National Junior League at Crawley on Sunday 24th April 2005

The Juniors were only able to send a small squad to Crawley for their first National Junior League fixture of the season.

Fern Parker was in fine form with a win in the 100m (12.8) and third in the 200m (26.4). Holly McManus running in the “B” race was first in both the 100m (13.1) and 200m (26.8). Sasha Mucci produced one of the performances of the day by winning the 1500m in 4:49.5. Charlotte Bates also had a good run, taking second in the 3000m with a personal best of 11:08.9.

Pritpal Chana was the pick of the club’s men with second in the 200m (23.0) and third in the 100m (11.6).

Wessex Young Athletes Track and Field League at Poole on Sunday 17th April 2005

Several of the Juniors swapped their cross country spikes for track ones for the first track and field match of the season at a windy and rain soaked Ashdown track, Poole . Despite the inclement weather the meeting was very well supported by the clubs and the competition for places was keen.

The Juniors had to settle for seven first places at the end of the day. However several of the club’s new members were able to compete for the first time and gain valuable experience for the future.

Hayley Pointer continues to produce impressive performances with a runaway win in the under seventeen women’s 800m with a time of 2:21.3. In the same age group, Charlotte Bates took the 1500m in 5:12.8.

Tiffany Markham looked home and dry in the under fifteen girl’s hurdles before taking a nasty fall. She soon made up for any disappointment with a win in the shot, putting 8.43m. Stacey Parsons won the “B” long jump with 4.07m.

Gemma Knell dispelled any early season nerves with a fine win in the 1200m taking the lead midway through the race to finish in 2:21.3. New girl, Emily Forsberg in her first competition took the “B” long jump with a jump of 3.85m. All rounder, Hayley Platt turned her attentions to the 100m “B” winning in 15.2s. Two weeks ago Hayley represented the club at the AAAs road relays in Birmingham running nearly 4k.

However, with only a few boys available to compete, the club had to settle for fifth place on the day.

Team result (provisional).

Team Southampton 503pts, Marlborough Juniors 502, Poole 479, Bournemouth 340, New Forest Juniors 239, Weymouth 219 and Stubbington Green 14.

AAA Nike Young Athletes Relays at Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield

Several of the Juniors middle distance squad travelled to Birmingham on Sunday 4 April 2005 to run in the relays. Having to compete on a national basis and despite some lowly placings the athletes enjoyed the day and relished the tough competition over a hilly 3.861k course. In the under thirteen girl’s race, the team were 55 out of 74 with Alice Cole running first leg in 16 mins 18 secs. Gemma Knell ran in at 18:02 and Hayley Platt 18:44.

The under fifteen girls were 61 out of 69 with Becky Knell clocking 16:56, Nickola Wells 19:19 and Laura Vine 18:39.

The under seventeen women’s team were hoping for at least a top half position. The team came 18 out of 39 with Hayley Pointer best placed New Forest Junior runner in 10 th place clocking 14:52. Laura Pankhurst (16:04) and Charlotte Bates (16:10) completed a fine team performance.

The Juniors were delighted to field a boy’s team for the first time in the under thirteen’s race. Graham Nelson ran 15:41, Will Thompson 16:16 and Chris Loader 18:53. The team coming 56 out of 61.