 over 200m. In Tokyo Jahisha Thomas is clearly coming back to form and jumped 6.56m in the long jump, and Dan Putnam ran 48.04 over 400m in Cardiff.

In the opening YDL match for the under 13s and under 15s the club took second place with 547 points behind Reading’s 559 points, so all to play for in the remaining matches. There were many fine performances with the pick being an 11.60 win in the under 15s for Reo McCausland, Ryen Rennie won the 300m in 38.54, Charlie Platt win the pole vault with 3.50m and the boys won the sprint relay in 48.30 and the 4 x 300m relay in 2.44.90. In the under 15 girls Alyssa Firla was 2nd over 300m in 42.60 with Megan Barlow winning the B string in 43.19, and also winning the A string 800m in 2.20.38. In the under 13 boys race over 1200m, Harry Collins Smith won with 3.46.42.

It is with much sadness that the club has to report that Rob Brown our long standing Membership Secretary passed away this week following a battle with illness which he fought to the end. A great club man and fiercely competitive and running into his seventies, he will be sorely missed and the club sends their condolences to all of Rob’s family and friends at this time.

Nick Brooks

4/05/22

New Club 3,000m Record for Fleur Todd Warmoth

Teenager Fleur Todd Warmoth improved upon her pb over 3,000m with an amazing 9.16.35 clocking at a BMC event at Wormwood Scrubs. This run puts her third on the UK all time list for under 17s. More importantly it now gives the club a record to be proud of at not just in the under 17 ladies age group, but also under 20s, under 23s and seniors! Four for the price of one which really pleased coach Phil Kissi.

The youngsters were in action in the opening Kent League Division 1 match at Erith and won the match by over one hundred points from Tonbridge with 657.5 points. The team managed an impressive 19 ‘A’ string wins and 14 ‘B’ string wins. In the under 13 girls match the team won the sprint relay and there was a win for Emilia Adese in the shot, while in the under 15 girls Erin Simpson won the shot, discus and javelin, Qi Chi Ukpai won the long jump and high jump, Alyssa Firla won the 75m hurdles and Megan Barlow won the 300m and the ‘B’ string high jump.

In the under 13 boys match Oscar Sadowski won the long jump and James Shaw won the 1500m, and in the under 15 boys match the team won both relays, Joshua Dako won the long jump, Charlie Platt won the pole vault, Ryen Rennie won the 300m in a grade 1 time of 38.1, and Reo McCausland won the 100m.

In the US this week Katy Ann McDonald ran another solid 800m with 2.02.87 in Baton Rouge, Yasmin Austridge clocked 4.27.59 over 1500m in College Station and Divine Oladipo threw the shot 17.12m and a very respectable 55.18m in the discus in Nashville.

Missing from the previous weekend was the great effort by our Veterans road relay team in the V35 category who combined superbly for 5th overall in the 6-leg race. First off was Fintan Parkinson with 17.26, Roger Vilardell took over and clocked 17.18, Micah Evans ran an impressive 17.08 on the third and Alex Gibbins ran 17.52 on the next leg, with Blair Wilson running 18.04 before handing over to Scott Overall on the final leg for a 15.29 clocking and the fastest leg of the day.

This past Bank Holiday Monday the club hosted the annual Ted Pepper 10km run at Norman Park. A field of 218 runners completed the race and BBHAC were well represented with Micah Evans winning the race in 36.32, Tony Crowder 2nd in 39.10, and Steve Hough 3rd in 39.19. Other high placings included Darren Corneille in 6th, Steve Evenden 12th and Len Crowder 25th, our first lady was Jess Keene in 30th place with 45.03.

On Saturday 7th May the men’s and women’s senior teams are in action in Sportscity in Manchester in the Opening NAL match.

Nick Brooks

27/04/22

Early Season Club records across the age groups

In Allendale in the US, Joseph Ellis threw a massive new club record in the hammer with 74.19m, UK leading and 13th on the UK all time lists. At Lea Valley Alex Pope registered 2049 points in the outdoor pentathlon for a new club M35 record, Dina Asher Smith ran a club record over 300m with an impressive 36.41 for 8th on the UK all time lists, Louisa Vallins ran 26.85 over 200m also at Lea Valley for a club W40 record, and under 13 boy Piers Spencer Simms ran 19.76 over 150m for a club age group record.

At the Loughborough Open meeting Jak Mensah clocked 11.40 over 100m, and under 15 Qi Chi Ukpai high jumped 1.65m, while in the field Abbie Stewart threw 44.21m in the hammer, Bekah Walton threw another impressive 54.39m in the javelin with Hollie Arnold throwing 35.48m.

The previous weekend at Tonbridge Bailey Stickings clocked impressive times over 150m and 300m with 16.64 and 34.38 respectively. In the US this past week there was again many club athletes in action with Myles Xavier clocking a pb over 100m with 11.19 in St Louis, and in Atlanta Divine Oladipo doubled with 17.53m and 51.62m in the shot and discus. Marcia Sey clocked her fastest ever time over 100m hurdles albeit above the legal wind limit with 13.55, and in Waco in Texas Ethan Brown ran 21.61 over 200m while Immanuela Aliu ran 2444. Finally Nana Gyedu threw 15.00m in the shot in Pullman, Washington State.

The under 17s and under 20s competed in the YDL in Eton but at this time no results have been published.

Nick Brooks

20/04/22

McDonald nears sub 2m over 800m in US

Although it was the Easter weekend and there was not a lot going on in the UK, however, the club had many collegiate athletes in action in the US, and also had a strong contingent in action at home in the Bromley Park Run.

Katy Ann McDonald (left) lowered her pb over 800m to 2.00.98 in Azusa, Ca, which puts her into 3rd in the UK rankings and with three big championships coming up this year we hope that Katy has a chance of going to one of them ! For good measure Katy clocked another pb over 1,500m with 4.13.07 the following day and with her 800m effort these are both new under 23 club records. At Nacogdoches in Texas there was a big new pb for Lewis Mills over 1,500m with a 3.50.98 clocking, and Joseph Ellis threw the hammer out to 73.50m in Tiffin Ohio which tops the UK rankings.

Marcia Sey ran 12.27 over 100m and 14.00 over 100m hurdles in Columbia, SC, and Immanuela Aliu ran 11.70 and 23.81 over 100m and 200m in Gainesville, while Holly Mpassy ran 54.94 over 400m in Harrisonburg, Va. Lois Warden vaulted to a new pb of 3.75m in the pole vault in Long Beach, Ca, and Myles Xavier opened the year clocking 11.40 over 100m in Naperville, Il.

At the Norman Park park run Carole Coulon continued her impressive season placing 10^th overall but first lady home with 17.51, and there was a 1-2-3 for Benjamin Gardner, Micah Evans and Henry Fisher clocking 16.28, 16.31 and 16.34 respectively for a tight finish.

This weekend it is the upper age group YDL match at Eton.

Nick Brooks

12/04/22

Outdoor Season now underway in the UK and US

In what was expected to be a quiet weekend for club athletes away from league action, the many Open meetings and the usual US Collegiate events meant we had many athletes participating in both track and field events this week.

In the US this past week Yasmin Austridge again smashed the club 3,000m steeplechase record by around 20 seconds with a great 10.14.93 run, and for good measure also ran the 1500m in 4.29.43 and at the same meeting in Oxford, MS, Divine Oladipo threw the shot 17.25m and the discus 51.93m, both great efforts.

Elsewhere in the US at Nacogdoches in Texas, Lewis Mills broke the magic 9 minute barrier in the mens 3,000m steeplechase with 8.58.65, and Ethan Brown ran back into form just missing on his pb over 400m with a 46.45 clocking in Tucson; Marcia Sey competed in both the 100m and 100m hurdles running 12.04 and 14.06 respectively in Knoxville, Holly Mpassy ran 55.70 over 400m in Coral Gables, and Immanuela Aliu ran a windy 100m in 11.68 and clocked 24.07 over 200m.

Closer to home in Gillingham, Morgan Squibb continued her fine recent form with a 2.13.57 effort over 800m at a BMC event which doubled up with a Medway and Maidstone Open where James Whiteaker threw the javelin out to 68.93m, with under 17 Max Kennedy throwing 43.52m for a pb. There was also an opportunity for some of our senior men to run over the rarely run 300m with Dan Putnam running 33.88, Michael Uzozie 35.35, Adam Islam-Medeaux 35.93, Samuel Mowa 36.19, Nathan Firla (U17) 36.37 and Alyssa Firla (U15) 42.16, with everybody apart from Dan running a new pb.

There was also an Open Meeting at Lee Valley where Dina Asher Smith had a rare run out over 400m running a highly respectable 54.76, Chizute Ogbedeh ran 11.46 over 100m, and over the barriers Annie Davies ran 14.05 for the 100m hurdles, Rico Cottell clocked 14.81 for a pb and Sienna Kidd in the under 17s event over 80m clocked 12.22, and in the field Harrison Thorne cleared 1.90m in the mens high jump, while at the Watford Open in mid week Kyle Reynolds-Warmington ran 10.77w over 100m.

Away from the track there were plenty of club runners in various 5km Park Runs with the most notable being a 15.43 win at Bromley for Angus Harrington, with Carys Firth the first lady home in 19.53, Alessio Tutt crossed the line first in Orpington in 18.51 and Sarah Belaon was first lady home at Lloyds Park in 23.33.

Its Easter this weekend so hopefully everybody will be in light training ahead of action the following week when the YDL kicks off at Eton.

Nick Brooks

5/04/22

Club Tour to Jersey plus SE Masters Action and US Collegiate Highlights

The pre season friendly vs a combined Jersey and Guernsey team featured a great team performance that was underlined by some outstanding individual early season performances. Gypsy Nash won the womens Hammer Throw with a new PB of 43.24m (4k), this led the way for dominance in the throws as Alex Pope also won the mens events with 39.22m and the discus with 39.36m, Rianna Rennie winning the womens Shot and Brydon Duncan the mens event. The performance of the day was in the Javelin as James Whiteaker threw a massive 69.54m to win that event. This was good enough for 3rd on this years UK mens rankings.

On the track Morgan Squibb led the way with a double win in the 400m & 800m, and a fantastic leg in the mixed 4x400m. Thomas Sugden also had a big points scoring day, winning the 800m/1500m and running legs in both relays. The senior womens 100 featured a 1/2/3 by Tyra Khambai-Annan 12.40, Tianna Haynes 12.41 and Mallory Cluley 12.52, with Mallory also winning the 100mH in 14.25. The mens 100m was probably the race of the day with a close finish where both first and second clocked 11.03, Adam Islam Medeaux losing out on the dip finish. In the u17 womens event Nina Whitter ran a wind assisted PB of 12.61 and in the 80mH new member Jodie Self ran 11.82 to win by 0.5secs.

In the US the club had ten athletes in action across the vast country. In the field events there was a 17.43m shot effort and a 51.26m discus throw by Divine Oladipo in Gainesville, Florida, and Nana Gyedu threw 15.16m in the shot for a pb in Eugene, Oregon. Joseph Ellis threw the hammer 69.61m in East Lancing, Michigan, while in Smithfield, Rhode Island, Lois Warden vaulted 3.55m in the pole vault. On the track Katy Ann McDonald ran a new pb over 1,500m with 4.17.66 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Angus Harrington ran 1.50.40 in Stanford, California, and Sabrina Mannes clocked 2.14.77 also over 800m in High Point, North Carolina. In the sprints, Immanuela Aliu posted fine times over 100m and 200m with 11.68 and 23.83 in a meeting in College Station, Texas, Elizabeth Ibidunni ran 12.25 for a pb over 100m in Wichita, Kansas, and Holly Mpassy ran 24.77 over 200m in Wiliamsburg, Virginia.

The Southern Counties Vets AC Champs took place at Lea Valley with four athletes in action. Helen Godsell clocked the fastest times in the W65 category over 60m and 200m, with 9.07 and 30.76 respectively, Ashley Reid ran a pb over 60m with 7.78 and then took 4th in the M35 200m with another pb of 25.27, Alan Hardy vaulted 2.13m for second in the M60 pole vault, and Peter Hamilton clocked 13.58.61 over 3,000m for 2nd in the M70 race, and ran 3.09.40 to win the M70 over 800m.

No club track events scheduled until the 24th April when the YDL U17/20 takes place at Eton.

Nick Brooks