There were some fantastic performances once again this past weekend both at track & field and at multi-terrain at local, regional and national level competition.

The 3 Harriers:Charlie, Oliver & Sam - 1500m, Somerset Schools 

Club members won both individual and team prizes at the local Quantock Beast multi-terrain race; whilst others bolstered the joint Yeovil and Wells track and field team to win the South west League Division One match at Exeter arena; and a number of the senior men were competing in the British Athletics League fixture hosted at Yeovil. Meanwhile Sam Bedford had the honour of captaining the Somerset Inter-boys team at the prestigious English Schools Championships at Gateshead.

On the Friday, Sam qualified through the first heat of the 800m race with a solid 3^rd place in a slow race but was then knocked out in the semi final  with a 6^th place finish. Overall he can be pleased with his season – breaking two county records, qualifying for the nationals and hitting his target PB for the 800m with his 1.53 of last month at the Somerset Schools. He’s already recognised what he needs to do for next year: “I’m going to have to up my training next year significantly in order to remain competitive”.  Sam is a regular at the Club’s Tuesday training sessions. 

Also on the national level, the Yeovil & Wells team finished 6^th of 8 teams on Saturday at the British League Div 3 Match. With the Kingston AC & Glasgow AC clubs slogging it out at the top of this League for the second fixture on the trot it was left to see where the team would finish in the also-rans. Team manager Bruce Pointer was ultimately satisfied with the 6^th place finish. Yeovil are now 5^th overall after 2 fixtures with 2 to go.

A number of Somerset athletes were unavailable on Saturday due to illness or holiday commitments. From Tuesday’s endurance group there was plucky effort from 3000m runners Adrian Marriott, 8.36 for 5^th in the A string and Jon James less than a stride behind with the same clocking for 2^nd in the B string. Also in the 3000m steeplechase Alex Wiltshire 11.39 for the A string and Pete Darton 12.02 for B string picked up valuable points.

Then on the Sunday at the South West League Division One match at Exeter the team was triumphant at the fixture and now stand in 2^nd place behind a strong Cornwall AC team after 3 matches with one fixture to go. For the Harrier trained athletes there were some great performances. U17 woman Emily Smith was 1^st in the high jump with 1.35m and 2nd in the 80m Hurdles in 16.0. Abigail Gibbons was 4^th

in the 1500m in 5.31 and then 4^th with 1.20m in the high jump, but 1^st for the B string. Abi was triumphant recently at the SW regional level for the Cadets at two track distances - 400m & 800m - and will compete in the national Cadets championship soon. Good Luck. 

For the boys, the pick of the efforts was probably by u17 athlete Sam Harding who has been getting faster and stronger week by week. Here he achieved a personal best at the 1500m in 4.39, well inside his old mark, and also set new marks for both the 200m and 400m to gain a great haul of points for the team. For the u13 boys Oliver Dickinson was 3^rd in the 1500m in 5.05 and then guested in shot putt with 5.31m.Luke Prior was 6^th (1^st B string) in the 1500m in 4.58, just outside of his personal best. New senior member Steve March also ran a useful 4.30 for 1500m for the senior men.

Also on the Sunday, the Club had half a dozen runners at the tough Quantock Beast race over a 5.7m multi-terrain course that explored some of the fantastic local scenery. In a field of approximately 120 runners Club members carried off both the men’s and women’s individual prizes when Tim Hawkins and Jenny Moore won the titles.  The Wells Harriers women’s team of Jenny, Sam Baker & Tracey Halliday secured 1^st, 4^th & 5^th places to win the overall women’s team prize.