There were some heroic performances by many of the Nene Valley Harriers athletes who made the long trip down to Colchester for the third meeting of the Southern Athletics League.
The most unselfish act of the day award went to Alice Dolan, who stepped up to the plate to take on the 100m hurdles (second in 20.3secs), the 400m hurdles (78.2secs) and the daunting task of the 1,500m steeplechase (6.32.1mins) due to injuries befalling other athletes – meaning she missed competing in her own 800m event.
Dolan, who has only recently turned 17, has a useful personal best time of 2.29.76mins, so it will be good if she gets the chance to attack that time at the next meeting at Norwich next month.
She was joined by Ruth Jones in the steeplechase, who was tackling the event for the first time after just half an hour’s training on the barriers two days before the race.
Jones crossed the line third in the A string competition in a time of 6.07.8mins.
That was two hours after her below-par performance in the 3k, where she ran 11.16.1mins to finish behind clubmates Cat Foley (10.38.3mins) and Emma Penniston – who clocked a huge PB of 11.13.8mins.
Penniston went on to post another massive best time in the 1,500m (5.11.4mins), proving her training under coach Dave Clay is coming to fruition.
Another athlete to perform well in a number of events was under-20 Rosie Jacobs, who placed second in the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles in 18.4secs and 72.9secs respectively.
She also tackled the 400m flat (66.5secs) and the high jump (1.45m) before forming part of the 400m relay team at the end of the day.
Sean Reidy put in a typically gutsy effort when he won the 400m hurdles in 56.2secs before placing second in the 400m in 51.4secs.
He then jumped 1.50m in the high jump and finished second in the B string 110m hurdles in 16.4secs, just behind Max Everest, who was second in the A competition with 15.4secs.
Reidy’s win in the 400m hurdles also won him the man-of-the-match award for that event.
Multi-eventers Adam Fidgett and David Bush put their all into their many events, with Fidgett tackling the 2,000m steeplechase in 9.00.2mins, the pole vault with a jump of 3m, the long jump with 5.22m, the shot put with a throw of 10.48m and the discus with a fine 28.89m.
Staying with the throws, there were athletes from opposite ends of the age spectrum competing in the hammer.
Young 17-year-old Isaac Huskisson placed an excellent second in the A event with a new PB of 44.19m, while 62-year-old club coach Tim Needham also took second in the B competition with a solid 23.82m throw.
Elsewhere, Andrea Jenkins excelled again, winning the hammer and discus with throws of 51.52m and 40.95 respectively, before finishing second in the shot put with 10.17m.
The final stand-out performance of the day was completed by James MacDonald, who heroically ran the 1,500m (5.01.9mins) less than an hour after running the 5,000m in intense heat, placing third in 17.44.8mins.
The Harriers’ next SAL match takes place at Norwich on July 12 – and after only managing a third place overall at Colchester, the club will need a full turnout from its many athletes to secure a decent table position going into the final fixture in August.
