Fine win for Belgrave in first NAL match of the season
It was something of a pleasant surprise for Belgrave to win the opening National Athletics League meeting against some strong opposition including the home club Milton Keynes and Yeovil from the West Country.
New track and field team manager Orna McGinley
Credit must go to Orna McGinley who had volunteered to take over as team manager from Bob Bridges, who has been managing Belgrave teams for more than 30 years. It hadn't been easy putting the team together; there were problems with membership and EA registration, issues mainly resolved and some at the last minute, by Orna and Rose Grace.
Although there were still some gaps in the team sheet and a few losses due to illness including Covid, it was a strong group who arrived at the Stantonbury athletics track. There would be a total of 15 A and B string wins across a variety of events. But it is not all about individual wins: there were many who stepped up to support the team in unfamiliar events or doubled up just to secure points. The team sprit was excellent.
Sprints
Fine performances by Sam Ige (whose 10.95 was the highest graded across all competitors on the day) with two firsts and Joe McGrath, second and first in the two short sprints. Rosey Smythe and Olivia Wilding doubled up for the women.
Sian Harry convincingly won her 400m and although Kareem Selman-Jackson ran under 50 seconds, he had to settle for second place in the men's race. Daniel Woodburn won the B string in just over 50 seconds.
Hurdles
How lovely to see Rachel Hicks back running for the team. Rachel is now back in England, married and has a little boy. She looked just as strong and fluid over the short hurdles. Decathlete Alastair Stanley came second in the 110H and was joined by Mike Burslem in the 400H both running well.
Middle Distance
The women's races had disappointingly small fields, but Katie-Ellen French ran a very well-judged, even-split race to win the A string in a fast 2:15 and it was so good to see Lizzie Goldie-Scot back on the track after a few years, scoring well in the 800m and 1500m.
Grace Richardson led from gun to tape in the 3000m in a very good time and looks capable of breaking 10 minutes in a more competitive race.
In contrast, the men's races were all well attended and very competitive with winners in under 2 and 4 minutes for the 800m and 1500m, and in the low 15 minutes for 5000m.
Ben Ringrose-Voase (1) with his best ever 800m. Tommy Taylor is to the far left of shot.
Ben Ringrose-Voase broke 2 minutes for the first time but had to settle for 5th. Tommy Taylor joined him in the 800m also running ran a PB.
Tommy doubled up and looked more comfortable in the 1500m, finishing strongly over the final lap.
Conall McNally ran at an even pace in the 5000m, moving nicely through the field. Ewan Somerville tailed Conall the whole way before outsprinting him to duck under 16 minutes for the first time on the track. Neither were close to their recent 5km road times, but the humid conditions didn't help.
Rob Kelly kindly volunteered a steeplechase debut to help the team. It was a gruelling experience for Rob and probably the last time he will run one. The winner was the smooth hurdling Sam Sommerville running for Yeovil. Sam runs second claim for Belgrave and trains with our guys at Battersea.
Jumps
Alastair illustrated the advantage of having a decathlete in the team by securing points in High Jump, Long Jump and Pole vault.
Grace Johnson won the High Jump, and Lauren Howells and Emma Watkins were both second in the A and B string long jump.
Lauren also did the Triple Jump where she was joined by Katie; they came second and third.
Throws
Frida Engstrom came second in the shot, discus and hammer. Matjus Mager and Tom Ikeda also threw three events for the men, supported by Chris Privett and Matthew Coombes in the hammer and javelin. Frida was joined by Lina Shkeir in the hammer and discus, and team manager Orna McGinley in the shot. Orna also threw the javelin with Emma Watkins.
That meant every single throwing event was covered by two athletes - credit to coach Chris who organised the throws team.
Relays
The men convincingly won the 4 X 100m in 42:87and the 4 X 400m relay in 3:29.39. The women came 4th in the short relay in 53:07 and were the only team in the 4 X 400m in 4:11.53.
Combined result
Belgrave 495, 2. Milton Keynes 437, 3. Yeovil 431, 4. Yate 414, 5. Portsmouth 364, 6. Southend 239.
Next
This was an excellent result for the team, but we must build on this in the next three matches to try to secure promotion from Division one (the lowest division in the National Athletics League) to the Championship. This will not be easy, with the next match June 4th on the Bank Holiday weekend, then the final two matches further away in Yeovil and Yate. The crucial thing is for athletes and officials to support the team and try to cover as many events as possible.
