Defending champions Harrow lose ground as round two also clarifies the Championship promotion race in sweltering conditions across the country.
Round two of the National Athletics League saw Thames Valley Harriers strengthen their grip on the Premiership title race, while the Championship divisions began to reveal the clubs likely to contest next month’s promotion play-off, Martin Duff reports.
All events saw temperature maximums mid-afternoon of 28-30C, with the hottest being down near the coast at Bournemouth.
The hot weather acted as a no-no to distance runners with steeplechase events again being met with apathy from clubs.
NATIONAL ATHLETICS LEAGUE PREMIERSHIP, round 2, Woodford Green, July 11
The Premiership saw holders Harrow, attempting to bounce back from defeat to three-time winners Thames Valley Harriers, in the first match but it was not to be. The previous three-time winners soon saw off an early Harrow challenge from Hayden Christian in the men’s 400m hurdles in 51.37 as Harrow scored a double.
Harrow kept up the pressure in the women’s 800-metres as Sofia Vidak and Susannah LeCoutre scored wins in 2:10.04 and 2:11.77.
In the men’s 800m Ted Higgins scored a run-away victory for Tonbridge in 1:48.26, but in the team stakes, after four events it was Harrow who led Thames Valley by just three points 69 to 66.
There was not much respite from the sun, where temperatures reached 29 degrees Centigrade, at Ashton Playing Fields and the 100-metre runners had to battle against a strong breeze before Eniola Adedotun won for Swansea in 10.92 but Harrow’s Destiny Ogali was quicker in the B race with 10.82.
In the field, the first event of the day saw World indoor representatives Georgie Forde-Wells and Molly Palmer battle it out in the long jump. Finally, it was Forde-Wells who came out on top thanks to a third round 6.52m leap.
Swansea took the men’s discus through Michael Jenkins’ fifth round 57.52m but, after eight events TVH now led Harrow 130 to 112.
Tonbridge scored again in a distance event when Lewis Mills took the 2000m steeplechase in 5:55.15 but, after 13 events The Valley stretched their lead to 40 points with 225.
Harrow fought back thanks to a women’s 100m hurdles win for English champion Etienne Maughan with 13.52 after Aria Aberley-Barker had taken the women’s 2000m steeplechase with 6:56.84.
Thomas Hockley made it three Harrow A string wins in a row by adding the men’s 400-metres in 46.52 but the Valley’s 279 still led by 27 points after 17 events.
It took some time for the men’s hammer results to be appreciated but, in that event, Windsor had their first success as Commonwealth Games selection Jake Norris was only a shade below his 77.76m best from the Halle meeting in May, with a final round 76.29m.
The men’s 400m saw a cracking race with seven inside 48 seconds and it was Harrow’s Thomas Hockley who came out on top with 46.52 while the women’s event saw Swansea put in a win through Hannah Brier’s 52.23.
The women’s 1500m saw Lecoutre win for Harrow in 4:28.95 to show up the appalling display in the men’s race where they just jogged round then sprinted for the line.
It was better in the 200m as Thames Valley were back in winning ways thanks to Ezekiel Lowe’s 21.07 but Woodford’s Yemi John had to battle against a near gale 5.7m/sec wind to win the women’s event in 24.14.
It was getting difficult keeping grips with the match scores as many field events were ridiculously slow in being posted but, after 23 had been declared, TVH led Harrow 386 to 349. Some completed events were just not being posted but they did eventually appear.
Despite falling further behind as the afternoon wore on, Harrow were still posting A string wins but nothing more shows the rivalry between the two west London clubs than the women’s pole vault. There 2025 UK indoor champion Nemiah Nemir for TVH and Jade Spencer-Smith for Harrow tied with 4.12m.
Before that 2025 UK champion Divine Duruaku was over 2.17m to beat, Swansea’s Sam Davies’ 2.14m and Zac Davies had won the men’s shot with 16.96m.
Lete in the day, Charlotte Buckley who had placed second in the earlier 800-metres, returned to win the women’s 3000m in 9:44.13.
The men’s 3000-metres saw James Kingston forsake his beloved cross-country and road to give Tonbridge a fourth distance win with 8;24.08.
One of the last field events is always the men’s javelin and, in a tight competition a second-round throw from Harrow’s Thomas Holmes sealed it with 66.24m. The men’s pole vault saw Thames Valley’s Thomas Walley wait until all of the other competitors had been eliminated before entering at 5.02- metres then going on to clear 5.22-metres at his third attempt.
One of the last events to declare was a close men’s triple jump where Harrow’s Daniel Igbokwe just got the verdict over the Valley’s Jude Bright-Davies and Woodford’s Thalosang Tshireletso with a fourth round 15.51m leap.
Thames Valley are now almost certain to regain their title from Harrow but it is tight in the league basement where Tonbridge, Windsor and Birchfield all tied on six match points in the battle to escape the drop with Swansea, who were a little out of their depth.
Match: 1 TVH 670; 2 Harrow 624; 3 Glasgow 487; 4 WG&EL 470.5; 5 Tonbridge 403.5; 6 WSEH 380.5; 7 Birchfield 341.5; 8 Swansea 292
100 (-2.5): 1 E Adeotun (Swan) 10.95; 2 A Campbell (Bir) 10.93; 3 D Offiah (TVH) 10.95
200 (-2.1): 1 E Lowe (TVH) 21.07; 2 D Patterson (Glas) 21.63; 3 T Innis (WSEH) 2.75
400: 1 T Hockley (Harr) 46.52; 2 V Soares (TVH) 47.09; 3 H Marshall (Ton) 47.18
800: 1 T Higgins (Ton) 1:48.26; 2 E Purves (Glas) 1:54.30; 3 J Leavesley (TVH) 1:54.61
1500: 1 J Chambers (Ton) 4:02.76; 2 A Milligan (Harr) 4:03.22; 3 R Bradford (TVH) 4:04.66
3000: 1 J Kingston (Ton) 8:24.08; 2 M Cameron (TVH) 9;39.92; 3 L Dinsmore (Harr) 8:41.08
110H (1.0): 1 W Ritchie-Moulin (Bir) 14.12; 2J Dean (WSEH) 14.29; 3 R Hedman (WG&EL) 14.39
400H: 1 H Christian (Harr) 51.37; 2 T Watson (Bir) 51.96; 3 O Parker (WG&EL) 52.21
2,000SC: 1 L Mills (Ton) 5:55.15; 2 T Fawden (Harr) 6:00.29; 3 J Geddes (Bir) 6:02.32
HJ: 1 D Duruaku (Harr) 2.17; 2 S Davies (Swan) 2.14; 3eq L Owona (WSEH)/T Cherry (WG&EL)//D Phillips (WSEH) 2.02
LJ: 1 Oreo Adepegba (Harr) 7.38/2.0; 2 S Lok (WG&EL) 7.13/4.5 (6.99/1.6); 3 B McCaffer (Glas) 7.02/1.5
TJ: 1 D Igbokwe (Harr) 15.51; 2 J Bright-Davies (TVH) 15.43; 3 T Tshireletso (WG&EL) 15.40
PV: 1 T Walley (TVH) 5.22; 2 J West (Harr) 4.72; 3 S Oulles (Harr) 4.52
SP: 1 Z Davies (Harr) 16.96; 2 E Urquhart (Glas) 15.47; 3 A Williams (TVH) 15.17
DT: 1 M Jenkins (Swan) 57.52; 2 A Peck (Glas) 51.18; 3 T Norman (WG&EL) 50.84.
HT: 1 J Norris (WSEH) 76.29; 2 W Larkins (Harr, U20, gst) 67.71; 3 J Berry (WG&EL) 66.55
JT: 1 T Holmes (Harr) 66.24; 2 C Evans (TVH) 65.93; 3 G Millar (Bir) 63.94
4×100: 1 TVH 40.72; 2 Glasgow 40.90; 3 Harrow 41.42
Women
100 (-2.5): 1 B Williams (TVH) 11.98; 2 L Tallon (Ton) 12.01; 3 G Daley (WG&EL) 12.02
200 (-5.7)): 1 Y John (WG&EL) 24.14; 2 L Evans (TVH) 24.45; 3 M King (Harr) 24.63
400: 1 H Brier (Swan) 52.23; 2 A Root (Ton) 53.55; 3 K Christie (Glas) 54.05
800: 1 S Vidak (Harr) 2:10.04; 2 C Buckley (TVH) 2:12.48; 3 E Davey (WSEH) 2:15.52
1500: 1 S Lecoutre (Harr) 4:28.95; 2 E Monaghan (Harr) 4:35.20; 3 L Sherritt (TVH) 4:35.82
3000: 1 C Buckley (TVH) 9:44.13; 2 R Wallace (Harr) 9:47.33; 3 C Baker (TVH) 10:12.36
100H (0.2): 1 E Maughan (Harr) 13.52; 2 H Whittaker (Glas) 13.89; 3 Y Uwakwe (WG&EL) 14.03
400H: 1 M Patience (Glasg) 60.95; 2 M Willis (Harr) 61.55; 3 J Mitchell (WG&EL) 62.11
2000SC: 1 A Aberley-Barker (Harr) 6:56.54; 2 K Booth (TVH) 7:05.60; 3 R Gregory (TVH) 7:07.65
HJ: 1 L Walliker (WG&EL) 1.77; 2P Rogan (TVH) 1.71; 3 B Bovell (Harr) 1.71
LJ: 1 G Forde-Wells (WG&EL) 6.52; 2 M Palmer (TVH) 6.35; 3 J Lee (TVH) 5.87
TJ: 1 R Robinson (Harr) 13.09/3.1; 2 L Hulland (TVH) 13.94/4.6 (12.76/1.1); 3 M Jackson (TVH) 12.63/0.0
PV: 1eq N Munir (TVH)/J Spencer-Smith (Harr) 4.12; 3 M Baines (Bir) 3.92
SP: 1 S Callaway (TVH) 13.93; 2 A Kennedy *Glas) 13.82; 3 O Dobson (WG&EL) 13.78
DT: 1 S Callaway (TVH) 49.54; 2 S Mace (TVH) 49.07; 3 E Kowalski (Bir) 46.84
HT: 1 K Head (WG&EL) 60.76; 2 A Fettis (TVH) 58.70; 3 K Presswell (TVH) 58.67
JT: 1 J Larsen (Bir) 45.33; 2 S Hamilton (Harr) 44.82; 3 S De Kremer (TVH) 43.25
4×100: 1 Glasgow 45.82; 2 Harrow 46.77; 3 TVH 47.12
Mixed 4×400: 1 TVH 3:27.98; 2 Tonbridge 3:29.03; 3 WG&EL 3:29.71
Standings after 2 matches: 1 TVH 16 (1319.5); 2 Harrow 14 (1170.5); 3 WG&EL 11 (928.5); 4 Glasgow 11 (919.5); 5 Tonbridge 6 (827.5); 6 WSEH 6 (792.5); 7 Birchfield 6 (765); 8 Swansea 2 (684)
NATIONAL ATHLETICS LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP EAST, Round 2, Stevenage, July 11
The Ridlins Wood track also saw temperatures up to 29C and, in a close match, Chelmsford, Herts Phoenix and first match winners Shaftesbury battled things out before Chelmsford got it from Herts as first match winners Shaftesbury were third.
The first blood on the track went to Herts Phoenix’s Edward Laws with 51.29 seconds for the men’s 400m hurdles. They also took the women’s event but there were just three, out of ten, takers and their club led after four events.
Herts Phoenix kept on winning A string events and 19-year-old Tiana Rizzo added the women’s 100m in 12.10, their sixth win, so that, after 10 events, they led Chelmsford, who were second in the first match by 32 points with 164. Shaftesbury Barnet were down in fourth with 109.
After 14 events, Chelmsford had pegged back that lead to just 16 points and then had 22-year-old Adam Fox win the men’s 400m in a personal best 47.90, which was an improvement on his 48.30 from the first match.
Georgie Tombs added the women’s 400m in 56.18 and these wins saw them take the match lead from long-time leaders Herts Phoenix 279 to 264 but Shaftesbury, had improved to third with 235.
They then got a boost as stalwart Greg Thompson led a double in the discus with 55.12m, but Chelmsford responded when Seb Clatworthy’s 2.11m high jump was factored in.
Luca Stubbs then added another win for Shaftesbury in the men’s 1500m, as team mate Tom Butler trotted round the 3000m.
Belgrave were out of it for much of the day but Sam Ige again added a sprint double after Alex Gandee had taken the women’s 1500m.
Rizzo came back to add the women’s 200, for Herts albeit in a modest time.
With field event posting lagging here too, after 29 events had been added in Chelmsford had an 18-point Margin over Herts Phoenix as Shaftesbury were 28 further back.
Havering had been having a quiet afternoon with A string wins but Kate O’Neil, gave them a final fillip with a women’s 3000m victory in 9:44.18.
Field results were being added and Chelmsford got a boost from Alastair Brown’s 15.84 men’s shot putt victory as well as wins in the women’s event and the men’s javelin.
This meant that, at the end, Chelmsford added extra Officials Points to their rivals and their winning margin widened to 26 points. After two matches, Chelmsford now lead Shaftesbury.
Match: 1 Chelmsford 523; 2 Herts Phoenix 497; 3 Shaftesbury 460; 4 Belgrave 430; 5 Havering 412
Standings after 2 matches: 1 Chelmsford 9 (1084); 2 Shaftesbury 8 (1047); 3 Herts P 6 (950); 4 Havering 4 (932); 5 Belgrave 3 (855)
NATIONAL ATHLETICS LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP NORTH, Round 2, Nottingham, July 11
Sheffield won their second match in a row and are now almost assured of a tilt at the Premiership in the qualifying match.
Although slated as being Sheffield’s home fixture in was Nottingham’s Harvey Hadden Stadium that hosted the event where the maximum temperature reached 27 deg C and it was Sheffield’s Ben Schofield who scored first by taking the men’s 400m hurdles in 51.90.
Sheffield then added the women’s 800-metres thanks to Elena Inch’s 2:12.94 and Callum Winchester-Wright’s men’s 100m in 10.54 and the women’s by Leonie Ashmeade, in 11.63.
After seven events it was Sheffield who led by 21 points from Notts and Trafford.
City of York got into the party as Emily Maude took advantage of a 3.9m/s wind to win the long jump with a 6.10m leap but Sheffield kept winning A string events and a first round 62.92m in the men’s hammer, by Shaun Kerry, saw off the rest.
As predicted, there were just six, out of 12, takers for the men’s 2000m steeplechase, where Trafford scored but, after 12 events, it was still Sheffield who led the match from Notts, 180 to 165.
Trafford also won the women’s steeplechase over just 1500-metres, as Bethany Reid set her fifth personal best of the year with a 5:06.55 clocking. It is an odd distance given that international championships are over twice that distance.
Notts scored a second win of the afternoon when Zoe Lucas won the women’s sprint hurdles in 13.95, albeit with a nippy wind behind, but Sheffield still led by 28 points after16 events.
Trafford then added another win as Gabrielle Garber took the women’s high jump with 1.80m and Matthew Pagan the men’s 400m in 48.23, as their club closed up on second placed Notts, who still trailed leaders Sheffield by 26 points.
Trafford notched up more points as Joe Hudak completed the distance double by adding the 1500m to his earlier 800m win but Sheffield kept in the hunt as Elena Inch won the women’s 1500m in 4:32.78 and Ashmeade completed the sprint double.
The Yorkshire outfit were 55 points clear of a tight battle for second between Trafford, Notts and York, after 27 scored events but field results were still not being reported promptly.
One of the best was from Sheffield’s Joe Dunderdale, the 2024 UK champion, who had six javelin throws over 64-metres with a best of 68.89m in round three. They also had Scott Sinclair win the triple jump with a legal 14.86m and Chuks Osammore the men’s shot with a final round 16.66m to add to his earlier 49.52m discus victory.
When the late field events were all counted, Sheffield won by 100 points and are now certain to win this Northern section. They will be joined in the Premiership play-off by either Notts, second here, or York.
Match: 1 Sheffield 613; 2 Notts 508.5; 3 York 460.5; 4 Trafford 457; 5 Liverpool 377; 6 Sale 344
Standings after 2 matches: 1 Sheffield 12 (1177); 2 York 9 (990.5); 3 Notts 9 (984.5); 4 Liverpool 5 (849); 5Trafford 4 (833); 6 Sale 3 (804)
NATIONAL ATHLETICS LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SOUTH, Round 2, Blackheath, July 11
Blackheath & Bromley scored a repeat victory to eventually dominate this area mini-league but took their time to get into their full stride.
Norman Park was the host track where the mercury also hit 27 deg C and Herne Hill started well with a 400m-hurdles double before 19-year-old Rikaion Smith won the men’s 100-metres in 10.72 and Joyce Kalombo added the women’s event.
But after eight events had been scored narrowly trailed Basingstoke & Mid Hants1124 points.
Nevertheless, Herne Hill had won eight A string events
As expected, there were just six takers out of a dozen in the men’s 2000m steeplechase but it was not just in the track events that had few competitors, as only three of a possible 12 contested the women’s high jump.
As the scores were tallied after 13 events it was first match winners Blackheath who now led thanks to some modest performances, 189 to 186 over Basingstoke, as Herne Hill slipped.
Blackheath then had a couple of good A string wins, from Ben Sutton in the long jump with 6.82m and Ailbhe Barnes in the women’s 1500m steeplechase with 4:57.08 but their lead over Basingstoke had now slipped to just nine points after 16 events, with a 229 total. It went back to 13 after 19.
Zara Obamakinwa set a personal best 58.21m when winning the English title a week earlier and that followed a 55.85m to take the UK title two weeks before that but here, the 22-year-old improved massively again. This time to 61.87m to comfortably post the best effort of the match to leave guest Anna Gavigan’s excellent 51.84m well down.
There was a poor showing in the women’s pole vault where winner, Crawley’s Tahla Curtis’ 3.47m was one of only two to take up the offer.
Blackheath had a flurry of late wins with Barnes also taking the women’s 1500m and, with 30 events posted, led Basingstoke 432; to 361.
Herne Hill had a whole series of early A string wins and fell down the order but Molly Smith gave them a last gasp women’s 3000m victory in 9:31.77 as, along with team mate Olivia Stillman, they lapped the only other two runners.
This was enough to propel them back up to second, albeit nearly 100 points down on Blackheath, who had Nana Gyedu win the final women’s field event of the day, the women’s shot, with a best of 15.88m.
Before that, perhaps the best effort of the day came from the ‘heathens Dillon Clayden, who repeated his first match win. The 22-year-old had set a personal best 17.81, when winning the England title, the previous weekend, but here threw into different territory with another new mark of 18.25-metres.
With a whole series of modest performances, Crawley scraped into second in the match but Blackheath’s were the class club.
Match (with officials points still to be added): 1 Blackheath 555; 2 Crawley 462; 3 Basingstoke 445; 4 Herne Hill 371; 5 Kingston & Poly 245; 6 Portsmouth 217
Standings after 2 matches: 1 Blackheath 12; 2 Crawley 10; 3 Herne Hill 7; 4 Basingstoke 6; 5 Portsmouth 4; 6 Kingston & Poly 3
NATIONAL ATHLETICS LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP WEST, Round 2, Bournemouth, July 11
Yeovil improved from third in the opening match to win here and now lead the west mini-league from first match winners Swindon.
Kings Park saw the hottest conditions where a temperature of 30 degrees C was recorded but at least competitors had the option of popping down to the beach for a dip in the sea.
The first track event is always the 400m hurdles but in both men’s and women’s events uptake was low with just and six men and three women from a possible 12 toeing the line.
It was better in the men’s 800-metres where Matt Woodward led a Swindon 1,2 double in 1:53.36 but after eight events had been scored it was Yeovil who led from Swindon by 12 points, with 131.
They had won five A strings, albeit with modest performances and, after 14 events, their 199 points led hosts Bournemouth by 35.
Yeovil then had Harry Barton take advantage of a 4.1m/sec wind to leap out to 7.26m ahead of a similarly windy 7.04m for Bournemouth’s James Lelliott, in the long jump and this was followed by Georgie Simcox winning the women’s 100m hurdles in 13.70, which meant that their 239 points now led Cardiff and Bournemouth by 49.
Lily Gregson boosted Cardiff further by taking the women’s discus with a third round 40.37m throw, but Yeovil responded as Lottie Garratt won the women’s triple jump with 11.88m to stretch their lead to 60 points after 22 events.
A late flurry of event wins saw Yeovil home and dry and they had been adding A string wins all afternoon and their Lewis Guest stood out with a 14.91 men’s triple jump win as did Sophie Nicholls 9:55.15 women’s 3000m win.
With first match winner Swindon sliding to fourth here it is now Yeovil who lead after two matches from Swindon, third here and Cardiff.
Match: 1 Yeovil 598; 2 Bournemouth 525; 3 Cardiff 494; 4 Swindon 421; 5 Winchester & D 277; 6 Yate 196
Standings after 2 matches: 1 Yeovil 10 (1032); 2 Swindon 9; (1003); 3 Cardiff 9 (954.5); 4 Bournemouth 7 (852); 5 Yate 4 (615); 6 Winchester & D 3 (473.5)
