Bournemouth Athletic Club hosted an Open Graded Sprints meeting on Sunday 23rd August at King’s Park Athletics Stadium. The meeting was an initiative to provide local athletes with an opportunity to compete without need to travel much. As such and to limit the number of competitors on site, the meeting was restricted to athlete members of Bournemouth AC, Poole AC, Poole Runners, Wimborne AC, Dorchester AC, Weymouth St Paul’s Harriers and AC, New Forest Juniors and Isle of Wight AC.

The events were seeded races and included the 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m and held under UKA Rules and EA Covid-19 Guidelines. As a result it was classed as an ‘official’ meeting with results compiled for Power of 10, the first in Bournemouth in 2020. There was also a wind gauge in operation.
As the first official outdoor sprints meeting in Bournemouth in 2020, it was clearly evident that athletes were delighted to be back on track! The athletes embraced the opportunity to put their hard training into practice and there was an undeniable buzz about the place.

The weather was kind as it stayed warm and dry but the wind was hitting the back straight in big surges. However, the longer sprint athletes did not appear to let this deter them and this is evident in some excellent performances being recorded.

100m
The meeting kicked off with the most popular event of the day, the 100m sprints. The races were spread across 12 heats with over 60 athletes competing. The wind was in their favour with readings ranging from +1.3 to highs of +4.2.


The fastest time of the day was recorded by BAC’s International Long Jumper, James Lelliott who raced to victory in 11.0 (+1.6). He was followed by BAC’s Joseph Haywood and Muiris Egan in a time of 11.5 and 11.6 respectively.
They all looked on great form having put in the hard work and dedication during lock down. We are looking forward to seeing James in action again at the Müller British Athletics Championships on 4-5 September at the Manchester Regional Arena. The Championships will be broadcast live on Friday night on BBC2, 1800-2100 and Saturday afternoon on BBC1, 1315-1630.

The woman’s fastest time of the day was clocked by Amelia Verney (U17) in Heat 2 with an excellent time of 11.8 (+3.6) followed by Brooke Ironside’s (U20) impressive 12.0 (+2.4) in Heat 3.

Other notable performances by BAC athletes included a great show from our Junior athletes are as follows: Keon Dzuda (U17M), picture below in 11.8; Jolomi Nengite (U20M) 12.3; Adam Nicholass (SM) 12.4; Jazmin Cooke (U20W) in 12.8 (pictured above) Abi Phillips (U17W); Mia Wilkinson (U17W) 13.0; Amy Tonkyn (U15G) 13.6; (U15G) 13.9; William Launder (U13B) 14.0; Connor Bailey-Pearce (U13B) 14.6; Ewan Brown (U13B) 14.7; Bailey Guy (U15B) 15.0; and Ben Hutton (U13B) 15.0.

200m
Over 40 athletes lined up on the top bend to compete in the 200m which extended to 10 Heats. The fastest time of the meeting was recorded by BAC’s Kevin Hodgson with an outstanding 22.4. Kevin is a sub-50 second 400m meter runner and has shown to be an excellent talent. We are looking forward to seeing more great performances from him in the future.

BAC dominated the field with a convincing lead in this event, taking the top four places. Muiris Egan stormed through the line in 23.1, followed closely by Joseph Haywood (U20M) in 23.2, and Toby Bailey-Pearce (U17M) in 23.3. Excellent performances considering this is the first competitive sprints meeting at Bournemouth in 2020.

Ashley Williams of NFJAC clocked the fastest time amongst the women competitors with a time of 24.0 in Heat 1. Having the men to chase down must have helped as she was close behind the man in front.

The next fastest was Amelia Verney doubling up in both the 100m and 200m metres with an impressive 24.5 in Heat 3. Brooke Ironside also doubled up and recorded a great time of 24.8 in Heat 2.
BAC had a good presence in the 200m and showed great form with some excellent performances throughout. Again this included a good number of our younger talented athletes which shows great prospects for the future of the club. Performances in order of times include: Keon Dzuda (U17M) 24.3; Abi Phillips BAC (U17W) 25.9; Joy Wright BAC (W45) 26.8; Trevor Elkins (M40) 28.2; William Launder (U13B) 28.2; Amy Tonkyn (U15G) 29.0; Amy Doble (U15G) 29.1; Connor Bailey-Pearce (U13B) 30.6; and Ben Hutton (U13B) 31.8.

300m
The 300m was reserved for the U17s and took place across 4 Heats. There were some excellent performances from our three BAC athletes in Heat 1 as follows: Arief Mckenna (U15B) 40.9; 4 Abi Phillips (U17W) 42.7; Oscar Ewen-Matthews (U15B) 44.2. The fastest 300m time of the event was run by Charlie Brookes (U15B) of DAC in 38.1.
A great show of commitment and determination to continue training up to now.

400m
The 400m took place across three Heats with Ciaran Dunnion (SM) of PAC clocking the top time of 50.2, followed closely by fellow team mate Josh Smith (U17M) of PAC in 50.5.

The women saw the fastest time of 58.3 run by local athlete Sarah Kearsey followed by Joy Wright’s (BAC) performance of 60.1. This places Joy in the top rankings in GB (V45) for both 200m and 400m.
Next through the line was Trevor Elkins (M40) in 64.0. Trevor is currently a BAC road runner but hopefully he’s developed a taste for the track so we can see more from him in the future.

In summary, it would be fair to say this was a superb day of Sprints at King’s Park! Organiser, Tim Hughes did a great job in coordinating the events in adherence to Covid guidance which required additional work and planning.

Tim and BAC would like to extend a huge thank you to every official and helper that made this event possible. This includes a proficient BAC Officials team alongside our friends from nearby clubs who worked efficiently in accordance with the standards and guidance.

A huge congratulations to all who took part in what was a fantastic and enthusiastic day.

Here are the official results: Bournemouth Sprints 23-Aug-20

Today, 30 August 2020, BAC are hosting a Throws Invitational Trial which has attracted an excellent field of talent.  We look forward to receiving the full results. 

On Tuesday 8 September BAC are hosting a Shot Invitational Meeting This will take place on Tuesday 8^th September at 6pm (during the club training session) for BAC members with a focus on juniors.  For more information click here.