Southern Athletics League – Winchester – Sat 16 April 2016

The men’s team was slightly larger and contributed more than the women to the overall points tally, but the women claimed more victories, especially in the field.

Debbie McCaw covered all four throws, winning the hammer, her specialist event, and the B string discus. Her efforts brought her within a few points of winning the Woman of the Match award. Team manager Tracey Gould won the B string hammer, also competing in the shot put and triple jump. Discus thrower Siobhan Drummond didn’t find her best form but notched up extra points by covering the B string high jump. Helen Leadbetter competed in all four jumps, winning the triple jump and pole vault.

On the track, Amber Henry won the B string 100m, matching her PB, while Sarah Gerrie had a busy afternoon, warming up by competing in the 800m and 3000m before achieving a PB in the 1500m, her third and final event.

For the men, Desmond Ofasi ran a PB in the B string 100m. Ben Waterman cruised to victory in the 400m A string, while Rowan Board won the B. Rowan also managed a PB in one of the non-scoring 200m races. In the middle distances, John Fielding improved his best in the 800m. Moving up a distance, 800m specialist Ben Waterman won the 1500m with ease, while George Kerry improved his PB by a huge margin in the B string. He was chased hard by John Fielding, a non-scorer in the race, who also dipped under 4:30.

At the end of the match, the relays were as exciting as ever. The men’s sprint squad were denied victory by a whisker after a storming last leg by Phoenix Lyon. However, they had the consolation of matching the club’s 2015 best, which was the fastest in recent years. The men’s 4 x 400 team led from the start and won convincingly. The women’s sprint squad also enjoyed victory with a commendable first leg by Nikki Shelley, Lottie Horton taking them into the lead on the anchor leg.

The club finished fourth behind Yeovil Olympiads, hosts Winchester & District AC and Oxford City AC. The next match is at Hillingdon on Sunday 22nd May. Men interested in competing should contact Bob Densley, and women should get in touch with Tracey Gould.

ESM Results summary
Men
100m: 2 Phoenix Lyon (U17) 11.4; 2 Desmond Ofasi (U20) 11.4; 100m NS: 4 Kamau M Muhammad (U20) 12.1; 5 Ash Conteh (U20) 12.2; 200m: 2 Phoenix Lyon (U17) 22.9; 2 Tom Sanders (U20) 23.2; 400m: 1 Ben Waterman (U23) 50.8; 1 Rowan Board (U20) 54.2; 800m: 3 John Fielding (U17) 2:06.0; 3 Angelo John (M40) 2:24.2; 1500m: 1 Ben Waterman (U23) 4:03.5; 2 George Kerry (U17) 4:26.2; 5000m: 3 Rob Brown (M50) 18:34.0; 2 Martin Shelley 19:06.2; 100mH: 2 Szymon Swigon 17.3; 400mH: 2 Szymon Swigon 61.8; 4 Luke Nicholas 85.0; 2000mSC: 3 Luke Nicholas 7:48.2; 3 Rob Brown (M50) 8:33.8; LJ: 3 Joel Wynter (U20) 6.13; 3 Tom Sanders (U20) 5.19; TJ: 4 Joel Wynter (U20) 11.74; SP: 4 Kamau M Muhammad (U20) 7.36; 3 Angelo John (M40) 7.31; DT: 3 Angelo John (M40) 17.32; 3 Phil York (M50) 12.86; HT: 4 Phil York (M50) 5.46; 4 Luke Nicholas 4.38; JT: 2 Angelo John (M40) 31.85; 3 Luke Nicholas 11.34; 4 x 100m: 2 (Desmond Ofasi, Phoenix Lyon, others tbc) 44.8; 4 x 400m: 1 (Rowan Board, George Kerry, Tom Sanders, Ben Waterman) 3:39.3