On Saturday Luton AC travelled to Cambridge for the 3^rd round, and halfway point, in this years Southern Men’s League Division 2 match whilst their colleagues were in action at Sutcliffe Park, Blackheath for their Division 4 match.

Going in to the competition Luton were 9^th in Division 2 of the league but their match was going to be an uphill struggle as they were up against clubs who currently held 1^st, 2^nd and 6^th above them. Added to that they were competing against Cambridge and Coleridge who, whilst below them in the league, had home advantage for this match. But, with a spirited effort from a depleted team, Luton finished a fighting 3^rd, above local team Cambridge and well above Epson, who had previously commanded 2^nd in the league. Chelmesford completed a hat trick of wins for the year and Brighton took 2^nd, just a few tantalising points in from to Luton.

Outstanding performance of the team came from 17 year old Nathaniel Quigley in the 800 metres where he secured a splendid 2^nd place but more importantly a personal best by 2 seconds in 1m 55.2, thereby securing qualification for this Summers English Schools Championships. Nathaniel has made giant steps forwards with his athletics this season, which is just reward for his self determined perseverance to succeed in the sport.

Throughout the whole team Luton had exceptional performances but Team Captain Peter Benedickter led by example throughout. Peter began his afternoon in the High Jump, certainly not a speciality of his, clearing 1m 50 for 4^th. Then he stepped up for one of his specialist events the 400mH where he scored a strong 2nd in 59.8. He then threw the Javelin to a season best of 31.46. The 100m Hurdles, not an event for the faint hearted, was next where he also recorded a seasons best of 19.9. Later, the 3000m Steeple Chase was in his grasp adding valuable points to the Luton score yet, stepping off the finish line, he then took the final leg in the 4x400m relay. An exhausting but rewarding afternoon.

The sprints and Throws delivered a high proportion of the afternoons points.

Mark Collins seems to go faster the older he gets. Having the fines season for many years mark produced a magnificent effort in the 100m to secure victory in 11.0.

Nic Choudhury, this week selected to represent the English in the forthcoming schools international, was resting from his primary event, the 400m, and sharpened up with the 100 and 200 and a leg in the 4x100 relay. Nic won the B 100m in 11.2 but his 200 was very impressive in 22.3, again with victory this time in the A string.

The throws contributed 22 of the 109 points accumulated by the team with valuable contributions coming from Geoff Grinsted and Dave Vernon. Geoff is recovering from a back problem so his return was a welcome relief to the Division 2 team and Dave Vernon, a new recruit for this year, continues to improve as the season progresses.

Apart from Quigley it was a welcome return to Pete Bridger in the middle distance where he took a fine victory in the B string 800 in 1.59.3 and later ‘stood in’ in the 400m for 3^rd in the B in 54.9. In the A string 400 Matt Blake also returned from injury to record 53.2 for 4^th in the A string event.

As an example of the spirit of the team Andy Johnson, one who would normally join the Division 4 team, was drafted into Division 2 for this match and performed magnificently, taking 1^st in the B string 1500m in 4.16.6 whilst Quigley doubled up to take in the A in 4m 12.2. Johnson had opened the afternoon filling in for injured Andrew Gough in the 400 hurdles gaining valuable points.

The Long Jump was less than Team managr Chris Stebbings had been expecting when Andrew Bullimore could not get his approach correct and ended up 2^nd in the B string. Joe Steele faired slightly better but he was also suffering injury problems and ended up 3^rd with 5m 96. The pair redeemed themselves somewhat with 1^st in A and B Triple jump and Bullimore added a victory in the B string 200m in 22.6.

One very welcome return to the team was Paul Farmer in the 5000m. Paul has had a torrid 18 months with back problems that has kept the Luton athlete on the sidelines searching for a solution. Twice the Southern 300m Steeple Chase Champion, Paul wondered if he would ever be able to race again. It seems that the Steeple Chase is no longer an option for Farmer but he made his tentative return to the track at the weekend recording a commendable 16m 37.5 for 4^th place in the A string.

Chris Kingshott was disappointed with his Pole Vault of 2m 80 but scored valuable points for his 3^rd place. Chris also ran a leg of the 4 x 100m relay, again emphasising the spirit of the team.

AT the end of the competition 3^rd was good enough to hoist Luton one place up the league, in fact, on equal points with all other team up to 4^th place, where the top 5 get promoted. It’s all to do with half the season completed.

Away at Division 4, Suttcliffe Park, Luton only had 7 athletes, severely depleted by the requirements of the A team in division 2.

The Magnificent 7 did their best to cover as many events as possible, but the team finished 6^th of the 7 teams competing.

1st position went to Terry Paterson in the 'B' string Discus with 27m 60. He also did the 'A' string Shot 9m 11 and 'B' Hammer 19m 80 placing 3rd in each.

Terry was backed by Ricky Rasmussen who achieved 23m 73 Hammer, 3rd 'A', 7m 89 in the shot, 3rd 'B', 29m 92 Discus, 2nd 'A' and 36m 71 Javelin, 2nd 'A'.

Paul Brooks, who went to officiate, agreed to compete in the 5k, 400m, 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m, all adding to the final points.

Team Manager, Paul Jacob, competed in the 800m, 400m, High Jump, Long Jump and Pole Vault.

16 year old Stuart Baird covered A string 800m and 1500m with times of 2-19.0 and 4-45.6 respectively. He also did the triple jump with a distance of 9m 31.

The only sprinter was Danny Bottesch who had the best times in over two seasons with 11.7 in the 100m and 22.8 in the 200m, finishing in 2nd position in both.   He also did the 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m.

Kevin Jacob, testing out a damaged calf muscle after the London Marathon, did the 100m, 1500m, 5k, long jump, high jump, 4 x 100 and 4 x 400m.   It is the general opinion that the calf muscle is well on the mend!

Chris Stebbings

Luton AC