Luton
Athletic Club

Luton AC were in action on Saturday in the 3^rd round of this Summer’s Southern Men’s League division 2. The match, held at Reading, was hosted by Newbury AC, a team vying for promotion that started the day 6^th in the League. Luton also faced Hastings lying 4^th in the League and Royal Navy 13^th whist Luton languished in 21^st and I the relegation zone. The final club in the match were Harrow, bottom of the league in 25^th.

However, the team pulled out all the stops on the day and recorded their best points haul for the season, 112, securing 3^rd team place on the day and pulling themselves out of the league relegation area, but they still have lots to do with 3 matches yet remaining for the season. One saving grace for the club should be their home match at Stockwood park on 14^th July. The final match result was Newbury 1^st with 137, Hastings 2^nd on 117, Luton 3^rd on 112, Royal Navy 4^th on 93 and Harrow 5^th and last on 77.

The match format means for each event the club has to enter 2 athletes, A and B competitors, with points scoring of 5 for 1^st down to 1 for 5^th, representing the 5 clubs in the match. The points are scored the same for both strings.

Luton Team Manager Chris Stebbings was pleased that the team recorded several maximum 10 points for events, those being for the Hammer Throw where Dave Burrell and Ricky Rasmussen threw 41.03 and 35.84, in the Long Jump where Joe Steele jumped 6.71 and Steve Harris 6.03 and finally in the Triple Jump where Joe Steele jumped 12.29 and Craig Andrew 12.24, a lifetime best for the young Luton athlete.

Other victories went the way of Kyle Andrew in the B 100m in a time of 11.2, Peter Benedickter in the B string 110m hurdles in 19.0, Ricky Rasmussen in the B string Discus with a throw of 28.66m and the 4 by 100m relay team of Steve Harris, Joe Steele, Isaac Sasmussen and Kyle Andrew, took the win in a time of 44.5 seconds.

Most notable individual points contribution came from Dave Burrell who contributed 16 points with his efforts in the Hammer Throw A, 1^st, Shot Putt A, 4^th, Javelin B, 3^rd and Discus A, 2^nd. Others who contributed significantly to the points tally on the day by getting into double figures through there multi-event participation were Ricky Rasmussen contributing 12 points with his efforts in the Hammer, Shot and Discus, Joe Steele added 11 points with his jumping in the Long Jump, Triple Jump and High Jump and Steve Harris 10 points from his Long Jump, High Jump and 100m Hurdles, an event he had never completed before the day.

In fact, it was the contribution of people like Harris that made the day the success it was. Andy Johnson ran a personal best in the 800m of 1 minute 59 seconds to place second in the A race yet he still mustered enough strength to finish runner up in the 1500m later in the afternoon. Peter Benedickter is never far away from the action at these events, as was shown Saturday. Pete ran the 400m Hurdles, in a seasons best 59.8, he then ran 1^st in the B 110m Hurdles in 19.0 and he then completed the gruelling 3000m Steeple Chase, and event feared by most. Chris Green made his season’s debut in the league by travelling to Reading from his university in Exeter. Chris took on the unenviable task of the 5000m and the 3000m Steeple Chase on what was the warmest day for months and he did this in the middle of his exams for his law degree. Even Team Manager Chris Stebbings took to the track to record a point in the B 5000m.

Other personal bests enjoyed on the day went to William Davies in the B 800m in a time of 2 minutes 5.6 seconds, a best by a second and Joshua Ogunji, making his debut for the team, ran a fine 54.5 best in the 400m.

In the sprints Darren Green had been hoping for an afternoon of success after his fien efforts in the last match but sadly after placing 3^rd in the 100m A in 11.2 he had to sit the remainder of the day out with a pulled hamstring. However, Kyle Andrew was in scintillating form taking 1^st in the B string 100m in 11.2 and 2^nd in the A string 200m in 22.6 before anchoring the victorious 4 by 100m relay team. Isaac Rasmussen placed a fighting 3^rd in the B string 200m in 23.7.

Matt Blake ran a season’s best in the 400m A race to record 53.1, also anchoring the 4 by 400m relay team of Joshua Ogunji, Craig Andrew and William Davies, to 3^rd place.

The team are next in action on 23^rd June at Walton-on-Thames and Stebbings is hoping that the momentum of this event will carry forward and the club will not have to wait for home advantage to climb further clear of the relegation zone.

Chris Stebbings