Early Report:

Harriers get the track and field season off to a great start - Report from the South West Athletics League match at Yeovil on April 20^th 2008

Team managers are waiting to hear formal confirmation that the combined Yeovil and Wells team won the initial round of the South West Athletics League Division One on Sunday. The match, held at Yeovil, saw a good turn out of athletes at this curtain raiser to the season. The Combined team managed to field a strong squad of athletes drawn from both the Yeovil Olympiads and the Wells Harriers and they dominated proceedings from the start against the other 7 Clubs from across the region.

The Harriers, as usual, provided a large number of athletes in the middle distance events across all age groups but also again had a number of juniors out competing in the sprints, jumps and the throws. Some of the juniors were making their debut at League track and field competition and did not let the team down.

Vera Assis won the u’13 girls B race 800m with her nippy 2.39.7, and also competed well at the long jump, sprints, and the 4 by 100m relay. In the same age group Emily Smith did a slightly different combination recording a personal best of 1.25m in the High jump, 3.64m in the long jump, and a 2.47.9 for 4^th place in the A race 800m before also helping the relay team to accumulate some good points. Abigail Gibbons long jumped out to over 3.20m in her first ever competitive event and is looking forward to more competition opportunities in this her first season at track and field.

For the u’13 boys, Curtis Stevens was the pick of the Harriers with an excellent 4.57.8 to win the 1500m which when ratified will put him at the top of the south west power of ten rankings for 2008 and in the top 5 or so nationally. Oliver Fox, a year younger, also ran a great controlled 1500m in 5.12. Curtis was 2^nd in the high jump with 1.25m, whilst Oliver went out to a competitive 3.70m in the long jump before dashing off to anchor home the winning 4 by 100m relay team. Jordan Boobyer made his debut with an excellent 2^nd place in the shot behind his team mate Matthew Cole, with Jordan putting out to 6.75m. Jack Hughes made his debut for the team in the long jump with 3.24m just hours after scoring 2 goals in his football match.

Further up the age groups for the girls, u’15 Kayley Kennedy ran an excellent 2.39.6 from the front in her 800m race, whilst u’17 Natalie Parker had a busy day, recording 9.16m in the triple jump before finishing 3^rd in the 300m Hurdles event in 51.6. In the same age group Leighanna Chappell was 4^th in the 800m with 2.31.7. For the u’15 boys, Reuben Whitcombe paced his 1500m race well to finish with 5.16.5.

For the seniors, one of the closest races of the day was the men’s 1500m where Sam Weale for the Yeovil and Wells team just held off the sprint finish of Jack Bancroft, here competing for Exeter. Jack is more usually seen at the team road-relays and at cross country as a team-mate of Sam’s for the Harriers. We wish Sam well in his attempt to gain selection for the GB Modern Pentathlon team where he is currently on the edge of selection for Beijing. Evergreen Dickie Wythe, V50, again showed his dedication and commitment to the sport to run away with the 3000m Steeplechase. We now await final confirmation of team positions and some of the other individual performances where times and distances hadn’t been reported at the time of writing this report.

See the Rogues Gallery for junior photos from this event.

Harriers are reminded that the closing date for the County Track and Field championships is coming up on May 1^st. All enquiries to Paul Chadwick on Monday evening training (or 01749 812420) and Clive Thomas at Tuesday evening training.