BAL Knock-Out Cup Final - 4th September 2010

Ladies 2nd, Men 3rd at Hendon

The Final of the BAL Knock-Out Cup was again held at Hendon in North London, and Rugby & Northampton Athletic Club were once more in the Main Finals. The Senior Ladies team were in the main Final, and the Men’s team were in the auxiliary Plate Final. The Ladies team were well represented despite missing two key athletes, but were more than happy to have International 400m athlete Vicky Barr in their team.

The match started well for the Ladies team, with Charlotte Burrows deputising for the Club’s Under 23 AAA Javelin Champion, Samantha Cullinane who was still injured. Charlotte threw the 600g spear close to best to record a distance of 33.22 metres for an excellent 2nd place. That start was added to by Zoe Ash in the Hammer Throw event, where she also finished 2nd with her best throw of 41.79 metres. In the third event, Claire O’Reilly was thrown into the 100m hurdles race as a last minute substitute. Claire, who has not hurdled for over 5 years, still managed 4th place in the race, recording 19.7 secs. This was followed by the 800m, and Briony Banks ran steadily for 5th place, recording 2 mins 26.7 secs. The fifth event of the day was the 200m, and Ellena Ruddock, who has been through the season unbeaten, was more than able to deal with the opposition, winning into a –2.1 m/s headwind with a time of 24.90 secs.

There were also two more Field events to come, with Claire O’Reilly unable to cope with a strong headwind, and as a result she was well down on the normal standard. Clare’s best leap was 10.36 metres for 3rd place. In the Pole Vault, Kirsty Obern cleared 2.20 metres for 5th place. International Vicky Barr then added maximum points in winning the 400m event, easily, in a time of 53.50 secs. The 100m race followed and in a very tight finish, Charlotte Allee had to settle for 4th place in a time of 12.76 secs. That left the 3000m as the last individual track event. Tricia Garner had to fill in at the last minute, just to gain points, and Tricia ran just to finish to record 12 mins 32 54 secs for 6th place.

That left the final event, the Medley Relay of 200/200/400/400m to be completed. The team did a great job. On the first 200m leg, Ellena Ruddock ran well to hand over in the lead to Rachel Pearce, and after the second 200m leg the team were second. The baton was then passed to Charlotte Allee, and a steady first 300m was just right for her to hand over to Vicky Barr with a 5 metre lead, which Vicky extended for the team to win in 2 mins 45.75 secs. However, the team finally had to settle for 2nd place in the overall team result, with Exeter Harriers winning by 2 points. The Ladies team result was:-

Team Points
1. Exeter Harriers AC 75
2. Rugby & Northampton AC73
3. Swansea Harriers AC 72
4. Blackpool AC 64
5. Herne Hill Harriers AC63
6. Southampton AC 59

In the Men’s Plate Final there was a much improved performance from the team compared with earlier season results. Whilst there were was only one individual winner, there were consistent performances from all. In the 100m, Dave Fraser was 3rd in 11.77 secs, and there was another 3rd placing in the 200m with Ross Allen recording 22.99 secs. In the 400m, Tom Johnson was 6th in 56.21 secs, and in the 800m Rory Grant was 5th in 2 mins 01.42 secs. Another 6th place in the 3000m was achieved by Luke Robinson in a time of 9 mins 40.21 secs, and in the final individual track event Ian Gidley was 3rd in the 110m hurdles in a time of 17.99 secs.. There was a good result in the Medley Relay, from the team of Dave Fraser, Tom Johnson, Rory Grant and Ross Allen who recorded 2 mins 32.23 secs for 4th place.

In the Field events, Craig Murch threw 44.75 metres in the Javelin for 3rd place and he was also 3rd in the Pole Vault with a leap of 3.40 metres. In the Triple Jump, Ian Gidley was 4th with jump of 11.93 metres, and the only winner for the Club was Luke Hyland in the Hammer Throw event with a distance of 46.25 metres.

Mens Plate Final Team Result was :-

Team Points
1. Stevenage AC 85
2. Brighton AC 72
3. Rugby & Northampton AC57
4. Bolton Harriers AC 55
5. Chesterfield AC 51
6. Newport Harriers AC 48
7. Newport Harriers AC 41

Roy Humphries

 

> Back to News