NAL Championship North Round 2 – Liverpool – 5 July
Written by Alex Seftel
Sale Harriers achieved over 600 points in winning the second Championship North match of the season in Liverpool ahead of second-placed City of York, leaving the overall standings tantalisingly close.
The result is a reverse of York’s win in May and means that the two teams are level on league points, with the Manchester club ahead by only 2.33 match points.
Sale topped the standings at the first four times of asking, winning the long jump through Steph Jones (5.88) and hammer through Meg Blood (56.44), before Jacob Lingard (57.03) and Archie Varley (58.05) won the men’s 400m hurdles races.
Impressively, middle-distance runner Lucy Armitage smashed her 400m personal best to beat regular one-lap runners. Her time of 55.71 is 2.8 seconds faster than she has run the distance before. It adds to other 800m, 1500, 3000m and 5K improvements this year, which have included going from 2:07 to 2:03 over two laps and 16:41 to 16:25 over the longest of those events on the road.
Notts AC’s Kofi Afrifah-Mensah took maximum points in the pole vault with 4.21, but in joint-third place, Andy Ashurst was delighted to set a new M60 British outdoor record of 3.81. In doing so, he improved on his own mark of 3.76, set on 7 May at Sportcity.
Ashurst, the father of current British bronze medallist Sophie, remains outside the top 20 on the UK-all time list with 5.45 in 1992. In Gainesville in March, he broke the world M60 record outright, with 4.00m.
Before Andy’s improvement on it this year, the UK outdoor record for the age group had been Bob Brown’s 3.65, set in Solihull in 1993.
Decathlete Sam Ebonine made it a double long jump win for the club with a best of 7.22, while Daniel Afolabi (10.96) and Marcus McLean (21.51) followed up their individual 100m and 200m wins by combining for a 4x100m triumph.
Liverpool’s Meg Corker also achieved multiple wins, across the women’s 100m (12.32) and 100m hurdles (13.74), with her team ending the day with mixed 4x400m relay victory, thanks to Jack Mcloughlin, Neave McGhee, Joshua Patino and Lilly Noble.
GB international heptathlete Abi Pawlett came second in the shot put for Trafford AC with 13.68, 10 centimetres behind the winning effort of Sale’s Annabal Amadin.
Notts’ third place was helped by other field event wins for high jumper Harry Whyley (2.11) and triple jumper Brandon Lee (14.24).
NAL Championship West Round 2 – Basingstoke – 5 July
A dominant Swansea Harriers side boosted their chances of promotion with an excellent victory in Kingston by 86 points.
Caryl Granville Moore 61.04 started them off on the track, before her second place in both the 100m hurdles and 200m. Also impressive was a 3000m one-two for the Welsh club, through Edward Davies and Morgan James.
In the field, Sam Davies cleared 2.11 for 12 high jump points, adding one centimetre to his PB. Later on, Patrick Swan was more than four metres clear of his opponents, with a furthest effort of 17.17.
Basingstoke and Mid Hants’ finished second overall, two better than last time out. Decathlete Sammy Ball warmed up for this month’s European U23 Championships to win the pole vault with a 4.70 personal best. Henry Christer and Stefan O’Loughnane added respective 200m and 400m wins for the team, who also triumphed in the men’s 4x100m and mixed 4x400m. In the meantime, Ball also got a discus PB, with 43.56 for third place behind team-mate Mike Adeniran.
Harry Barton got a lifetime best of 10.74 to take top spot in the men’s 100m for Yeovil Olympiads, who finished third overall and also took 12 javelin points through Benjamin Jones’ win (62.38).
In fourth overall, Cardiff’s Ethan Esteban-Protheroe found a strong finish to lead the pack home in the 1500m in 4:04.47, after Welsh international heptathlete Lauren Evans had won the 100m hurdles (14.34).
Yate’s Keira Devereux won the 800m by more than five seconds, before Freddie Cooper went sub-6:00 for the first time in the 2000m steeplechase with a winning time of 5:51.05. Eleanor McIntosh’s took the 400m in 55.16.
Winchester and District took a one-two in the men’s hammer, with Leslie Parkes four centimetres clear of Charlie Elford Pond’s best throw of 52.68. That preceded Elsie Brindle clinching the women’s 200m A race in 25.47.
NAL Championship East Round 2 – Stevenage – 5 July
Herts Phoenix’s consistency and officials points helped them win their Championship East match in Stevenage, despite a number of headline wins by GB internationals for second-placed Blackheath and Bromley.
Blackheath’s Daniel Goriola won the 100m flat (10.93) as well as his favoured 110m hurdles (14.27), while Zara Obamakinwa’s 55.26 discus throw was more than 18 metres ahead of anyone else for the thrower who was fresh from competing the European Team Championships.
There were also double wins for Dan Putnam in the 400m (47.10) and 4x100m, while Dillon Claydon topped the pile in the discus (49.39) and shot put (13.71).
But Herts also impressed – and got 25 more officials points than their rivals – to aid a 15-point winning margin. Edward Laws clocked a time of 51.34 in the 400m hurdles to put the Herts Phoenix man nearly nine seconds clear of the competition. Tianna Rizzo then won the women’s 100m in 12.40, with Jacob Kinchin-Smith ahead of the rest in the men’s 200m in 22.40. Eloise Harvey was victorious in the triple jump (11.65), before Laws combined with Daniel Skilbeck, Lauren Rule and Louise Grenfell to come home first in the mixed relay.
Having won in May, Chelmsford AC finished third this time. Helene Ingvaldsen started kicked things off with 57.34 in the hammer, before she also won the shot put with 10.74. Another moment to cheer came when Megan Harris led the field in the 5000m (17:09.51).
Havering high jumper Thaila-Jade Mason won the high jump with a clearance at 1.64, after her second place in the long jump and before helping the team finish as runners up in the 4x100m. She was also fourth in the javelin. Another story for the team was M50 athlete Graham Holder winning the men’s hammer with 46.20.
Belgrave’s Louisa Stoney provided one of their highlights by winning the 400m in 53.51. Alessandra MacDonald got a personal best of 61.37 in her 400m hurdles victory.
Herne Hill Harriers weren’t quite as strong as they had been in their first match of the season, but shone brightly in their women’s 4x100m win through Princess Okoma, Joyce Kalombo, Olivia Stockwell-Green and Lily-Rose Brown. Fellow sprinter Ella Rennie won the 200m in 24.89 and Sophie Tooley’s 800m charge was rewarded with a 2.09.11 PB.
NAL Championship South Round 2 – Stevenage – 5 July
Great Britain’s Serena Vincent was the standout name in action in the Championship South as the City of Portsmouth athlete achieved a mark of 16.80 to win the shot put.
At the top of the standings at the time of writing, Crawley AC impressed across the board in the second match of the season in Stevenage.
Among their best moments for those in black and yellow was a women’s 800m one-two through twins Lauren and Charlotte Wormley (2:15.83 and 2:19.05)
Bryn Smith took the 200m in 22.03, Matthew Overall won the 400m (49.10) and Adam dray clinched the 1500 (4.16.51).
Tombridge’s multi-eventers ran the show again, even without Lewis Church. Harry Kendall won the long jump in 6.95 and was second to Smith in the 2o0. Matilda Secker took the 100m hurdles in 14.95 and was second in the javelin.
Team-mate Asha Root took 12 points in the 400m in 55.54, before combining with Secker to not only win the 4x100m, but the mixed 4x400m too, a short while later.
Third-placed Kingston AC and Poly achieved some impressive victories too. Pippa Wingate won the hammer (51.44) and discus (34.27), before coming second in the shot. Joely Bytheway won the 400m hurldes in 63.77 and then helped her side to second in the shorter relay.
Bournemouth AC couldn’t live up to the levels they achieved in the first match of the season and sit fourth overall. Robinson Okumu gave them a moment of joy with his 100m win in 10.79.
Southampton’s Sam Costley won the rarely-run 2000m steeplechase in 6:05.90. Bringing a smaller team, Portsmouth weren’t able to make up the points they needed to try and finish higher up the standings.
