OCAC Keep the Dream Alive

The final match of the SML had finally arrived, and the team, who had managed to find a few extra athletes to make up the numbers for one final push to avoid relegation, headed to Guildford.
As always the first event on the track was the 400mH, which saw Andy Tippet take to the track and despite a lack of training won the race, beating his nearest rival by over a second. Ashley Johnson then returned to form in the long jump, where he set three consecutive PBs, eventually landing his final jump at 6.76m. Time for the sprints, and after a slow start David Gain came 2nd in the 100m in 11.1s, losing to the Stevenage runner by 0.1s. He then got his revenge when he went on to beat the same athlete in the 200m by the same margin, clocking a time of 22.0s.
Ashley continued his good form in the throws, taking 2nd in both the Javelin and Shot, and adding further to his events tally with a 1st in the Discus. Pete O’Keefe put in a valiant effort coming 5th in the Hammer, knowing that relegation was a possibility and getting some much needed points. Jamie Watt battled against the heat and some close competition to get 4th in the 400m.
Ian Castle put in an appearance at the Pole Vault, taking a 5th place and increasing the Oxford points tally. Ashley then increased this further with a 2nd in the High Jump, clearing 1.85m and also taking another 1st in the Triple Jump with a leap of 13.23m. The middle and long distance runners also added their contribution to the points, with Matthew Coffey taking the silver in the 5000m, James Cody claiming 4th in the 800m, then 5th in the 1500m and despite a slight misjudgement in the 3000m Steeple Chase,  adding more point with another 4th.
Ashley then taking yet another victory took 1st in the 110mH by over a second. Which was followed up by a B string win from Andy Tippet, who won by a country mile. Then to the relays, and onto the track stepped the formidable Oxford City sprinters, David, Ashley, Nathan Rockett and Tom Downs, who stormed to victory in the 4x100m. Then the 4x400m team consisting of Andy, Jamie, David and Manny Stone who after maintaining a blistering pace throughout took their final win of the day to secure 3rd place overall, only trailing 2nd by 3 points and in the process maintaining our Division 2 status. Well done to all of you that have competed this season. See you next year.