BWFAC Northern League 4th
Round Match
A fantastic end to a great season for the seniors
as they made the most of the home advantage to run away with the match and in
the process become Division 2W Champions by over 100 points! A terrific
performance from everyone involved.
So many athletes have contributed over the
season to ensure that the team now have a very good chance to gain promotion as
they move towards the play-offs in two weeks time. Let’s hope they can pass this
final test. The team have the quality to hold their own at the higher level and
for the young up and coming athletes, it would provide a continuance of the
quality opposition they have experienced in the Young Athletes League.
The standard for the day was set by the
very first event, as the club took top position in all 4 of the pole vault
matches. Laurie Needham and Matt Wright made a very welcome return
after injury to top A&B for the men, whilst Loryn McCrudden and another returning athlete in Dawn Gasgarth took the top spots for the
women too – a wonderful start to the afternoon.
And it became even better as we all stood
back to watch an absolutely tremendous series of throws in the shot from the
Myerscough brothers. Everyone was pleased to see Carl Myerscough back on his home turf, especially with a re-vamped
shot circle and using this match as a good warm up for the World Championships
in
Meanwhile, brother Grant was the only one who came close to Carl as he won the won the
‘B’ event with 12.84m before joining dad David
in the discus. Grant showed his
awesome potential, taking the ‘A’ event with a throw just short of 40m, while Dave seemed to getting back to fitness
with a throw of 26.86 in the ‘B’ match.
The men enjoyed a good day in the field, as
James Davies took the ‘A’ long jump
although he sustained a worrying injury in the event which we sincerely hope
won’t affect the very busy end of season he faces.
Team mate Jon Rutter supported well
with long jump and triple jump as well as once again being our only high
hurdler, another good day’s work from Jon.
On the track, it was the strong opposition,
especially from
Middle distance was again slightly
depleted, due to absence and holidays, although Luke Minns continued his very impressive progress finishing 2nd
in the 800 and 1500m but despite great support from Greg Nash, Chris Lloyd, Jim Unsworth and Chris Essex-Crosby, who ran both the ‘Chase AND the 400mH, there
were still a couple of gaps in this area. This is something that will need to
be addressed for the final.
As usual the U17’s were invaluable, and as
well as Greg, there was fine support
from Adam Snape in high jump and, as
a late replacement, won the ‘B’ triple jump, plus Louis Schofield (Javelin & Relay) and Omar
Frederick who tackled the high jump after supporting Bob Wyper in the Hammer. Good to see Bob back in harness following
a severe bout of (Swine?) flu.
Once again, the ladies had the best of the weekend;
some great all-round performances saw them win over half of the total events at
both ‘A’ and ‘B’ levels. This time the short sprinters led the way, taking all
four wins in 100 & 200m thanks to Laura
Davies, Katy Wyper, Lucy Mansfield and Alicia
Johnston. Special mention here for Alicia,
a ‘young’ U17, Alicia also contested
the 800 to support the team and after cruising through the first 500m, she
simply changed gear and stormed round the final couple of bends to move from next
to last to first in a terrific run. A star of the future here?
In the field, the ladies also shone. As
well as the vaulters, there was a double win in ‘A’ and ‘B’ for both triple
jump and high jump. In the high jump, there was another good performance from Hannah Dickson who is showing a return
to form as she took the ‘A’ event with 1.65m. Another U17 newcomer, Rachel Kellett took the ‘B’ event with
1.55m. In the triple jump yet another promising U17, Beth Towers, stepped up to senior and was more than capable as she
won the ‘B’ event with a leap of 10.35m
which would also have placed her 2nd in the ’A’ event. The
‘A’ was, as usual, won by Nia Rutter who
continued her fine run of form this year to win with just short of 11.62m,
before also tackling the long jump and then finding time and ability to win the
‘A’ high hurdles. Just to round off a wonderful day, Nia joined forces with Lucy
Mansfield, Katy Wyper and Laura
Davies to take the 4x100 relay too.
Middle distance for the ladies was better
supported than their male counterparts with all events filled. There were maximum
points for Gemma Unsworth as she just
held off a strong challenge in the 3k with training partner, Carolyn Robbins, taking the ‘B’ event
too before both ladies doubled-up in the 1500m.
In the ‘A’ 800m Laura Deegan ran really well for 3rd as well as
supporting the team by entering the discus AND running the 400m ‘B’ event. In
the other 400m, it was Liz Hodgson
who tackled the ‘A’ as well as another wonderful run to win the 400M Hurdles in
72secs.
Elsewhere, the U17 talent pool provided the
invaluable Katie Wood. Katie has appeared at all the senior
matches this year and was rewarded with a great win in the ‘A’ shot putt as
well as 3rd in the discus and 4th in the hammer. Katie was supported by Dawn Gasgarth in
the hammer and another endurance runner in Bianca
Pedersen who was unable to run but still contributed in the shot.
Also in the field, it was good to see Carrie MacRae finally overcome injury to
take 2nd in the javelin, a fine result which bodes well for the
future, continuing the process of tea support, Loryn McCrudden followed up her PV success with yet another victory
in the ‘B’ javelin. Two others whose hard work should not be overlooked, Katy Wyper, another regular at the senior’s
matches also gave an excellent performance in winning the ‘B’ long jump and Sara Goff, once again worked hard in
both long and short hurdles before anchoring the social side in organising a
wonderful after match barbecue!
So, we now have one major event left as we
move to the play-off finals in Cleckheaton on the 16th August. The
team will need to be at their best and fill all the events if we are to reach
the giddy heights of Division One. With the talent on display this last weekend
and throughout the season, it will be more than possible to compete and compete
well at the higher level; the task will be to get there first.
Good Luck to everyone in the final match
Derek
Newton