Stoke AC results - British Athletics League

5th August 2006

BRITISH ATHLETICS LEAGUE MATCH 4 - CRAWLEY

Report by Andy Prophett

Despite a very early start and a long journey crammed into a minibus, the Stoke team produced their best performance of the season in this tightest of BAL fixtures. A points haul of 269 was more than 40 points better than the season’s previous best and left the team finishing just 5 points behind 3^rd place. However, the points were so tight that this was only good enough for 6^th place on the day and resulted in relegation, with the club returning to the fourth tier of British athletics for the first time since 1994.

The team’s star performer of the day was Tom Gayle, no doubt feeling confident after a personal best 3:48 in a recent BMC 1500m race. In the 800m he positioned himself in second place at the bell and timed his kick to perfection to claim his first BAL A race victory after a recent series of top 3 finishes.   If the wait for Gayle’s first victory had been too long, his second victory followed very quickly. Returning to the track for the 1500m he employed similar tactical guile to pull clear of the field down the home straight, crossing the line clear of his rivals and acknowledging the enthusiastic Stoke support.

British international decathlete Roger Skedd made a welcome return to the team and contributed a mammoth 53 points from his 5 individual events. These included victory in the A 110m hurdles in 15.2 seconds, a 2^nd place with a 4.20m clearance in the pole vault and a win in the B javelin with 49.78m.   Nick Gayle ensured Stoke’s first double of the season when he produced his fastest league performance of the season in the B 110m hurdles. Gayle is more accustomed to top 3 finishes in the A race and his 15.1 clocking was marginally quicker than Skedd’s time when winning the A event. With such high hurdles talent in the club, fellow sprint hurdler Alistair Candlish moved up to the 400m hurdles, performing well with 2^nd place in the B event.

Gregg Nixon had another excellent match in the throws, teaming up with veteran Morris Fox who returned to league action after taking a break from the sport.   In the discus, Nixon came 2^nd in the A event, after producing a personal best league performance throw of 42.84m, just 57cm ahead of Fox who won the B event with 42.27m. Positions were later reversed in the shot, with Fox taking 2^nd in the A competition with 14.24m and Nixon winning the B event with 12.65m, his best league performance of the season.

The final few races of the meeting provided entertainment for the increasingly vocal Stoke support. The 5000m saw Pete Benyon and Damion Gallagher have a close battle. Gallagher pulled away from his more experienced team mate at the bell, but Benyon charged back round the final bend to out kick the junior. Benyon was rewarded with his best time for four years and Gallagher with a personal best.   The 4x100m relay team of Nick Gayle, Candlish, Chomanicz and Porter then produced a season’s best time for an excellent 2^nd position. The final event of the day also produced a seasons best as the 4x400m squad took 3^rd spot with Skedd, Walters and Shubotham setting up Tom Gayle for a strong anchor leg to complete his successful day.

This was also an astonishing 50th consecutive BAL match for Andy Prophett - Many congratulations and thanks from all at Stoke AC - report

Check out Andy Prophett's BAL season review

John Danahay

For full results see www.bal.org.uk

Match Result League Table

1. Harrow 346 1. Harrow 29

2. Kent 312 2. Kent 26.5

3. Liverpool 273 3. Liverpool 24.5

4. Swansea 273 4. Southend 17

5. Herne Hill 272 5. Swansea 17

6. City of Stoke 268 6. Herne Hill 13

7. Southend 232 7. City of Stoke 9

8. Crawley 222 8. Crawley 8

Stoke AC Results

100m
A 5 Martin Chomanicz 11.3
B 6 Richard Porter 11.4

200m
A 6 Richard Porter 23.3
B 7 Martin Chomanicz 23.2

400m
A 1 Chris Perry 54.1
B 8 Andy Prophett 72.5

800m
A 1 Tom Gayle 1:53.0
B 6 Andy Prophett 1.58.6

1500m
A 1 Tom Gayle 3:55.2
B 4 Carl Shubotham 4.07.0

5000m
A 7 Pete Benyon 15.44.7
B 5 Damian Gallagher 15.46.5

3000sc
A 6 Gavin Walters 9:45.8
B 7 Steve Bazell 10:26.0

110H
A 1 Roger Skedd 15.2
B 1 Nic Gayle 15.1

400H
A 7 Chris Perry 58.7
B 2 Alistair Candlish 59.1

High Jump
A 5 Roger Skedd 1.80m
B 7 Chris Harvey 1.55m

Pole Vault
A 2 Roger Skedd 4.20m
B no competitor

Long Jump
A 6 Dave Mountford 6.58m
B 5 Chris Harvey 5.94m

Triple Jump
A 7 Roger Skedd 11.92m
B 8 Gavin Walters 10.57m

Shot
A 2 Morris Fox 14.21m
B 1 Greg Nixon 12.65m

Discus
A 2 Greg Nixon 42.84m
B 1 Morris Fox 42.27m

Hammer
A 6 Greg Nixon 36.18m
B 8 Adrian Thiemicke 6.29m

Javelin
A 5 Rob Eggleton 53.77m
B 1 Roger Skedd 49.78m

4x100
2 City of Stoke AC 43.5

4x400
3 City of Stoke AC 3.28.2