ASHFORD finished second in the Southern League match at Harrow and will be looing for another good result in the final match at Tonbridge on Saturday (20th).
Gareth Morris was outstanding for the men with victories in the A 400m (50.4) and 400m hurdles (53.6) and there was a double in the pole vault won by luke Williams with 3.85m with Stuart Chisholm taking the B points with 3.20m.
Matt Smiley had a win in the B high jump as both he and Matt Hogben cleared 1.80m and Smiley was also second in the A long jump.
Ashford picked up good points in the triple jump with Matt Morsia second in the A event (14.68m) and young Nathan Fatola winning the B jump with a fine 12.76m.
Chris Blandford took the B javelin with 52.09m just behind teammate Peter Wickens who notched a fine 53.41 to be just edged out in the A contest.
Pete Davey swept to victory in the 110m hurdles and Lee Swinbourne won the B discus after good points in the shot and hammer. Veteran Jon Ward gained a good spread of points in the field events.
Gary Carr, Fatola and Ashley Cochrane covered the sprints with the middle distance events picked up by Matt Hogben, Warren Uden, Dylan Jones and Kev Williams.
The women picked up two doubles Stevie Langford and Debbie Martin winning the long jump with 1.66 and 1.60 respectively and the 100m hurdles points were claimed by Caroline Hatley and Emmeline Rendell. Stevie and Debbie also picked up seconds in the triple jump.
Amelia Jones showed her versatility with a win in the 2000m steeplechase and second in the 800m while Emmeline won the A pole vault with3.10m with Stevie second in the B event.
Rachel Hanagan had a win in the B shot and third in the hammer and young Kirsten Hooten had an excellent 23.58m to win the B javelin with third in the discus.
Veterans Candy Hawkins and Vicky Clarke weighed in with good points while Sam Beckett, Abbie Purkis and Briony Walsh also scored well in the sprints.
Match result: Harrow 204, Ashford 188, Nene Valley 160, Blackheath & Bromley 146.
Archive for the ‘SWL’ Category
Second in Southern League
Depleted squad just edged out
ASHFORD AC’s Senior Ladies travelled to Bromley last Saturday to contest the final match of the Southern Womens Track & Field League Senior only Division 1, reports Derek Laws.
Following promotion in 2009 the target for the season was to consolidate, aiming to finish mid table.
The season had got off to a flying start with the team after the penultimate match laying 4th just five points behind Portsmouth in 3rd. A good result at Bromley could have seen the team climb to take the 3rd spot.
Unfortunately this was not to be. After one of the most exciting tussles of the season between three of the four clubs (Portsmouth being one of them) the team lost out to 3rd on the day just 6 match points separating the three clubs.
This resulted in Ashford dropping to 5th in the League table. However a remarkable achievement, well above mid table, the original pre seasons aim.
Without the team being able to field a single dedicated thrower coupled with a couple of holiday commitments it was always going to be a battle. A full team would have without doubt triumphed.
Distance runners Helen Wheeler and Lesley Hall, who also doubles as the team’s masseur, once again provided excitement in the 3000m both pulling in and overcoming main rivals Portsmouth. Helen was 2nd A string in 11.02.7 with Lesley winning B string.
Amanda Jukes returning after a lay off ran a solid 1500m for 3rd in 5.32.9 with Kate Funnell, also returning after recently being hospitalised for an operation gained 2nd B string.
Earlier she had joined Amelia Jones in the 800m where Amelia clocked 2:33.3 for A string 3rd and Kate with another B string 2nd.
Rachel Hanagan was in winning form once again with three top spots in 400m in 59.8secs, 100m Hurdles B and another impressive Triple Jump win in 11.05m. Her sister Laura had joined her winning B string with an excellent 10.11m.
The sprints were contested by Kim Smith and Caitlin Dock, gaining more valuable points against strong competition. Caitlin had earlier entered her first ever SWL pole vault competition and was rewarded with first placed B string in a personal best performance of 2.40m and looking forward to a bright future in this event.
Emmeline Rendell was 3rd A string with 2.60m before winning the B string 400m Hurdles which she had to break away from the pole vault for. Laura Hanagan gained 2nd in the A string running a very mature race.
The sprint hurdles saw the return of Caroline Hately notching up a fine 2nd A string in 16.3secs. She then claimed a personal best in the javelin B string with 21.10m whilst newcomer Olivia Price showed she has a future in the event throwing the spear out to 28.79m.
Jumpers Deborah Martin and Katie Hamilton teamed up for both the Long and High Jumps. Unfortunately both events took part at the same time so they had to run back and forth between the events. They were handsomely rewarded however both claiming firsts in high jump and a 3rd and 2nd in the long jump.
Deborah has had an excellent first full season and aims to try even more events next year.
Women on a roll
ASHFORD AC women roared into fourth place in the Southern Women’s League with a resounding victory in their Division 1 match at Guildford.
They finished 13 points clear of Sutton and are now just five adrift of Southampton AC who are one of the competing clubs in the final match at Bromley on September 4.
That promised to be a thrilling finale to the 2010 campaign with Ashford delighted to be in the top four after targeting a mid-table place after promotion last season.
Another big achievement is an invitation for Ashford to compete in the UK League qualifier match at Abingdon on September 18 and a full squad will be needed to be competitive in this top match.
Pole vaulters Kara Gibbs and Emmeline Rendell set the tone for Ashford success at Guildford with a brace of victories vaulting 3m and 2.60m respectively.
Hannah Hogben and Amber Regardsoe were outstanding in the field events both second in the hammer with 39.83m and 22.50m and Hannah was joined by Sarah Snare in the discus for second in the A clash and a B string victory both nearing the 30m mark.
There was another fine win and second in the triple jump by Rachel Hanagan and Lucy Holmes recording 10.97 and 9.09m respectively and they were also part of the victorious 4×100m relay squad with Sam Beckett and Eleanor Campbell.
Kate Austen, Amanda Jukes, Lesley Hall and Helen Wheeler (battling the flu) piled on more valuable match points in the middle distance races. Deborah Martin continued her high jump success along with Katie Hamilton both clearing 1.50m for second in the A string and a B string win.
As the season draws to a close the girls can feel proud of their excellent achievements over the last two years. This is basically a young new team reminiscent of the quality teams the club have boasted in years gone by with excellent team spirit.
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