| Rimmer takes silver 31
July Barcelona provided a magnificent backdrop for the European Athletic Championships and an avalanche of medals for the Great Britain contingent. The Liverpool Pembroke Sefton star took the silver medal in the 800m after a relatively comfortable ride through his heat(1.49.99) and semi-final(1.47.67). He was up against his arch rival the Pole Marcin Lewandowski and it was always going to be about tactics after a modest first lap of 53.80. With 250m to go Michael took the lead and began to move away but Lewandowski provided a stronger surge over the last 30m to edge Rimmer(1.47.17) with a time of 1.47.07. Clearly Michael was hugely disappointed and his initial reaction was that he had let everybody down. However, the next day he clearly appreciated what he had achieved, his first medal in major senior championships. Michael Johnson described his performance as `gutsy' and Brendan Foster reiterated what everybody was thinking when he said Michael had done nothing wrong at all and was just beaten by a stronger man on the day. This year his preparation with coach Norman Poole has been meticulous and he has truly matured into a world class athlete. He is poised to thrive in next year`s World Championships and, of course, the 2012 London Olympics. This performance is, arguably, the best ever outdoor individual achievement in the club`s 120 year old history and the LPS is hugely proud of Michael Rimmer. |
| Junior League exit? 25
July Following a poor turn out at the Deeside match the LPS U20s were at Bebington for the final encounter. On this occasion there were even less athletes and unsurprisingly the club was last. Two athletes won their respective events, Billy Williams high jumped 1.80m(1.90m at Deeside) and Ruth Doran took the Shot with 9.22m(9.12m at Deeside) and also added a 19.00m Javelin throw to finish fourth in that event. Emma Givens sprinted well with a 13.3 100m and an impressive 15.5 100m hurdles and Mike Carmona-Jones also had three third placings, Hammer 36.79m, Discus 28.79m and Shot 10.05m. While a handful of athletes enjoy this competition it is clear the club can no longer warrant continued membership of the league. It is generally agreed that we should pull out for 2011 and consider alternative competition for our U20s. This will be confirmed at our AGM on Friday 17 September. If you have any views please let Wally Bridson or Charles Gains know. There are numerous other clubs in a similar position. |
| LPS just miss out on
promotion 18 July Liverpool Pembroke Sefton went into the final match of the Young Athletes Northern League match at Wavertree knowing that if the could beat the talented Crewe and Nantwich club they would be guaranteed promotion to the Premier League. In spite of some outstanding performances the host club was never going to match the depth of the Cheshire outfit and so it proved as they ran out comfortable winners with 676 points to the LPS total of 615. Game over for this year but promotion will surely come. Once again the high jumpers captured attention. There is an extraordinary spirit in coach Dave McComb's squad and it came as no real surprise that U15 Amelia McLaughlin won again with a new personal best of 1.60m while Kate Doran took the U17 event with the same height. McComb's other charges U17 Simon Brazier(1.70m), U15 Ben Bleasdale (1.55m) and U13 Owen Pritchard(1.35m) also faired well. The horizontal leapers demonstrated their prowess too with long jumpers Tom Woodland (U13) at 4.46m, Sarah Wroblewski(U13) at 4.14m and the multi-talented Tawanda Lungu (U15) going out to 4.55m to complement her 100m success in 13.9. The ever-dependable Alice Donnelly(U17) triple jumped to victory with 9.22m and additionally won her 300m hurdles race in 52.0. The throwers were less prominent on this occasion but the Tom Johnson(U17) Hammer cast of 40.51m was out of sight for his opponents while there were decent performances from the U17 pairing of Discus thrower Lucy Wroblewski (21.56m), and Shot putter Ruth Doran(9.05m). U13 Caitlin Allt took her Shot with 6.87m and U15 Amy Aitcheson the Javelin with 22.34m. The middle distance runners were on form with the diminutive Jack Crook solo running the 1500m to victory with 5.14.1 and Sean McBride(U17) the 800m in 2.06.3. The girls were not left out of the action here as Abby Kelly(U17) romped home in her 800m with 2.32.2. The Mike Wilson(4.29.3) and Alistair Nelson(4.30.8) U17 pairing ran usefully together in the 1500m. Warren Turner(U17) must have been surprised that his debut at the 1500m Steeplechase resulted in such an easy win in 5.09.5. He may well have stumbled on his best event by accident. Altogether a good afternoon for the club rounded off with three relay wins but not enough to shake the well balanced Crewe and Nantwich side. Report Charles Gains |
 New
club record for Rimmer! 11 JulyMichael Rimmer was in Lausanne for the IAAF Diamond series. His 800m was a race he will remember for the rest of his life as it proved the moment when he went once again through the elusive 1.45 barrier. Although only fifth he was carried to 1.44.49 by two Kenyans, a South African and his close rival the Pole, Marcin Lewandowski. This time was the best by a British runner since 1993 and took him to 8th in the All-Time UK rankings and, interestingly, less than half a second behind one of his great heroes, Steve Ovett. This was naturally the fastest time ever posted by a Merseysider overtaking such redoubtable figures as Curtis Robb and Ikem Billy. It was, of course, also a new club record! Report Charles Gains |
| Kate rises to new heights at Birmingham 11
July Liverpool Pembroke Sefton had three athletes at the English Schools Championships in Birmingham. Intermediate Kate Doran produced a personal best of 1.65m in the High Jump and was 8th out of 22 competitors but clearing the same height as the eventual bronze medallist. Junior Amelia McLaughlin nearly reproduced her top performance with 1.57m finishing 13th in her age group while Senior Toby Loveridge ran a season's best of 4.02.87 in a heat of the 1500m Report Charles Gains |
| Seniors enjoy Longford
Park 4 July Liverpool Pembroke Sefton senior athletes were at Stretford's Longford Park for the third match of the Northern League Track and Field series. The event was characterised by a series of double winners. Among the men these were the 200m pairing of Nathan Hilton(23.0) and Harry Doran(22.9), the vet/youngster coupling of discus throwers Mark Line(36.74m) and Mike Carmona-Jones(32.39m) plus triple jumper Dean Matthews(12.78m) and coach Dave Street(11.38m). The women were also of the same inclination as Kirsty Longley took the A 800m race 2.26.4 and team mate Steph Swift the B event in 2.36.3. Elsewhere there were all sorts of workman-like performances with a fair sprinkling of runners-up and third spots. One that gave particular pleasure was the re-united 5000m duo of Bernie Murphy(16.08.9) and Sammy Rashid(16.54.4) who both collected their respective second places. Also noteworthy was the determined efforts of Rachel Hutchinson in the throws events and wherever needed elsewhere. As the afternoon wore on LPS were trailing in fifth spot but a late surge in several events carried them first past Leigh Harriers and rapidly closing in on the St Helens club. The matter was settled in a rousing finale as Danny Higham, Wayne Ashall, Harry Doran and Nathan Hilton combined first to comfortably take the 4 x 100m relay in 44.0 and then the 4 x 400m(3.20.2) version holding off the pressure of a useful Liverpool Harrier quartet. Host club Trafford won the match with 393pts from West Cheshire(374) with a jubilant LPS third(330) and third overall in league standing. As the final encounter is a home one at Wavertree the season is sure to end with a flourish. Results Report Charles Gains |