Following last season’s promotion, Cardiff was the venue for the first BAL fixture of the season. This was the team’s first appearance in division 2 since 2000 and survival at this level will be a tough, but achievable challenge.

To finish 7^th with a team missing many of the stars of last season was encouraging, as there is no doubt that we have the talent to improve in future fixtures.

Whilst some us were still lacking fitness and form at the start of the season, there were many notable performances. Roger Skedd is developing into a fine multi-eventer and was the star performer of the team. His points haul included 4^th in the A discus and 3^rd places in the B shot and B high jump. All this in addition to an excellent victory in the B 110m hurdles in 14.73 seconds to follow up Nick Gayles 3^rd in the A event. Fellow decathlete Sam Bishop also scored well in his 3 events, with good support from Louis Moore in the jumps and Greg Nixon in the throws.

The steeplechase was the most successful distance event on the day with Gavin Walters and Steve Bazell neck and neck until the home straight. Gavin edged out Steve to claim 4^th A, with Steve taking B string victory. Steve then added a 4^th in the B 5000m, which also saw young Alex Hall run a good race in the windy conditions. Tom Gayle’s fine performance in the A 1500m gave him a pleasing 3^rd place in yet another tactical middle distance event, as the wind ruined any chance of fast times.

We should now be looking to build on this start at the next fixture on June 4^th at Eton, with a good turnout we can stay in the top 16 clubs in the country.

Match Result

1 Sale Harriers 390
2 Thames Valley Harriers 342
3 WSE&H 276
4 City of Sheffield 267
5 Blackheath & Bromley 259
6 Harrow 226
7 Stoke 222
8 Cardiff AC 213

For full results:
http://www.bal.org.uk/bal/portal/main/default.asp?Section=Results

Stoke Results

100m
A 8 Steve Langley Stoke 11.5
B 6 Louis Moore Stoke 10.96

200m
A 8 Nick Gayle Stoke 23.09
B 8 Steve Langley Stoke 23.71

400m
A 8 James Dohnal Stoke 52.79
B 7 Andy Prophett Stoke 54.17

800m
A 8 Rob Spencer Stoke 2:03.82
B 6 Andy Prophett Stoke 2:03.71

1500m
A 3 Tom Gayle Stoke 4:04.97
B 6 Danny Barker Stoke 4:23.06

5000m
A 6 Alex Hall Stoke 15:39.62
B 4 Steve Bazell Stoke 16:17.28

3000sc
A 4 Gavin Walters Stoke 9:50.97
B 1 Steve Bazell Stoke 9:52.57

110H
A 3 Nick Gayle Stoke 15.05
B 1 Roger Skedd Stoke 14.73

400H
A 8 Steve Bazell Stoke 70.7
B 8 Gavin Walters Stoke 69.4

High Jump
A 4 Sam Bishop Stoke 1.90
B 3 Roger Skedd Stoke 1.80

Pole Vault
A 4 Alex Williams Stoke 4.50
B 6 Gavin Walters Stoke 2.50

Long Jump
A 5 Sam Bishop Stoke 6.74
B 2 Louis Moore Stoke 6.67

Triple Jump
A 6 David Mountford Stoke 13.34
B 7 Louis Moore Stoke 11.91

Shot
A 5 Greg Nixon Stoke 12.40
B 3 Roger Skedd Stoke 12.17

Discus
A 4 Roger Skedd Stoke 41.56
B 3 Greg Nixon Stoke 37.75

Hammer
A 8 Merv Richards Stoke 31.44
B 4 Clive Howell Stoke 28.72

Javelin
A 6 Rob Eggleton Stoke 52.27
B 4 Sam Bishop Stoke 42.47

4x100
8 Stoke 44.85

4x400
8 Stoke 3:45.73