UKWL Premier Division, Match Three

WGEL's women's team contested the final fixture of the Premier Division of the UK Women's League season on Saturday, at Swansea. The positions going into this final fixture were very precarious, and despite being in fourth place ahead of this fixture, the team were only one league point from last, with two teams to be relegated from the top division. With many athletes either injured or unavailable, Woodford were unable to muster a strong enough team, and despite the tremendous efforts and team spirit shown by those athletes that made the trip, many of whom performed in several events, the team finished in 7th place on the day with 145.5 points, but as Sale finished in 6th with 154 points (10 League points), they survived the drop at the expense of Woodford (9 League points), who joined Enfield (7 League points) in being relegated. This was despite Woodford having more match points than Enfield, Sale and Edinburgh. From an individual perspective Tara Bird's rare winning double at both 400m and 1500m stood out, but the story was really about all of the girls striving for every point.

Tara Bird, after an injury ruined mid-season is now rounding again into some very good form and comfortably won the "A" 400m by 1.6 secs, and beating girls with better season's bests as she she recorded 54.47 secs, a good time given the windy conditions. A little later Tara lined up for the 1500m and after sitting in the pack for most of the race went on to win in a personal best of 4m29.07 secs. The "B" 400m also brought a victory from Jo Ryan who was pleased with her improved form as she clocked 56.71 secs, Jo later raced in the 200m where she placed 7th with 26.03 secs (-1.5). In the "B" 200m, Kitty Eleyae was also 7th, with 26.79 secs (-2.8), having earlier placed 5th in the long jump with 5.73m, and 7th in the 100m with 13.00 secs (-2.5). In the "B" 100m Alicia Roberts-Brown was 7th with 13.41 secs. Katherine Foy was far from her fittest but as always was happy to gain points, and placed 8th in the 400mH with 94.80 sesc and 7th in the 800m with 2m34.82 secs. In the "B" 400mH Zoe Watson was 6th with 79.50 secs and also 6th in the "B" 800m with 2m33.47 secs. Bernadine Pritchett, never intending to race on the track this year, nor really fit enough to do so, answered the call to try to stave of relegation and finished 7th in the 1500m with 5m18.16 secs, and likewise in the 3000m Rachel Lund and Becky Hewitt answered last minute calls as they each finished 5th with times of 11m16.42 secs and 11m55.0 secs. Another distance runner stepping in, having been injured all season was Diana Kennedy who was 5th in the 2000m s/ch with 8m07.45 secs.

 

In the women's "B" 100mH, Moe Sasegbon stepped in and placed 5th with 15.57 secs, having placed 3rd= in her speciality, the high jump with 1.70m, and she also stepped into the "B" shot where her 8.71m was 7th. The "A' 100mH sadly saw talented junior Holly Pattie-Belleli disqualified for a false start, Holly did however get valuable points in the javelin with 22.41m for 6th in the "B". Hollie Redman was 7th in the "A" with 24.91m, having earlier placed 7th in the discus with 38.21m and 3rd in the "B" hammer with 35.56m. The "A" hammer saw Lucy Marshall place a good 3rd with 55.23m, and then also pick up points with 7th in the shot with 11.20m and 8th in the "B" discus with 26.67m. The other jumps all brought decent points, Ayamba Akim 2nd in the "B" high jump with 1.65m, Hannah Frankson 3rd in the "B" long jump with 5.55m, and winning the "B" triple jump with 12.62, as Stephanie Aneto just lost out in a very close "A" competition, 3rd with 12.72m.

After all having been busy with other events the 4x100m team of Alicia Roberts Brown, Kitty Eleyae, Jo Ryan and Tara Bird placed 8th in the 4x100m relay with 52.77 secs, and in the 4x400m, Kitty Eleyae, Zoe Watson, Holly Pattie-Belleli and Tara Bird were 7th with 4m01.77 secs. What was a frustrating day for the team was nevertheless one where considerable team spirit was shown by those who travelled to Swansea, and whilst a stronger team on the day would have ensured safety, one could equally look to several incidents of bad luck and notably with injuries the first fixture.