Phoebe Dowson came second in Women’s Discus at the BIGish Jumps & Throws Fest at Bedford On Monday 27th of May, with a throw of 54.79 meters.

At the same meeting, James Lelliott was 4th in the Long Jump with a jump of 7.39 meters. James was unfortunate in that 2nd, 3rd & 4th places jumps were within less than 2 inches of each other. A slightly longer jump would have been rewarded by second place. James is currently ranked 7th in Men’s Long Jump in the UK.

Rob Woolgar was also at Bedford participating in the Long Jump. Rob came 7th with a leap of 6.94 meters in a strong field.

The title “BIGish” derives it’s name from a Bedford International Games held some years ago, it is now mostly a national competition, attracting the best throwers and jumpers from around the UK.

Phoebe Dowson was also competing in the Women’s Discus at the Loughborough International meeting the previous weekend. She finished second with a throw of 55.20 meters. At the moment Phoebe is content with her throwing and is ranked nationally SECOND IN THE WHOLE OF THE UK.

Most of the top ten ranked Women Discus throwers in the UK achieved their best throws of 2019 in exotic venues in the USA & Southern Europe. Phoebe’s best throw of 56.05 meters was achieved in the luxurious surroundings of King’s Park outside throwing area at BAC’s Open Meeting at the end of March.

By William Kearsey

Jazmin Cooke came 3rd in the U20’s W high jump at the south of England championships in Bedford on the 1st June 2019

 

We left Kings Park on a very busy mini bus filling almost every seat! Which for me was a much welcome change from previous years! We picked up along the way at both Picket Post and Cadnam. We arrived at Walton all ready to welcome athletes, officials and parents from Salisbury into our newly formed composite team. I was overjoyed when completing my team declaration that I had a pool of 20 plus athletes all keen and ready to compete !!!I must say unheard of!

My first thank you must go out to the officials. Tim and Tina Wilding from New Forest, Juliet Dobson from Bournemouth and new to us Andy Webb, Alan Munro and Andy Angell from Salisbury. It was fantastic to have such a great team of helpers behind us not to mention the additional points the team received from having an almost full quota of officials! Thank you so much.

I also cannot thank the parents who sat in the freezing cold enough! Also thank you to all the coaches that prepared athletes ready for the event and helped me with the team. Thank you to Tim and Dennis for helping the girls on the day particularly with the relay teams.

I now must move on to some of the day’s highlights. What can I say 2nd place overall above teams like Southampton and Team Dorset! Amazing, Amazing, Amazing! Well done everyone what a fantastic start!

Now over to the real stars of the day.

The girls put in some strong performances across the board in both age categories on both the track and the field. The biggest highlight was U17 100 m relay team breaking the club record with a time of 49.2. Well done Brooke Ironside, Amelia Verney, Lana Blake and Yasmin Bridet. Yasmin had said to me that the team would do well and you definitely did!!

We scored double points in Long Jump Lana Blake and Issy Franklin U17 both first and first with 2nd place going to Amelia Dobson in U20.Again in the High Jump Jaz Cooke jumped a season best gaining 2nd position in U20 and Amelia Lewis who jumped in u17 also came 2nd place. Lana Blake secured first place in Triple Jump. In shot our 3 athletes were Alice Miell and Issy Shepherd at U20 both gaining first place and Georgia Clarke scored well in U17 age group. In Javelin Alice Miell and Amelia Dobson both first in U20 scored double points along with Lucy Wilkinson came first in U17.Issy Shepherd threw a season best in hammer and took first place, Lucy Wilkinson stepped in and threw the hammer in U17. Georgia Clarke stepped into Discus thank you for doing so alongside Issy and Lucy.
Over to the track. Brooke Ironside ran up in U20 in 100m gaining first place position. Rebecca Hannibal also ran a great race. Amelia Verney, Issy Franklin and Sarah Brett ran great races in 100m and 200m. Alice Miell ran a really impressive 100m hurdles all on her own with me cheering for Sarah! I did say I was sorry!! Thank you for getting us top points. Yasmin Bridet gained first place position in 80M Hurdles. Melody Creber ran her first ever 3000M it’s a long way but you did it! well done! The other 100m relay team included Issy Franklin, Jaz Cooke, Sarah Brett and Rebecca Hannibal you had never ran as a team before but came second with a time of 52.4 well done girls. As the day went on the team spirit grew and amazingly a group of girls actually wanted to run the 400m relay. Thank you to Brooke, Jaz, Sarah and Becks.
Be proud of yourselves!

The boys also performed like real troopers. Showing fantastic results across both track and field. We had some new boys who had never competed before and they bravely rose to the challenge. I do really hope you enjoyed it!In 100m Joshua Dyer and Daniel Owen both ran fantastic races both in a time of 12.1 and Sam Cook ran his first ever 100m putting in a strong performance. Aidan Dure -Smith showed us how to compete at distance running and then showed his versatility by running the 100m relay. His team consisted of Joshua, Daniel and Morgan sorry boys for all the faffing about with the vests !!!Danny Sinclair did amazingly well in High Jump coming second. I hope that you survived the hurdles and that your knee is ok now? Morgan competed in Long jump coming 2nd place well done a great result.

Looking at the U20 Boys. Fraser Spall competed in a maximum number of events including being the only athlete in the steeple chase, I think we might have some more takers next time!!!Sam Cook threw the hammer for the first time ever in a competition. He wasn’t even put off by another competitor saying he could throw 60M plus! Adam Petty only agreed to come on Saturday evening he is primarily a runner but he entered into the spirit and tried a whole host of events. Thank you and well done! Jacob Northcliffe did some great running including the relay.

I really hope I have not left anyone out! You really were all amazing. Thank you for enduring the cold, meeting and making new friends. Together we will build on this success please come again and invite your friends to take part.

Please contact me ASAP to let me know your availability for the next events.

Thank you so much and a huge well done!!!

Suzi Shepherd

World Masters Athletics Federation have introduced Awards for the Best Masters athlete in each discipline in addition to their annual Best Masters Male and Female Athletes Award.

Nominees are selected following numerous hours spent trawling through results, records, PBs, analysing statistics and studying the WMA criteria.

BAC’s Janet Dickinson, a professor at Bournemouth University has been nominated by British Masters Athletics for the World Masters Athletic Federation Awards 2018 for her Multi Events performances and achievements.

Janet won the silver medal at the World Masters Heptathlon this year in Malaga, Spain, competing for Great Britain. Nationally she won six different British Athletics Championships including Heptathlon and Pentathlon.

Janet set new British Heptathlon Records at the British Championships and again at the World Masters Championships.

Janet is coached by Paul Rees and a is member of Bournemouth Athletic Club and Bournemouthbarbell.

Congratulations to Janet on her excellent performance and we wish her every success for 2019. WMA should announce the winners shortly.

World Masters Athletics Annual Awards

The World Masters Championships were held on the Costa Del Sol in Malaga, Spain, between 4 and 16 September 2018.  It was deemed as one of the largest World Masters Championships with the arrival of over 8,000 athletes from 101 different countries, ready to compete in the facilities of the province.

The streets of Malaga welcomed the community of Master athletes who represent a social movement throughout athletics; embracing the sport as a healthy lifestyle, understanding competition as a striving for continuous improvement, consistent effort and rewarding coexistence.

Athletes competed in men’s and women’s categories, according to age groups in 5 year intervals; in a diverse range of disciplines and athletic events including 100m 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m, Hurdles, 2,000m and 3,000m, Weight, Hammer, Discus, Javelin, Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump and Pole Vault.

Remarkably, the oldest woman aged 102 years, Man Kaur of India competed in 4 tests, 100m, 200m, Shotput, and Javelin in the 100-104 age group category.  The oldest man with the same age, Giussepe Ottaviani, competed in 2 tests: Triple and Long Jump.  In addition, the athlete enrolled in the largest number of tests was Rad Leovic, a 91-year-old Australian who entered 16 events.

BAC masters athlete, Janet Dickinson represented Great Britain and headed to the championships with the determination to bring home a medal, following hours of training and dedication, both on and off the track.  Dickinson’s hard work paid off and she did not disappoint in winning the SILVER medal, Word Masters W50 Heptathlon.  She is an inspiration to us all.  Congratulations on an outstanding performance and achievement!

Dickinson is currently ranked No.1 in GB, Heptathlon W50, a title maintained since 2016 when in W45 category.  Dickinson also holds current No.1 rankings in numerous other events including Pentathlon, 200m, 300m, 300mH, 400i, 400mH and Long Jump.

Dickinson’s Track and Field career began 5 years ago, with coach Paul Rees, from a background as an occasional marathon/road runner.  Her T&F career started with the throwing events, namely Shotput, Discus, Javelin and Hammer which were her main focus during the first year.  Dickinson is evidently well accomplished at three of them but is not a fan of the Shotput.  Coach Paul Rees commented, “I qualified and coached all T&F events over time and she has given me such a great opportunity to coach her in every one of them”.

Dickinson has competed in every Track and Field event and won the one hour Decathlon at Woking last year, 2017.  She also won the European W50 double Heptathlon Championships in 2016.

Dickinson’s latest triumph in winning the World Silver medal saw her break the British Record with a personal best.  She is pictured below running down the eventual Bronze Medallist and closing in on the winner (a former Soviet Union International).

As one of the least enthusiastic 800m runners (to say the least), Dickinson comically stated “whoever put the 800m in at the end of a Heptathlon needs a good talking to”.

Dickinson is an extremely talented athlete with an outstanding work ethic and manages to inspire and encourage other athletes of all ages.  Not content with seven events in the Heptathlon, Dickinson entered the 200m event which took place just one day after the Heptathlon.  The event saw 74 entries, squeezed into 9 heats with only the first two guaranteed a place in the semis.  Dickinson commented that four years ago she had decided to enter the 200m at the British Masters Championships. “I came last. Today I ran in a World Championship semi-final.  I was faster and I didn’t come last.”  In fact she won her heat with the 9th fastest time of the championships.  Despite her disappointment in not making the final, she was pleased to have more time off before Long Jump event.

Results link, medal and competitors here.

WORLD Heptathlon W50 SILVER Medallist 2018 Malaga.  Janet Dickinson with Coach, Paul Rees, behind the University Stadium after completing the seven event challenge.

Two former BAC Athletes, Caroline and Jean, won GOLD in the relay at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Malaga.  Many congratulations on such a great achievement.

Janet Dickinson made a well-earned appearance in the popular Track and Field magazine, “Athletics Weekly”.

More information on competing at future masters competitions can be found here.

The sunshine weekend of 14-15 July 2018 generated many success stories for BAC Athletes. Janet Dickinson broke the British Masters Heptathlon record to be crowned champion. Mel Bird placed fourth in Welsh Shot Putt Championships, near her best performance.
Daniel Broom finished her fantastic English Schools career with 6th place in the Discus. She has been involved for five years, winning gold and silver over the past years. She came 5th in the Hammer. Whilst being Captain of Dorset team, Broom won the British Schools International to add a cherry to the top.

The SAL was hosted by Woking Athletic Club on a hot and sunny Saturday 14 July 2018. BAC loaded a coach with the men and women’s athletics team, officials, helpers and supporters for the penultimate match of the season. BAC went into the Runnings in 3rd place in Division 2 but it was uncertain whether this status could be maintained with so many athletes away. However, BAC pulled through to secure a remarkable 2nd place with 202.5 points against the home nation and division leaders, Woking AC. Basingstoke and Kingston were behind with 199.5 and 113 points respectively to show what a close match it was.

It was the usual challenge of rallying the dedicated troops to fill gaps in events. However, this match was a particular challenge with so many spaces to fill and the sun beating down so hard, it could a grown man weep. In true BAC spirit, athletes stepped up to the mark, sprinters filling longer distances such as 4×4 relay spots, runners throwing giant metal balls for the first time (later to discover it’s called a hammer!) and throwers, running and jumping. The support and incredible atmosphere helped fuel them along the way to achieve some remarkable performances.

Throws
Dan Brunsden won A string Shot with 14.96m and Andrew Sheerin 2nd with a 10.88m throw and Stephen Dobson threw 8.53m (ns).
Isabella Shepherd came 2nd A string with 8.22m and Rebecca Hannibal 3rd (B) with 5.69m.

Sheerin threw the Hammer 37.84m for 3rd A string spot and Brunsden threw 26.92m for 3rd.
Shepherd won the women’s hammer with a convincing 39.34m. This came after a brief and interesting coaching session to ensure Joy Wright didn’t wrap the hammer around her neck. Wright exceeded her own expectations by reaching beyond the grass to claim 2nd place B string with 16.96m PB.

Brunsden secured another win in Discus with a 45.59m and Sheerin threw 25.99m for 4th place.
In the women’s discus, Shepherd and Wright were back in action both sealing 3rd place points with 20.71m and 16.25m respectively.

Andrew Brown was 3rd in Javelin, A string throwing 51.23m and Brunsden threw 45.85m for 2nd B string.
Amelia Dobson threw well to secure 2nd A string with 23.91m and Wright was 2nd B string after throwing 21.14m.

Sprints
Kevin Hodgson secured a convincing win in the men’s 100m with an 11.1 SB, making his mark on the track 0.6 seconds ahead of 2nd place Kingston. Joe Hayward ran B string in 12.2, close behind the Woking athlete. Muiris Egan ran 11.7 and Ryan Markham 12.1 to put their speed to the test (ns).

The women’s saw Chloe Burrows come home in 2nd place (A string) with an impressive 12.9 and Rebecca Hannibal grabbing another 2nd place (B String) in 13.7.
Jazmin Cooke and Victoria Coombs performed well, running 100m in 13.5 and 15.2

Patrick Sylla won the 200m by a large margin with an SB of 22.4 and another win for Hodgson, 22.9. Egan ran ns in a time of 23.4. These athletes are U23 and continue to show great potential as they develop at BAC.

More of BAC’s talented U23s include Chloe Burrows who won the 200m by almost 2 seconds in 26.0 and Rebecca Hannibal (U17) ran a great 28.6 to secure 2nd place points for the team.

Muiris Egan stepped on track again to run the 400m in 52.1 for 2nd place (A string) and Lewis Sainval was 3rd with 53.3.

The women’s 400m duo sealed 2nd place in both A and B string with Joy Wright and Abigail Richardson running 67.1 and 65.2. Unfortunately Wright coasted in with an Achilles injury and had to withdraw from the 100mH.

Middle Distance
Joshua King won the men’s 800m in a SB time of 2:02.7 and Laszlo Toth ran a great 2:08.1 PB at his second appearance for BAC.

Holly Collier ran an impressive 800m in 2:26.8, winning by a significant margin and Abigail Richardson won B string with another well executed run of 2:28.8.

Joshua King won A string again in the 1500m in 4:11.6, another SB and Rob McTaggart ran 4:14.6 in a close battle to the line in 2nd place, just missing out on top spot. Laszlo Toth improved on his best performance with a 4:28.3 PB.

Holly Collier ran 1500m in a great time of 4:52.7 to win A string and Abigail Richardson came 2nd B string with a well run 5:07.2.

The men’s 3,000m was dominated by Rob McTaggart as he secured a convincing win in 9:07.3, well ahead of a 2nd placed Woking athlete. Tom Paskins made his second appearance for BAC to run a great PB of 10:16.6 to bring home more points for 3rd B String.

Next up, the women’s 5,000m saw Nikki Sandell and Julia Austin battle the heat in a fantastic race in extreme temperatures. Both sealed 2nd place A and B string in 20:42.5 and 21:09.9 respectively.

Hurdles
BAC took a hit in the hurdles due to lower numbers and injuries so only one athlete took on the men’s 110mH, namely Rob Woolgar’s with a sterling effort for a 16.6 PB, 3rd A string.

Steeplechase duo Holly Collier and Nikki Sandell secured 2nd place A and B string with Collier’s 5:54.9 PB and Sandell’s 6:34.5, an outstanding effort despite on-going injury niggles.

Jumps
Patrick Sylla showed his talent with a convincing win in the Long Jump, 7.05m and Rob Woolgar jumped well to win B string with 6.48m SB.
Amelia Dobson took to the runway to win A string, 4.96m and Victoria Coombs scored more points with 3.61m.

Patrick Sylla and Lewis Sainval won the Triple Jump A and B string 13.22m and 12.73m respectively.
Amelia Dobson jumped 10.49m to come 2nd A string against some tough competition.
Isabella Shepherd worked her magic again to ensure she got a triple jump score for the team, 5.26m.

Lewis Sainval won the High Jump A string, clearing an impressive 1.90m, close to his PB.
Jasmin Cooke performed well for 2nd place in the women’s HJ with a height of 1.48m. Victoria Coombes claimed 3rd place by clearing 1.13m. During which time, Claire Cooke helped marshal the javelin in the style of the most elegant fetcher ever, wearing a lovely, flattering dress.

Andrew Brown cleared 2.35m in the men’s Pole Vault to finish 4th, A string. The women’s event witnessed Nikki Sandell’s 2.15m PB for 2nd A string and a PB for Jazmin Cooke with a 1.15m clearance and more valuable points.

Relays
The day’s events were wrapped up with some excellent relay performances. The men’s 4x100m won in 43.8 and the women ran well to come 2nd in 51.7.

The men’s 4x400m team ran well to come 2nd in 3:42.4 and the women scrapped together a team and excelled themselves by coming 2nd in 4:28.0.

BAC surpassed expectation to maintain 3rd place in Division 2 West, especially considering they are newly promoted to a higher division against much tougher competition.

Not only have BAC managed to stay in Division 2 but they have maintained a high league position throughout and it is a credit to each and every BAC athlete, coach official, helper and supporter. Thank you all for your invaluable efforts and contribution – long way the success continue. As they say, “Sky’s the limit”!

The next and final match is a home fixture on Saturday 14 August 2018 and a strong team and match win would be a great end to another amazing T&F season.

The British Masters Heptathlon Championships were held in Sheffield last weekend, 14-15 July 2018. These championships take place on an annual basis where Great Britain’s finest Masters Heptathletes compete for the honour of being crowned the British Champion. That esteemed honour was awarded to Janet Dickinson BAC, British Champion.

Dickinson set a new British Record for the w50 Heptathlon in the British Multi Events Championships at the two day event in Sheffield. The previous record stood for over 19 years. Dickinson’s total points exceeded Jean Fails excellent 19 year old record by an astounding 218 points. The new British Record now stands at 5163 points.

Dickinson recorded new PB’s in 80m hurdles in a time of 13.78sec, 200m in 28.31 sec. These results rank Dickinson as GB’s current number 1 w50 in 80mH and number 2 over the 200m.

One of the biggest challenges arose on day two as Dickinson strived to overcome a painful knee. However, she managed to score well and keep the record challenge alive.  Dickinson’s High jump was an SB of 1.37m, Long Jump 4.37m, Shot 9.06m and Javelin 26.20m.  The gruelling last event, the 800m was again a different experience yet she came home in 2min 51sec and managed to remain standing afterwards.

The atmosphere was superb with a great spirit amongst the women competitors. It was a very efficiently and pleasantly run competition at an excellent facility. One competitor stated it was an honour to have competed with such great and welcoming group of athletes in the women’s heptathlon. It was especially great to have witnessed a new British record!

Dickinson has been preparing well for this event and expressed how pleased she was to have broken the British Master v50 Heptathlon record which has stood for 19 years. During an exclusive interview with BAC, she commented on the brilliant support provided by her coach, Paul Rees, as well as the athletes and officials who helped her through the two days including some dodgy moments. The next big championship for Dickinson is the World Masters championships in Malaga in September and BAC wish her every success!