Hacksaws hit back as BA maintain Golden League stranglehold
League Week 6 (22nd August 2026)
Chief Correspondent: Justin Lane
Statistics & Data Analysis: Anna Lytic
Six weeks into the National League season, BA Athletic Club continue to make the Golden League summit their own, but Saturday produced a much more encouraging afternoon for the British contingent as Hacksaws finally converted a wealth of individual quality into a meeting victory.
BA won the other Golden League meeting to extend their flawless start to six victories from six and 72 league points, leaving Mallen IF a distant second on 53. Quemerford Harriers remain the leading British club in sixth on 37, with Weymouth Bay Sharks eighth on 33 and Hacksaws now tenth on 31. E-LDN Surge and Kingstonians remain further down the order in 12th and 13th respectively.
For Hacksaws, however, the table told only half the story. Their victory came in the same meeting as Weymouth Bay Sharks and Kingstonians, with the Sharks taking third and Kingstonians fifth. Quemerford were third in the other meeting behind BA Athletic Club and Mallen IF, while E-LDN Surge finished sixth.
Hacksaws find their range
There was plenty behind Hacksaws’ victory to suggest this was more than a fortunate afternoon. Pia Codarini took the women’s 100m in 11.98, Virna Capponcelli won the women’s 800m in 2:10.36 and Álvaro Tamudo prevailed over 400m in 51.08.
The most important performance for this week’s individual honours came on the road, where Seth Kinsela won the men’s 20km walk in a personal-best 1:38:58.05. It was a combination of victory, quality and personal progression that put Kinsela firmly among the outstanding British athletes of the weekend.
Hacksaws also had Anastázia Štrbová winning the women’s 5000m in 17:11.29, while their success stretched into the relays. The women’s 4×100m quartet won in 50.63 and the men’s 4×400m relay followed with victory in 3:38.54.
Quemerford Harriers may not have won their meeting, but they produced arguably the single finest PB of the Golden League programme. William Ellis won the men’s 200m in 22.09, taking a personal best with him, while Darren Wooderson was first in the 110m hurdles in 16.96.
The Harriers were formidable in the walks as well. Logan McPherson won the men’s 10km walk in 49:51.14 and Tyler Iwelumo took the 50km walk in 4:02:04.28. Their strength was not confined to the track and road either, with further victories spread across the field programme.
E-LDN Surge had a harder afternoon in the meeting standings, but there were still performances worth taking away. Olatz Movil won the women’s 400m in 56.75, while Jude Sinclair lowered his personal best to 2:03.62 in the men’s 800m despite finishing fourth.
Weymouth Bay Sharks supplied one of the strongest Golden League relay moments as their men’s 4×100m team won in 47.26.
The combined events added another layer to the British challenge. Ryan Redmond won the male pentathlon for Quemerford with 4,684 points, while teammate Alisha McCloy produced a 4,106-point personal best to win the female pentathlon in their meeting.
At the other Golden League meeting, Nadia Bottazzini took the female pentathlon for Hacksaws with 4,593, Enya Heiß won the heptathlon with 6,063 and Weymouth Bay Sharks’ Morgan Tait emerged victorious from the decathlon with 8,476.
It all left BA Athletic Club untouched at the summit, but Week Six was a reminder that the British clubs below them still have plenty to fight for.
Reading keep control of League Two
League Two continues to offer two very different British stories.
In 2.1, Heworth Harriers sit fifth on 46 points, with Leeds United AC tenth on 23. They competed in the same meeting on Saturday, Heworth taking third and Leeds fourth.
Heworth’s Elle Doris supplied one of the best PB-winning performances anywhere outside the Golden League, taking the women’s 100m hurdles in 17.68. Mollie Collins was another Heworth winner, completing the women’s 10km walk in 55:43.32.
Leeds answered through Mohammad Bannon, whose 52:19.85 victory in the men’s 10km walk was a personal best, while Leon Jeffrey won the men’s 800m in 2:02.57.
League 2.2 remains headed by Reading Palm Faces. Their latest meeting victory lifted them to 66 points, four clear at the top. Bumble Bees AC were second at that same meeting and now occupy sixth on 42.
Pineapple AC took third in the other meeting and remain fourth overall on 52, while Olympians were fifth there and sit 12th in the standings on 21.
Bumble Bees produced a broad spread of winners. Andrew Loy took the men’s 100m in 11.44 and Spencer Easton won the 1500m in 3:57.81, while Megan Sweeney prevailed in the women’s hammer with 56.64m.
Their combined-event group was particularly productive. Blair Baillie won the male pentathlon with a personal-best 4,062 points, Ellie Menzies took the female pentathlon with 4,379 and Craig Rougvie won the decathlon with 8,686.
Reading’s own quality was apparent well beyond the league table. Daisy Kilgannon won the women’s 5000m in a personal-best 17:30.77, while Hollie Ancell took the heptathlon with 5,869 points.
Reading also finished the meeting strongly in the relays, winning the women’s 4×100m in 52.84 and the women’s 4×400m in 4:03.55.
Belfast and Filham lead a lively League Three
League Three provided some of the closest and most varied British action of the weekend.
BRC remain sixth in 3.1 on 43 points. Tomasz Rudnicki won the men’s 800m in 2:07.61, Olivia Nankeville took the women’s 200m in 25.72 and the club’s women’s 4×100m relay won in 52.98.
The clearest British title challenge continues in 3.2, where Belfast Blitz and The Titans occupy the top two positions. Belfast won their meeting on Saturday with The Titans second, leaving them first and second overall on 69 and 62 points.
Belfast were particularly formidable across the combined events. Elliott Buchan won the male pentathlon with 3,492 points, Abby Cannon took the female pentathlon with 3,634, Archie Collins won the decathlon with 7,168 and Eva Ormond completed the sweep with 4,835 in the heptathlon.
Gemma McGreavy also gave Belfast victory in the women’s 100m in 12.64.
The Titans struck repeatedly in the relays, winning the women’s 4×100m in 54.61, the men’s 4×400m in 3:53.10 and the women’s 4×400m in 4:13.14. Newcastle Athletic Club, currently 12th in the division, had a notable individual success through Lisa Douglas, winner of the women’s 10km walk in 57:37.36.
League 3.3 could scarcely be tighter at the top. Filham Excelsior lead with 50 points, only one ahead of LC Bisikon, after Filham won their Week Six meeting.
Caledonian may be tenth overall on 39, but they won the other meeting, with South Hams Harriers third there and sixth in the standings on 42. Candas remain 13th.
Filham supplied three PB-winning performances that demanded attention. Carmelo Rosati won the men’s 400m in 51.69, Flavio Nicolle took the 3000m steeplechase in 12:27.90, and Matilda McQuillan won the women’s discus with 49.58m. All three were personal bests.
Caledonian answered with depth. Beth Sherwood won the women’s 10,000m in 37:33.05, and their relay squads took victories in the women’s 4×100m, men’s 4×400m and women’s 4×400m.
There was another British meeting victory in 3.4, where Iron Road Runners beat overall leaders Yellerbellies at the same meeting. Yellerbellies remain first in the division on 63 points, three clear at the top, while Iron Road Runners sit sixth on 43 and Risca Harriers AAC 13th on 17.
Iron Road’s Ashleigh Donald won the women’s 10,000m in 37:01.84 and Jamie McGeechan completed the men’s 50km walk in 4:11:53.43. The club also collected the decathlon through Kai McAuliffe, whose winning total was 8,170 points.
Yellerbellies had their own standout PB when Reyes Berga won the women’s 100m in 12.79, and their relay teams enjoyed a clean sweep of the men’s and women’s 4×100m and 4×400m races at their meeting.
Grimsby keep the pressure on in League Four
Grimsby Harriers continue to carry one of the strongest British challenges in League Four. Their latest meeting victory leaves them third in 4.6 with 57 points, behind Crumpley and Tomtebo IF.
Georgia Hartley won the women’s 400m hurdles in 1:08.58, while Jayden Mortimer took the men’s 110m hurdles in a personal-best 19.41.
DC AC remain sixth in the same division on 52 points and had a notable PB winner of their own, Kimberley Stillie taking the women’s discus with 48.24m. Leon Mann also produced a personal best in winning the men’s 1500m in 4:16.61.
Elsewhere in League Four, the British presence is more scattered. Great Britain sit seventh in 4.5, Kings Park Harriers ninth in 4.7 and Hawarden Rangers AC 15th in 4.8, while Taunton Harriers have so far completed only one league meeting.
Perfect records remain intact in League Five
League Five remains a patchwork of developing clubs and divisions with very different levels of activity, so the leading stories continue to come from those maintaining sustained campaigns.
Kubes, Draco Velox, Carmarthen Harriers, Shawlands and Isca Harriers have each collected the maximum 72 league points from six meetings.
Rhyl Runners remain in charge of 5.4 with 70 points, four ahead of Millbrook AC, while Budd Park Darts lead 5.10 on 70.
Even at this level there were performances capable of standing beside results from higher divisions. Border City Harriers’ Karen Breuer won the women’s 5000m in 17:05.11, while Budd Park Darts’ Shaun Peters won the men’s 400m hurdles in 1:00.88.
Budd Park also had a PB-winning marathon from Elle Ladejo, who took the women’s race in 2:59:32.83.
There was substantial personal-best activity in the combined events too. Sienna Gauld won a heptathlon for Budd Park Darts with a PB of 3,998 points, Amber Murphy won a female pentathlon for Carmarthen Harriers with 3,041, and Isca Harriers’ Riley Spencer won his decathlon with a PB of 4,785.
Those performances provided some of the more encouraging signs from a tier where several clubs are still operating with abbreviated schedules.
Athlete of the Week — Seth Kinsela
Seth Kinsela of Hacksaws is The Daily Pole Vault Athlete of the Week.
Kinsela’s Golden League men’s 20km walk brought together the qualities that separated the strongest candidates this week. He won the event, produced a personal-best 1:38:58.05, and did it on the afternoon Hacksaws secured a much-needed meeting victory.
Seth Kinsela of Hacksaws starting to feel the pace towards the end of his 20k PB.
photographer Willie Focus
It was not an isolated success for his club, but Kinsela’s performance gave the Hacksaws result a particularly strong centrepiece. With several PB-winning event winners in contention across the divisions, the Golden League walker gets the Week Six award.
Week Seven brings the British contenders together
The next Golden League round offers an intriguing British collision. Quemerford Harriers, Weymouth Bay Sharks and Hacksaws will all compete at the same meeting, putting three clubs separated by only six league points directly alongside one another. E-LDN Surge and Kingstonians will meet in the other half of the division.
League Two will bring Heworth Harriers and Leeds United AC together again, while Reading Palm Faces and Pineapple AC are scheduled for the same 2.2 meeting. Bumble Bees AC and Olympians will be together elsewhere in that division.
With two rounds remaining, BA Athletic Club still have the Golden League under firm control, but Saturday’s British performances ensured that Week Six was far from a procession. Hacksaws rediscovered the winning touch, Reading Palm Faces protected their League Two lead, Belfast Blitz and Filham Excelsior remained in front of their League Three divisions, and a succession of personal bests gave the afternoon the sense of a season gathering momentum rather than winding down.
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