Track & Field
As a club, SLH competes regularly in two leagues:-
- Saturdays or Sundays: the Southern League (with separate matches for men, women and young athletes)
- Wednesday evenings: the Rosenheim League (mainly for junior and senior men, but there are some women’s events)
Southern League
This is split into Men, Women, and Young Athletics teams. Currently, the men are in Division 3 (South), and the Women are in Division 2.
Match format
There are 19 events per match. 6 flat races (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m), 3 hurdles (110HH, 400H, 3,000 steeplechase), 2 relays (4×100, 4×400), 4 throws (Hammer, Shot, Javelin and Discus), and 4 jumps (Long, High, Triple Jump and Pole Vault).
Each event has two scoring competitors per team, an ‘A’ string and a ‘B’ string, and match points are awarded by place in string - i.e. 1st place 5 points, 2nd 4 points, etc. The exception are the relays, which are single events, with single scoring. If a competitor fails to complete an event, they get no points for that event. At the end of the match, each team gets league points - 5 points for a win, etc. League points count first - in the event of a tie, cumulative match points then count.
There are currently 15 teams in the men’s division, with each competing in 5 matches (4 against three other teams, 1 match with only two other teams).
Matches are held in May through to August, all on Saturdays with exception of Young athletes who do Sunday matches.
At the end of the season, the top team(s) are promoted, and bottom ones relegated.
Rosenheim League
These are held as a series of six Wednesday evening matches, followed by a final. These have a cut-down schedule with 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500 with the long race being 3,000m. The relay is 4×200. There is a rotation for hurdling events (each match holding one of 400H / 110HH / 2,000 m steeplechase). There are similar rotations for jumps (two of long, high, triple and pole vault) and throws (two of shot, hammer, discus and javelin per match). Only one scorer is allowed per team, but non-scorers are welcome. Some clubs use these matches as track training sessions!
SLH compete in the Eastern Division. Certain events are also open for the women’s Rosenheim competition.
Other competitions
SLH athletes are also involved in other competitions, generally as individuals at a higher level. Participation in the BMC (British Miler’s Club) events and open matches is quite a regular feature of the summer calender.