Blackheath & Bromley are the 5th best in Europe

21 September 2007

Blackheath & Bromley's Under 20 women are officially the fifth best team in the whole of Europe. They placed 5th out 8 teams in the A final of the European Champions Club Cup for Juniors at Brno in the Czech Republic.

As the "A" indicates, the 8 teams taking part were the cream of Europe's Clubs. "To compete against the best of Europe and get such a good result is a really great achievement for both the athletes and everyone involved with the Club" said Steve Price, Chief Executive of Bromley Mytime, who backed the squad and also support elite athletes through the Sports Academy card scheme.

Given the quality of the opposition, individual medals for top three placings were always going to be at a premium, especially as the standard was higher than in 2006. For example, Shaungh Brown, a winner last year in the discus had to settle for bronze this year with a distance of 45.22.

There were three silvers for the team, however, and none came closer to a gold medal than Jade Dodd. She led until the very last throw of the javelin contest with a throw of 48.12, only to be overtaken by the Serbian athlete who threw 48.33. Rachel Arnheim comfortably cleared 3.40 in the pole vault to secure second place on count back and there was a pleasant surprise of a second place in the 4x100 from the quartet of Emily Martin, Lauren Blackie, Amy Godsell and Daniella Annon with a time of 48.53. Lauren had earlier set a new best in the triple jump with an excellent leap of 11.98 which secured her a well deserved bronze medal.

This was a team competition and every athlete contributed to the excellent result, perhaps the most gutsy performance came from Rebecca Taylor. Despite being unfit she tackled the 3000 metres steeplechase. It was a long hard race but she scored important points for the team.

A team contest in the competition area, it was just as much so in the stands where the supporters, managers coaches and reserves cheered themselves hoarse, but also a team effort in the overall organisation of the event in which trip organiser Andy Frankish did the Club proud.

The Club would not have been able to take part in the contest had it not had support from, The Jack Petchey Foundation, Nike, UK Athletics, Bromley Mytime, the London Borough Of Bromley, numerous individual donors and the athletes and their parents.

The Club have qualified for the competition again in 2008 although the venue has yet to be confirmed. With only a small number of athletes moving out of the age group the Club is confident that it will again be able to compete successfully against Europe's elite.

Results and pictures are on the Club website at (external link)www.bandbhac.org.uk