Event by event news from the English AAAs championships at Manchester Sports City.
Men
100m
Marlon Devonish took victory in 10.19sec with Tyrone Edgar sealing second and a place at the Europeans with 10.23sec. Mark Lewis Francis completed the medals with 10.28sec
200m
Devonish completed his 100m/200m double by recovering from a poor start to overhaul Rikki Fifton and get the nod in a photo finish. The two were given the same time of 20.69sec a personal best for Fifton’s while Devonish now has the option on whether to double up at the Europeans.
400m
Defending champion Tim Benjamin (46.00sec) won ahead of junior Martyn Rooney (46.20sec)who has been struggling with injury since his great performances at the Commonwealth Games. Robert Tobin was third in 46.35sec in what seems to be a season where the big guns over one lap are struggling to hit top form.
800m
The eagerly anticipated race saw the expected sight of Richard Hill hitting the front and setting a strong pace (52.83sec at 400m and 1:19.97sec). But Hill, who ran 1min 45.10sec in Watford earlier this year, could not respond in the home straight when the attacks came. Michael Rimmer came through to win in 1min 47.20sec. Sam Ellis moved into second with 1min 47.49sec with Tim Bayley also passing Hill for third in 1min 47.98sec. Hill finished in 1min 48.07sec. Rimmer has now won AAAs titles at Under 15, Under 17, Under 20 and senior level.
1500m
Andrew Baddeley has been choosing races carefully this summer to ensure he is competitive and tactically astute rather than chasing times in higher profile paced races. His performance here looked to show that the strategy is working. Baddeley always tooked in control of the race after a slow first lap and while Chris Thompson made a challenge before fading, Baddeley never looked threatened. He won by almost 1.5sec in 3min 41.18sec from surprise silver medallist Stephen Davies. Neil Speight was third in 3min 43.17sec – a season’s best.
5000m
The 5K produced one of the strangest races of the weekend with the two athletes expected to battle it out, Mo Farah and Nick McCormick, hanging around at the back of the field.
The two were made to pay for placing too much focus on each other as Pete Reilly took off and went clear by 2K. When Farah and McCormick gave chase it was too late – the gap at the bell was around 8sec and while Farah produced a 58sec split from the bell Riley's 63sec was enough to give him the win in 13min 46.68sec. It was a PB for Riley and the more impressive given not only the front running nature of the performance but also the heat. McCormick finished third in 13min 52.26sec.
110m hurdles
Andy Turner won in an impressive 13.24sec.
Men's 400m hurdles
Rhys Williams won the title in a stadium record of 49.28sec ahead of fellow Welshman David Greene second in 50.00sec just ahead of Matt Douglas (50.09sec)
3000m Steeplechase
Jermaine Mays took the race out and controlled the rhythm. Passing the bell in 7min 39.79sec Mays then struck out for home and a 60.16sec last lap was good enough to see him take gold ahead of Adam Bowden with 8min 39.95sec to 8min 40.23sec. Stuart Stokes claimed third with 8min 42.41sec with Luke Gunn continuing his come back from injury with fourth in 8min 43.86sec.
Women
100m
Joice Maduaka won the title and set a stadium record of 11.23sec which broke her seven year old PB. Maduaka has been working with coach Thomas Johnson as well as Linford Christie’s former mentor Ron Roddan and the set-up is clearly working as she is producing the form of her life.
200m
Maduaka continued her outstanding weekend with a win in 23.24sec that sealed her 100m/200m double. She was 0.3sec ahead of the battle for second place which was won by Emily Freeman ahead of Ireland’s Joanne Cuddihy.
400m
Nicola Sanders won in a personal best 50.74sec – a long way ahead of second placed Gemma Nicol who also PBed with 53.46sec and Lesley Owusu who ran 53.63sec.
800m
Becky Lyne continued her good form by blasting around the last 200m to pass long time leader Jenny Meadows and win the AAA title in 2min 00.31sec. Also finishing fast were the next two athletes home. Jemma Simpson came into second just behind Lyne with 2min 00.49sec and Amanda Pritchard moved right through the field to take third in 2min 00.55sec – both Simpson and Pritchard set PBs. The overall standard of the final was impressive. Earlier, in her heat Hannah England ran a PB of 2min 05.25sec to go top of the UK junior rankings for 2006 and go inside the World junior qualifying mark.
1500m
Helen Clitheroe controlled the pace from the front and held off attacks from Commonwealth champion Lisa Dobriskey and Katrina Wootton around the final bend to win in 4min 09.64sec. Dobriskey and Wootton were second and third in 4min 10.36sec and 4min 12.01sec respectively.
5000m
European Cup 3K winner Jo Pavey has been in strong form lately and she defied the hot weather to win from the front in 15min 07.38sec.
By 2K only Hayley Yelling could live with Pavey’s pace and Yelling dug in for second in 15min 30.25sec with sister-in-law Liz third in 15min 50.92sec as many athletes struggled with the hot conditions.
100m hurdles
Sarah Claxton recently set a new PB of 12.93sec in Cork and while she did not produce that form in the AAAs final she nonetheless was the class of the field as she took the title in 13.19sec. Second was Sara McGreavy and third Gemma Bennett in 13.26sec and 13.33sec respectively.
400m Hurdles
Natasha Danvers Smith came off on top in an epic battle with Lee McConnell.
Danvers Smith just produced the better form off the final hurdle to win in 55.58sec to 55.82sec.
3000m Steeplechase
Hattie Dean looked as though she has the potential to challenge Lizzie Hall’s British record after winning this race in 9min 52.04sec. Although just outside her PB the time was a championship record and given the hot conditions Dean could well find the extra four seconds needed to set a new British mark.
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