SCVAC match reports
2024 saw Ashford AC enter both men & women teams into the Kent Masters League, with the men gaining promotion last year they would have a tough battle in division 1 to stay there, while the women re-entered the league for the first time since covid.
The first match at Norman Park in May started with bad news for the men with several injuries impacting the team including a ruptured Achilles whilst traveling to the match! So with late changes to the 400m line-up the track was not looking strong. With 2 sixth places for Andy & Rich in M35 400m, 2 sixth places for Dave & Rich in 3000m, M50 sixth & fourth places for Ian in 400m & 3000m then fourth place for Steve in M60 400m, the points would have to come from the field.
2 third places in pole vault for Pete & Mick, 2 fourth places in discus for Dan & Ian, third, first & sixth in long jump for Dan, Peter & Steve pulled the team through to an important 5th place just 2 points ahead of Medway & Maidstone.
The women in division 2 had a better start on the track with second & first in the W35 400m for Gemma & Georgy, no W50 meant no points but in the W60 that was combined with division 1 first place overall for Jenny gave a surprise to the division 1 athletes. First, second & fourth in 3000m for Gemma, Georgy & Jenny backed up good points.
Points were dropped by not having any athletes in the triple jump or W50 discus but third & first in the W35 & W60 discus for Gemma & Jenny, meant a finish of overall third place only 2 points & 6 points behind second & first!
Match 2 at Tonbridge gave 2 weeks for some of the injuries to heal for the men, where the 200m & 1500m M35 both returned with a sixth & fifth place for Michael & Dan, M50 was a dead heat for first with Dartford but even though everyone claimed Peter was first the officials thought different! M60 was still impacted by injury & a late stand in of Mick gained a vital point for sixth, plus solid points for fourth in M50 1500m for Ian.
M35 third places in high jump & javelin for Dan followed by M50 first in high jump for Peter & 2 fifths for M50 javelin for Steve & M60 high jump for Mick, pulled a small gap before a fourth place in the 4x100m relay meant a secure fifth place overall.
The women showed great effort from the distance runners to get fourth & second place in the W35 200m for Gemma & Georgy before their stronger distance of 1500m gave 2 second places. Jenny dropped down an age group for the W50 200m to get second place before winning the W60 1500m, she then followed up with the longest throw of the evening by all women age groups in the W60 javelin. The biggest celebration was by Georgy in the W35 javelin after a successful final throw following 2 no throws!
No pole vaulters & not enough athletes to make a relay team it was another third place overall 2 points ahead of fourth to place joint third in the league after 2 matches.
Match 3 at Dartford was a stronger set of events for the men with the M35 getting 2 fourth places in the 100m for Dan & Michael but illness meant a stand in for the 800m to give 2 sixth places for Michael & Andy. M50 second place in the 100m for Peter & fifth in 800m for Ian was followed up with a late volunteer by Chris in the M60 800m to gain a sixth place.
Shot, hammer & long jump gave 3 second places in M35 for Dan & was followed by fourth for Peter, fifth for Ian & first place for Peter in M50 & fourth place in M60 shot for Steve. Strong third place performance in the 4x100m relay meant an overall third place finish to close in to just a point behind fourth in the league.
The women were again out of their comfort zone for the sprints with 2 third places in the W35 100m for Georgy & Michala but Gemma & Georgy showed what they can do in the 800m with a double first. Points were given up with no athlete in W50 100m but a win for Jenny in W60 100m & second in W50 800m was followed up in the field with strong results for Georgy in W35 shot of first & long jump third, hammer third place for Nana & W60 long jump first place for Jenny.
Second place finish overall meant a move up to a very close second place in the league & promotion was a possibility.
Match 4 at Sutcliffe Park for the men saw another stand in for the M35 200m where they returned fifth for Dan & sixth place for Rich, followed by 2 sixth places in 1500m for Rich & Andy. M50 200m win for Peter was followed by fourth place in 800m for Ian. No offers for M60 1500m so points were dropped.
Mixed field results of M35 high jump second for Andy & M50 first for Peter followed Shot M35 third for Dan & M50 fifth for Peter. With javelin M35 fourth for Dan, M50 sixth for Mick & M60 fourth for Chris. The 2000m walk gave M35 fourth place for Dan & M50 third for Chris, ending in a secure fifth place overall meant a point dropped to the closest rivals in the league.
Late team changes for the women meant we only had Georgy in the W35 200m gaining fourth place, she then followed that with another fourth in the 1500m but was joined by Emily to win the B race 1500m. Jenny dropped down again for the W50 1500m for fourth after winning the W60 200m, again quicker than all the division 1 athletes!
A win in the W35 shot & third place in javelin for Georgy was bettered by Jenny with W60 shot win, then W50 javelin win whilst also setting a new W65 British record.
No walker meant a few dropped points leaving the third overall & dropped to third in the league.
Match 5 was a return to Tonbridge & an expected close match for the men lived up to expectations.
Strong field in 400m saw M35 sixth & fifth places for Dan & Michael followed by M50 win for Peter. The 3000m saw M35 sixth for Rich & fourth for Dave while M50 was fourth for Ian.
Pole vault was a strength again with second places for Pete & Mick followed by triple jump M35 second for Andy & M50 first for Steve. Hammer gave a first win for Dan in M35 with M50 fifth for Ian & M60 fourth for Mick. The lack of an M60 for the 3000m could have been telling but the point for sixth in the 4x400m relay gave the team second place overall where second to fifth was split by just points!
The women had some missing athletes but gained 2 including a vital W50 athlete, the 400m saw W35 fifth for Georgy & first for Emily, with W50 second for Jenny Brown dropping down again. The 3000m gave W35 third for Georgy & second for Emily, then W50 win for Jenny Wilton & W60 second for Jenny Brown.
Only Jenny Brown contested the jumps with W50 high jump second place & W60 triple jump win. Hammer saw wins for Charlotte in W35 & Jenny Brown in W50, the winning streak continued with the 4x400m relay to cement an overall win pushing the team back to second place in the league.
Match 6 was a return to Dartford with several men’s teams at risk of relegation it was expected to be a fight (luckily with Tonbridge B team winning division 2, it was decided that only 6th place in the league would be relegated….meaning we were safe!!!)
First up was the 800m with M35 fourth for Rich & sixth for Dave with M50 sixth for Ian. Then records were set in the 100m, M35 fourth for Dan with a new M45 club record & fifth for a late stand in of Rich followed by M50 second for Peter in new M50 club record & M60 third for Steve Langford in a new M65 club record.
Triple jump M35 was won by Peter in a new M50 club record with M50 second for Steve Lake & M60 second for Steve Langford in a new M65 club record. The field was finished with discus where we got M35 third for Dan, sixth for Ian & fourth for Steve Langford.
A fourth place finish overall was not enough to move up the league but 5th place was all we needed to stay in division 1 for next year.
The women needed to beat Tonbridge B team to secure promotion & a possibility of winning the league if Central Park had a bad day!! With no Jenny Brown there were spaces to fill in the team & the team spirit was on a high as everyone volunteered to fill the gaps.
A strong start in the 800m saw W35 third for Georgy & first for Emily with W50 win for Jenny Wilton. 100m W35 had 2 fourth places for Georgy & Michala with W50 second place for Jenny.
High jump found a fourth place for Michala in W35 & a new fun event to try & train for. Luckily no teams had W50 jumpers so no lost points to anyone. Long jump returned W35 third for Georgy & W50 second for Jenny, then 2 wins in the discus for Charlotte in W35 & Jenny in W50.
Second place in the 4x200m relay finished a great match to come first & secure second place in the league only 1 point behind Central Park & gain promotion to division 1 for next year.
Well done to both teams securing places in division 1 next year with a small group of team members. This league season saw 29 club records including 1 British record set.
Peter Davey ---Team manager
