Ten-hour coach journey doesn't hinder Southend AC (From Southend Standard)

Ten-hour coach journey doesn't hinder Southend AC

6:30pm Friday 6th July 2012 in Sport

Southend AC men’s British League National Two team showed no ill effects of the 10-hour coach journey it took them to get to their latest meeting in Falkirk, Scotland, finishing a gallant fourth to remain in third place in the league.

There were many notable performances.

Markus Hunt was third in the A-string 400m (48.85s), while 18-year-old Jake King (second B-string) set a new personal best of 48.94s – a time which placed him fifth on the club’s all-time list.

Greg Goodrem (seventh A-string 59.13s) and James McLean (fourth B-string in 59.56s) ran well in the 400m hurdles, while in the sprint hurdles McLean was third in the A string (15.25s) and Goodrem third in the B-string (17.03s).

The 4x400m relay team of Kevin Brown, Dave Smale, James and Markus Hunt battled hard for a superb fourth in 3m 26.19s.

In the 800m, club record holder Dave Smale was second in the A-string with 1m 54.04s, while James Tydeman, on debut, was second in the B-string (1m 57.62s).

The 1,500m saw two firsts for Southend, with Tom Frith winning the A (4m 1.32s), and David Gibbon the B in 4m 4.66s.

Frith then won the B-string 3,000m, only 25 minutes after the 1,500m (8m 49.72s) – a feat which helped him win the athlete of the match award.

In the A-string 3,000m, Adam Hickey was third in 8m 33.89s.

The 3,000m steeplechase saw Roy Scott finish seventh in 10m 6.45s for seventh place.

In the throws, Tariq Martin and Rob Earle were a strong pairing.

Earle was third in the A-string hammer (50.92m), first in B discus (40.11m) and fifth in the A shot (12.19m), while Martin was fifth in the B hammer (31.87m), second in the A discus (43.06m) and fifth in the B shot (11.43m).

Jason Fry was third in the A-string pole vault (4.40m) and Aaron Kaye second in the B (4.20m). Kaye also scored valuable points in the long jump and javelin.

The triple jump saw Kevin Brown pull out a magnificent last leap to gain second place in the A string with a season’s best and his second best jump ever of 14.37m.

In the high jump, Greg Goodrem had to battle with bad rain to achieve 1.75m for sixth in the A-string with Simon Hemmings, recovering from a torn Achilles, now jumping from the opposite side, and also struggling with the conditions gaining 1.65m for 6th in the B.

Unsung hero of the day was 800m specialist Pete Smale, who is only just regaining fitness after a hamstring injury, so traveled to help his team in Scotland by doing the steeplechase and javelin.

He achieved two sixth places gaining four more points than expected, and with Southend finishing only four points ahead of sixth in the match, his efforts proved vital to the team’s success.

Team manager Keith Palmer said: “The team really earnt this result and thoroughly deserve their third position in the league.

“There were some tired faces on the trip back and some tight muscles the next day.”