NAL Championship North Round 1 – York – 31 May
Written by Alex Seftel
City of York finished on top in the opening Championship North match of the season at their home track.
GB international long jumper Lucy Hadaway was one of the better-known names in action. She finished top of the standings with a best of 5.95m.
But York’s 1-2 in the 5000m was among the most impressive performances, with Angus McMillan storming to victory in 14:29.95, a massive 21 seconds clear of team-mate Tommy Shaw, and more than 90 seconds clear of third.
Trafford AC’s GB age group international Halle Ferguson cleared 1.80 for maximum points in the high jump, but they were narrowly beaten to second place overall by fellow Manchester side Sale Harriers.
Their veteran discus thrower Kirsty Law was also part of a 1-2. She threw 52.88, ahead of Annabel Amadin’s 41.87 best.
Notts AC high jumper Harry Whyley cleared 2.10, two centimetres off his personal best to help the club to fourth place.
Liverpool posted on social media before the match that they were short of athletes and might have a difficult day, but they still managed a respectable 406 points.
Their winners included Eoin Sheridan in the men’s shot put with 14.56.
NAL Championship South Round 1 – Poole – 31 May
Bournemouth AC enjoyed a winning start on the south coast.
Ryan Webb’s 1.95 high jump win and Madeleine Smith’s 11.14 triple jump victory were among the highlights, but they were generally consistent throughout.
Second-placed Crawley won the women’s 4x400m by over a minute in 4:22.57, with a finer margin of 0.4 seconds clinching a great win in the men’s 4x100m. That quartet included individual 400m winner Matthew Overall.
Commonwealth Games decathlete Harry Kendall was on top in the javelin with 54.96 for third-placed Tonbridge, who were missing fellow multi-eventer Lewis Church as he was making his Gotzis debut.
Kendall was also pipped by 0.01 seconds in the 200m – as Robinson Okumu ran a personal best time of 21.92 – and was third in the discus.
Heptathlete Matilda Secker also impressed for the club. She won the 100m hurdles and 4x100m relay and was second behind fellow Tonbridge athlete Emma Cowell in the javelin, and second again in the high jump.
Ella Thomas was in the same relay quartet after winning the individual 400m, coming third in the high jump and long jump, and coming second in the 100m hurdles B race.
Behind them, in fourth, Crawley’s Julia Machin beat her own V55 world masters record with a second-time clearance at 1.60.
Winnie Symes – an under-17 athlete who took up athletics last year – won the pole vault with a personal best of 3.10 for City of Portsmouth. Fellow squad member Lily Baggott – who ran for the NAL at the Loughborough International – won the women’s 100m in 11.85, following Finley Hanham’s 48.71 victory in the men’s hammer.
Lily Cowen was fastest in the 200m for Kingston AC and Poly as she clocked 24.65, after Carmen Rose won the high jump by getting over 1.71 at the third time of asking. Tom White also deserves credit for a 10.82 100m win.
Southampton’s Kirstie Booth – who is a world masters record holder – took top spot in the 2000m steeplechase in 6:53.36.
NAL Championship West Round 1 – Swansea – 31 May
Swansea Harriers won the Championship West opener by over 100 points in Yeovil.
UK medallist Patrick Swan was among their regular performers. He triumphed in the shot put with 17.44, while Jake Cover dominated the 110m hurdles in 14.28 and Caryl Granville Moore won the 400m hurdles in 59.49.
Cardiff’s Commonwealth Games competitor Rebecca Chapman won the long jump with a best effort of 5.88. Olympian Charlotte Wingfield clinched the 100m in 12.01, while GB international Funmi Oduwaiye – an F44 athlete – was on top in the women’s discus with a personal best of 37.66.
But, in front of them, the Yeovil Olympiads’ rallied to a great second place. Roberto Lopez Smith was among the home side’s winners in the pole vault with 4.30.
Under-17 athlete Daisy Allford led an 800m 1-2 for Basingstoke and Mid Hants. She crossed the line in 2:14.17, over a second ahead of Charlotte Vickers.
Just five points behind in fifth overall, Yate’s Lily Bailey got a 1.70 PB to beat Swansea’s Lili Church for 12 high jump points.
Newcomers Winchester and District tasted victory through Charlie Elford Pond, who threw the hammer 56.05, to beat the aforementioned shot put winner Swan.
NAL Championship East Round 1 – Chelmsford – 31 May
Chelmsford clinched victory at their home track in the East opener in Essex in a match packed with exciting junior talents.
19-year-old rising star sprinter Kissiwaa Mensah, who competed for Great Britain at the recent World Relays in China, won the 100m in 11.60, came second in the 200m, and then helped her team win the 4x100m relay.
In the field, Helene Ingvaldsen got them off to the perfect start in the hammer with 51.43, with Oliver Graham leading a 1-2 for the club in the men’s hammer with a furthest throw of 59.09. Later, Jess Hopkins’ best of 12.27 sealed 12 points in the shot put, following her second place in the javelin.
For Blackheath and Bromley, 17-year-old GB Juniors international Daisy Snell’s excellent 6.30 personal best helped her beat team-mate Mary Adeniji. The 14-centimetre personal best and European under-20 qualifying mark was the best women’s long jump distance of any of the five opening fixtures of the season.
Daniel Goriola won the men’s 110m hurdles in 14.20, while Cameron Kelly-Gordon was nine seconds clear in the women’s 800m in a time of 2:18.52.
A personal best also aided victory in the first track event, as Herts Phoenix’s Edward Laws ran exactly 51.00 in the 400m hurdles.
But Havering also impressed as Commonwealth Youth champion Steph Okoro dominated the women’s event straight after, clocking 58.85.
One of the closest battles would then come in the men’s 100m, with Herne Hill’s Rikaion Smith getting to the line in 10.70, just 0.01 ahead of Sam Ige of Belgrave Harriers. One of Belgrave’s highlights though would come with Sian Harry’s 53.82 400m win, while Smith also had more joy by bringing the team home first in the 4x100m.
But a number of zero point scores meant Herne Hill and Belgrave finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Blackheath’s European under-18 400m champion Charlotte Henrich, won the 200m ahead of fellow youth international Mensah, before delivering a fine display in a 4x400m victory. But the team narrowly lost out to Havering in the fight for third.
In sealing second overall, Herts Phoenix were helped by former European under-20 champion Khai Mhlanga, who won the B String 400m before coming second to Henrich’s side in the 4x400m.
