Reilly
stars at Birmingham Games
Mark Butler for
the IAAF
13 January 2002 - Birmingham, England -
In just 14 month's time, Birmingham's
National Indoor Arena will stage the
IAAF World Indoor Championships. This
weekend at the Birmingham Games, the
standard was more modest, but there were
a few interesting pointers at what might
be in 2002.
Irish sprinter Sarah Reilly was the star performer. She clocked a personal best of 7.43 when finishing a close third in Saturday's 60 metres. An Irish indoor record of 23.66 in the semis of Sunday's 200m set up a great final versus AAA Indoor Champion Catherine Murphy. The two raced together evenly before Reilly edged ahead in the straight for victory in a splendid 23.30,
another record.
Murphy and Reilly, who switched
allegiance from Great Britain in 2000,
are members of the same training squad
and are now heading for some
warm-weather training in the Canary
Isles.
The biggest name in the men's sprints was World Junior Champion Mark Lewis-Francis, who lives just 12 miles away from the NIA. He won his heat of the 60m - his first race as a senior - in 6.69, and improved to 6.67 in the semis. However, he withdrew from the final with a sore left hamstring.
"I'm not injured or anything," he explained, "but I'm just being wary, because I know I have a bit of an inbalance in my legs."
He plans a full indoor season including the European Indoor Championships in Vienna.
The Birmingham sprint final was won by Londoner Akinola Lashore, who was actually quicker than Lewis-Francis in the semis.
The breakthrough of the weekend came from another reigning World Junior Champion, Jennifer Meadows. She was a member of Britain's victorious 4x400m squad in Santiago, but in Birmingham she showed her potential at 800m by winning very easily in 2:05.83. With more opposition she can surely reach the Vienna qualifying standard of 2:04.00
Leading Results (GBR unless stated)
Men
60 Metres (Jan 12)
Final
1, Akinola Lashore 6.74 (6.65 sf)
2, Daniel Money 6.74 (6.78 sf)
3, Kevin Ellis 6.85 (6.76 sf)
Mark Lewis-Francis DNS after
6.69 ht & 6.67 sf
200 Metres (Jan 13)
Final
1, Gary Ryan IRL 21.51
2, Brendon Ghent 21.55
3, Tom Comyns IRL 21.75
400 Metres
Final (Jan 13)
1, Steven Surety 48.09
2, Lawrence Baird 48.14
3, Ian Deeth 48.81
800 Metres (Jan 13)
Final
1, Nic Andrews 1:54.25 (1:51.41
ht)
2, Gary Vickers 1:54.44
3, Nicholas Hudson 1:54.52 (1:52.40
ht)
Simon Lees DNS after 1:50.27 ht
1500 Metres (Jan 13)
1, James Thie 3:45.61
2, Nick McCormick 3:48.05
3, Ian Grime 3:50.74
3000 Metres (Jan 12)
1, Ian Gillespie 8:02.77
2, Andy Magnall 8:09.89
3, Rob Whalley 8:10.91
60 Metres Hurdles
Final (Jan 13)
1, Robert Newton 7.93
2, Damien Greaves 7.93
3, Neil Owen 7.97
4, Dominic Girdler 8.08
5, Nathan Palmer 8.11
High Jump (Jan 13)
1, Mark Mandy IRL 2.15
2, Ben Challenger 2.05
3, Stanley Osuide 2.05
Pole Vault (Jan 12)
1, Tim Thomas 5.10
2, Mark Grant 4.90
3, Andrew Penk 4.80
Long Jump (Jan 12)
1, Gable Garenamotse BOT 7.54
2, Stuart Wells 6.85
3, Lee Okoroafu 6.81
Triple Jump (Jan 13)
1, Tosin Oke 15.42
2, Julian Golley 15.28
3, Jon Hilton 14.24
Shot Put (Jan 13)
1, David Condon 16.17
2, Lyndon Woodward 15.85
3, Tony Soalla-Cell SLE 15.29
Juniors
60 Metres (Jan 12)
1, Monu Miah 7.00
2, Fabian Collymore 7.05
200 Metres (Jan 12)
1, Fabian Collymore 22.16
400 Metres (Jan 13)
1, Richard Davenport 48.69
800 Metres (Jan 12)
1, Richard Davenport 1:54.20
60 Metres Hurdles (Jan 13)
1, Edward Dunford 8.37
High Jump (Jan 12)
1, Tom Parsons 2.05
Shot Put (Jan 12)
1, Stuart Miller 13.77
Under-17
Shot Put (Jan 13)
1, Andrew Thomas 14.98
WOMEN
60 Metres (Jan 12)
1, Joice Maduaka 7.42 (7.40 ht)
2, Sarah Reilly IRL 7.43
3, Diane Allahgreen 7.48
4, Amanda Forrester 7.59
5, Emily Freeman 7.61
6, Amy Spencer 7.67 (7.56 sf)
200 Metres (Jan 13)
1, Sarah Reilly IRL 23.30
(Irish Indoor record)
2, Catherine Murphy 23.42
3, Amy Spencer 23.86 (23.76 sf)
Joice Maduaka DNS after 24.37 sf
Emily Freeman DNS after 23.98 sf
400 Metres
(Jan 12/13)
1, Jennifer Culley 55.50
2, Kim Goodwin 55.57 (55.41 sf)
3, Joanne Fenn 55.95
800 Metres (Jan 13)
1, Jennifer Meadows 2:05.83
2, Nathalie Lewis 2:10.03
3, Barbara Parker 2:16.02
1500 Metres (Jan 13)
1, Emma Davies 4:36.18
2, Shirley Griffiths 4:42.82
3, Alison Hurford 4:50.04
4, Debbie Howard 4:54.78
3000 Metres (Jan 12)
1, Christina Radon 10:06.69
2, Helen Pearson 10:11.52
60 Metres Hurdles (Jan 13)
1, Sarah Claxton 8.34
2, Diane Allahgreen 8.35
3, Rachel King 8.60
High Jump (Jan 12)
1, Jo Steele 1.81
2, Deirdre Ryan IRL 1.81
3, Kelly Sotherton 1.70
4, Judith Payne 1.70
Pole Vault (Jan 13)
1, Lucy Webber 3.90
2, Gael Davies 3.70
3, Laura Ballotta ITA 3.70
Long Jump (Jan 12)
1, Donita Benjamin 5.61
2, Jacqueline Spargo 5.55
3, Joanna Trotman 5.47
Triple Jump (Jan 13)
1, Anna-Maria Thorpe BAR 11.94
2, Hazel Carawardine 11.83
3, Charmaine Turner 11.30
Shot Put (Jan 13)
1, Kelly Sotherton 11.49
2, Sharon Wray 10.99
3, Bolanle Ogun 9.96
Juniors
Pole Vault (Jan 13)
1, Kate Dennison 3.70 (British
Junior indoor best)
2, Zoe Brown IRL 3.60 (Irish
Indoor record)
Shot Put (Jan 13)
1, Joanna Bennett 12.50
2, Paula Hendricks 12.58
High Jump
1, Stephanie Pywell 1.73
