21.01.2008 19:57

Fourth title in a row

www.fcbarcelona.cat

Both Barça’s men’s and women’s athletics teams won the indoor Catalonian Championships held this week in Vilafranca del Penedés.

It was the fourth year in a row that Barça were proclaimed the best athletics club in Catalonia. “Our evaluation has been sensational, as well as winning the championship, we got some good results, and some records, and all of that came competing with home-bred athletes" said Vicente Egido, the manager of the FC Barcelona athletics section.

It was the first time Barça had appeared in this championship with an entirely Catalan team, and they did not disappoint as they conquered what was the twelfth edition of this championship.

Unrivalled

In the men’s event, Barça were far and away the strongest side. They collected 93 points while second placed ISS Hospitalet were way behind on 74.5, and Medilast Sport Lleida, took bronze with 68.5.

Suffering to the end

But the ladies didn’t secure the title until the very last event, and were a point behind AA Catalunya going into the 4x200 relay. Barça won that event and the leaders until then only managed third so the championship was sealed by just a single point. They took gold with 81 points, while AA Catalunya were left on 80, and ISS Hospitalet eventually ended the event on 71 points and third.

Good classification and good results

Apart from the team’s success, there were also some excellent individual displays. In the shot putt, Irache Quintanal equalled his own championship record with 16.02m. In the 60m sprint Alvaro Ajarrilla recorded 6''95. In the 200m Marc Orozco ended with 22''12. Albert Vélez was also shining and his 5.20m that equalled the championship record. Also impressive was the 1'28''62 recorded by Barça’s men's 4x200 relay team.

Ready for the next step

These championships have helped the Barça athletes prepare for next weekend’s competitions. The Barça runners are off to Valencia for the Copa de la Reina, which Vicente Egido has said “will be quite difficult, last year we won but this year some of the teams will be using foreign athletes and that will make things harder”.