Southern Athletics League Report - Match 5
Southern Athletics League, Div 1, Match 4
Battersea Park, Saturday 8 July
It was a temperamental day as a solid Belgrave team set out to Southampton to try and hold ourselves together to avoid the relegation zone in the last match of the season. With the BAL match on the next day and the South of England U17 Championships depriving us of a lot of our athletes we were left triaging the team sheet throughout the day. Facing division champs Nene Valley, Southampton with the home advantage and Woking who were fighting to get out of the relegation zone it was a tough day ahead for Belgrave.
Men’s Team
Sprints and Hurdles
It was a skeleton crew for our sprints team as the 400m boys stepped in to fill the gaps. In the 400m Thomas Steindler put in a brave run in a tough race as the weather turned, with Richard McMillan taking on the B race. Meanwhile Sam Shore faced his first competitive SAL race of the season with the Southampton athlete taking it out hard in the 400m hurdles to steal the win with Sam coming in second in tough conditions and teammate Mike Burlsem running strongly to come second in the B string. It was then onto the 100m for Mike were he joined Javarne Gordon-Brown who made his SAL debut for the team in the B race. Another team man of the match effort from Mike saw him take on the 110m hurdles to fill one of the gaps and gain an extra point, before Sam Shore and Thomas Steindler battled it out in a close 200m race to both finish fourth in the A and B.
Middle Distance
Neville Harris and Paskar Owor paired up in the 800m with Alfonso Leone joining in as a non-scorer. Neville and Paskor sat at the back of the pack as the field went out hard in the opening lap and took some scalps with a strong final 200m as they pushed the Nene Valley runners all the way to both take second in the A and B races respectively.
The 1500m saw another brilliant run from Andrew Fyfe in effectively a solo time trial for him. He was joined by team mates Alex Mills (B string) and Scott Mills (non-scorer) as the field followed in Andy’s wake from the gun. Finishing within one hundredth of a second from his PB Andy comfortably took the win with Alex finishing a solid third and Scott Mills running brilliantly to blitz his PB.
The men’s 5000m was a surprise battle of the non-scorers with Nick Buckle and the Southampton non scoring athlete taking off ahead of the field to have their own race at the front. Meanwhile Matt Welsh sat not too far behind to win the official race for the A string with Ed Auden comfortably taking the B win not too far behind. It was then onto the 2000m steeplechase where the boys were spared a lap of the track due to a lap counting error from the officials with Nick Buckle taking a win in the A race and Arne Dumez stepping up for the team despite a debilitating cold to stretch his legs and take second in the B race.
Throws
Facing some tough competition from the big throwers of Nene Valley and Southampton Grant Sprigings and Pete Mayfield both put in a solid turn in the shot put to take second in the A and B. The hammer throw saw Chris Privett pushed all the way for second in the A whilst Tom Ikeda managed third in the B. The javelin results saw Tom take second in the B string whilst Harvey King threw strongly to take second in the A. The long day was then finished with a solid third for Pete Mayfield in the A and another second place finish for Chris Privett in the B string.
Jumps
We were once again left with many gaps in the men’s field with no high jumpers or B string pole vaulter. Pete Mayfield stepped up to cover the pole vault for a point borrowing some equipment from the Woking team. Javarne Gordon-Brown and Mike Burslem covered off the long jump and Matt Threadgold risked his achilles to gather a couple of points in the triple jump along with thrower Tom Ikeda. We can only hope that we find some jumpers over the winter as this hole in our team sheet has proved costly in our matches throughout the season.
Relays
The men’s teams put in a brave effort with weary bodies in both relays to showcase their team spirit. The 4x100 team of Javarne Gordon-Brown, Sam Shore, Thomas Steindler and Mike Burslem put in a great team run as they finished third. The day was rounded out with a solid performance in the 4x400 team with a steady display from, Neville Harris, Paskor Owor, Thomas Steindler and Mike Burslem as the boys held off Woking to take third.
Women’s Team
Sprints and Hurdles
The day started with the 400m hurdles with Jessica Case and Rose O’Brien forcing themselves around the 10 hurdles to finish third in the A and first in the B respectively. It was then onto the 100m where Sandra Dike and Emma Watkins pushing all the way against a strong field to each finish fourth in their races. Then onto the 400m with our regular runners injured or away the debutante Jurgita Leverataviciute stepped up from non-scorer to A runner to finish fourth whilst Jessica Case manage to keep her lunch down to finish fourth in B race having also been promoted to a scoring run on the day! The 100m hurdles were on next and Jessica Case and Rose O’Brien teamed up again to gather a few more points for the team with their runs. Rounding out the sprints for the day was the 200m with Sandra Dike and Jurgita Leverataviciute teaming up to run for third and fourth places in the A and B respectively.
Middle Distance
The ladies had a solid run in the 800m where Sally Underhill really went for it in her first ever 800 race to charge through on the second lap and take second in the B race with a brilliant run whilst seasoned A runner Fiona Maddocks sat neatly in the pack behind her before overtaking in the home straight to take fourth in the A. It was the 3000m next with Sophie Harris putting in yet another PB performance where she slowly chipped away at the fast starting Southampton athlete to cruise by and take the winning in the final laps whilst Lizzie Goldie-Scot put in another impressive run to take second in the B string. Then the 1500 saw Lizzie Goldie-Scot back up from the 3km with another brilliant run to finish second and match her PB from Wednesday’s Rosenheim whilst Fiona Maddocks charged around regretting every lap to finish an impressive third in the B race. The day was then rounded out with the steeplechase as Leanne Bettis returned to the event for the second time this season to run a PB and secure more crucial points for the team.
Throws
The duo of Mia Callenburg and Leanne Bettis kicked off the day with a brilliant opening hammer competition with both ladies winning the A and B Respectively, they were also joined by Ellen Hunter as a non-scorer. It was then onto shot put where the other teams proved dominant with Mia and Evie Grogan both finishing fourth in the A and B strings respectively. The javelin was up next with Leanne Bettis and Julia Doukrou again facing tough competition from the other teams to finish fourth in both the A and B respectively. The ladies then rounded out the day with their continued dominance in the discus with Mia Callenberg and Leanne Bettis both winning their respective A and B strings to round out a fairly successful turn in the field.
Jumps
It was another win for Evie Grogan in the high jump as she blitzed the field whilst Rose O’Brien joined for the B string to finish third. Then it was up to Mia Callenberg and Rose O’Brien to take care of the triple jump with both finishing fourth. Julia Doukrou put in a solid display in the long jump A to finish third whilst Emma Watkins took care of the B string finishing in second place. Meanwhile pole vault was again entertained with the displays of skill from Ellen Hunter and Rose O’Brien as they nabbed a few extra points for the team.
Relays
The likes of Mia Callenburg, Sandra Dike, Carla Doukrou and Julia Doukrou combined for the 4x100 where some excellent changeovers pushed the other teams all the way to a close second place finish. The 4x400 team of Jurgita Leverataviciute, Carla Doukrou, Sophie Harris and Fiona Maddocks battled it out with some gutsy runs to also finish in place.
The team put in some excellent performances on both the track and field whilst gaps and missing athletes elsewhere proved the deciding factor in the overall result. The strength of 2017 league champions Nene Valley was evident as they proved undefeated for the season to take the win with the home team Southampton finishing in second and a battling Woking pushing ahead of us for third.
Thank You
As always our brilliant officials make it possible for us to compete and earn us vital points. A massive thank you to Rex Bale , Charlie Dickinson, Bob Bridges, Carl Lawton, Aidan Grace, Richard McMillan and Robert Norville for helping out on the day. Also a big thank you to all family and friends that were there on the day to cheer us on!
FULL RESULTS
Team Managers Match Awards
Man of the Match – Mike Burlsem for his continued displays of team spirit as he put in some gutsy runs across the day and throughout the season.
Woman of the Match – Jurgita Leverataviciute for stepping up to the task on her debut to go from a single non-scoring 400m run to a scoring 400, 200 and both relays!
A note from the Team Manager
As we face a painful wait to see if results elsewhere will push us down into the relegation zone a few Facebook and website stalking runs and intel from other clubs seem to indicate that we have probably scraped through to stay in Division One for 2018. It has been yet again a great season of highs and lows, team bonding and memorable moments for all as the regular athletes continue to turn out each match with the hope of luring more regulars to commit for the season. We will continue to build as the team look forward to winter before the 2018 season and we hope to be even more competitive then.
Southern League Points Tally Final Standings – Top 3
Women’s Team
- Mia Callenburg 63.25pts
- Leanne Bettis 54pts
- Rose O’Brien 53.5pts
Men’s Team
- Tom Ikeda 49pts
- Chris Privett 32pts
- Sam Shore 30.5pts