Derrien heads winning start

2:14pm Friday 16th May 2008

St Marys Richmond's senior men achieved their best result for more than a decade in Saturday's Southern League Division Three opener at Parliament Hill, writes Bob Sly.

Despite the absence of several of their leading athletes, St Mary's ran out clear winners ahead of host club London Heathside.

Their winning score of 149 was only bettered when, in the club's previous guise, Richmond & Twickenham reached 150 in the final match of the 1997 season.

Paul Derrien provided three of St Mary's 16 victories with successes in the shot (12.15m), discus (36.02m) and B javelin (35.16m).

Derrien was also second in the hammer and 110m hurdles and third in the pole vault.

Dane Grant, making his debut for the club, won the long jump (6.00m) and javelin (43.81m).

Despite having no winter training, Brighton University student Hiran Patel travelled up from the south-coast to win the B 110m hurdles and finish second in the B 3,000m steeplechase.

Ralph Hyde's time of 55.1 seconds in finishing fourth in the 100m was the fastest outdoors in the UK this year by an over-45 runner.

Other St Mary's winners: Christian Lutz (100m, B 200m), Simon Chapple (B 100m, 200m), 4x100m relay (Lutz, Chapple, Sean Lee Rice), Andrew Rostek (B 400m), Mervyn Glover (high jump), Sean Lee Rice (B high jump), Peter Robinson (B discus).

Second places: Mervyn Glover (B triple jump), Peter Robinson (B pole vault), Carl Asmussen (1,500m), Marc Snaith (B 1,500m), Ian Groome (800m), Nigel Rothwell (B 400m hurdles, B 5,000m).

St Mary's next Southern League match is at Tonbridge on June 7 against Paddock Wood, Tunbridge Wells and Herne Hill Harriers.

Match result: 1 St Mary's Twickenham 149, 2 London Heathside 133, 3 East Grinstead 102, 4 Epsom & Ewell 72.

St Mary's Richmond continued their winning form by pipping hosts Kingston & Polytechnic in their Rosenheim League opener.

Christian Lutz won the 100m in a personal best 11.6 seconds, three-tenths of a second faster than his best last year.

Derrien won the hammer (47.39m) and was second in the shot (12.25m).

Club debutants Sam Barnes, Steven Cotton and Chris Walmsley made fine contributions. Barnes won the 1,500m (4:28.7) and Cotton the triple jump (11.98m), with Groome second in the 3,000m (9:31.1).

Gary Palmer, 41, won the Vets AC 200m, held in conjunction with the Rosenheim match, in 25.1 secs, and the Vets AC 400m in 55.3 secs. This time ranks him fourth in the UK over-40 age group this year.

Match result (men): 1 St Mary's Richmond 50, 2 Kingston & Polytechnic 47, 3 Epsom & Ewell 27, 4 Walton 16, 5 British Airways 14.

In the women's match, in which St Mary's finished joint second, there were victories for Becky Culverwell (400m) and Becky Clayden (3,000m).

Match result (women): 1 Kingston & Polytechnic 46, 2= Epsom & Ewell 17, St Mary's Richmond 17, 4 Walton 5.

Editor's Choice