PANVAC Masters had a grand old evening blowing the opposition away
Peterborough & Nene Valley AC’s golden oldies had a grand evening as they blasted away the opposition in the final fixture of the Eastern Masters Track & Field League.
The team of ageing aces have dominated their qualifying group, winning it with ease. They won both male & female categories at Kings Lynn as they sailed through to the finals which will take place at Thurrock in September.
The ladies were in complete control winning 12 of the 26 events in a five team contest.
Judith Jagger, Andrea Jenkins, Ros Loutit and Claire Smith achieved nine of the victories between them with Nicola Gibson & Kelly Sutton picking up one each. The over 50 relay team which included Nicola Gibson’s mother Kay won their race. The other members of the team, Brenda Church, Sally Pusey, Betty Gash and Elizabeth Sennitt Clough all attained second place finishes.
Jagger was her usual dominant self in the over 60 events winning the discus, javelin & triple jump. She won the triple jump with a distance of 7.65m. Andrea Jenkins threw 32.85m to win the over 35 discus. She also came first in the javelin.
Ros Loutit added hurdles racing to her repertoire winning the over 60 300m hurdles. Loutit was on more familiar territory when she came first in the 3,000m with a 12:24.00 clocking.
Claire Smith also branched out, winning the over 35 400m hurdles. She also won one of her specialist events, the 200m. Smith clocked 28.60 in her 200m win while Kelly Sutton won the over 50 race in a time of 31.00. Nichola Gibson won the over 35 800m with a 2:42.70 clocking.
The men were a bit more conservative with their individual first places, but a host of 2nds and 3rds helped to secure their win. Simon Achurch threw 38.14m to win the over 50 discus, and then threw 41.84m for his javelin victory. Mohinda Rana won the over 70 javelin with a distance of 15.06m and Jim Gillespie threw 28.88m for his over 70 discus win.
On the track there were two over 50 wins. Julian Smith clocked 26.50 in the 200m while Andrew Stowe ran a 2:17.80 800m.
Stowe and Smith were joined by Dave Collier and Andy Robson when winning the over 50 medley relay by a colossal 19-second margin.
There were 2nd place finishes for Mark Burbidge, John Pike ,Tim Clough, Matthew Dalton and Gerry Watson
Final League Standings (Men/Ladies): 1 PANVAC 387.5/399, 2 Cambridge & Coleridge 358.5/315, 3 Ryston Runners 291.5/265, 4 Newmarket Joggers &
Bury St Edmunds Pacers 210/256, 5 West Norfolk. 145.5/158
ROUND-UP
Jack Wheatley took part in his first UK Athletics Championship at Birmingham over the weekend. The PANVAC sprint hurdler finished 7th in his 110m Hurdles heat with a time of 15.30.
FROSTBITE LEAGUE
The fixtures for the 2025/26 season have been announced, with Ely hosting a fixture for the first time. The Peterborough race on November 2 will take place at Ferry Meadows.
Sunday October 5 @ St Neots, Sunday November 2 @ Peterborough, Sunday December 7 @ Ely, Sunday January 11 @ March, Sunday February 1 @ Bewsey Park, Sunday March 1 @ Huntingdon.