Men’s League Division 3 – Fixture 1

Venue – Birmingham University

Club high jump record equalled and it's father versus son in the steeplechase

Apologies to all for the delay in getting this report out.  Unfortunately my PC has given up the ghost and I’m just finding my feet and getting back on track.  Anyway…..on with the report.

The dawn of a new season was met with high spirit which was enhanced by some cracking weather for the first Midland Men’s League Division 3 fixture.  The day began with Sam Cater throwing a fine 33.14m to gain 4th in the Hammer ‘A’ String which was supported by Andrew Freeman throwing a PB of 19.32m to gain ‘B’ string, 5th  Freeman also ran a SB of 58.5s to be 3rd in the 400m ‘B’, came 6th in the 400m Hurdles ‘A’ with 68.0s, threw 19.01m to be 5th in the ‘B’ discus, whilst finishing off with 8th in the shot put ‘B’ with 6.29m.

Performances of the day came from James Hart who equaled the club record in the high jump ‘A’ with 1.90m & 1st.  Hart also leapt 5.72m in the long jump & 12.04m in the triple jump to gain 3rd in both ‘A’ strings as well as 5th in the ‘B’ 100m with 12.1 sec.  James Byrne followed suit with a well taken 1st & Season's Best in the high jump ‘B’ with 1.70m whilst also coming 5th in both long jump & triple jump ‘B’ with 5.12m & 10.00m respectively.  Byrne also took up the challenge of the 110m H ‘A’ to gain 6th with 22.9 sec.  Sam Cater took B&R’s only other 1st of the day with a throw of 52.64m in the javelin ‘A’.  Cater also completed an excellent round of results with 3rd place in both the shot put and discus ‘A’ competitions with throws of 11.41m and 32.54m.

James Adie continued his fine form from the Cross Country onto the track with blistering runs in both the ‘A’ 800m with 2nd in 1.58.6 & 1500m with 4.09.4 to gain 3rd.  John Dineen made his comeback to the Men’s League with 4th in the ‘B’ 1500m with 4.25.2, while Mike Hanson came to the rescue with a fine run to gain 7th in the 800m ‘B’ with 2.21.8.

B&R debutant Martin Aspley-Davis ran a superb 23.7 to take a fine 3rd in the 200m ‘A’ and 5th in a very fast 400m ‘A’ with 52.4.  Dave Kesterton ran an excellent 16.07.2 in hot conditions to finish 4th in the 5000m ‘A’ while Russell Rawlins completed the ‘B’ in 3rd with 17.12.9.

The race of the day saw what could be another first for the club with both father & son competing in the 2000m steeplechase with Lanckham junior (Simon)stepping up from the Young Athletes League.  Simon Lanckham took up the challenge early on in the race to pass his Kevin Lanckham and push on for a club record in the U17s category with an excellent 7.14.1 and 4th in the ‘A’ while Kevin ran 7.18.6 and finishing a deserved 2nd in the ‘B’.

Mark Bennett competed well to come 6th with a time of 11.9 sec in the ‘A’ 100m & 4th in the 200m ‘B’ with 24.3 sec. Matt Frost took 4th in the 110m H ‘B’ with 27.6s and 6th in the 400m H ‘B’ with 76.2s.

The relays rounded the day up nicely.  The 4x100m team with Bennett, Hart, S.Lanckham & Byrne came home in 8th place in 49.6 sec.  The last race of the day was the 4x400m. Adie, Freeman, Hart & Aspley-Davis ran a fast 3m37.4s to finish an excellent 3rd place.

Finally I’d like to thanks the officials, Phil, Louise & Rita, as well as the team for a great performance and the spectators for their continued support of the team.

(Team Captain Andy Freeman)