KENT AC picked up where they left off at the end of last year's record-breaking season in track and field.

Hosting a combined meeting at the Ladywell Arena of Divisions 1 and 4 of the Southern League, they could not have made a better start.

Kent AC's A-team won the Division 1 match by 27 points, while the B-team won the Division 4 fixture almost as easily.

Howard Frost, the club's fast-improving decathlete, broke his own club record in the 400 metres hurdles by an astonishing 1.3 seconds when clocking 53.7sec.

Among the six events in which he competed were the two relays where another club record fell to the 4x400-metre squad,

reducing the previous time by an amazing 5.3seconds to 3m 23.4sec.

This featured James Opio who, having won his individual one-lap race in 54.7sec, ran a breathtaking 51 seconds as the anchorman despite starting 25 metres behind the lead runner and finishing ahead by 20 metres!

Among the many debutantes were two javelin throwers Kayoke Disu and Michael Ishiguzo who emulated their club-mates in the A- team by taking first place in both A and B- strings.

Michael, as a one-legged athlete throwing off a standing position, led his Division 4 event for three rounds and was finally beaten by Kayoke to settle the question of who threw for which string.

Michael is frequently seen in his Nigerian strip, which he earned while competing for them in the Sydney Paralympics where he reached the final of the javelin.

Ed Cornwell make his usual contribution in several events, by far the best of which was his 6.44m in the long jump which earned him not only the acclamation of his team- mates, but the £20 rashly bet by his doubting team manager!