| South Wales Masters League |
South Wales Masters League
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Newport were off to a good start in the first league meeting of the season, winners on the night by 43 points from Rhondda.
In the first race of the evening Brett Davis battled all the way to the line in the 400m but was edged into second by Rhondda’s Sean Price. Malcolm Medhurst and John Watkins won their races respectively, John running his fastest 400m since September 2004. Paul Young, now officially a Veteran, ran 60.4 and will no doubt be looking to dip under 60 seconds as the season progresses.
The 3000m was dominated by the Crane brothers from Neath, but Darryn McAtee (3rd) and Steve Wadley (B 2nd) scored good points in their trail. Dave Proffitt finished 4th in the M50 race to go with his 4th in the 400m.
Three firsts and a second in the 100m consolidated Newport’s track superiority. Steve Berney powered to a comfortable win while world champion Glyn Sutton cruised to victory in the M50s.
Keith Powell recorded three individual wins on the night in the high jump, long jump and B 100m, and will no doubt set his sights once again on the victor ludorum prize. In his farewell season, Glyn underlined his importance to the team with three second places in the field events and will be a M50 victor ludorum contender.
The big news for Newport this season is that we have acquired two specialist throwers. Dino Lantzos was in amongst the Rhondda boys in the hammer, second to Glyn Pugh but putting on the pressure. Lawrence Moore won the B hammer - and when was the last time Newport ever won a hammer competition? Dino and Lawrence then picked up a couple of second places in the shot.
We won the 4 x 200m relay, naturally. Not since the infamous 4 x 400 of 2004 has a Newport Vets relay team been beaten.
Newport women recorded three wins. On her league debut, Lolita Byfield Moore stormed to an impressive victory in the 100m. Carole Fereday won the W50 400m and 3000m, but due to the Byzantine scoring system employed by the masters league, she was officially recorded as 2nd in the W35 3000m and docked 2 points.
Overall, Newport women are third behind Rhondda and Cardiff but are handily placed and just one more athlete could make all the difference (now there’s a hint).
| Event | A String | Performance | B String | Performance |
| 100m | Steve Berney | 1st 12.9 | Keith Powell | 1st 13.7 |
| 400m | Brett Davies | 2nd 56.7 | Malcolm Medhurst | 1st 58.1 |
| 3000m | Darryn McAtee | 3rd 10:28.8 | Steve Wadley | 2nd 11:42.0 |
| High Jump | Keith Powell | 1st 1.45m | Steve Wadley | 1st 1.20m |
| Long Jump | Keith Powell | 1st 4.57m | Steve Berney | 2nd 4.30m |
| Shot | Lawrence Moore | 2nd 8.61m | Dino Lantzos | 2nd 8.45m |
| Hammer | Dino Lantzos | 2nd 31.79m | Lawrence Moore | 1st 19.94m |
| 4x200m Relay | Steve Berney, Steve Wadley, Brett Davies, Malcolm Medhurst | 1st | ||
| Event | A String | Performance | B String | Performance |
| 100m | Glyn Sutton | 1st 12.8 | John Watkins | 2nd 14.0 |
| 400m | John Watkins | 1st 62.4 | Dave Proffitt | 4th |
| 3000m | Dave Proffitt | 4th 13:16.2 | ** | ** |
| High Jump | ** | ** | ** | ** |
| Long Jump | Glyn Sutton | 2nd 4.01m | John Watkins | 2nd 3.86m |
| Shot | Glyn Sutton | 2nd 8.68m | ** | ** |
| Hammer | Glyn Sutton | 5th 13.17m | ** | ** |
| Event | A String | Performance | B String | Performance |
| 100m | Lolita Byfield-Moore | 1st 16.1 |
| Event | A String | Performance | B String | Performance |
| 400m | Carole Fereday | 1st | ||
| 3000m | Carole Fereday | 2nd 14:24.9 |
| Men | Women | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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