November 20th marked the annual trip down to the Welsh capital for dual meet vs Cardiff met. It was the first opportunity to see many new faces wear the iconic and frankly hard to come by BUAC vest.
Fresh from the joy of Wales qualifying for Euro 2020, Cardiff met were out the blocks quickly to take the win in the women’s 60m, despite great performances from our girls, Jaz Clarke, Mairead Kearney, Bella Bretherton, Amber Stiby and Flo Smith coming 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th respectively. It was a different story in the men’s short sprint with BUAC taking a 1,2,3 through Denzell Owusu, Cameron Bailey and Jack Hocking. There were also encouraging early performances in the 60m by seasoned BUACers Giacomo Fiorindo and Alastar Phelan, as well as from BUAC newbies Josh Bentley, Cyrus Azimkorf and Ikrami Azmi. Josh, Cyrus and Ikrami also all stepped up to run the 200m with Josh taking the match win in great time of 23.77s round the tight bends of Cardiff.
Onto the field and our throwers in the Shot Putt, fresher Philippa Gill claimed a 2nd place with a mighty throw of 10.28m and Alex Robinson finished 3rd with an equally impressive PB of 9.25m. True BUAC spirit was then shown in the Long Jump with two of our sprinter fresher’s Bella Bretherton and Cameron Bailey stepping up to the plate to score points for the team in events they wouldn’t usually do.
In the women’s 600m, Natalie Connors, Marella Whitfield and Jaz Clarke battled round the 3 laps like their lives depended on it. Jaz picked up another 2nd place with a great time of 1.34.46. Natalie came home in 4th with Marella just behind. All three of our girls gained a well earnt PB. In the men’s equivalent our quartet of Tom Mackman, Guy Perkins, Alastar Phelan and Jack Hocking all took to the track. Jack brought home the win in 1.22.41 with the 3 other lads all in close order in 4th, 5th and 6th.
Onto the Martin Owen’s special the 4x200m’s. The women’s squad was made up of Mairead, Amber, Jaz and Flo. Honourable mention must go out to Jaz who pulled herself off the track five minutes post her 600m to make up the team for the girls. All the girls ran strong legs but unfortunately due to an issue at the changeover zone picked up a DQ (more theory lectures clearly needed I think Martin?!). The lads thankfully managed to put the disappointment of the girls behind them to take the win in the men’s relay with a squad on Denzell, Josh, Giacomo and Cameron, even with Cameron deciding to run the majority of the last leg in lane 3! Our lads also managed to get out a second relay team; Ikrami and Cyrus were joined by 800m specialist Guy Perkins and Tom Mackman to pick up a great 3rd place.
The 2 and a half hour journey down to Cardiff was not only made by the athletes and coaches but also a great bunch of supporters who made the trip even more enjoyable and put emphasis on what a great team spirit we have within the club at the moment.
Congratulations overall must go to Cardiff met for taking the overall win on the day, but much promise will be taken for the old and new members of BUAC, showing that there is a promising indoor season ahead.