BWFAC BAL Cup 1st Round Match
Another chance
to try out this new format competition of 10 in 100.
Designed to speed up the day’s events and
provide some keen competition, this format has not been widely supported as yet
as was proved by the fact that only 4 men’s teams and 3 ladies teams made it to
this match at the John Charles Stadium in Leeds.
Blackpool
Wyre and Fylde AC have generally been in
favour of the revamped competition, but injury, illness and the loss of key
athletes to internationals and other competitions made for a depleted team on
the day.
The Ladies made the best of the day, albeit
that their only serious opponents were Bingley, with
an even more depleted
In the event, Bingley ran out winners in the
relay and the match to take their place in the Main Final next month. We must
wait to see if our slot in the Plate Final is confirmed.
BWFAC won three of the six track events, Carolyn Robbins, 800m,
Lucy Mansfield, 200m and Katy Wyper 100m. In the other three events, BWFAC were
2nd with Liz Hodgson 400H, Sarah Goff, 400m and Gemma Unsworth, 1500m.
The four field events were contested by
Hannah Dickson, who won the high jump and was third in the long jump, whilst Katie
Wood once again stepped up to senior to take two excellent second places in the
shot and discus, the latter with a fine, new personal best.
Not such a good day for the men, up against
a strong home team from Leeds plus Bingley again and a much stronger team for
On the track,
just one winner, Ted Romney who took the 400m with a time of 51.4 in very
breezy conditions. Despite good efforts from team mates Nick Costello and
Dominic Garrett (100 & 200m) plus hard work from Luke Berry and Chris Lloyd
(1500 & 800) perhaps the most encouraging sight was the return to track
competition for Eddie Broome who ran the 400m hurdles.
Luke Berry was also in action in the field,
contesting the Long Jump whilst U17M Adam Snape competed with the seniors for
the first time in the High Jump.
The field contingent was well supported by
Bob Wyper, straight off a long night shift to take on the shot and discus
events.
So, congratulations to the ladies on an
excellent effort, commiserations for the guys, and we wish the Ladies well if
they are confirmed into the Plate Final.
Although this is primarily a British League
contest, Blackpool Wyre and Fylde AC have
shown that they are not afraid to mix it with the ‘big boys’ and there is some
real potential amongst these seniors. Maybe the most positive aspect was the
team spirit and willingness to pull together. Perhaps we should also mention
that BWFAC were the ONLY team to
provide a full complement of officials – including announcer, recorder and
meeting organiser! Shame no points were allocated for the likes of Brian Craig,
Margaret Crompton and Kevin Davies
(pictured) along with Ken Romney, all of
whom worked tirelessly to ensure we had a competition at all!
Thanks to all those who helped, here’s to a
better outcome next week in the Northern Cup match at
Derek Newton