News

Birchfield Dominate Midland Road Relays

September 23rd 2019, 3:58:25 pm

Both our senior men and senior women took the Midland Road Relays title and with medals in five of the six age groups in the Young Athletes relays there was much to celebrate on Saturday.

Road Relays 2

It was a very sunny day in Sutton Park for the Midands Road relays and the weather set the tone for the rest of the day as athletes took medals across the board.

Senior Women

The senior women successfully defended their title with another strong performance. Led off by Bryony Gunn, who was never headed and came home with a good lead of 26 seconds in at time of 14.55, which turned out to be the second fastest of the day, the team was off to a good start.  She handed over to Carli Baldwin, who continues to be a great asset to the team despite juggling her time as a Mum with training, and she held the lead with a time of 15:50. Next up was Lizzie Watters who finally put into practise what she has been capable of for some time with a brilliant run that took her into 8th quickest on the day with a time of 15.39. Our fastest athlete, Hayley Carruthers, showed her dominance with a run of 14.14 on the final leg to make her the fastest on the day overall and confirmed the victory for the team.

The B team was 8th in a time of 1:07:06. First up was Jessie Lutwyche with a time of  17:37 on the tough first leg bringing the team back in 37th. Susie McManus took over for leg 2 and had a great run overtaking 18 runners to come back in 14th with a time of 16:07. Next to go was Kelly Butler who was making her debut run and did us proud with a time of 16:26 gaining another six places and she handed over to Sarah Conway who, as reliable as ever, brought the team home in 8th with a time of 16:56

The C team was 37th in a combined time of 1:16:20. Modern pentathlete Georgina Mitchell was first to go running a time of 18.17. On leg 2 was Danel Jansen van Rensburg who has just returned from a building project in Vanuatu and therefore had limited time to train but still managed a time of 20:10. Leg 3 was run by Caitlin McMorrow who has just started University and ran 18:33 before handing over to Savannah Causer, making her debut at the senior event with a time of 19:20.

Our D team was incomplete with only two runners, however, Sarah Travis/Maund had a really good leg and finished in 19:03 with Emily Evans who was making her first outing for a long time and ran 23:55.

Senior Men

The men were also hopefull of a good result as they had a strong team. Ed Banks was first to go in the A team and with a time of 18.40 he finished in seventh position. Alex Tovey was on second leg and he gained three places with a time of 18.36 to bring the team up to fourth. Sam Johnson continued the gains moving the team up to second and in contention for the gold medal with a time of 18.14. Will Richardson, who has competed in this event since he was a young athlete, took on the challenge with a superb run of 17.28, the second fastest of the day  to put the team into first place. Fifth leg runner and team manager, Andrew Peat, maintained the lead in a time of 18.33 and handed over to Omar Ahmed. Although he had an unassailable lead Omar took off and ran the fastest time of the day, 16.59, to secure the win with over two minutes between Birchfield and the second placed team.

The B team finished in nineth position and secured a place in the national relays in two weeks time. Tom Beasley led off and his time of 19.00 brought the team home in 15th place. Jonathan Bradford gained four places on the second leg running a time of 19.05. Mike Tanner then put in the fastest leg of the B team, 18.47 to bring the team up to seventh place. Orlando Corea almost held onto this position but slipped a place in a time of 19.37. Andy Ridley was the penultimate runner and his time of 20.28 meant the team was lying in ninth with one leg to go. Ben Griffiths was on last leg and he maintainned this position running a time of 20.35.

The C team was made up of a number of U20 athletes who were running in the senior competition for the first time. They finished a creditable 41st out of 104 teams. Matt Biggs was first to go and he finished in 50th place with a time of 20.56. Michael Gayle (U20), climbed nine places recording a time of 20.53 and he was followed by another U20 Daniel Swain who improved a further five places in a time of 20.20. Jared Malcom-Roberts the third U20 in the team gained two more places finished in 34th in a time of 21.07. He handed over to Alex Parker who ran 23.47 to put the team in 39th. Finally Peter Dimbleby finished in 41st with a time of 22.24.

Young Athletes

The first races of the day were the U13 boys and girls and these resulted in the first medals of the day as the U13 boys took the Midlands title. Charlie Smith was on first leg and was fourth at the finish with a time of 14.15. He was followed by Oliver Cresswell who brought the team up to second with a time of 14.54 but still with a 30 second gap to the leaders. The final runner was Ash Burgess who went out hard to catch the leading runner and then overtook him and kept the lead to the finish. His time of 13.51 was the second fastest of the day.

We are building our young athletes teams and as such were able to field three teams in the U13 boys race. In the B team Simeon Swain ran well to finish in 17th place. Daniel Ryan was on second leg and ran 16.47 and finally Jack Hendley-Smith completed the team in 16.11 for 17th place. The C team was incomplete with two new boys Matthew Sharpe (18.03) and Avi Aujla (18.05)

The U13 Girls A team ran solidly to finish in 8th place. Amira Hamilton was the lead runner and her time of 16.10 was good enough for 11th position after the first leg. Lexie Robins then pulled back one place in a time of 16.56 and finally new girl Phoebe Jones improved by two more places, her time being 16.21. The B team suffered from a disaster at the start as Tilli-Beau Tyson fell and lost a shoe and proceeded to run the rest of the 3.86km with only one shoe on. She managed to finish her leg in 30th with a time of 17.43. Cassie Pearson (18.13) made up one place to 29th and finally another new girl to the team Lucy Godwin finished in 30th place in a time of 20.00.

The U15 boys were next to run and even with a late withdrawal the A team took home silver medals. First to go was Finnan Robins who was pleased with his sixth place in a time of 13.17, seventh fastest of the day. He handed over to Leo Merritt who had been moved up to the A team and did not let the other down. He improved the team's position by two places running a time of 14.14. Findaly White then also made up a further two places to bring the team home in a well deserved second place. His time was 13.31.

The B team was incomplete but Daniel Hawes on first leg ran 15.25 and Max Chappelle ran 14.35.

The U15 girls did not want the boys to be the only ones with a medal in this age group and they duly delivered winning bronze medals. Amy Harland who is gradually getting back to her best after a string of injuries was second at the end of the first leg in a time of 14.34. Amelia Taylor who would say this is not her ideal race as she prefers 800m, did well to stay close to the leaders coming home in 4th place in a time of 16.26. On the last leg Olivia Scott ran very well, her time of 15.41 securing bronze medals for the team. In the B team a late injury meant we only had two runners. Emmeline Grace ran 17.57 and Tulah Searle had an excellent run making up some nine places in a time of 16.12.

We were confident that our U17 men could do well and with three full teams and one incomplete team it was an excellent turnout. This is a highly competitive age group so the boys were always going to have to run well to win a medal. Ryan Shields was on first leg and he brought the team home in third in a time of 12.12 which proved to be the fourth fastest on the day. Sam McFall did well to maintain this position under some pressure and he ran 13.10. Josh Robins was on the last leg and although the leading team were almost a minute in front he was determined to make up as much ground as possible. He not only did this but overtook the two runners in front of him and secured the victory for the team in a time of 12.34, some 20 seconds ahead of the second placed team.

The B team was also very strong and finished in fifth place out of 26 teams. Max Price was on leg one and he was in 13th as he crossed the line in a time of 12.54. Alex Stapleton on leg two gained six places running a time of 13.03 and finally James Vaughan gained another two places to finish in fifth, his time being 13.04. The C team were 16th overall. Dylan King (13.59) was 28th, followed by Reneil Gardner-Blake who improved by 12th places with a time of 14.42 and on leg three Jamie Cooper brought the team up to 14th with a time of 13.01.

The final race of the day for the young Stags was the U17 women. Led off be Lucy Semple (15.17), the team was lying in 11th as Ellie Taylor set off on the second leg. Her time of 15.17 (after a few weeks of illness), brought the team up to 9th place, a minute behind the leading team. Last to go was Ella Semple, Lucy's older sister and she set off on a mission to win a medal. She not only did that by bringing the team home in second but ran the fastest leg of the day, 13.52, in the process of  doing so. Kara Ingram was the only other U17W running and she ran 16.25 to finish 20th on leg one.

All in all it was a great day for our young athletes who will only get better and stronger as the season progresses.