Wells team top at County Track & field Championships

25 members have a great set of results

Alf Tupper – ‘Tough of the track’ - seen racing!

The combined Yeovil and Wells team won the overall team rankings at the County Track and Field Championships, winning 86 medals in total, 36 of the gold variety. Best individual performances by Wells Harriers came from u13 Oliver Fox in the 1500m, u15 Emily Smith at the same distance, and also by Laura Parker for the u20 women at 800m. 2^nd and 3^rd in the medals table were Millfield Schools and Kings School, Taunton. There were also some great performances by the seniors, including a rare outing by the ‘Tough of the track’

U’20 Laura Parker set a new championships best performance in the 800m with her time of 2.14.63. This followed up her winning the silver medal at the British Universities Championships at the 2000m steeplechase just the weekend before. Hail the Champion!

For the u13s Katy Chinnock & Lydia Guest made their debut at these championships and they did not disappoint. Katy had an excellent long jump of 3.37m and 100m time of 16.70. Lydia jumped 3.49m, and then ran well over the 70m hurdles with 15.99. Abigail Gibbons arrived just in time for the long jump but showed her composure by jumping out to 3.67m which was good for 4^th place, just outside of the medals. Abigail went on to gain silver at the 1500m race with her 5.43.30 being just outside of her best. Abi was just behind Yeovil & Wells team-mate Jemma Jones.

Oliver Fox gold medalled in the u13boys 1500m race with his pb of 4.54. In the same race Charlie Martin won the bronze with his time of 5.05, and Luke Prior was 4^th with 5.11. Danny Kennedy ran a new best of 5.41 which given that he is still 10 is a fantastic time. Charlie also found time to finish 4^th in the shot put with 4.74m

Roo Black was 2^nd in the u15 girl’s discus with 21.81m and 2^nd on countback for the High jump with 1.50m. Jordan Boobyer was 6^th at discus with 21.27m and 7^th at javelin with 23.43m. Henry Brown was 6^th in the final of the 100m sprints with a time of 12.70 a shade down on his qualifying time earlier in the day which was 12.52. Josephine Douglas ran a good 14.82 for the 100m. Kayley Kennedy finished 4^th in the 1500m race with her 5.23 clocking. Eleanor Kirwan ran a solid 5.41 in the same race and is at the younger end of this age group, as are most of the Harriers in this age group.

For the u17 men Alex Wiltshire doubled up with the 800m and 1500m and picked up bronze medals for both with 2.07 and 4.33 timings. In the same race but at the younger end of the age group, Reuben Whitcombe ran well in the 1500m for 5^th place in a time of 5.03. Alex adds these 2 medals to the County silver medal he picked up last month in the steeplechase.

Katerina Prior took gold in the 3000m race for the senior women with her time of 11.49. Husband Simon Prior was celebrating his 40^th birthday and new veteran status with a bronze medal for the same distance with 10.58. He sported his ‘tough of the track’ T-shirt to commemorate the day, and probably went on to have fish & chips immediately after the race before running home past the gas works. Also in the 3000m race Dickie Wythe gold medalled with his 10.02 whilst Pete Darton was 2^nd with 10.04.33.

In the men’s 1500m race Andrew Deamer ran a swift 4.41 for 3^rd place with Dickie Wythe in 4^th with 4.48 and Pete Darton 4.51.74. Dave Stanfield doubled up and won the senior men’s 800m with 2.18 before finishing 6^th in the 1500m with his 5.07 clocking.

Other club members competing for their schools include Emily Smith who ran away with the u13 girls 1500m race with her time of 5.08, and also high jumped 1.25m and ran 15.14 for the 75m hurdles. School and team-mate Johnny Forsey also competed well with timings of 13.95 and 29.35 for the 100m & 200m sprint double.

WELL DONE ALL!

Meanwhile at the Yeovilton 5km race on Wednesday last there were 13 Harriers out contesting the main distance with another couple in the accompanying junior 1 mile race. First home over 5km was Les Lock with an 18.10 clocking, whilst first woman home was Nicky Morgan with her 19.10. Juniors Reuben Whitcombe and Callum Moir both ran well in the main race, whilst 10 year old Jack Hale won the first of the 1 mile races on grass organised by Harriers with local parents.

Harriers are reminded that the Wells Fun Run is this coming Saturday and if you aren’t competing you can offer to help on the day by contacting Andrew Deamer. There is already a bumper entry for all of the races over distances that suit juniors through to seniors. See Harrier website for full details. Juniors competing in the South West League One fixture at Exeter on the 24^th should confirm their place in the team with team managers.