North of England Track & Field League

Division 2 East Central – Match 4

Costello Stadium – Saturday 5^th August 2017

The Kingston senior teams final league match of the 2017 track & field season should have been held at Scunthorpe AC’s home track but had to be switched to Costello due to problems with the pole vault area at Quibell Park. The opposition on the day was provided by teams representing Bingley Harriers, Rotherham Harriers, Lincoln Wellington, Chesterfield and Scunthorpe. The team came into the match knowing that either a win or a second place finish would secure them the league title and that only Rotherham Harriers or Lincoln Wellington would be able to overtake them.

As expected the Rotherham and Lincoln teams were in contention throughout the competition and they offered a real threat across all the events but Kingston pulled out some outstanding performances and they were just too strong on the day taking the maximum 6 league points and collecting the League winners plate. Rotherham Harriers were the runners up and Lincoln Wellington finished in 3^rd place.

The team featured the clubs senior and veteran athletes who were ably assisted by some of the promising youngsters from the youth team all of whom put in great efforts and left nothing in reserve.

Details of all the Kingston athletes performances are as follows.

The mens 100 metre sprints saw Matthew Elvidge running a seasons best time of 12.3 sec for 5^th place in the ‘A’ race and in the ‘B’ Daniel Holiday took 2^nd place in the race with his run of 12.0 sec. In the womens 100 metres ‘A’ England under 20 International Charlotte Paterson went head to head with Lincolns Georgina Adam the girls hit the line together and both ran the same time of 12.1 sec with Georgina getting the nod and Charlotte settling for 2^nd place whilst in the ‘B’ Megan Hoult was the race winner running a seasons best time of 12.6 sec.

In the mens 200 metres ‘A’ race Daniel Holidays run of 24.5 sec saw him take a 5^th place finish and in the ‘B’ Masters athlete and former Great Britain International Lawrence Baird was the winner of the race where he clocked a time of 23.9 sec. Megan Hoult was the ‘A’ runner in the womens race where she ran another seasons best time of 26.7 sec to take 3^rd place. The ‘B’ saw 15 year old Rose Hewitt who was making her senior league debut put in a great effort to take 2^nd place.

The mens 400 metres ‘A’ race brought Lawrence Baird back to the track and he picked up his second victory of the day in a closely contested race where he ran a time of 51.5 sec.

The mens 800 metres races saw under 20 Kyle Foster running in the ‘A’ where he finished in 4^th place and recorded a time of 2:02.8 sec and in the ‘B’ Oliver Newton took 2^nd place in the race with his run of 2:01.4 sec in what may be his last senior league meeting for the club before his move to London. The womens 800 metres ‘A’ runner was Jessica Cappleman who ran a seasons best time of 2:25.6 sec for a 4^th place finish.

In the mens 1500 metres ‘A’ race Harry Powell took the initiative from the gun and led the race from the front increasing his lead seemingly with every stride to cross the finishing line in a time of 4:03.8 sec more than 12 seconds ahead of the 2^nd place finisher whilst training partner Jack Brothwell made it a double victory for the team winning the ‘B’ race and running a time of 4:17.9 sec. In the womens race Jessica Cappleman returned to action and she put in her second season’s best run of the day running 5:27.3 sec for 3^rd place in the race.

The mens 5000 metres ‘A’ race saw the 2016 Northern silver medallist and under 20 athlete Baldvin Magnusson running his first 5K of the year and he slashed 36.3 seconds off his previous best time to take 2^nd place in the race and set a new PB of 15:38.3 sec. Road runner Chris Healey made his track league debut for the club in the ‘B’ race and he dug in producing a great effort to take 2^nd place in the race.

Oliver Newton took on his first 3000 metres steeplechase since 2014 and running in the ‘A’ race he took 35.1 seconds off his previous best time to take a 2^nd place finish and post a new PB of 10:31.8 sec with Simon Downs also taking 2^nd place in the ‘B’ with his run of 11:21.0 sec.

The hurdles races saw multi-eventer Clare Blunt running in the ‘A’ race of the women’s 100 metres where she ran a seasons best time of 16.4 sec to take 2^nd place. In the mens 110 metres hurdles Matthew Elvidge took 2^nd place in the ‘A’ race running a time of 22.4 sec and Simon Downs also earned a 2^nd place finish in the ‘B’ with his run of 22.9 sec. The mens 400 metres hurdles saw the County champion and Northern finalist Daniel Holiday winning the ‘A’ race running a time of 61.7 sec and Liam Holiday completed a club and family double winning the ‘B’ race  in 67.2 sec.

In the mens high  jump competition Tom Horner cleared a height of 1.80 metres for a 3^rd place finish in the ‘A’ and in the ‘B’ Daniel Holiday cleared a season’s best height of 1.60 metres to take 3^rd place. The womens competition saw Clare Blunt take 2^nd place in the ‘A’ with a season’s best clearance at 1.45 metres and Abbie Haigh continued her good run of form taking 2^nd place in the ‘B’ with her clearance at 1.40 metres.

Liam Holiday and Matthew Elvidge were the teams representatives in the mens pole vault where Liam took 2^nd place in the ‘A’ clearing a height of 3.40 metres and Matthew took 3^rd place in the ‘B’ with his clearance at 2.10 metres. In the womens event Northern Champion Clare Blunt was the winner of the ‘A’ where she went clear at a height of 3.80 metres.

The mens long jump competition saw Matthew Elvidge winning the ‘A’ event with his jump of 6.07 metres and James Wardle taking 2^nd place in the ‘B’ with his leap of 5.69 metres. The womens competition featured two 15 year olds Abbie Haigh who has put in some big efforts this year took 4^th place in the ‘A’ with 4.19 metres and Becky Chivers who was making her senior league debut took 3^rd place in the ‘B’ with her jump of 4.12 metres.

In the mens triple jump 16 year old Adam Coles made his debut appearance with the senior team, he was full of confidence following his exploits at the youth teams play off match two weeks earlier, he jumped another 13 centimetres beyond the PB he set at that match posting a new PB of 12.27 metres for 2^nd place in the ‘A’ whilst in the ‘B’ James Wardle put a fine set of jumps together and his best effort of the day 12.14 metres saw him take the victory in the ‘B’. The women’s event brought the vastly experienced Clare Blunt into further action and she put in a jump of 10.45 metres to take 2^nd place in the ‘A’ and Abbie Haigh put in another strong performance in the ‘B’ where she also took a 2^nd place finish with her effort of 9.46 metres.

The mens shot putt saw the British Masters champion John Twiddle taking 2^nd place in the ‘A’ event where he threw a distance of 11.91 metres and in the ‘B’ the County champion Anthony Norfolk was the winner of the competition with his throw of 11.93 metres. In the womens ‘A’ the County and County Schools under 20 champion Sophie O’Hara took 2^nd place in the event with her throw of 9.44 metres whilst in the ‘B’ Olivia Stevenson also took a 2^nd place finish with her throw of 8.81 metres.

The mens discus brought further action for John Twiddle and his seasons best throw of 35.01 metres saw him win the ‘A’ event and Peter Smith’s throw of 34.88 metres saw him take victory in the ‘B’. In the womens competition Sophie O’Hara took 3^rd place in the ‘A’ with a throw of 35.18 metres and another debutant 15 year old Harriet Cannell threw a seasons best of 17.16 metres for 5^th place in the ‘B’.

Former England under 23 champion and Commonwealth Youth champion Peter Smith was the winner of the ‘A’ hammer event and his best throw of the day was one of 58.40 metres, the ‘B’ thrower was John Twiddle the British Masters silver medallist and his seasons best throw of 41.02 metres saw him take 2^nd place. Olivia Stevenson the Northern under 20 Champion and English Schools bronze medallist took 2^nd place in the womens ‘A’ with her throw of 51.73 metres whilst in the ‘B’ event hammer coach Diane Smith had to step out of retirement due to Maggie Okuls return to America and she won the event with her seasons best throw of 33.48 metres.

The mens javelin saw Peter Smith putting in a throw of 35.39 metres in the ‘A’ to take 5^th place in the event and Simon Downs took 2^nd place in the ‘B’ with his throw of 33.83 metres. The womens competition saw two girls making their senior league debuts and throwing the 600 gram javelin for their first time, 16 year old Harriet Copley the County and County Schools champion took 2^nd place in the ‘A’ and set a PB of 33.37 metres and in the ‘B’ the Northern champion 15 year old Becky Chivers was the winner of the event and set a PB of 30.63 metres.

 RELAYS

Womens 4 x 100 Metres

The Kingston womens team comprised of senior athlete Megan Hoult and three 15 year olds Abbie Haigh, Becky Chivers and Rose Hewitt and all four put in a tremendous effort to take 4^th place and run a time of 54.1 sec.

Mens 4 x 400 Metres

The mens 4 x 400 metres team consisted of Oliver Newton, Liam Holiday, Daniel Holiday and Lawrence Baird and they took 2^nd place and running a time of 3:41.2 sec.