BAL Premiership 2019 - First Round
The first fixture of the British Athletics League saw Woodford’s men’s team in Premiership action at Swansea on Sunday. The first round of fixtures took place amid more than some little controversy, as with the decision taken to clash with the county championships presented athletes and officials with a choice over split loyalties, which in the end saw the divisions two to five fixture cancelled through a lack of available officials, and the Premiership held together with National One at Swansea. Nevertheless, the clash with the county champs, and with this fixture squeezed into the weekend between the BUCS and the Loughborough International meant most teams fielded teams significantly below full strength. Woodford were no exception and were missing many athletes for a variety of reasons, but for those who did compete, they did so admirably to ensure most events were covered and achieved what seemed a very unlikely 5thplace prior to the competition. In the end, reigning champions Birchfield ran out winners on 349 points, ahead of Newham on 311.5, newly promoted Harrow 293, Shaftesbury 257, Woodford 252, Cardiff 239, Blackheath 228.5 and Sheffield 227. Woodford were at their less strong on the track, but Chris Stone’s win over 200m stood out, whereas on the field there was a solid all-round performance with Che Richards proving the only winner on the day.