Second League Win for Table Topping B & R Ladies

Wednesday 7th June 2006

Above: Start of the men's 3000 metre (Alan Elsmere running at extreme left)

A perfect summers evening and good support from club members at the Abbey Stadium spurred B & R Ladies to their second win in the Midland Masters Track and Field League.

The field athletes set the foundations for the victory with first places in the shot putt for Louise Laxton and Julie Wakelam and a win for Rita Brownlie in the long jump with a club record distance. Later in the evening Wakelam went on to secure maximum points in the javelin and a runner-up spot in the long jump.

In the 2 kilometre walks Sharon Tonks won her race by an impressive margin and Linda Crawley was the runner-up in her event.

The 800 metres series saw Brownlie finish second in her race; Tracey Jones was a promising third on her league debut and Jane Anderson finished fourth.

Road race commitments, illness and injury allowed the squad to demonstrate their strength in depth in the 3000 metres. Tonks was the runner up in her race, Barbara Lewis persevered to achieve a fine third place finish to set a club record time and Anne Stuart gained valuable points.

Above: B&R's record breaking womens 4 x 100 m team

Yvonne Priestman returned to the 200 metres after a year out of competition to achieve league and club age group records. Sprinter Polly Gerner was a runner up with Laxton finishing third in her race. Strong performance by Wakelam, Priestman, Laxton and Gerner produced a second place finish and a club record in the 4 x 100 metres relay.

Victory on the evening by 18 points over second-placed Sparkhill with Birchfield third, leaves the Ladies well placed at the top of the league table with a 3 point lead over Birchfield with two meets left in the series.

Paul Atkins impressed on his debut for the Men’s team with second places in the 800 metres and the long jump and a fourth in a very fast 200 metres race. As the first competitor for the club in the new M35 age category, Atkins sets a club record in each of these events.

Above: Russell Rawlins competed in three events over 200 to 3000 metres.

There were wins for Dave Henley in the 2 kilometre walk and Paul Collins in the 3000 metres B race. Collins was ably supported by Russell Rawlins (A race) and Alan Elsmere in the 3k races. Rawlins also competed at 200 and 800 metres to bank important points.

In the field Mike Jones stepped up a number of age groups to finish third in the shot putt and Clive Brown scored 4 points in the Javelin.

Strong competition from the other clubs saw the men finish in fifth place on the evening. They also occupy fifth position in the league.

(JG)

League tables after 2 meets.