STRATFORD Athletic Club gained one more point than in the corresponding fixture last season as they began their Midland Veterans Track & Field League campaign.
On a night when 12 new club records were achieved, the ladies’ team equalled their highest ever position of second and scored 14 more individual points than last year.
This was greatly helped by the wonderful efforts of debutants Gemma Smith, Sheila Lammas and Elaine Ledden, who between them contributed almost 20 per cent of the ladies’ total.
The men, although scoring less individual points than last year, were still able to finish third, despite fielding a depleted team.
Kate Sergent led the way with three new club records in the W65 age group – 100m, 2km walk and long jump. Kate had a fabulous night by also being the second highest points score for the club with 26 points and achieving 2017 UK top ten rankings for her age group in all of the events she competed in.
Debutant Robin Kindersley improved the M60 1,500m club record by a huge 24.5 seconds – a performance which catapulted him into a top ten position in the 2017 UK rankings for his age group.
Top points-scorer on the night for the club was Sarah Bland with 28 points, whilst Paula Williams won all three events she competed in.
Phil Brennan’s agreement to compete in the M35 400m, despite him normally competing in the M70 category, summed up the superb team spirit. His performance in this event saw him climb to seveth in the UK rankings.
Top scorer for the men’s team was John Boxall, whilst Tony Humphreys was brave enough to compete in the M35 high jump and hammer for the first time, scoring nine points in the process.
Brian Gravelsons was happy to achieve a season’s best of 13.7s in the 100m, only 0.5s off his best, given that he has not been able to train as effectively as he would have liked this season.
The next fixture is in Redditch on June 7.
