Southern Mens League 14th July 2007 Div 2 Luton
  A String B String
  Athlete Performance Pos Age Athlete Performance Pos Age
100m Mark Collins 11.1s 1st SM Darren Green 11.4s 1st SM
200m Kyle Andrew 23.1s 3rd SM Isaac Rasmussen 23.8s 3rd U17
400m Nick Choudhury 51.3s 3rd U20 Matthew Blake 54.2s 3rd U20
800m Tim Harris 1m 58.4s 1st SM Daniel Clorley 1m 57.2s 1st U17
1500m Peter Bridger 4m 00.8s 2nd SM Andrew Johnson 4m 14.1s 2nd SM
5000m Stuart Still 17m 03.9s 3rd SM Kevin Jacob 17m 05.1s 2nd M40
3000m Steeplechase Stuart Baird 11m 21.3s 3rd U20 Peter Benedickter 11m 42.6s 3rd M35
110m Hurdles Des Wilkinson 18.0s 2nd M40 Peter Benedickter 19.5s 2nd M35
400m Hurdles Peter Benedickter 59.7s 1st M35 Ben Cruise 69.9s 2nd U17
4 x 100m Kyle Andrew, Darreen Green, Isaac Rasmussen, Mark Collins 44.9s 3rd          
4 x 400m Craig Andrew, Matthew Blake, Kyle Andrew, Nick Choudhury 3m 36.5s 3rd   CA 57.3, MB 52.9, KA 54.8, NC 51.5      
                 
Long Jump Steve Harris 5.92m 3rd U20 Craig Andrew 5.88m 3rd U17
Triple Jump Joe Steele 14.22m 1st U20 Craig Andrew 12.25m 1st U17
High Jump Matthew Barden 1.70m 3rd U17        
Pole Vault                
Shot Geoff Grinsted 10.49m 4th M35 Ricky Rasmussen 9.22m 3rd M35
Discus Ricky Rasmussen 28.83m 5th M35 Geoff Grinsted 28.33m 2nd M35
Javelin Carl Unsworth 40.56m 4th U20 Ricky Rasmussen 34.53m 3rd M35
Hammer Ricky Rasmussen 39.60m 2nd M35 Geoff Grinsted 26.60m 2nd M35
                 
Results                
  Team Pts          
1 Winchester 143          
2 Ilford 124          
3 Luton 118          
4 Ryston 94          
5 Wessex and Bath 53          

Luton nearing safety in SML

Luton AC hosted the 5th match in the years Southern Men’s League at Stockwood Park Saturday and with a fighting 3rd place now look certain to survive another year in Division 2. Whilst mathematically they could still be relegated it is highly unlikely and with the remaining match on 4th August being at Jarmon Park, Hemel Hempstead, the club have virtually another home match.

The day did not start well for the team When Dave Burrell, the clubs star thrower was sidelined in a freak accident that bloke a bone in his foot and removed him from the team. Geoff Grinsted was immediately drafted into the team by Team Manager, Chris Stebbings.

Luton enjoyed some brilliant performances on the day but 2 massive personal bests stand out. Ricky Rasmussen threw a superb 39 metres 60cm in the Hammer for a huge personal best by 2 metres and in the 800 metres Daniel Clorley pulverised his previous best with an outstanding time od 1 minute 57.2 seconds.

The club enjoyed some maximum point scoring events. In the 100 metres Mark Collins took a convincing victory in the A race whilst Darren Green did the same in the B, Collins running 11.1 and Green 11.4. In the 800, where Clorley had won the B race Tim Harris won a hard fought A race in 1 minute 58.4. ion the Triple Jump It was Joe Steele taking victory in the A in 14 metres 22 whilst Craig Andrew took the B in 12 metres 25 cm.

Near maximum point events were the 400 metres hurdles where Peter Benedickter ran a seasons best 59.7 for victory in the A and debutant Ben Cruise took a solid second in the B. Benedickter was also in action in the 110 hurdles where he took valuable points in the B in second place in 19.5. In the same race the team welcomed Des Wilkinson for the first time this season who gained 2nd in the A race in 18.0

In the throws Rasmussen took send in the Hammer with his 39.60 throw. He also placed third in the B Shot Putt, 3rd in the B Javelin with 34 metres 53 cm and threw the Discus 28 metres 83 cm. Grinsted, substituting for Burrell, gained very valuable team points 2nd in the Hammer with 26 metres 60 cm, 4th In the A Shot Putt with 10 metres 49 cm and 2nd in the B string Discus with 28 Metres 33 cm. Carl Unsworth threw the A string Javelin and placed 4th with 40 metres 56 cm.

In the 5ooo metres Stuart Still was again near his best finishing third in the A race in 17 minutes 3.9 seconds just beating his B string compatriot, Kevin Jacob, whoc ran 17 minutes 5.1 seconds, Jacob 2nd in the B race. In the Steeple Chase Stuart Baird made a very impressive debut for the team in this event taking a fighting 3rd in 11 minutes 21.3 and that man Benedickter again winning valuable points for 3rd in the B race.

The highewst quality event of the afternoon was the 400m, which was won in 48.7 seconds by L Sellers of Winchester. Nic Choudhury, making his comeback from injury race, finished a courageous 3rd in the A string in 51.3. Matt Blake taking a similar position in the B race in 54.2.

In the jumps Steve Harris Long Jumped to 3rd in the A with 5 metres 92 cm whilst Craig Andrew took 3rd in the B in 5 metres 88. Matthew Bardon made his seasons debut for the team with 1 metre 70 and 4th in the A.

The 200 metres proved a tough competition as well where Kyle Andrew took 3rd in 23.1 seconds. Isaac Rasmussen took a similar position in the B in 23.8.

The 1500 metres race saw Pete Bridger, ij only his second race after recovering from injury, take a gallant 2nd in the A string in 4 minutes 0.8 seconds whilst Andy Johnsone also finished 2nd in the B in 4 minutes 14.1 seconds.

Luton finished the afternoon off with third places in the relays.

At the end Luton were third with 118 points whilst Winchester won the match with 143 and Ilford second on 124. This leaves the club 17th in the League, a climb of 2 places, on 12 points, equal with 3 other clubs, although Luton are above the others on match points accumulated. The clubs in the drop zone are on 9 points so mathematically Luton could go down if they come last in their remaining match and one of the bottom clubs win their last match with almost maximum match points, something highly unlikely.

In the same match Saturday Luton’s B team were also at home, competing in Division 4 North. They ended the day 4th of the 5 clubs.

Chris Stebbings