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American Tour 2004

As the men’s 4 x 400m relay set off, at the end of a day of glorious sunshine and competitive athletics at the Brown University Stadium, Providence, Rhode Island, Birmingham’s Ivy League Athletics Tour team came together in the stands for one of the highlights of the trip. Generating an atmosphere that reflected the remarkable team spirit that had developed by this, the final event of the tour, the team cheered the quartet of James Marshall, John Merrett, Richard Gywnk and Dave Clifford home to victory in their race, providing the ideal climax to the tour’s athletics.

The trip had begun two weeks earlier, with a few days of sightseeing in New York before the team moved on to Cornell, the first university on the itinerary. Here, the team enjoyed several days of solid training, preparing them for the first match, at Franklin Fields Stadium, Philadelphia, home of the University of Pennsylvania. After this, the tour continued to Yale and, finally, Harvard, on the outskirts of Boston. From here, the team travelled to compete at Brown, another Ivy League University.

In both competitions, Birmingham’s athletes showed that they were able to compete with, and to perform strongly against, the American students. Frank Tickner was twice victorious over the 3000m steeplechase, with Luke Gunn second at Brown after fighting off a strong final lap challenge. Tom Payn was also in good distance form, placing third in the 5000m at Penn and fourth in the 1500m at Brown; here, Phil Nicholls was second in the 5000m. In the shorter distances, James Marshall was fourth over 200m and John Merrett fifth in the 400m at Penn, and the 4 x 100m team was fourth at both meetings. In the field, James Heptonstall approached his PB to twice finish eighth in the long jump.

Amongst the women, the sprinters were on excellent form. The 4 x 100m was in winning form at Penn, in a sub-48 second run, with the 4 x 400m team fourth. At the same match, Becky Grey was fifth in the 100m, and over 200m, Lucy Evans finished third, behind heptathlete Danielle Fawkes, second, who was also fifth in the high jump. In the same event at Brown, Evans was second, Fawkes sixth, with Beth Alvey running well to make a tough 100m final. In the distance events there were also successes. At Penn, the women were fifth over 4 x 800m, Claire Holme sixth in the 5000m, and Lorna Vyse fifth over 1500m. In the latter event at Brown, Holme was fourth and Vyse eighth, while Lucy Jones ran well for fifth over 800m. In the field, Paula Hendriks in the shot putt and Syreena Pinel in the long jump were on impressive form across both matches. At Penn and Brown respectively, Hendriks was fourth and first, Pinel third and second, the latter followed by Olivia Ross-Hurst in seventh at Brown. Also here, Jo Chapman placed sixth in the javelin, despite being forced to pull out with injury. Across the two matches, there were also several PBs, including for Dan Beier, Dave Clifford, Liz Gottwald and Tris Christian.

As well as these impressive performances, the trip was a great opportunity to see what life is like in some of America’s top universities, and a fantastic social experience for the athletes. Several of the team took the chance to strengthen Anglo-American relations, although some appeared determined to sever the ‘special relationship’… Overall, the tour was an amazing opportunity, which Birmingham’s athletes certainly grasped. Hopefully, the promising performances and fantastic team spirit will now continue into an outdoor season that begins in earnest at the BUSA Championships on the first weekend in May, and the next Ivy League Tour, in four years time, will be as successful, memorable and enjoyable as that of 2004.

Matt Little

Penn invitational 5th April

http://pennathletics.ocsn.com/sports/m-track/stats/040504aaa.html

Brown invitational 10th April

Mens: http://brownbears.ocsn.com/sports/m-track/spec-rel/041004aaa.html

Womens:http://brownbears.ocsn.com/sports/w-track/spec-rel/041004aaa.html