BASILDON AC’s senior squad allayed any fears of relegation from their division of the Southern Athletics League with a fantastic performance in their final match of the season at Perivale, West London.

Team managers pulled the club’s strongest squad of the year together and it paid off as they won the match to ensure they stay in the second division next season.

The team was made up of a mixture of youth and experience with the under-17 youngsters performing exceptionally well against senior athletes.

Isobel Ives and Mae Bullman, both under-17 athletes, racked up the points in the women’s section.

Ives stepped down a distance to win the 400m in a personal best time of 57.75s and followed it up win a win in the 1,500m (4m 42.31s) and a gutsy run on the final leg of the 4x400m relay where Basildon finished second.

Bullman secured valuable points with double wins in the high jump (1m 55cm) and triple jump (10.68m) and was third in the long jump (4.90m).

The under-17 boys also held their own.

Kristian Brown won the B-string high jump (1.55m) and Michael Shields (U17) enjoyed a move away from his specialist hurdles event to hold his own in the 100m (third, 11.57s) and 200m (second, 23.43secs). Middle-distance specialist Ollie Cantwell stepped down to compete in the 400m hurdles and showed huge potential with a B-string win in (63.2s), and went on to also win the B-String 2000m steeplechase (7m 2.00s) in horrendous conditions.

The under-20 athletes were not outperformed by their younger counterparts, however, with some valuable points won both on the track and in the field.

The most notable performance came from Emily Bullis who performed a double win in the 3000m in a huge PB of 10m 45s and 1,500m steeplechase with 5m 24s. Laura Kidd also secured a nine-second PB when winning the B-string 1,500m steeplechase with 6m 1s. Kaylee Dodd stepped down to the sprints with a secure win in the 400m (58.5secs).

On the field, Jemma Pemberton and Katherine Ellis gained valuable points in the throws, most notably in the javelin where they both secured top place finishes and Pemberton a PB of 31.99m. Vicky Oshunremi came away with two PBs with a second-place finish in the 100m (13.29s) and a B-string win in the triple jump (10.61m).

The senior athletes of the squad continued the top performances with some dominant wins from: Louise Douglass (400m hurdles and 100m hurdles), Nicola Bredin (400mh B), Emmanuel Nanang (400mh A and 110mh B), Tom Richardson (800m A), Kirsty Tydeman (1,500m B), Eleanor Johnson (3,000m A); Tariq Martin (shot, hammer and discus), Luke Beard (shot B and discus B) and Clint Nicholls (javelin B).

The Basildon AC squad are now awaiting their final place within the league table but with a dominant 34 point win, they can relax knowing they can push on next season.