Report – SAL Division 1, Match 2 — Eton, Sunday 21 June
Result: 3rd, 211 points (WSEH 323, Brighton & Hove 220, B&B 211, Harrow 205, WGEL 196, Havering 150)
Standing in as TM for Samantha for the day, and what a day to pick. Eton in full sun, barely a cloud, and a squad assembled with gaps to plug right up to the gun. Nine points off second on a day where the heat made every multi-eventer’s afternoon longer than the schedule said. Third on the day, but the manner of it is the bit that’s worth telling.
The headline act has to be Oscar Witcombe, who turned up, borrowed my spikes and Tom Sugden’s vest, and cleared 4.15m in the pole vault to come joint first. Same height as the winner, no kit of his own, two-thirds of someone else’s. That is the spirit of the whole afternoon in one event.
Amber Bloomfield went for a PB in the 100m hurdles and was on for it before coming down at the last. No time on the sheet, but anyone watching could see where her training is taking her. A crash on the final flight when you’re chasing a quick one only happens when you’re committing. Plenty more to come.
The team behind the team: our president Karen Desborough was a massive help sorting athletes and filling slots while I was out competing — the kind of behind-the-scenes graft that keeps a patched-together squad on the track. And a full set of officials points in those conditions was nothing short of heroic. Standing out in that heat all afternoon to keep us scoring is exactly the contribution that doesn’t show up on the results sheet but absolutely shows up in the total.
The multi-eventers who barely left the infield:
- Anais Hemetsberger — four events (high jump, long jump, shot, javelin)
- Molly Savage — Long Jump, first ever high jump! and a leg of the 4×100
- Dennis Savage – Long Jump, TJ and a leg of the 4×100
- Patrick Apantaku — the full throws set (shot, discus, hammer)
- Gracie Horton — the 1500m, the 3000m and a 4×400 leg, a proper day’s work in the heat
- and someone foolish enough to enter five (400mH, shot, discus, hammer, javelin) can confirm the walk between the cages and the back straight is longer than it looks at 30 degrees
Last-minute heroics: Jonathan backed up a 2nd place in the 3000m by stepping in to run a 4×400 leg at the very last minute to get the squad round. Exactly the kind of stand-in that made the day work.
Performances of note:
- Sophie Osborn — won the women’s A 400m in 55.60, plus 25.48 in the B 200m
- Cheyanne Nketia — doubled up in the women’s A sprints, 12.08 and 25.67, both 2nd
- Kelechi Aguocha — won the men’s A triple jump (14.05m), 2nd in the high jump (2.00m)
- Beth Regan — won the women’s B 400m hurdles (66.54)
- Sam Parsons — won the men’s B 1500m
- Ryen Rennie — 49.05 for 3rd in a tight men’s A 400m
- Madeleine Dodd — 3.35m for 2nd in the women’s pole vault
- Joyce Nzekwe — 2nd in the triple jump (11.51m)
Relays: men’s 4×100 3rd (43.06), women’s 4×100 3rd (49.24), both mixed 4×400 squads getting round.
Not the result we’d have drawn up, but for a squad stitched together with last-minute stand-ins on a brutal day, nobody left anything out there. Borrowed spikes, borrowed vests, five-event afternoons and a hurdler who’ll be back. To quote the Foo Fighters: Done, done, on to the next one!
Ian Firla
