STAG PARTY FOR THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
BIRCHFIELD RETAIN THE TITLE WITH SUCCESS ON THE TRACK
MARTIN DUFF
BRITISH ATHLETICS LEAGUE PREMIERSHIP
BIRCHFIELD retained their title with a comfortable victory over hosts Shaftesbury Barnet after a dominant track performance led by Leon Reid and the rest of his sprint relay squad.
Leon Reid (centre, wearing black): en route to 100m victory, one of his three for Birchfield
They won the league in its inaugural year of 1969 and this was their seventh in total. It was the late Tony Ward who was instrumental in organising the national league structure and it was apt that his widow, Gwenda, was on hand to present the trophy.
The Stags had five track wins and, although they could not add to their tally in the field, they also out-scored all of the other clubs in those technical events.
Adam McMullen: 7.60m long jump win for Liverpool
The wind was variable throughout the afternoon, so much so that Reid was held back to 10.62 100m as he won the 100m before it turned to boost his 200m victory over Antonio Infantino in a season’s best 20.81. Reid completed his treble with a leg in the Birchfield relay win.
Birchfield’s Jake Porter battled the wind to take the sprint hurdles and the Midlanders’ Sadam Koumi enjoyed a narrow 400m victory over Sale’s Dwayne Cowan in 46.13.
Kyle Langford: top points in 800m
Runners-up Shaftesbury also enjoyed five-A string victories. Kyle Langford dominated the 800m after a slow first lap outside 57 seconds. The European Junior champion then took off and the rest were left trailing in his wake. Some pushing and shoving occurred in the home straight and it left Woodford’s Jonathan Cook sprawling on the ground within sight of the finish. Some verbal exchanges took place thereafter, with Cook accusing his adversary of pushing him in the back, but no formal complaint was made.