Northern Inter Club Championships Final

Cudworth, Barnsley - 26 August 2001

The big guns from the British League proved a bit too strong for the Lincoln Wellington men’s team on their initial appearance in the North of England Knockout Cup Final at Dorothy Hyman Stadium, Cudworth. With the likes of Sale Harriers Manchester and Trafford A.C in opposition 7th place at the end of the match was probably as expected but some fine individual performances meant the Wellington squad were by no means disgraced. Although they had no winners on the day there were three high class runner-up efforts by Wellington athletes to prove that they are at least in sight of some of the best.

Daniel Hewitt equalled his personal best clearance of 3.40metres to take 2nd place in the pole vault and this was all the more creditable as he had already picked up 5th place in the 400m hurdles in 59.71. Nigel Winchcombe was immediately in the groove in the hammer with his opening throw of 51.18m securing 2nd spot for him. A twinge in his back caused him to withdraw early from that competition but he was back later with his best shot putt for many years (12.34m) giving him a useful 4th place. The other runner-up position went to Matt Bowser in the 1500m. He struck for home with 700m remaining and for a while it looked decisive. He was reeled in on the final lap however but a time of 3.53.48 was still an excellent effort and his 2nd best time for the distance.

There were some sterling Wellington performances in the distance races which were run in very warm conditions. Jason Hall has had a very demanding season since converting to the steeplechase but another determined run saw him cross the line in 10.20.92 for 4th place. Simon Bell was always around the middle of the field in the 5000m and a strong final lap secured another 4th place in 15.53.2. And in a gruelling 10000m Dean Houlton kept going very well to finish 6th in a very satisfactory time of 34.59.05.

The two sprints were high-class races and Ricky Lea did well to finish in 5th place in the 100m in 11.35 and 6th in the 200m in 23.02. Steve Blagdon recorded a personal best 52.4 when finishing 7th in the 400m and Adey Marston was pleased with a season’s best 2.02.69 for 7th place in the 800m. Adey White filled the club’s number one problem slot in the 110m hurdles and did very well to notch a personal best 20.94 for 7th place. He proved his versatility with a very respectable throw of 39.68m for 4th place in the javelin.

One of the better field performances came in the high jump where the very promising James Gilbert cleared 1.85m for 3rd position. He could well develop into a high class performer. There was a good effort in the discus from Carl Longley with 36.11m giving him 4th place and in the remaining field events Steve Swaby was 7th in the triple jump with 10.96m and Luke Lovell similarly placed in the long jump with 4.84m.

The relay teams both had some unfamiliar faces to complete the squads. The 4x400m team performed creditably to pick up 5th place in 3.36.38 but the 4x100m effort is unlikely to figure in any coaching video with the baton taking a somewhat scenic route round the circuit.

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