CLUBNEWS

12th JUNE, 2008

 

 

 

BIG SUCCESS - AND CONSIDERABLE PROBLEMS

 

The first ‘big weekend’ when Leeds City A.C. was required to find three Senior Men’s and two Senior Women’s teams passed off on the surface highly successfully; but in fact it put a considerable strain on the Club’s human resources, both competitive and administrative, and the results overall could be said to be patchy.  There were a fair number of reasons for this, as the reports of the three individual matches will point out; and there is certainly no cause for gloom and despondency, and no problem that a bit of thought, effort and commitment can’t sort out.  However, before anybody gets carried away with what was undoubtedly the biggest success on the Track and Field side of the Club’s activities in several years, a bit of reality needs to seep in, and people need to consider how they can back their Club and help it to back them.  Detailed results from all three matches are as ever on the Results Page.

 

 

7th June, British Athletics League, National Division 3, Kingston-on-Thames

 

BACK WITH A MIGHTY BANG

 

It’s been a twelve-year wait to see the Blue and Amber back in the British League – but once the wait was over the B.A.L. was made very aware that Leeds were back!  In spite of being short of three or four useful people for one reason or another, the Club filled all 36 event-slots (somehow), and of them there was one each in seventh and eighth, two in sixth, three fifths and a fourth – and all the other 27 were in the first three!  The outcome, as the Results Page will reveal, was a massive victory by 75 points – and the next fixture’s at home!

 

There weren’t in fact too many outstanding performances – though there were some – but the win was based on all-round steadiness.  It started well in the first 1½ hours before the track events got under way, with the early field events producing good returns; Mark Gulliver coming close to 50 metres again after his injury, and Mark Harrison less than a metre down on his best, while in the vault Tom Wagner opened cautiously after his injuries and Dan Gardiner, though not producing last weekend’s fireworks, settled solidly to the traditional Decathlete’s role in League matches of picking up a lot of B-event points.  (Neither of them was a likely winner with Nick Buckfield around!)  Dan continued his efforts backing Anthony Timms in the Long Jump, where again both were a bit down on their season’s bests but in front of lost of the field, and Dan had the honour of picking up the first win (in the B event) of the New Era.  Already after these three the team had a narrow lead.

 

By the time the Discus came round, (the first event for one of the few survivors of the Old Era, Matt Allison, who transferred almost seamlessly to the new one) the track events were about to start; and the opener produced one of the finest Leeds City performances as Matt Hudson, after a cautious start, lopped nearly two seconds off his best time for 400m Hurdles.  He was backed up by Gary O’Neill, running the event for only the second time; and as he shaved a bit off his best it could be another new era dawning.  The 800 runners had contrasting races, with Mike Salter being shunted to 5th in spite of a time not much below his season’s best, and Jake Harman reading his race superbly to collect the day’s second win with a fine piece of judgment.  Meanwhile the ‘old hands, Matt A and Mark G, were raising another solid score in the Discus, Mark setting a season’s best in the process.  At this point the meeting was a close three-hander between Leeds City, Kingston and Crawley.

 

The next four events changed everything; while each of the ‘chasing’ clubs had at lest one really weak event, Leeds City scored steadily in all of them.  The sprints were left in youthful but confident hands, and their confidence was justified; Tom Mosley’s first Senior 100 (at 16) was a solid effort, but Umar Hameed capped it by winning the B event in a quicker time.  An equally youthful pair of Steeplechasers also bought home the points, James Wilkinson “doing what he had to do” to win it without too much stress and James Lavin running close to his best for his second place.  In the Sprint Hurdles Matt H. was even closer to his PB (a fiftieth of a second shy and within touching distance of winning, while again James W. “did what was necessary”  Meanwhile Matt Barton as another doing the bare necessities to avoid roughing up his knee – but the his bare necessities were about 20cm further than anyone else’s.  Anthony T. picked up a few points in support.

 

With the Javelin and the Shot running in parallel Matt A. and Dan had a bit of a marathon dashing-about and shoe-changing session, but to excellent effect; Matt putting in a workmanlike Shot and making it look like old times by winning the Javelin (though not by much); Dan’s efforts again seemed to show a bit of reaction from last week, but with a second and a third, who’s moaning!  Gary seemed to suffer a bit from his Hurdling, though he ran a sound 400, but Rhys Smith was only kept from winning by a flying Channel Islander, and was again near his Best.  Simon Deakin and Adam Grice both ran season’s best in the 1500, but these days ‘Deek’ tends to be better over longer distances, and both lacked a little sharpness when Medway’s Tyler brothers put in a finish.  But the pattern was set – all the others having a ‘fade’ event or two while Leeds City were averaging twenty points per event and going clear.

 

Even Leeds City, however, couldn’t escape without one low-scoring event; in the High Jump Steve Linsell had a real off-day (a great disappointment for the longest continually-serving member of the team) and Matt B. was really only a ‘filler-in.’  However, the last track events produced a rousing finale; first Umar and Tom, reversing roles in the 200, provided the only maximum-pointer of the day in excellent times on a gusty afternoon; and then James Walsh made his track team debut for the Club in some considerable style, breaking away in mid-race and staying comfortably clear.  It’s good to report that having decided to put himself in to bat in the final individual event, Team Manager Martin Gostling did his share of the damage as well.  The 4x100 relay was spectacular, being at 42.75 the fastest a Club team has done for about twenty years; and despite being made up of whoever was there (two 400 men and two 800 runners) the 4x400 was a workmanlike job, with some quick running being done by all parties.

 

So, the old adage appears to have been correct again – getting in is the difficult part!  Last time the Club managed to stay in the top flight for eighteen unbroken years, and we should be aiming for another lengthy tenure; with a new Division being formed next year, promotion would ensure at least another three years’ membership, which would give the Club time to adjust and gain the support it needs from local bodies to meet the expense of being a leading club.  One thing that’s needed is to arouse local interest, and it would help immensely if the team had the support – not just moral, but in the form of physical presence – of as many of its members as possible, and as many of their friends as possible, at the home match on July 5th.  With a bit of drumming up in the local media, it could be that the City of Leeds – or some of it – might actually take an interest in one of its most successful sporting bodies.

 

 

7th June – Northern Senior League, Division 1, Blackburn

 

REALITY CHECK AMID THE FIREWORKS

 

Blackburn Harriers were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Witton Park track on Saturday; Leeds City were discovering that it’s hard work running a lot of teams, and though there were a number of highlights for the Club the overall impression was that it doesn’t take too many unavailabilities due to injury, conflicting competitions (especially for youngsters) and family commitments for the Club’s resources to be stretched thin.   Even so, the team remains second in the Division, and would be a great deal more comfortable if the three points that would have made the difference between fifth and fourth could have been found.

On the Men’s side the main weakness was in the field, where three athletes covered as much of the programme as they could.  The Throws were in the hands of the returning David Milnes, who threw a not unreasonable Hammer and got stuck into the others, and 51-year-old Paul Armstrong, revisiting the scenes of his youth and advancing two of his Over-50 records in the process.  The fact that he was still able to compete at this level and not be outclassed shows where Jake’s inherited his ability from.   Tom Lindsay was hoping for a PB Long Jump after his excellent recent improvement – but as he was the only one to cover Jumps and Hurdles (apart from a still-creaking Scott Mitchell, who turned out in spite of his ongoing foot injury) and the 400 Hurdles clashed, it didn’t come off.  However, he got his reward later in the afternoon, when he struggled over 1.75 at the third shot and then to his undisguised delight cleared 1.80 at the first go. 

 

On the track it was very much a case of good athletes finding themselves against better ones and finishing a bit down in spite of valiant efforts.  The Sprints had to be left to youngsters; and it has to be remembered that Joe Walker’s only fifteen, and Tom Casey was doing the event to pick up his speed for hurdling (he’s not doing Senior height until later in the season, which is probably wise.)   Tom Roberts filled in the 200 soundly after getting back to something like form after illness, but the run of the day was Sam Lowry’s major breakthrough  in the B 400, coming down from 53.0t to 51.7 at one go.  The longer distances were weakened by a couple of late injury withdrawals (Mark Bryant was still hoping to Steeplechase on cracked ribs with four days to go, but wisely desisted), and relied on young Eddie Mason doing a couple of fill-in jobs for points.  Steve O’Neill ran a solid 800, but he’s been orienting himself more towards the road of late, and hasn’t got his old speed; Mike Burrett and Chris Birchall have also been doing more long races (in Chris’ case over the hills) and perhaps lacked a bit of track ‘zip;’ and in fairness you couldn’t ask much more of Aidan Adams than producing a season’s best 1500.   There were good spots – but not quite enough of them.

 

The Women’s team suffered even more from withdrawals (why do people have to do things like getting married on Saturdays??), and had to be bulked up with a number of athletes who weren’t at their fittest.  A lively account from team manager Veronique Marot also describes a few other disasters – Fiona Maddocks and Emma Radcliffe getting there late due to Fiona following a Sat. Nav., and Liz Best “Hitting a hurdle so hard in the 400 that she couldn’t do the 100,” though she recovered enough to do two good relay legs.  Fiona and Emma did get round their 800s, though Fiona “looked as if she were about to die” at the finish; Emma then spent much of the afternoon with Jess Best filling in any event that had a gap, with Jess chucking quite a decent Hammer for a ‘casual.’  Also among the none-too-fit was Jenny Lumley, whose sprints were by her own standard not great; the important thing, however, was that after her back problems Jenny’s getting going again, and “the longest journey starts with one small step” - which this was!

 

There were some good efforts here, though.  Susan Partridge made one of her rare forays on the track, winning the 3000 from the front “despite her main rival sitting on her for all but the last 200,” and then repeating the dose in the 1500.  Her partner Celia de Maria “did well to stand on the start line for the 1500” after a rough time in the 3000 – but nonetheless participated in the Club’s only two maximum-pointers of the afternoon.  The Sprints were also a profitable area; in spite of unfitness Jenny scored well, Sheryl Punter followed another sound 400 with a pretty swift 200, but it was Naana Adusei’s day, with a season’s best 200, a win in the 100 and a superb relay leg.  The Throws were in experienced hands in the form of Hazel Barker and Claire Ginn, the latter recovering from a severe illness but “competing bravely” and throwing a sound hammer in particular.  However, Veronique’s choice for Woman of the Team was Rosie Trudgen, who equalled her season’s best in the high Jump, ran her first 400m Hurdles with “great maturity and steadiness” and stepped up to the A 100m Hurdles and recorded another Best.  She also slotted into the 4x400 at short notice when two of the team had to leave early.

 

There should be rather more people available for selection on July 6th, some people may be a lot fitter by then, and the next round is at Wakefield.  IF a reasonable team can be got out, this meeting can be seen as a ‘blip;’ but it’s a warning blip to remind everybody that if you want the best possible level of team competition you’ve got to be willing to work towards it.

 

7th June – Northern Senior League, Div. 4WC, Accrington

 

IT’S TOUGH BUT FUN IN THE BASEMENT

 

With the problems the Division 1 team seemed to be having, it might be pertinent to ask why bother with a team in Division 4; if an answer is really needed it was given earlier this season, that if there are people who want competition the Club should try to provide for them.  The fact that nineteen assorted kids, Veterans, extra bods and even the odd person seeking a return from in jury were willing to travel into the fastnesses of north Lancashire would seem to justify the effort.  There should have been more, but family circumstances, a Thursday night injury and two bouts of illness thinned the numbers out at short notice; with the people who didn’t go the C/B team (depending on gender) might have finished a couple of places higher than the fifth it did.  There were also problems finding Wilson Playing Fields; one athlete arrived very late due to Sat. Nav. Error, and another family party found themselves following a Tom-Tom down an unpaved farm-track!  (Moral – however bad his reputation for navigating, The Scribe has actually driven all the routes on the Club website, and they work!)

 

Even at this level there were performances of note.   The best of the day was Carrie Simpson’s Shot; after a cruciate ligament injury of the type that appear to run in the Simpson family, Carrie was given the go-ahead to compete (but only in Shot) on Thursday night, and rapidly sought somewhere to do an English Schools’ standard, which she duly did.  It was about half a metre or so down on her best, but so what – the object was achieved.  Carrie’s presence, and Jo Westerman’s agreement to chuck a Discus (not badly either for a ‘casual’) allowed Stacey Evenden to limit herself to two throws only – which meant that when Mum Ros (who threw everything) twisted her arm to fill a couple of the gaps in the team she found it hard to refuse.  Ros and Stacey therefore competed in what Ros herself referred to as the Short Jump; however, it’s just possible that the ratio of points scored to distance covered could be a Club record!   (Ros also had a bash at the High Jump, but didn’t make the opening height – nonetheless the thought was there.)

 

On the tack the female sprinters raided the points solidly, with Danni Carr winning the 100 and just missing out on the 200, Blaise Reynolds running about seven-eights of a good competitive 400 (the last fifty metres hurt!) and Jo winning the B 200.  India Haresign ran a couple of seconds quicker over 800 than the previous month, while in the 3000 Anna Martin returned to the track and ran confidently with Sorrel Hoare, running on tartan for the very first time, to take a maximum.  (OK, there was only one opponent, but she was a determined girl.)  Sorrel also scored well in the 1500, though she was a bit daunted at starting with the men; you’d have thought in road races she’d be used to the idea, but track’s different.

 

The men’s side – in fact the whole team – has already learned after two matches that as a team manager Kevin Ritchie is not the Duke of Plaza Toro.  Considering he’s officially supposed to be a semi-retired semi-cripple Big Kev did five events – B 400, Discus, High Jump, Long Jump and Triple, at which he got his three extra jumps this time! – and two relays.  Faced with that lead it was hard to say no when he asked you to do things, so that when Arthur Cooke’s navigation led him to miss the 800 he was rapidly ‘volunteered’ for the 400.  There was some sound sprinting from youngsters Tom Webber and Adam Pape, the latter running a sharp 200, and Nathan Wells mucked in and contributed a good Long Jump.   Arthur was more at home in the 1500, running soundly and pulling Will Plastow, who looked a lot crisper than at Oldham, to a B win and a season’s best.   Somehow three relay teams were got together to rake in a few more points.

 

The 5000 saw an interesting debut as James Smith, a member for less than a month and in a borrowed vest, took charge after a kilometre and given any opposition could have run half a minute faster; that he didn’t get the opposition was due to his crafty sidekick Martin Farran, who deliberately held back so that the Oldham lad who was sitting on his shoulder shouldn’t get close enough to challenge Kames, and then saw him off over the last two laps.  (As Martin says, at 47 you can’t rely on your power so you’ve got to use your head.)  The only area that had almost full cover was the Throws, and that mostly by the singularly disparate pairing of 15-year-old Karl Evenden and the slightly older figure of the Oldest Slinger himself (a mere 51 years’ difference!)   Karl had a good day, throwing three Senior implements well and sending the big Hammer further than he’d chucked the 5k in the wet at Gateshead, while John Lunn, in spite of not having picked up any implement for a month due to injury, didn’t do badly and even claimed a Club Record in the Over-65 Shot (by virtue of nobody having recorded a mark before!)

 

One important thing was decided at Accrington; the third match, which should have been at Beckett Park and didn’t seem likely to happen at all, is now going to go ahead at Oldham on July 6th.  With a bit of luck a few more people may turn out to fill some of the gaps; we could even still challenge for promotion on a good day.

 

 

EDITORIAL APOLOGY

 

This edition of Clubnews wasn’t started until later than usual, due to several results being slightly late getting to The Scribe.  (Not the fault of any Club member – more down to computer and internet glitches.)  Therefore a number of results, including the Trafford Open on June 3rd, have been held over until next week; apologies to those whose efforts haven’t yet been reported.