Herne Hill Harriers men’s track and field first team achieved another very solid placing, being fifth of eight teams in a highly competitive British Athletics League match at Linford Christie Stadium on Saturday. Harriers are now also fifth overall after two of four fixtures, but the BAL National One division table is very tight between the six teams below the top two, who already look like safe bets for promotion. At Rugby in the UK Women’s League Division 3 the mainstay of Harriers’ fourth placed team were a group of middle distance runners who between them covered unfamiliar events in addition to the specialities in order to ensure a fourth place team finish on the day. Both teams will be seeking to improve their positions in the next round of national league meetings on Saturday 2nd July.
Individual winners in the men’s match were a win in the A string shot put for Michael Wheeler with a season’s best 15.68m plus B string wins for Samuel Adeyemi in the 400m (48.59) and Allandre Johnson in the javelin (55.28m). Stuart Thurgood placed second in the A string hammer with a new Harriers club M40 record of 51.69m, while John Tayleur shattered his personal best time for 3000m steeplechase by 16 seconds placing second in the A category with 9:42.38. Harriers other A string second placed athlete was Gavin Johnson-Assoon in the javelin with 61.99m.
At the women’s match England half marathon internationals Stacey Ward and Cathy Ansell scored a double first with A and B string wins respectively in the 3000m, while in a Lily B League fixture for young athletes at Croydon Maisie Collis broke the club under 13 girls 1500m record with a time of 4:48.1, which should strengthen her position at the top of the UK rankings in this age group.