Match Results - Northern League Meeting Sunday 2nd July 2006
Listed below are the athletes that took part in today's Northern League meeting and their performances.
The team finished 5th overall with 282 points.
The following Match Report was supplied by Danny Hind, Team Manager...
Hello and welcome to this months match report. Match three of our Northern League campaign took us to Bolton’s Leverhulme Park. The high team spirit from the previous two matches seemed to be missing from this match and an air of anxiety appeared to be creeping into the team. The high anticipation we had in the previous matches to finish highly up the final standings had abandoned us and been replaced with a more subdued atmosphere. This was in no doubt due to the NoEAA’s failure to follow the example set by the South in preventing fixture clashes; and also, which was more disappointing to me not only as Team Manager but as an athlete, was the failure of our own squad members who said they where coming to compete at the fixture but didn’t turn up and never even bothered to let anyone know about it. This in my opinion and that of the Capitan and team members is unacceptable and needs to be addressed by the committee. As for these mindless, selfish individuals failure to care about the team cost us dearly on the day and moved us from 3rd place to 5th. These individuals wont be named but they know who they are and I just hope that their self-centred, senseless approach to this fixture is rectified and does not effect the hard work the rest of the squad have put in, in costing the team a play off spot at the end of the season.
Along with the individuals who saw fit not to turn out for the fixture the team was further depleted with the fixture clash with the National Women's League side over in Swansea and others who were on holiday. This left the women’s team sheet looking rather empty with only 7 athletes. But, being Wigan, we were determined to shed this subdued atmosphere and do our best to cement our place in the play offs.
This was, no doubt, the attitude of the Captain Carl Fletcher who, with his busy schedule, led by performance rather than talk with 1st place finishes in all three of his events - producing a huge throw in the shot closing in on 14m. Carl was supported in the throwing events by Dave Steels and Ian Franklin who once again proved the strength this squad has in the field with some impressive distances and more importantly highly placed finishes. Adrian Crawley, a vital member of the squad, and now considered part of the old guard along with the other regulars in the squad produced his usual consistent performance with a best throw of 43.40 to finish first in the A string javelin. New signing Julia Ostiana gave an impressive debut in the team with good performances in all the throwing events. It is clear that there is a natural raw talent there and when developed over the close season by Bob Halliwell I am sure that Julia will only become a fundamental part of the squad. With the women’s side looking as depleted as it was, it was inevitable that Vicky Dyer would volunteer herself, despite her condition, to step up and compete in the throws to gain points for the team which would only be tossed away. The frustration was obvious as she was restricted in her performance and knew she could do better but it was inspirational just to see her put herself up their.
Kathryn Culshaw led the women’s track competitors with rousing and gutsy performance in the 1500m and 3000m double up. She was partnered in the 1500m by Lyn Jolly who turned up 10min prior to the race after being out on the wine the night before and gave a stunning performance despite her hangover and lack of warm up to finish 3rd in the A string. It's performances like these which just show the team spirit the squad has for each other and the attitude of these athletes to put themselves through this. Amy Richards was another athlete making her debut in the Northern League in the high jump. Amy cleared the same high as the athletes in second and first place but on count back came 3rd. However, it was encouraging to see new athletes turning out for the team. National League squad member Shona McPherson who was unable to travel to Swansea took to the 400m Hurdles and in her opinion gave an under par performance, nevertheless from a team point of view it was a dominant performance to secure 1st place. Kayleigh Hill and Jo Baker were the final women athletes to compete both giving impressive performances in the sprint events gaining vital points with highly placed finishes.
Over to men’s team now and the distance events covered by John Worthington, Mo Manier and Phil West were all difficult events to compete in due to the conditions with the temperature being as high as it was. However, all three athletes were competitive in their events and all finished highly up the standings to gain decent points for the overall team score. With the absence of our regular jumpers Danny Kevan, Ben Hunt, Danny Hind and the final debutant Jamie Vickery covered all three events with respectable performances - all gaining points which would have only been pointlessly lost. Also these athletes competed in their regular track events where they all ran impressive times producing good strong performances backing up the point’s score of the team. Tom Ashworth had fine performances in the 100m and more so in the 400m, but his outstanding achievement of the day was his change over in the 4x100m relay. Tom not renowned for his change over’s corrected this and produced the best one of the season so far with precise communication and speed in the change over box. Danny Griffiths did the 1500m and despite the daunting task of competing against Tom Lancashire he took the race out from the start and finished in a respectable 3rd place. This was a brave performance and with a good winter could be one he could maintain. And finally Chris Bryant. Chris, off the back of his success in the North of England Championship, competed in the 400m and 800m double up. He first eased to victory in the 800m coasting to victory but it was his 400m performance that caught the eye, with Chris battling out a closely fought victory to go under 50 seconds officially with 49.8.
However, this was overshadowed by the men’s 4x400m relay performance. Wigan have always dominated this event but Bolton, inspired by Tom Lancashire, were determined to change this. Each of the first three legs led out by Dan Kevan to Danny Hind then Tom Ashworth kept a constant gap between us and Bolton. Then it came to the show down we had all waited for - Chris Bryant against Tom Lancashire. Chris took it out hard and battled with Tom, and onto the home straight they were neck and neck. Then Chris, with his renewed confidence and belief, pulled away from Tom’s attack to hold on for a dramatic victory.
For the athletes who turned out and competed it was a pleasing performance and with the support from each other and family and friends, enabled us to compete well in all events covered. We are still second in the league and the play off spot is in our own hands but we do need to put in a strong performance over at Ashton on the 6th with a more complete side. Thank you for all your efforts.
Hope you all enjoyed the match, be good. Danny
ATHLETE OF THE MATCH - Chris Bryant - Because he has been denied the performance of the day, but to run sub 50 seconds
twice in a meeting is a huge ask but Chris delivered with great style.
PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY - Men's 4x400M Team - For the dramatic, inspirational performance to gain victory.
SIGHT OF THE DAY - Lyn Jolley - For her mini strip tease behind my tent getting ready for the 1500m.
SOUND OF THE DAY - Bolton Men's 4x400M Team SILENCE - With the knowledge that they had Tom Lancashire on the final leg
they thought it was a sure thing that they were going to get the victory. Unfortunately they underestimated the
strength and character of our team!
Men
| Event | "A" Competitor | "B" Competitor |
| 100M | Tom Bolan-Ashworth (11.8) | Jamie Vickery (11.7) |
| 200M | Jamie Vickery (24.5) | Danny Hind (24.0) |
| 400M | Chris Bryant (49.8) | Tom Bolan-Ashworth (51.4) |
| 800M | Chris Bryant (2:03.0) | Ben Hunt (2:04.5) |
| 1500M | Danny Griffiths (4:17.8) | Danny Kevan (4:30.1) |
| 3000M Steeplechase | Phil West (10:21.8) | |
| 5000M | Mo Manir (15:00.1) | John Worthington (17:12.6) |
| 110M Hurdles | Danny Hind (19.5) | |
| 400M Hurdles | Danny Hind (59.1) | Danny Kevan (65.0) |
| Hammer | Carl Fletcher (38.99) | Dave Steele (32.15) |
| Discus | Carl Fletcher (40.68) | Ian Franklin (32.26) |
| Javelin | Adrian Cawley (43.40) | Chris Bryant (31.96) |
| Shot | Carl Fletcher (13.78) | Dave Steele (8.33) |
| Long Jump | Jamie Vickery (5.41) | Danny Hind (4.79) |
| Triple Jump | Jamie Vickery (11.17) | Danny Hind (9.03) |
| High Jump | Ben Hunt (1.55) | Danny Kevan (1.45) |
| 4x100M Relay | Vickery/Bolan-Ashworth/Bryany/Hind | 45.6 |
| 4x400M Relay | Hind/Kevan/Bryant/Bolan-Ashworth | 3:24.9 |
Women
| Event | "A" Competitor | "B" Competitor |
| 100M | Kayleigh Hill (12.6) | Joanne Baker (13.8) |
| 200M | Kayleigh Hill (25.9) | Joanne Baker (29.7) |
| 1500M | Lyn Jolley (5:16.4) | Kathryn Culshaw (5:55.2) |
| 3000M | Kathryn Culshaw (12:50.4) | |
| 400M Hurdles | Shona MacPherson (64.4) | |
| Hammer | Julia Ostiana (18.78) | Vicky Dyer (6.89) |
| Discus | Julia Ostiana (22.25) | Vicky Dyer (21.65) |
| Javelin | Julia Ostiana (12.56) | Joanne Baker (7.31) |
| Shot | Vicky Dyer (7.18) | Julia Ostiana (5.56) |
| High Jump | Amy Richards (1.45) |
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