There was a healthy balance of young and more experienced athletes which helped create a great atmosphere throughout the competition.

BAC’s man of the match would go to Rob Mc Taggart, despite disregarding the pre-race tactical advice from Dave Parsons to stick behind him for the first few laps. As it turned out, Tag lapped almost everyone in the field at least once and had an unofficial lap of 63 secs. He also won the 1500m and ran in the 4x400m relay and wisely didn’t enter the steeplechase following his 3000m blast despite the encouragement of his teammates.

Meanwhile, woman of the match would go to Paola King. Paola completed the 1500m steeplechase, coming 2^nd and gaining a PB, much to the delight of most the team who had gathered by the water jump. Earlier on in the day, she won the pole vault with a PB, won the B string hammer, came 2^nd in the B string shot, and 3^rd in B string discus.

Chloe Burrows had a good day, with 1^st place and a PB in 100m, 1^st place in 200m and 3^rd place in the shot, gaining a PB. Meanwhile, Ryan Markham was 1^st in 100m and 2^nd in 200m with a PB. Andrew Speers was 2^nd in both 100m and 200m B races.

Gemma Kennard was 2^nd in 100m B and 2^nd in high jump, while Jemma Bates was 1^st in 200m B. Dave Flicos did his bit for BAC, coming 2^nd in pole vault and triple jump B, and 3^rd in 400m. Janet Dickinson was 1^st in 100m Hurdles B, 2^nd in high jump B, 2^nd in triple jump, 1^st in Hammer and 1^st in Javelin B.

Dave Parsons came 3^rd in 800m and 3^rd in 3000m B string. Mark Annis was 3^rd in 800m B. Danielle Marshall was 2^nd in 400m B, and won 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles. Abigail Richardson was 3^rd in 400m with a PB.

Holly Collier continued to show her competitive spirit, winning both the 800m and 1500m. Meanwhile, Harriet Slade was 1^st in B String 800m with a PB, and Poppaea Bramwell-Reeks was 1^st in 1500m B String. Brother Harry was 1^st in 1500m B String.

Alex Paul-Ajuwape was 2^nd in high jump and triple jump, and Rob Woolgare finished 1^st in Long Jump, Amelia Dobson also won the women’s long jump with a PB and claimed 1^st place in the javelin competition. Sam Cash leapt to first place in the B string long jump.

In the throws, Stephen Dobson was first in the shot. Andrew Sheerin finished 1^st in hammer, 2^nd in discus and javelin (B string for all). Adam Carpenter won the men’s discus, while. Isabella Shepherd was 3^rd in the women’s competition with a PB. Ben Dickinson finished 2^nd in javelin. And last but by no means least, Patrick Pepper achieved first place in B string hammer.

Many athletes also competed as non-scorers in the match, and the hard work of our athletes’ scoring performances moved BAC up to 10^th place in the league, which is mid-table.

Well done again to the athletes and their coaches, and thank you to the officials and volunteers who helped out at this event.

Phoebe in action at the national championships (Myvision4reel Photography)

Phoebe is still recovering from a difficult shoulder injury which kept her sidelined for 3 months this year, however, with careful training and rehab, she is fighting her way back towards her previous level.

Notable performances this summer are a silver medal at the U23 UK Champs and a brilliant 4th place at the recent British championships with a season’s best throw of 50.18, only 2m from the podium and a metre from her PB.

Her last remaining event is likely to be the England Athletics/CAU championships at end of July in Bedford, before she returns to the other side of the Atlantic. We wish her the best of luck for this competition.

The results of Phoebe’s throws at the British Championships

Thanks to Paul Dowson for the information provided in this report. We hope to include some more of Phoebe’s performances both in the UK and the USA over the coming months!

Performances by our U17 athletes were as follows:

Andrew Speers – 1^st 200m A, 2^nd 100m A

Glenn Balfour – 3^rd 100m B, 3^rd 800m A

Gemma Kennard – 1^st High Jump A, 2^nd 100m A

Holly Lowther – 4^th 200m A

Abigail Richardson – 1^st 800m A, 4^th 300m A

Olivia Galloway – 1^st shot, javelin, 80m hurdles, all A

Isabella Shepard – 1^st shot B

Performances by U15s:

George Galpin – 2^nd 100m A, 2^nd 200m B

Harry Grub – 2^nd 200m A, 3^rd 300m A

Tom Farwell – 4^th 800m A

Olly Johnson – 2^nd 80m hurdles A, 3^rd long jump A

Fraser Spall – 2^nd discus A, 1^st javelin B

Samuel Adams – 2ns discus B

Lewis Wyles – 2^nd javelin A

Yasmin Bridet – 2^nd 100m A, 1^st 75m hurdles A, 2^nd long jump A

Louise Galloway – 2^nd 75m hurdles B, 2^nd long jump B, 3^rd javelin A

Rebecca Hannbal – 2^nd 200m A, 3^rd 300m A

Katie Fry – 4^th 300m B, 1^st javelin B

Maeve Bailey – 2^nd 800m A

Laura Reeve – 2^nd 800m B

Milly Lynk – 1^st long jump A

Katie Buller – 1^st long jump B

Lauren Sheerin – 5^th discus A

Performances by U13s (some still recorded as A.N. Other at the time of writing):

William Batchellier – 3^rd 100m A

Louis Baldry – 3^rd discus A, 3^rd shot A

Tamika Douch – 2^nd 100m A, 1^st long jump A

Isabella Franklin – 4^th 100m B, 2^nd long jump B, 5^th javelin A

Ruby Bowden – 5^th 800m A, non-scorer 200m

Abigail Phillips – 3^rd 800m B

BAC were only able to field 3 out of the 6 relay teams, but overall things seem to be moving in the right direction and hopefully more athletes, with the support of their parents or guardians, will participate in these league competitions.

Apologies for any omissions and thanks as usual to officials, helpers and coaches.

Danielle Broom won the silver medal in the Intermediate Girls (IG) discus. Although throwing 38.47m is just over 4 metres below her PB, Danielle must be satisfied with just one person finishing above her in such a prestigious competition.

In the Senior Girls (SG) triple jump, Angel Kerin came 5^th with a best of 11.15m and Madeleine Smith came 6^th with 11.11m. These distances were a little below their PBs but Gateshead is not renown for warm and still conditions conducive to the jumps events. They both finished ahead of their positions in the national rankings this year.

In the IG long jump, Izzy Wedderburn jumped 5.40m, finishing 8^th in her qualification round. Unfortunately, this was not enough to progress to the final, but having had a few injuries in the lead up to the competition, this is a very good result for Izzy.

Bridget Dence came 6^th in SG 1500m with a time of 4.39.52 mins. This was just short of beating her PB, and like Angel and Madeleine, she was well ahead of her position in the national standings.

Cameron Hale came 7^th in Intermediate Boys discus. He too threw below his PB but after his exploits winning the South West Schools Multi-Events Finals last weekend, this is still a fantastic achievement.

Another of our multi-eventers, Olivia Galloway, came 6^th in her heat of the IG 80m hurdles. Meanwhile one of our young hurdlers, Yasmin Bridet, also finished 6^th in her heat of the Junior Girls 75m hurdles.

A recent newcomer to BAC is Jack Davies, who represented Hampshire in Senior Boys 100m. Jack came 8^th in his heat. Jack’s preparation for the competition has been hampered with an injury, so being fit to run in Gateshead is an achievement in itself.

Patrick Sylla, who was selected to compete for Dorset, opted to not compete at English Schools as he has been selected to compete soon at the World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz in Poland.

Once again, well done again to the eight athletes who competed in Gateshead, and their coaches.

If there are any mistakes or anything missing, please let me know.

BAC’s athletes gaining the ESAA standard

The athletes from Dorset who gained the qualification are:

Yasmin Bridet – 75m Hurdles (Junior)

Olivia Galloway – 80m Hurdles (Inter)

Danielle Broom – Discus (Inter)

Izzy Wedderburn – Long Jump (Inter)

Bridget Dence -1500m (Senior)

Angel Kerin – Triple Jump (Senior)

Madeleine Smith – Triple Jump (Senior)

Cameron Hale – Discus (Inter)

Patrick Sylla – Long Jump (Senior)

The athletes from Hampshire who gained qualification are:

Iona Sheerin – Long Jump Reserve (Inter)

Jack Davies – 100m (Senior)

We wish all those travelling up to Gateshead the best of luck!

Many of our athletes travelled to Exeter to compete in the South West Schools Multi Events Finals, and among these, one of the stand out performances came from Cameron Hale. Cameron won the U17 Men’s Octathon competition, gaining a new PB of 4,771 points across the eight events. In spite of this being a seemingly very tiring two days, the finale must have been very tense as his winning margin was just three points!

Cameron achieved a PB, winning the 100m hurdles in 15.19 secs. He also won the discus and javelin events, throwing a distance very close to his PB in each of these. He came 2^nd in the high jump and gained another PB in his weaker event, the 400m. He managed to do well enough in the long jump and 1500m to claim first place.

Olivia Galloway came 6^th in U17 Women’s Heptathlon with a total of 4,463 points, a new PB. Olivia was consistent throughout the competition, running a SB in the 200m and her weaker event, the 800m. She came 3^rd in 80m hurdles, was just 1cm off her PB in high jump, 5^th in shot and 2^nd in javelin. She also gained a new PB in long jump, leaping to 5.23m, an impressive feat in the middle of seven events.

Amelia Dobson achieved a PB also in U17 Women’s Heptathlon with 3,399 points. Amelia got PBs in 200m, 80m hurdles and high jump. The only down side was the 800m, a distance that, like many other multi-eventers, Amelia does not get on well with.

Louise Galloway, Yasmin Bridet and Pollyanna Yule completed the U15 Girls’ Pentathlon. Yasmin Bridet finished with a total of 2,325 a new PB and Pollyanna Yule had a total of 2,203 points, a little off her PB. Louise Galloway completed her first Pentathlon with a total of 1,969 points.

At the South East Finals at Lee Valley, Iona Sheerin had a challenging weekend of competition, finishing with 3,770 points, only 151 points below her PB.

Meanwhile at the British Championships at Birmingham a number of BAC’s long jumpers were in action. James Lelliott came 6^th with a best of 7.42m. Patrick Sylla, aged at least 3 years younger than anyone else in the compeittion, came 13^th with a best of 6.99m. Bradley Pickup, a long time regular at King’s Park came 8^th with a jump of 7.25m.

The turnout of athletes was much higher than usual as this was a home match and exams are over for many of our young athletes. Hopefully we can match this at the final competition at Portsmouth. Please note that the club will once again be covering the cost of coach travel for athletes, so please do compete. Not only is this valuable competition experience, you’ll be helping the club out in this league, and you get a lovely day trip to Portsmouth.

Returning to our account of the most recent match where Andrew Speers continued his excellent progress to set PBs in 100m with a time of 11.6 secs and 23.8 secs in 200m (U17M). Chloe Burrows similarly improved with PBs in (U20W) 100m of 12.7 secs and 26.6 secs in 200m. Chloe also set a PB in shot.

Gemma Kennard focused solely on 100m (U17W) and was rewarded with a time on 13.1 (against a previous electronically timed PB of 13.04).

Lewis Sainval eased away to finish first in 800m (U20M). Immediately after Lewis’s win, Bridget Dence won the 800m (U20W) with an SB. Bridget looks to be timing her training well and hopefully to be in peak condition for English Schools next month.

Holly Collier, a most welcome new member at BAC won the 1500m (U20W) and soon afterwards ran extremely well in the 800m (U17W) to finish within one second of her PB.

Abigail Richardson also ran in the 800m (U20W) despite not yet turning 16.

Glenn Balfour finished 1^st in 800m (U17B) and then managed to bravely finish the 1,500m steeplechase despite suffering an injury during the race. Brandon Meredith, returning to fitness, finished the 3000m (U20) in 2^nd.

Turning to the field events, Angel Kerin won the triple jump (U20W) A string and Sam Cash won the B string.

Ben Dickinson won the javelin (U20M) with a throw a fraction short of his PB.

Danielle Broom won all three of her U17W events:  the shot with a putt of 11.88m, discus with 40.71m, and hammer with a throw of 50.12m. By her own high standards, recently setting a succession of PBs, this was not an outstanding day. However, a win is a win, and she is hopefully saving her best for English Schools.

Isabella Sheppard, another new member who is keen to compete, won all 3 events in B string in shot, discus and hammer.

The YDL website states that “after 69 out of 76 events” BAC/NFJ won with 471.5 points, Vale Of Aylesbury came 2^nd 354 points, Guildford & Godalming 3^rd with 353 points, Ealing 4^th with 310 points, Chichester 5^th with 273 points and Hounslow with 0.

New Forest Juniors supplied slightly more than BAC as regards the number of athletes. They also helped out officiating, bringing along Dave Black. He is an extremely modest and pleasant silver medal holder from the 10,000m and bronze medal holder from the 5,000m at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand. He helped officiate, raking the sandpit and performing other field duties on Sunday, which goes to show volunteering to help your local club is appreciated at any stage of your athletics career.

Pride of place goes to Danielle Broom who set another PB in the Inter Girls (IG) hammer with a throw of 58.22m which was over 12 metres further than the nearest competitor. Danielle was just short of her PB in the discus with a throw of 41.68m which was almost 9 metres ahead of her nearest rival.

Danielle Broom, winner of IG hammer and discus, receives her certificate and medal

Cameron Hale, one of our reliable club members, who relishes competition, won the Inter Boys (IB) discus. Madeleine Smith was first in Senior Girls (SG) triple jump with 11.24m. Bridget Dence was 2nd in SG 1500m, this place was matched by Lewis Sainval in Senior Boys over the same distance. Olivia Galloway won her heat in the Inter Girls 80m hurdles but withdrew as a caution from the final.

Joe Haywood (left) and Cameron Hale (right)

Amelia Dobson was 3rd in IG triple jump. Abigail Richardson gained a PB in IG 800m with a time of 2.21.46 to come 4th. Chloe Burrows came 3rd in SG 200m and 5th in 100m.

Amelia Dobson leaps to third place in Inter Girls triple jump

Other BAC athletes competing included Joe Haywood, Gemma Kennard, Elle Ward, Jasmin Bridet and Millie Lynk. Still having several years left in the schools competition, we hope these athletes will be back and perhaps progress to the English Schools Championships.

Congratulations to all those who took reached this level of competition, and good luck for all those going on to compete at English Schools.

As per, if I’ve missed anyone off this report, please let me know so I can add you in!

The BAC athletes selected to represent Dorset in the South West Regional Finals at Exeter on Saturday the 18^th of June 2016 are: Elle Ward, Yasmin Bridet, Serena Sutherland, Gemma Kennard, Abigail Richardson, Poppaea Bramwell-Reeks, Olivia Galloway, Izzy Wedderburn, Amelia Dobson, Danielle Broom, Chloe Burrows, Bridget Dence, Angel Kerin, Madeleine Smith, Samantha Cash, Cameron Hale and Lewis Sainval.

Iona Sheerin has also been selected to represent Hampshire at the South East Regional Championships at Carshalton.

Other athletes in the Senior Age group will be competing in Bedford at the National U20/U23 Championships.

Good luck to all the athletes competing, including any BAC reserves who may be added to the squads.

Apologies if I have missed anyone, please let me know if I have!

Patrick Sylla won the Senior Boys’ 100m in a PB of 10.9 secs. He also won the 200m with a PB of 22 seconds dead, and we will return to his other performances later.

In Inter Boys’ 100m, Andrew Speers came 5^th with a PB of 11.9 secs, having earlier achieved a PB in the heat with 12.0 secs. In 200m he came 4^th with a PB of 23.8 secs and is making excellent progress this season.

Harrison Sheehan came 5^th in Junior Boys’ 300m with a PB of 40.4 secs and Mario Youssef was 6^th with a PB of 41.7 secs.

Lewis Sainval won the Senior Boys’ 800m in 2.00.1.

Harry Bramwell Reeks came 2^nd in the Inter Boys’ 1500m in 4.27.5.

Oliver Hassan won the U13 75m Hurdles with a PB of 13.8.

Turning to the Women, Chloe Burrows won the Senior Girls’ 100m with a PB of 12.8 seconds and came first in the 200m.

Gemma Kennard won the Inter Girls’ 100m in 13.1 secs and Stephanie Batchellier was 3^rd with a time of 13.9.

Yasmin Bridet  and Rebecca Hannibal were 5^th and 7^th, respectively in Junior Girls’ 100m.

Abigail Richardson set a PB of 2.23.4 to win the Inter Girls’ 800m. Abigail then came second in the 1500m in 5.16.0 behind Poppaea Bramwell-Reeks who won in a time of 5.03.3. Elsa Charlwood set a PB of 5.35 coming 4^th.

In the 75m hurdles, Yasmin Bridet came first in a PB of 11.8 secs having earlier got a PB of 12 seconds in the heats. Pollyana Yule set a PB of 12.6 in the heats to then finish 6^th in the final.

Olivia Galloway took a huge slice off her PB to win the Inter Girls’ 80m Hurdles in 11.7 secs.

In the girls’ field events, Gemma Kennard finish 2^nd in Inter Girls’ High Jump with a height of 1.55m.

Pollyana Yule came 2^nd in Junior Girls’ High Jump with a PB of 1.45m.

The Senior Girls’ Long Jump saw Angel Kerin jumping 5.34m to finish first ahead of Madeleine Smith who came 2nd with 5.19m.

In the Inter Girls’ competition, Izzy Wedderburn achieved a huge PB with a leap of 5.67m to win the event. Amelia Dobson also got a PB with 5.14m, coming 3^rd.

In the Senior Girls’ Triple Jump, Madeleine Smith just pipped Angel Kerin for 1^st place to win with 11.31m, Angel coming 2^nd with 11.28m. Sam Cash came 3^rd with 10.78m.

The Inter Girls’ Triple Jump was won by Amelia Dobson with a best of 10.70m.

Olivia Galloway came 3^rd in Inter Girls’ Javelin with a PB of 34.38m.

Serena Sutherland continued her steep learning curve to win the Junior Girls’ Shot with a PB of 10.52m. Meanwhile, Louise Galloway came 5^th with a putt of 7.62m just short of her PB. In the discus, Serena Sutherland came 2^nd with a throw of 26.48m which was also a PB.

Last but not least in the women’s field events, Danielle Broom won the Senior Girls’ Discus with a PB of 41.86m, and the Hammer with 56.96m which again was a PB.

Returning to the men’s events in the field, Patrick Sylla won the Senior Boys’ Long Jump with 7.61m, which was a PB. This was such a good jump that it puts Patrick in line for selection for the World U20 Championships which are scheduled to be held in Poland. This will mean Patrick may have to choose between Poland and the England Schools Finals in Newcastle.

In Junior Boys’ Long Jump, Johannes Elie came 5^th with a PB of 4.98m.

The Junior Boy’s Triple Jump saw Joseph Haywood come 3^rd with 10.24m just ahead of Charlie Castro who achieved a PB of 10.04m in 4^th place.

Jamie Williamson came 3rd in the Senior Boys’ High Jump, with a height of 1.85m.

Adam Phillips came 2^nd in the Junior Boys’ shot with a PB of 10.96m. He also won the Discus with a PB of 33.39m.

Cameron Hale won the Inter Boys’ Discus with a PB of 44.89m and the Javelin with another PB of 50.35m.

Ben Dickinson won the Senior Boys’ Javelin with 48.88m.

In U13 Javelin, Connor Charlwood came 6^th with a PB of 25.60m and Jasper Todd 9^th with a PB of 18.33m.

Among these fine performances, new championship records or national standards have been achieved, however as of yet, these have not been confirmed. Further information will, of course, follow, as will details of those selected for the South West Schools Championship at Exeter next Saturday.

Finally, we must thank the tireless work of BAC’s officials and helpers who spent their Saturday at the track, almost without stopping, supporting the Dorset Schools event.