Southern Athletics League: Match 2, 19 May 2012
There was an enjoyable afternoon of club athletics at Ashton Playing Fields on Saturday, as Woodford Green with Essex Ladies competed well against Ipswich Harriers, Watford Harriers and West Norfolk in a Southern Athletics League match for combined (men and women) teams. Ipswich's steady accumulation of points across the track and field programme resulted in a winning margin of 15 points at the end of the day, but Paul Manson, WGEL's Team Manager, was pleased with a second placing which relied on both high quality performance and team spirit. In the women's section, Sarah Claxton's 13.83 (w+0.5m/sec) in the 100m hurdles, Hannah Frankson's triple jump of 12.80m, and Hollie Redman's 40.75m in the discus were complemented by Kathrine Foy, Chloe Michaud and Maxine Davies collecting 13, 10 and 9 match points respectively in individual events before they each also made a contribution to the winning relay teams. In the women's 100m and 200m, Azaria Francis and Katie Skelding took first positions in the A and B strings respectively whilst being separated by a combined total of 0.3 seconds.
The men's section also included some close in-house competition. In the discus and shot putt, Devon Douglas and Chris Linque won maximum A and B string points for the Club while bettering the distances of all the other competitors. Sylvester Juwe and Hasif Bedford (U20) were only separated by Tom Powell of Ipswich in the sprints. The men's 3000m saw Bertie Powell (8.56.8 mins) pull away from Jamie Nunn (9.01.8 mins) to claim second place behind Chris Rooke of Ipswich (8.51.3 mins). Tomaz Plibersek and Tom Beedell were also running stride for stride in the 3000m steeplechase before the latter was unintentionally hindered by a runner being lapped at the water jump barrier. Tomaz went on to record a promising early season mark of 9.36.22 mins, and Tom, who had had to backtrack at the water jump, ran on gamely to secure the top placing in the B string. Dan Yaxley and Sam Benge (U20) made important contributions to the team score by running well in the 400m, 800m and the 4x400m relay. In terms of an individual performance in the men's section, though, Joseph Dewar's (U17) 6.97m long jump was perhaps the highlight of the day, as it confirmed his position at the top of the national rankings for his age group. The home support also appreciated cross country team manager Terry McCarthy's near breakthrough performance in the 400m hurdles and coaching coordinator Ed Messer's cheerful elimination of the triple jump from his list of potentially hidden talents.
WGEL's third SAL match is on 23 June and it will also be a home fixture. Paul Manson would be pleased to hear from Club athletes wishing to declare their availability for this match.