South Wales Masters League

South Wales Masters League Newport Harriers

Welsh Masters League

Leckwith Stadium, Cardiff 9th August 2006

Newport Men Champions Again…Newport Ladies oh so close

Newport Men made it four titles in a row following a comfortable win in the final league match of the season – Keith Powell had to take out a bank loan to pay for all the cup engravings. Newport Ladies were in a nail-biting contest but lost out by six points to Rhondda who retained the title.

Male 50s

Geoff Miller was a tonic to the team in his first league appearance of the season, gaining victory in the long jump and 2nd place in the 400m and shot. Glyn Sutton’s return also swelled the team tally with 1st in the 100m and B long jump, and 2nd in the pole vault and B discus. However, the irony was that Geoff and Glyn thwarted John Watkins’ regular stab at the victor ludorum when they squeezed him out of the points in both the long jump and discus. John won the B 100m but suffered more frustration when he was ordered to rest from the 1500m to be fresh for the relay. Dave Proffitt and Colin Bradley were as dependable as ever with 2nd (A) and 1st (B) respectively in the 1500m.

Male 40s

Keith Powell was another chasing victor ludorum points in an attempt to catch Brecon’s Derek Osborne, his efforts rewarded with 1st in the 100m and 2nd in the pole vault and long jump. Steve Wadley gained two good victories (B 400m, B discus), while A thrower Lawrence Moore had to settle for two 2nd places behind Rhondda giant Mike Rees. Malcolm Medhurst’s injury-plagued season concluded with 2nd in the 400m, while rising star Gavin Belcher came 2nd in the B 100m. Darryn McAtee trailed Neath’s Phil and Peter Crane in the 1500m, just hoping there were no more Crane brothers on the masters horizon.

4 x 400 metres relay

The two fastest runners in this race both belonged to Rhondda – Bil Namani and Sean Price – and Darryn calculated that he needed eight seconds over Sean when he took the baton to ensure victory. So all the hard work was done by Gavin, John and Steve, to give Darryn a rare slice of glory on the final leg and make it 8 relay wins in a row for Newport Vets.

Ladies

In a valiant attempt to snatch the league title from Rhondda, Lolita Byfield Moore and Ann Saxena spread themselves over a whole range of events – running, jumping and throwing like a couple of junior pentathletes. In fact Ann won the long jump to open up a whole new athletics career. Lolita consolidated her sprint credentials with another victory in the 100m then stepped up to ultra-distance for 2nd in the 400m. With form like that Ann will now be looking to recruit Lolita to the winter cross-country squad. Although it was not quite enough it was more than could ever have been expected at the start of the season and Newport Ladies - Lolita, Ann and Carole Fereday - should be proud of their efforts this season.

Results

Men Under 50

Men Over 50

Ladies Under 50

Ladies Over 50

Match Results

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