Another Draw for the Belles in the Southern League
Southern Athletics League - Match 2 Cambridge
Sunday 31 May 2015
It was cold, blustery and at times wet day in Cambridge with the Belles making the trip for the unusual Sunday fixture. Facing Siberian winds down the back straight and across the field the whole team had their work cut out for them as we pushed for a win against top ranked Ipswich, Herts Phoenix and home team Cambridge and Coleridge.
It was a hotly contested day across all of the events with everyone pitching in to fill every event. With a full team of officials we were sure to not miss out on any points and whilst leading throughout the day we came into the relays with Ipswich ahead by one point. With their sprinters doing damage in the 4x100m relay, we regained some ground in the women’s steeplechase and men’s discus before it came down to the wire in the 4x400m relays. Some amazing runs from the women’s and men’s teams brought us to yet another draw for first place. An awesome team effort from all involved.
Men’s Team
Captain Marvel Pete Mayfield competed in 7 of the 8 field events on offer claiming wins in the pole vault and shot put, second in the discus A and hammer B before throwing himself into the triple and long jump. Our decathlon wonder was backed up in the throws by throws stalwart Chris Privett who won the B string discuss and battled it out in the hammer and shot put for third, with fellow thrower Tom Ikeda dipping in to win the B string for the javelin.
Jean-Claude Doukrou was boy Friday for the men’s team competing in the long jump, triple jump and steeplechase and most notably taking the win in the 110H. He was joined by Jon Goodall who brushed aside injury to compete in the B string for the 110H, 400m hurdles and pole vault gathering a nifty 8 points for the team.
Dom Boman-Flavell had his season opener in a tightly run 400H being pipped to third place, before a solid 400m non-scoring run and opening leg stint in the 4x100m relay. Richard McMillan also ran well in the non-scoring 400m and 200m races before offering his support to the team throughout the day.
Nick Smallwood and Andrius Jakesevicius fought bravely against some serious competition in the men’s 1500m and 3000m. Tough runs from both ensured we stayed within touch of Ipswich on the points with Nick also putting in an appearance in the steeplechase.
Led astray in the 800m with a super slow opening lap Sam Shore and Adam Dudgeon fought back to take second in the A and first in the B string respectively. The off pace run meant the boys had plenty left in the tank to help guide the men’s 4x400m relay to victory with storming runs from both.
The return of last year’s Southern League Award winner Matt Threadgold was well received as he dominated in the B 100m and A 400m, with a rare second place on the dip in a closely contested A 200m before leading out the men’s 4x400m relay team. Pierre Walker completed the sprints duo and ran well to take second and first place in the A 100m and B 200m respectively with Mark Silvester running a solid B string 400m to take second place and anchoring home the men’s victorious 4x400m relay team.
Women’s Team
The U17 ladies put in strong performances across the board to cover a variety of events. Milla McKenzie made her Southern League debut with a great performance in the high jump of 1.5m to claim second place for the belles. With Julia Doukrou competing in the javelin, triple jump her sister Carla took on track duties in the 200m A string before the girls combined for a turbo twin charged 4x100m with Electra Lanyon who earlier had a storming run in the women’s 200m against a fierce Ipswich and Herts crew to nab third place with a PB of 26.2.
There was no moonboot this time for Rachel Basford as she made a triumphant return to the SAL track competition with a handful of training sessions in the bank to win the 400H B string and claim third in the 100H. Putting her foot to the test she managed to also rack up points in the hammer, discus, shot put and pole vault – it’s good to have you back Rachel!
With no weddings to attend Jessica Case was firmly committed to the entire day and was duly utilised nabbing second in both the 400H and 100H, a third in the 400m B and dabbling in the discus for a team point. Whilst gradually stripping back her schedule for the season Jodie Albrow still managed to put in a fair effort against bitter winds in the javelin and also secured a handy win in the B string shot put.
Our jumps and sprints specialists Sandra Dike and Emma Watkins teamed up in the 100m and long jump with Emma jumping a PB to take second in the A string and a win for Sandra in the B string. Whilst in between taking photos Helen Brown made an excellent non-scoring performance in the triple jump before returning to her beloved steeplechase.
The ladies had to settle for second place in the middle and long distance events squaring up to a strong Cambridge team who had fresh competitors for every race. Jojo Rhodes and Fiona Maddocks ran extremely well in the tough conditions and showed their depth in the 1500m and 3000m, with Fi teaming up with Rose O’Brien in the 800m. Not just confined to the track with the 400m and steeplechase, Rose dabbled in the field with pole vault, high jump and a dubious hammer throw before anchoring the 4x400m with a gutsy leg to bring the belles a much needed second place with all to play for in the final events.
Special Thanks
We couldn’t have done any of it without our wonderful support crew and officials comprised of Bob Bridges, Charlie Dickinson, Don Anderson, Mrs Doukrou and Robert Norville who all came down and spent the day cheering, measuring, timing, coaching and supporting all of us in the torrid conditions.
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