NEW boys on the British league scene, Kent AC, had their best ever result at the Division 4 match held at Chelmsford last weekend.

In six of the 18 events, the combined A and B string results out-performed the previous club best statistics by a considerable margin, and helped secure second place in the fixture behind league leaders Liverpool.

This most encouraging result for the Ladywell Arena-based team has lifted them to second place overall and enhance its prospects of promotion.

The hotly-contested tribute "Kent AC Man of the Match", awarded by coaches Ken Pike and Larry Garnham, went to Conrad Williams for his victories in the 400m and triple jump.

In the 400m, he set a lifetime best of 48.3sec and beat the British 800m Olympian Curtis Robb, who shortly appears in the Commonwealth Games.

In the triple jump, Williams performed another personal best of 14.13m. His contribution also included a 47.7 leg of the 4x400m relay where all four of the team ran sub-50 seconds and took five seconds off the club record to win the event in 3mins 16sec.

Russell Frost appearing for the B-string, won his 400m and team captain Joe Appiah won the B-string triple jump with a personal best of 13.18m the three of them securing maximum points for the two events.

In the absence through injury of his brother Howard, Russell also ran his first competitive 400m hurdles and came third in 55.6 for the A-string.

Also over hurdles, Demeari Cookey ran a very commendable 15.9 in the 110m and then took even greater delight by equalling the club record of 1.90m in the high jump.

A determined run by 19-year-old James Connor earned him a third place in the A-string 3,000m steeple-chase.

Larry, the sprint coach, was full of praise for the effort made by Colin Johnson who took second place in both B-string races.

In the throwing events, Shane McLeod made his presence felt achieving a lifetime best in the hammer, while 19-year-old Jermaine Mays celebrated his selection for the British under-23 squad by winning both the 800 and 1,500m for the A string.

He is now undefeated in all of his 17 league races over the last two years.

Half a second behind Jermaine was Northern Ireland international Andrew Dunwoody, who by coming second in the race, won the B-string for the club.

The next domestic event is the club 5,000m championship, which is open to all whatever your athletic prowess.

The event will take place at 7.30pm next Tuesday evening at the Ladywell Arena.

If you want to measure yourself against them, dig out your kit and come along. All are welcome.

July 9, 2002 11:30