Wakefield Harriers

North of England League Match 2 - Mens Team Report

Gateshead 3rd June 2006 North of England Division 1

The day started great with both the mens and womens team being let down by several athletes simply not turning up (although it did leave us with a spacious coach and ample leg room). As in match 1 we again were considerably understrength in the distance events. We had NO 5K OR 3K Steeple chasers and sprinter Gareth Hepworth yet again was found to be a fantastic team player by doing the 800 and 1500 as well as the B hammer. Our only recognised middle distance runner was young Chris Price, who himself has been combating injury through the winter, but did the team proud as he also doubled up in the 800 and 1500.
We again had a strong sprint team on the prior Thursday only to find Johnny Shearn had to pull out through injury, and a few of the guys were not prepared to travel to Gateshead for a guest race and a relay spot (plus as every manager and athlete knows injuries do occur on the day and we need bodies to fill in, plus the fact of supporting your team and team mates). Under 20 Sprinters Ricardo Francis & Michael Beaumont were turning out for the senior team for the first time, and both competed fantastically and both showed no nerves and acquitted themselves well. Usual sprinter Johnny Uridge again ran well, as did Alan Ruddock (another fine example of helping out when needed as Alan did the High jump and Long jump for the team).
Jim Davies was now promoted to A 400m runner in the absence of Mr Shearn. Jim ran well only, for his lower back problem to kick in with 100m remaining, but he ran through the pain to finish 4th in a respectable time (full results below). Young Micheal Beaumont was asked if he would jog around the 400m Hurdles B race for us which he did with no complaints, and finished a good 5th place.
In the field we had 2 star performers for 2 different reasons, firstly our Lithuanian friend Rimantas Martisauskas smashed the long standing Mens Shot Putt Record with a huge putt of 16.54m (this scared many of the athletes he was competing against as he cleared the sector and was landing on the grass behind). He again helped the team out by doing the Discus for us, and threw a standing throw of over 36 metres. This guy is a special talent !!!!.
Secondly Rob Lee was Mr versatile, as he did 5 events and a relay for us, in what had to be said were hot conditions. Rob pole vaulted for us for the first time after only 1 proper training session, followed then by the 400m Hurdles, High Jump, 110m Hurdles, Triple Jump, then finished with the final leg in the 4x400m relay !! Rob we owe you big time, as do the athletes whose events you were covering.
Other good performance was Chris Kirk in the long jump, although disappointing for the high standards Chris sets himself he still won easily. Richard Gayle finally found a bit of form in the Hammer after a lot of hard winter work to finish 2nd in the A string. Another special thanks goes to young Matt Twidale (Under 17), who turned up to do the Javelin for us, as we had several senior throwers away either on holiday at home or just lack of interest....

We are now 2nd overall, just 1 point behind Leeds City, and 4 points clear of 3rd place. We have a genuine chance of winning the top division this year, but what we need is distance runners!! It really doesn't matter any more the standard, its the fact that every position filled guarantees points for the club, and we have lost so many already with us not being able to fill these events. So this is a plea to road runners and track runners who have not been asked, or simply didn't know about the events, or our lack of numbers to come and ask for me, Darren Thomas, and I will let you have fixture dates and time tables, and let you know when and where we need you. I am down at the club every Tuesday and Thursday with Chris Bedford's group.
Again I cannot praise the lads who turned up and did a great job for us enough.

Team Captain - Darren Thomas


Mens Results as follows :-
Event A performance, B performance
100m Ricardo Francis 3rd 11.3sec, John Uridge 1st 11.3sec
(Non Scoring Race 1st Alan Ruddock 11.3 sec)
200m Ricardo Francis 5th 22.7sec, John Uridge 2nd 22.8sec
400m Jim Davies 4th 51.3sec, Michael Beaumont 5th 53.1sec
800m Chris Price 4th 2.03.7mins, Gareth Hepworth 6th 2.20.6mins
1500m Chris Price 6th 4.25.3mins, Gareth Hepworth 6th 4.54.8mins
400mH Rob Lee 4th 64.5ses, Michael Beaumont 5th 65.3sec
110mH Rob Lee 1st 17.2secs, Darren Thomas 2nd 20.8secs
Hammer Richard Gayle 2nd 40.07mtrs, Gareth Hepworth 4th 17.06mtrs
Discus Rimantis Mantisausicas 3rd 36.93mtrs, Darren Thomas 3rd 27.45mtrs
Javelin Matt Twidale 5th 40.97mtrs, Darren Thomas 5th 33.84mtrs
Shot Putt Rimantis Mantiausicas 1st 16.54mtrs, Darren Thomas 4th 9.25mtrs
Long Jump Chris Kirk 1st 6.97mtrs, Alan Ruddock 1st 5.44 mtrs
Triple Jump Rob Lee 3rd 12.74mtrs, Richard Gayle 4th 9.76mtrs
High Jump Rob Lee 6th 1.60 mtrs, Alan Ruddock 5th 1.40 mtrs
Pole Vault Rob Lee 4th 2.50mtrs, no B athlete
4x100m Relay RF,JU,AR,MB 2nd 45.8secs
4x400m Relay MB,GH,JU,RL 6th 3.45.8mins

Match Result (Men & Women combined) :-
Leeds C 429, Gateshead 382.5, Wakefield 341.5, Trafford 308, Liverpool Pembroke Sefton 258, Sale 220.
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