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NAL Final Round

The final NAL Premiership fixture of the 2025 season was held in Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium on Saturday. At the top of the table, it was a straight battle between Harrow and TVH for the title, which Harrow won for the first time. Barring anything extremely strange the relegation of SBH and Sheffield  was as good as confirmed prior to the meet with Glasgow 3rd, Woodford 4th, Windsor 5th and Birchfield 6th going into the meeting. As expected, Birchfield were stronger at home and they placed 3rd behind Harrow  (639.50) and TVH (542.5). Sheffield placed 4th (371) on the day, with Glasgow 5th (368.5), Windsor 6th,  (350.5), Woodford 7th (339) and SBH 8th (301).  The results remain subject to scrutiny but absent any changes the overall League positions will be, Harrow 23, TVH 22, Birchfield 14, Glasgow 14, Windsor 12, Woodford 11, Sheffield 9, SBH 4.None of the teams were at their strongest with athletes missing across the board for various reasons, our own teams were in parts extremely depleted, in particular on the women’s side where we had a number of gaps which if filled moderately would have seen us likely place 4th on the day and 3rd overall. When broken down, the men finished 4th on the day and the women 7th. Whilst that was a disappointment, all those that were there contributed tremendously with some taking on extra and/or unfamiliar events to aid the team effort. There certainly were some bright spots, with the men being led by double wins in both the Long Jump and 110m Hurdles. Although without any individual A string winners there were good  javelin points from women as well as other encouraging performances. 

Sam Khogali who heads the UK long jump rankings this summer won a good competition by 1cm with 7.64m as Calum Henderson although not at his best took the B with 6.94m. In the triple jump former African long jump champion, Thalosang Thsireletso and operating off a very short run just lost out by 3cm as he placed 2nd with 15.19m. Still making his way back from injury, Emmanuel Dodo was 4th in the B with 13.45m. Another long jumper, Sammy Lok, took on the high jump and his 1.92m placed 5th with sprinter Marcel Winter placing 4th in the B with 1.82m. The Pole Vault saw Louis Wilson 6th= with 4.02m as U/17 Stephen Ng cleared 3.42m in the B.

 The men’s discus was full of high standard athletes although distances were down with an unhelpful wind, Mark Plowman was 6th in the A with 46.35m and Gareth Winter was 5th in the B with 42.14m. Missing specialist hammer throwers Mark and Gareth covered that event with Gareth reaching 29.81m for 7th A and Mark 26.48m for 8th B. In his specialist event the Shot Put, Gareth was 2nd with 15.38m as Aaron Edwards was 6th in the B with 12.37m. With specialists out injured, Aaron also covered the javelin and placed 6th in the B with 36.38m, with Henry Bennet 7th in the A with 44.43m.

 Woodford’s other double men’s win came in the 110mH where Ethan Akani took the A with 14.16 secs (-0.3) as Ruben Hedman enjoyed a comfortable B win with 14.60 secs (0.0). The 400mH saw Will Parrry struggle for his stride pattern as he placed 8th with 58.82 secs with U/20 and debutant Joseph Arnold recording 61.94 secs also for 8th. The sprinters were faced with swirling winds. In the A 100m Benedict Chukwueze was 6th with 10.64 secs (+1.3) with U/20 Matthew Gittens 4th in the B with 10.86 secs (-1.1). The 200m athletes had strong headwinds, Ben Snaith was 3rd in the A with 21.50 secs (-1.9) and Matthew Adum Yeboah was 5th in the B with 21.68 secs (-1.1). In the 400m Nabil Tezkratt who had run very well at college in the US struggled with a calf strain that saw him have to ease off in the straight and he was 8th in 48.72 secs and without another specialist Joseph Arnold ensured a B string point was gained.

 With others missing William Muffett (an U/20 and debutant) and Tom Adolphus covered the 800m races and although each was 8th ensured points were gained. Tom later went over 3000m and he was 5th B with 9m28.60 secs with Paul Martelletti 7th A with 8m58.00. The 1500m field was a good won at the and after steady start built up to a quick final 600m with Joel Doye losing out in the final straight placing 4th with 3m53.28 as U/20 Aiden O’Driscoll gained valuable B points with 4m10.12 secs. Aiden had gamely gone earlier in the 3000m s/ch and his 10m38.57 running pretty much solo, detached from the front pack and ahead of the trailing one saw him place 3rd in the B. Further forward Luke Gribbin had another solid run placing 4th A with 9m.38.6

 The women’s jumps are normally high scoring for Woodford but for various reasons (both injuries and other unavailability) we were left with limited resources this time. With no specialist long jumpers available javelin thrower Kirsty Bateman-Foley and pole vaulter Gisselle Moulton (an U/20 on debut) although each were 8 they ensured points were gained. The triple jump had just one Woodford athlete with Kharina Partridge having to count as the A and her 10.88 was 7th. Also without specialists in the high jump Kharina ensured at least some points were gained by clearing the opening height. Kirsty also attempted that height (1.37m) but despite game attempts did not clear. In the pole vault Giselle's 2.72m was 5th B whilst in the A and not at her best recovering from injury Hollie Jupp nevertheless cleared 3.52m for 5th.

 The javelin was the strongest women’s event and Kirsty was more at home as she took the B string win with 37.62m behind Peanut Meekings 41.74m for 3rd A. The hammer gained decent points as Katie Head was 5th with 55.83m and Lucy Marshall was 2nd B with 51.60m. Peanut and Lucy covered the shot and were 8thA and 7th B respectively. 

The 100m H is normally a strong event but no specialists were available so no points were gained. Isabelle Kyson was the only available hurdler and she was therefore forced into A string action over 400mH after a decent start and back straight, sadly Isabelle hit the  5th hurdle heavily and wasn’t able to continue. 

The sprints brough solid results, Gwen Datey was 2nd 100m with 11.76 (+1.0) and 4th over 200m with 24.27 secs (-1.4). Returning from injury, Rebecca Matheson was 5th B with 12.29 (+0.6) and Helen Pretorious was 3rd in the B 200m with 25.21 (-0.2). Over 400m Natalie Groves was also 3rd as she finished strongly for 54.98 secs and Noa Chodokufa was 5th B with 58.12 secs. Although unable to field any steeplechasers the middle distance events were better covered than sometimes previously. In the 800m Aoibheann Pearce was 5th with 2m15.26 and Natasha Wynn on debut was 6th in the B with 2m20.34. Over 1500m Louise Gilbert was 3rd with 4m27.30 and Imogen Tanner, another debutant was 4th B with 4m48.52. Louise and Imogen later ensured 3000m points were gained placing 7th A and 4th B respectively with 10m43.84 and 10.46.50. 

The men’s relays were mixed; the 4x100m squad of Matthew Gittens, Marcel Winter, Matthew Adum Yeboah and Benedict Chuckuweze were a close 4th with 41.12 secs, whilst the 4x400 team of Ben Snaith (50.6), Marcel Winter (51.3), Merveilles Massembo (50.9) and Matthew Adum Yeboah (48.1) were 8th with 3m20.85 secs. 

The women’s 4x100m team of Rebecca Matheson, GwenDatey, Amira Adeshokan and Helen Pretorious were 3rd in 46.65 secs as were the 4x400m team in 3m47.12 secs (Natalie Groves 56.5, Molly Swingler 56.2, Noa Chodokufa 59.6 and Helen Pretorious 54.9.

 For the team mangers a slightly frustrating end to the season especially with the gaps that were unable to be filled which saw the team slip to 6th in the Premiership standings after this final fixture. Nevertheless, they were grateful for all those who were available and turned out and also to our own officials who also contribute to the overall points tally.