The weather was far too hot for comfort at the SAL match on Saturday, but the competition seemed to cope better than us, writes Fiona Kennedy. We finished a distant fourth, despite it being a home match.
The men’s team succeeded in covering most events, but there were only six winning performances. These came mostly in the long and middle distances, where Mo Hashi ran a creditable first 5000m, considering the heat and the lack of anyone to challenge his lead. Chris Hepworth and Oliver Way got maximum points in the 1500m, while Jamie Taylor Caldwell and George Kerry did the same in the 800m. John Fielding notched up a season’s best in the non-scoring 800m, while Chauncey Edwards ran a PB. Rowan Board notched up a personal best in the 400m. It was good to see top veteran Jason Carty covering the 100m & 200m; he was backed up by Tom Sanders who managed a season’s best in the 200m. In the field, Luke Miller won the javelin by a margin of 10m.
The photo shows Tom on the opening leg of an exciting 4x400m, where we led early on, with Jamie and Kamau on legs two and three. On last leg, Mo could not quite hold off the 400m specialists fielded by the other two teams, including a storming last leg from Newbury’s man of the match Sam Plumb. The sprint relay was equally enjoyable to watch, with Ash Conteh, Tom, Kamau and Jason in that order. Jason blasted down the home straight and it seemed he would catch Radley, but the line came too soon and he was denied by two-hundredths of a second.
The women’s team once again lost valuable points as they struggled to cover many of the events, notably the longer track races. There were some pleasing performances nonetheless. At the last match, Gladis Bitulu had only just returned to competition after several years’ absence, and both her 100m and 200m times showed improvement. Amber Henry returned from injury with season’s bests in the corresponding B races. After a fast opening 200m, Lucy O’Brien held on well in a promising 400m debut, while Nicola Ravenhill was only marginally outside her PB in the 800m. The women’s efforts were rounded off by another tight 4x100m relay, where Gladis closed down the leading Radley runner in the final leg… but just needed another few metres to clinch it!
Thanks to all who competed and officiated for the club. Please support Team Managers Bob and Tracey with the next fixture on July 8th at Reading:
- Bob: bob@esm.org.uk or 01895 675522
- Tracey: gould.tracey@hotmail.com or via the Facebook Group
Match scores
1 Newbury 214; 2 Kingston & Polytechnic Harriers 190; 3 Radley 185; 4 Ealing, Southall & Middlesex 137
ESM results summary
Men: 100m: A: 3 Jason Carty (M45) 11.45, B: 2 Tom Sanders (U20) 11.73, NS: 1 Ash Conteh (U20) 12.06, 2 Brandon Moore 12.78, 3 Chris Burbidge 12.84; 200m: A: 2 Tom Sanders (U20) 23.15, B: 2 Jason Carty (M45) 23.61; 400m: A: 3 Rowan Board 51.86, B: 4 Chris Burbidge 57.80; 800m: A: 1 Jamie Taylor Caldwell 1:58.30, B: 1 George Kerry (U20) 2:07.15, NS: 1 John Fielding (U20) 2:03.01, 2 Chauncey Edwards (U17) 2:17.56; 1500m: A: 1 Chris Hepworth 4:18.05, B: 1 Oliver Way (U20) 4:21.14; 5000 A: 1 Mo Hashi 15:56.00, B: 2 Nick Steel 18:11.91; 2000mSC (NS): A: 3 Tom Yates 7:31.38, B: 2 Rob Brown (M50) 7:34.25; HJ: A: 3= Kai English (U20) 1.60, B: 2 Martin Densley 1.60; LJ: A: 4 Martin Densley 5.19, B: 4 Pat Cornell (M60) 1.49; TJ: A: 4 Kamau Muhammad (U20) 10.75, B: 3 Martin Densley 10.01; PV: A: 2 Martin Densley 3.80, B: 3= Bob Densley (M60) 1.10; SP: A: 4 Martin Densley 7.95, B: 4 Pat Cornell (M60) 4.71; DT: A: 4 Martin Densley 21.70, B: 4 Pat Cornell (M60) 10.21; HT: A: 4 Kamau Muhammad (U20) 13.80, B: 4 Pat Cornell (M60) 9.77; JT: A: 1 Luke Miller (U20) 53.65, B: 3 Martin Densley 30.20; 4x100m: 2 ESM (Ash Conteh, Tom Sanders, Kamau Muhammad, Jason Carty) 44.76; 4x400m: 3 ESM (Tom Sanders, Jamie Taylor Caldwell, Kamau Muhammad, Mo Hashi) 3:43.79
Women: 100m: A: 3 Gladis Bitulu 13.08, B: 2 Amber Henry 13.52; 200m: A: 3 Gladis Bitulu 26.78, B: 3 Amber Henry 28.34; 400m: 3 Lucy O’Brien (U17) 63.28; 800m: 2 Nicola Ravenhill (U20) 2:19.40; 1500m: 3 Lucy O’Brien (U17) 5:21.09; LJ: A: 2 Isha Habib (U20) 4.87, TJ: A: 2 Isha Habib (U20) 10.24; PV: 2 Helen Leadbetter 2.60; SP: A: 4 Debbie McCaw (W35) 8.99, B: 3 Zoya Styles 7.72; DT: A: 3 Debbie McCaw (W35) 32.10, B: 2 Tracey Gould 22.85; HT: A: 3 Debbie McCaw (W35) 47.35, B: 2 Zoya Styles 39.49; JT: A: 3 Debbie McCaw (W35) 23.93, B: 4 Tracey Gould 18.12; 4x100m: 2 ESM (Nicola Ravenhill, Amber Henry, Isha Habib, Gladys Bitulu) 53.96
Full results on power of 10