Nene Valley Harriers athletes returned home from the Northern Championships in Manchester with an impressive haul of medals.
There were five medals won, with silvers for Kane Wright in the under-20 men’s 100m, Lily Hughes (under-20 women’s 100m), Rebecca Hall (senior women’s shot put) and Robbie Shaw (under-20 men’s shot put) all managing to finish in second place.
There was also a bronze for Maria Hollingsworth in the under-20 women’s 100m hurdles.
Wright’s 100m race was very closely fought, with the athletes in first, second and third place were all given a time of 10.77secs. It went to a photo finish, leaving Wright with the silver medal.
Even more remarkable was the fact that Kane had also been given the same time (10.92secs) as the bronze medallist in their heat. Again, they were only split by the photo.
Wright is having a great season, having also won a silver in the Northern Athletics Indoor Championships. He will take part in the under-20 National Championships at the weekend.
Hughes’ silver medal was earned with a personal best (PB) and new club record time of 11.97secs at last dipping below the 12.0s markers having ran that three times recently.
However, she did feel there were areas that could clearly be improved upon in her performance and is looking forward to doing so at the forthcoming English Schools Championship in July.
Hall, meanwhile, gained a season’s best in the senior women’s shot put with her silver medal throw of 12.50m.
Shaw, one of her training partners, also recorded a season’s best throw with 14.95m as he also won the silver medal.
He’s another athlete hitting top form coming into the under-20 championships.
Hollingsworth was very pleased with her third place in 100m hurdles – and again, her time of 14.74secs earned her a PB and set a new club record.
Having moved to Manchester for university at the beginning of the year, she has needed time to settle into her demanding course but managed to set up some training sessions for herself
around studies.
Elsewhere, Max Butler also competed at the championship in the under-20 men’s 1,500m and put in a spirited performance against a strong field.
He finished in a creditable sixth place with a time of 4.18.52mins.
- In the south, the Southern Counties Championships took place over the weekend at Lea Valley – and it was to many athletes relief that the warm-up area was indoors with the wet day experienced on Saturday.
Despite the rain, team-mates Ben Jones and Sean Reidy competed against each other in the men’s 400m hurdles.
Jones qualified for the final in second place (54.74secs) while Reidy just missed out in fourth with a season’s best time of 54.94secs.
Unfortunately, trainee doctor Jones did not run in Sunday’s final.
Elsewhere, Lloyd Kempson continued his fine form by qualifying for the final of the men’s 1,500m with a time of 4.03.30mins.
He managed to achieve ninth in the final on Sunday with a slightly slower time of 4.04.71mins in a closely fought contest.
Issac Huskisson was competing in the under-20 men’s hammer and threw the ball and chain 49.68m to attain a sixth place finish.
At the same time, Joseph Turner was competing in the men’s steeplechase over 3,000m and finished in a solid seventh with a time of 10.10.68mins.
Nene Valley’s Ken Maggs said: “Well done to all competing in those regional championships and best of luck to those in the up and coming under-20 and under-23 championships at Bedford.”
