Portsmouth A.C. Mens Team in BAL blinder
Posted by on 9 May 2016
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T Having just missed out on promotion to the Division 3 in the last match of 2015, the Blue and Whites were in determined mood to get this year’s campaign off to a flying start. Due to various reasons including University exams and Injuries the team were down to just 10 athletes able to compete. With their Talisman Team Manager Paul Farres away in the USA the job fell to young Charlie Craddock to hold the teamsheets and Guide the team during the day. We also had lucky mascot Paul Smith OBE on the Minibus with his trusted long lensed camera ready to record the highlights of the days competition. |
| The day started at 1.00pm with The Hammer Throw, Long Jump and the Pole Vault. Competing in The Hammer was Paul Derrien and Yasha Bobash with Paul in the A string and Yasha the B string. Paul eventually finishing in 3rd Position with a very impressive SB throw of 42.58m and Yasha finishing in 2nd place with 37.37m and a SB performace both athletes gaining an impressive combined tally of 14 points for the team. |
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| Also starting a 1.00pm was the Long Jump and we had 2 great athletes competing for the club. COPAC legend Adam Akehurst was in the A string and relative newcomer Thomas Miller the B String. Neither athlete let the team down with 2 very strong jumps and two 2nd positions. Adam jumping an impressive 6.41m and 10 points with young Thomas jumping a SB performance of 5.78m and another vital 6 points. |
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| The last 2 events at 1.00pm was the Pole Vault. In this event we had top UK Pole Vaulter Tom Farres in the A string and COPAC mens team captain Steve Davey in the B string. Both athletes were on the top of their game which proved to be far to good for the opposition. Tom Farres taking 1st place with 4.10m and gaining 12 points for his efforts. The team Captain Steve also pulled out a vault of 3.40m which was also a 1st place finish and another 8 points on the board. |
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The next event was the High Jump which started at 1.30pm. Fresh from their exploits at 1.00pm Thomas and Adam headed straight over to the HJ to continue the days proceedings. Adam was the A string competitor and due to a technical error we are still awaiting the final result. In the B string Thomas Miller achieved another SB performance of 1.70m which due to the very strong competition secured a 5th place effort and another valuable 1.5 points |
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| Amazingly at 2.00pm COPAC superstar Adam Akehurst turned out again in the A string Discus with Paul Derrien fresh from his exploits in the Hammer throw in the B string. Even more amazingly Adam smashed out a SB throw of 39.21m to win the A string and gain another 12 points for the team. Paul Derrien completed the event with a great SB throw of 34.94 finishing in 4th and gaining 3 points. |
| Tom Farres with a quick Break | Club Captain Steve Davey keeping an eye on proceedings | |
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| Next up for the men was the 400h which is considered one of the hardest track events of the day. It was down to youngster Thomas MIller to show the way in the B string with another 1st place in a blistering 55.94 seconds which is very close to this talented athlets PB. As usual it was down the the Captain to do the dirty work in the 400mh B string. Only 3 teams turned out for this event so Steve's 79.41 seconds gained 3 well earned points for the team. |
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| With the track events now fully underway the schedule moved on to the 800m which always proves to be great entertainment and the 2 races were no exception. U23 Student Edward Dodd stepped up in the A string with a great performance of 1.53.82 securing 1st place in a very close finish. The B string event then got underway with homegrown talent and U20 Toby Roe stepping up with a great Personal Best Performance of 2.01.21 and a 2nd place finish. Another 18 points for the team |
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| Next up at 2.50pm was the Triple Jump and the 100m sprint. The amazement in the stadium continued when Adam Akehurst showed up for his 4th event of the day in the A string with Pole Vaulter Tom Farres helping out the team to compete in the B string. Out of their comfort zone Adam managed a solid jump of 11.15m and Tom then obliged with credible jump of 10.58m. Only 6 points were gained overall but what an important 6 points they were. Over on the track the speedsters were turning out with 400m runner Harrison Pocock filling the A string and Chris Tandi in the B string. The standard of the races were exceptional and an amazing time of 11.03s by Harry Pocock was only good enough for 6th place up against the dedicated 100m men. Chris Tandi who was nursing a slight injury still managed a 4th place finish in 11.60s respectfully. |
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| Unfortunately we had no steeplechasers on the day so we moved on to the much shorter 110h and yes you guessed it up stepped Adam Akehurst for his 5th event of the day. Unfortunately we did not have a B string competitor but Adam with a great time of 15.72s still secured another valuable 6 points for the team effort |  |
| Next up were 2 field events, The Shot and the Javelin. Up stepped Team Captain Steve Davey in the A string shot and he was supported by Paul Derrien in the B string. A good throw of 11.19m was unfortunately only good enough for 6th position and 4 points for Steve but with 10.49m B string Paul Derrien managed a 1st place and 8 valuable points. At the same time the Javelin started and a cheer from the crowd greeted Adam Akehurst stepping up for his 6th event in 150 minutes. Not to let him take all the glory Captain Steve Davey already competing in the shot amazingly competed in the Javelin at the same time. Adam going on to throw 53.31m and achieving an A string 3rd place and 8 points. Steve not be out done pulled out a throw of 38.23m securing another 3 points. |
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| Next up was the gruelling 400m and the 400m specialist Harry Pocock was relishing the chance to run his favourite event. Supporting him was Paul Derrien fresh from the Shot Putt circle. Harry ran a blistering race coming in with a time of 49.39s in 2nd position and 10 points in the bag. The sight of Harry Pocock throwing up shortly aftrewards showed what this meant to this group of men. Paul Derrien running for points finished in 6th with 75.21 gaining 1 point for his toil |
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| Next up at 4.00pm was the turn of the middle distance runners and the return of Edward Dodd and Toby Roe. Edward in the A string race coming in strongly with a finishing time of 4.11.88 securing 3rd place and another 8 points. Toby also gaining a 3rd place finish in a time of 4.14.81 and another 4 points. Following on the track 10 minutes later was the return of the speedsters in the 200m. This time it was the turn of Chris Tandi to take charge of the A string with Tom Farres deputising in the B string event. Chris finishing strongly with a time of 23.11 and Tom giving it everything with a 24.62 timing. The result was another 9 points for the team. |
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| With no 3k runners availabel we moved on to the last 2 events of the day. The 4 x 100m relay and the 4 x 400m relay. In the 4 x 100 Harry Pocock led the team home in a respectful 45.12 seconds gaining 4th place and 6 points. In the 4 x 400m Chris Tandi anchored the team home in a great time of 3.33.05 in 2nd place and 10 points. |
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| The day that started in great sunshine unfortunately ended with Thunder and Lightening but this did not dampen the heroic performance of the 10 athletes from COPAC. The club ended up in 3rd position and with some more athletes to fill in the gaps next time we will be looking to push on from this result. Credit must also go to Lucky Mascot Paul Smith who managed to take some amazing pictures of the days events. Go COPAC what and example this has set for all the youngsters at the club. |
