British Athletic League 10 in 100 Plate Final
The
BWFAC senior team was the sole northern representative in what turned
out to be a very hotly contested BAL Plate final held at Bedford International
stadium (pictured) on Saturday 6th September. Setting off at
6.00 a.m. by minibus on a wet, blustery morning the team was in good spirits
ready to do battle with the teams from ‘down South’ – oh and Pitreavie, the one
Scottish representative. The format of the competition is 10 events in 100
minutes with no athlete allowed to enter more than two events.
The
two outstanding performances of the day came from Jono Prowse and Nia Rutter.
Jono decimated the field in the men’s 3000m to win by 15 seconds in a time of
8m 46s. Never out of the leading trio Jono was doggedly tracked by Frank Kilama
until Jono upped the tempo on the penultimate lap and left the Bexley athlete
trailing in his wake. Nia has been in fine form all season and confirmed her
position as one of the north west’s leading triple jumpers. Nia’s jump of 11m
84cm was more than 50 cm in front of second placed Jade Morgan of Colchester.
Back
on the track, junior sprint stars Katy (Coco) Wyper and Lucy Mansfield showed
they could more than hold their own with the more established senior sprinters.
Both came 3rd in the 100m and 200m respectively with times of 12.92s
and 26.26s. Liz Hodgson (400mH) and Carolyn Robbins gained more valuable points
with Carolyn competing in the 800m swiftly followed half an hour later by the
1500m! In the high jump, Katie Holder managed 5th place with a
height of 1m 45cm.
For
the men, 4th place seemed to be order of the day with Ted Romney
(400 m), Tom Cunningham (800m) and Simon Wells (200m) all coming up against
some very hot competition indeed. Matt Wright took four jumps in the high jump,
clearing 1m 50cm before rushing off to compete in the 100m. On his return the
bar was at 1m 90 cm - a little out of Matt’s range. Bob Wyper made a gallant
effort gaining 5th and 6th place in the shot and discus,
while Nia’s husband Jon gained 6th place in the triple jump.
Unable
to match the speed of the southern teams in the medley relays, the men’s team
ended in 8th position and the ladies in 7th. So defeated
but not deflated the team made the long journey home accompanied by the gentle hum
of Katie and Liz in the front and Bob’s trainers in the back. The show now
moves to SportCity next Saturday where the team will do battle for the Northern
Athletics Cup.
A
big thank you goes to Stuart Robinson for driving the minibus and to all the athletes
who made the team managers’ tasks so easy.
Kevin Davies and Rita Hope
(Team Managers)