Midland League Report
Last Saturday saw a reduced team take part in the first Midland League event of the year at Tipton.
On the day, the team came 5th but this is a provisional result and this is expected to improve.
In a day of few personal wins, Gemma Elliott won her 400m A race well, Matt Wright won the Triple Jump B and Matt Peleszok won the Shot Put A competition. Daisy Gilbert won the Hammer A with an English School’s 34.37m before following up with a second in the Javelin B and second in the Shot Put A.
However this does not reflect the many other fine performances seen on the day – whether it be Harriett Sumnall’s new PB of 29.44m for second in the Discuss A comp or Niamh Bailey’s second places in the High Jump & Long Jump despite being unwell on the day.
It was also a day for returns with Alice Chapman running a fine second in the 100m A race and then leading home a makeshift women’s 4*100m relay team to a very pleasing third.
Another feature of the day was the need for athletes to take part in many different events to try and score points for the Club. Nothing highlights this more than the 11 additional points gained by Matt Peleszok in the 800m, 1500m and 2000 SC. Other athletes such as Matt Wright, Ed Cherry & Jamie Milne all “went the extra mile” to ensure points were gained.
However far the team stretched, there just wasn’t enough athletes there on the day to cover all events. The mens team was missing athletes for the 5000m and only had one entrant in the 110m hurdles, 2000m s/c and Pole Vault. The womens team was far more affected with no athletes in the following events - 800m, 1500m & 3000m and Pole Vault.
It is hard to prove exactly how many points the club missed due to lack of numbers but an example of the points missed can be seen by the 800m womens race. Had the club had 2 entries in the race, the club would have gained at least 8 points and a time of 2.20m would have won the A race and a time of 2.45m would have run the B race which would have led to a possible 16 points.
With the next Midland League meeting being held at our home track on Sun June 9th, it is very important the club fills all of these spaces in order to compete in this league. If you can help compete or help out on the day, please let either your coach or myself know.
Adam Henley Fixture Secretary
BMC Bonanza at Milton Keynes!
A group of 12 athletes from the KTH middle distance squad looking for good close racing and fast times opted to run the Milton Keynes PB Classic, which certainly lived up to its name on a perfect night for middle distance running with 148 PB performances from the 201 competing athletes from far afield, a massive 74%!
From the Harriers contingent there was some outstanding performances, with 6 new PB’s and 4 SB performances.
New recruit Lewis Hayes got things off to a flying start with his third consecutive PB in the Men’s 1500m paced at 4:05 on the night, with a well-paced race Lewis came home in 9th position but managed to slice over 5 seconds from his best with 4:11.42, which set the standard for the evening for all the other athletes.
Next off was Jack Hope in the 3k combined race, which due to withdrawals meant Jack would be running a solo effort against the clock after the pacemaker had dropped out. Jack ran a superbly paced race to slice 4 seconds from his best with 9:26.68 for 7th place and will now drop down in distance for the county championships to his less favored 1500m
In the 800 there was some excellent races with Matt Stewart running well to record a 3 second SB and edge closer to a sub 2:00 clocking with 2:00.97 for 5th place, and Liam Kirk running close to his best with 2:03.36 for 3rd position in his race.
Ethan Mehmet in a fast 2:06 paced race ran magnificently in the circumstances to come home in 4th place but still record a 5 second PB with 2:13.26, and edge closer to his initial 2013 target of 2:10, which he may need to reduce further if he keeps his improvements going?
In the race of the night, Fran Ashworth and the Gordon Sisters Jess & Beth all lined up together in the women’s 800m B race. In a very close opening lap all the girls were packed together at the bell, and along the back straight a pack of 5 athletes stretched the pace, with Fran and Jess Gordon right among the leaders, and it was left to a sprint finish to decide the places with the first 5 positions only being separated by a second. Fran led the way to take third position in 2:18.43 her third fastest time ever and a 5 second SB to edge closer to the English Schools qualification time of 2:18. Jess Gordon finished strongly in 5th with a new lifetime best by over 2 seconds to finish in 2:18.88 also with English schools time in sharp focus. Younger sister Beth ran strongly in 8th, but chasing after the pack she also set a superb new lifetime best of 2:22.53 and slice nearly 3 seconds from her previous best.
In the mixed I 800m race Rebecca Hughes and Emily Williams both battled it out, with Rebecca just edging it with a 5 second SB and 2:35.13 in 2nd position with Emily finishing in 4th with her 3rd consecutive PB to slice 2 seconds from her previous best with 2:36.73 and promise of more to come from both.
In the 1500m races Abigail Coleman ran a strong race to finish in 6th position in a tightly packed race to slice 18 seconds off her SB with 5:02.0 and confident she can dip below the 5:00 barrier again soon! Gemma Vaughan ran well to record 5:22.86 in an even paced race to win the mixed G 1500m race in the last action of the evening.
All in all a super evening’s racing and the squad go into the county championships in a buoyant mood.
Well Done to all the athletes.
Shane Smith Middle Distance Coach