Luton's Youngsters make steady start to the Southern Mens League Season

Injuries to key athletes resulted in a steady start to the season for Luton AC at Croydon last Saturday . An impressive Croydon team won the match with 138 points, with Portsmouth 2nd on 104, Luton 3rd with 95, Worthing 4th with 93.5 and Enfield and Haringey 5th with 83.5.

Many of the clubs younger athletes were drafted in to fill vacancies, and they put on a spirited show in support of the more mature regulars. There was a debut win for 15 year old Matthew Bachini in the B string 800m, in a time of 2m 10.3s, someone to look for in the future. Daniel Clorley ran an excellent time in the A string of 2m 2.4s, but a strong field meant he only managed 5th place. Andy Johnson kept up his 1500m unbeaten run in the team which started last year in the 1500m B string in 4m 11.1s, and he was ably supported by Under 20 athlete Tom Best, who ran impressively to come 2nd in the A string in 4m 9.2s. Matt Blake came home 3rd in the A string 400m

Hurdler Peter Benedickter turned back the years to win the A string 400m Hurdles in 60.8s, a fantastic performance.

In the sprints there was success in the B string 100m for Triple Jumper Joe Steele, running a personal best 11.4s. Club Stalwart Mark Collins got his season off to a fine start with 3rd place in the A race in 11.2s. Long Jumpers Andrew Bullimore and Steve Harris both won their specialist events, with Andrew jumping 6.81m, and Steve 5.83m. They then filled in the 200m slots, both achieving 3rd place.

The throwers were as impressive as ever, with Club Captain, and reigning Luton Sportsman of the Year, Dave Burrell getting 2nd places in the Hammer and Javelin, and 3rd places in the Discus and Shot. The ever improving Ricky Rasmussen achieved another personal best in the hammer in winning the B string with 36.89m. He followed this up with 2nd place 63.93m in the Javelin, and a 3rd place in the Discus and 4th place in the shot.

Team Manager Chris Stebbings commented that the spirit in the team was excellent, with athletes again filling empty slots, and with the return of injured athletes later in the season, we should have a good season. The youngsters in the team show a promising future for the club.
The Clubs B Team were at Ipswich, where they came 3rd with 126pts, behind West Suffolk with 150, and Thurrock with 175. Queens Park were 4th with 124, Dagenham 5th with 88 and London Heathside 6th with 3.

Gerry Gough 12th May 2007
Southern Mens League 5th May 2007 Div 2 Croydon
  A String B String
  Athlete Performance Pos Age Athlete Performance Pos Age
100m Mark Collins 11.2s 3rd SM Joe Steele 11.4s 1st U20
200m Andrew Bullimore 22.6s 3rd U20 Stephen Harris 23.7s 3rd U20
400m Matthew Blake 53.7s 3rd U20 Peter Benedickter 57.3s 5th M35
800m Daniel Clorley 2m 02.4s 5th U17 Matthew Bachini 2m 10.3s 1st U17
1500m Tom Best 4m 09.2s 2nd U20 Andrew Johnson 4m 11.1s 1st SM
5000m                
3000m Steeplechase                
110m Hurdles                
400m Hurdles Peter Benedickter 60.8s 1st M35        
4 x 100m Harris, Steele, Bullimore, Collins 44.2s 1st          
4 x 400m Clorley, Benedickter, Bachini, Blake 3m 39.0s 4th          
                 
Long Jump Andrew Bullimore 6.81m 1st U20 Steve Harris 5.83m 1st U20
Triple Jump Joe Steele 12.57m 2nd U20 Steve Harris 11.73m 2nd U20
High Jump Matt Blake 1.00m 5th U20 Joe Steele 1.00m 2nd= U20
Pole Vault Chris Kingshott              
Shot David Burrell 10.95m 3rd M40 Ricky Rasmussen 9.59m 4th SM
Discus David Burrell 34.82m 3rd M40 Ricky Rasmussen 28.11m 3rd SM
Javelin David Burrell 39.59m 2nd M40 Ricky Rasmussen 36.93m 2nd SM
Hammer David Burrell 43.38m 2nd M40 Ricky Rasmussen 36.89m 1st SM
                 
Results                
  Team Pts          
1 Croydon 138          
2 Portsmouth 104          
3 Luton 95          
4 Worthing 93.5          
5 Enfield and Haringey 83.5