A third consecutive victory for the City of Stoke Vets team may well prove to be enough to retain the Northern Division Championship for the club.

This was always going to be a competitive meeting but our sprint trio of Paul Williams, Mike Warrilow and Nigel Gardner gave the team a tremendous start with a 1^st and two 2^nds in the 100m.

Paul then volunteered to compete in his least favourite event the 400m and finished a creditable 2^nd. Alan Burt also competed well finishing 4^th in the 400B race. Richard Barrington again ran an excellent 400m in the M60 race to finish 2^nd.

Our middle distance athletes Alan Simpson and Ray Ibbs (M50) competed exceptionally well in the 1500m to finish 5^th in the M40A and B races.

Phil Bailey (M50) and Dave Hindley (M60) were as competitive as ever and finished 3^rd and 2^nd respectively in the M40A and B 2k Race Walk.

Nigel Gardner has been a tremendous addition to this years team and once again he showed what a good athlete he is by finishing 2^nd in the M40 High Jump and 1^st in the Triple Jump. Mike Warrilow was still suffering from injury but agreed to compete in the M50 High Jump competition. He decided to withdraw after his opening height clearance but still took 2^nd position. Clive Howell was again in good form with a win in the M50 hammer and followed up with 3^rd position in the M50 shot.

Brian Eggleton again competed extremely well in the M60 discus and his 4^th position gained valuable points for the team.

Merv Richards once again showed what a good competitor he is by finishing 2^nd in the Discus despite having a fractured bone in his throwing hand.

The medley relay closed the meeting and once more it was another good performance from the team to finish 3^rd.

On the night, this was a well-deserved victory for Stoke where once again we filled every event. The final meeting is at Sutton Coldfield on Wednesday 10^th August. I am confident that we will be able to field a strong team again and I look forward to seeing you all there.

Peter Wainwright

1^st Stoke 141                     1^st Stoke 27 388
2^nd RSC 130.5                    2^nd RSC 24 353
3^rd Tamworth 122                3^rd C&S 19 301
4^th C&S 111                       4^th Tamworth 18 299.5
5^th W&B 91                        5^th Telford 16 237.5
6^th Telford 52.5                    6^th W&B 13 224
7^th Burton 29                      7^th Burton 9 135
8^th Shrewsbury 20               8^th Shrewsbury 6 68

Stoke Results

100m M40A Paul Williams 1^st 12.1
100m M40B Nigel Gardner 2^nd 13.4
100m M50 Mick Warrilow 2^nd 13.2

400m M40A Paul Williams 2^nd 55.7
400m M40B Alan Burt 4^th 63.2
400m M60 Richard Barrington 2^nd 64.6

2k Walk M40A Phil Bailey (M50) 3^rd 13.07.2
2k Walk M40B Dave Hindley (M60) 2^nd 13.7.7

1500m M40A Alan Simpson 5^th 5.01.0
1500m M40B Ray Ibbs (M50) 5^th 5.19.0
1500m M60 Dave Hindley 3^rd 7.34.0

Medley Relay Warrilow, Gardner, Williams, Burt 3^rd 4.23.7

High Jump M40 Nigel Gardner 2^nd 1.55
High Jump M50 Mick Warrilow 2^nd 1.40

Hammer M50 Clive Howell 1^st 32.71

Discus M40 Merv Richards 2^nd 33.04
Discus M60 Brian Eggleton 4^th 18.93

Triple Jump M40 Nigel Gardner 1^st 9.35

Shot M50 Clive Howell 3^rd 9.41