The track and field season drew to a close with the end of season combined events championships at Bedford International Stadium this weekend.  Rolled into one competition were the South of England, Eastern Counties and Hertfordshire County Championships.

The most eagerly contested was the U15 girls Pentathlon with a huge 38 entries.  Jodie Williams, Finola Frederick and Frances Slater contested this category for Herts Phoenix AC , making their debuts at the event.

Jodie, who had concentrated on her sprinting all summer, was consistency itself with  a fine long jump of 5.21m, a good hurdles in 12.1s, 6.82m in the shot putt, a personal best 1.51 in the high jump and an excellent 2:34.4s in the 800m returning her a very good score of 2875 points.  This gave her the gold medals in the Eastern Counties and Hertfordshire County championships and even the silver medal in the South of England – a fantastic debut at the event.  Taking the bronze medal in the Herts County Championships was Finola Frederick who scored a total of 2290 points and one place behind her in 4th was Frances Slater with 2257 points.  The bronze medal was a race between these two in the final event, the 800m, but Frances just couldn’t make up the required points despite running a very strong 800m in 2:34.86s.

In the U17 women’s heptathlon Millie Phelan took a fine gold medal in the Eastern Counties Championship and the Hertfordshire County Championships and the silver in the South of England competition.  She returned a total of 4163 points which is a personal best for her by over 400 points.  This included a fantastic personal best 1.62m in the high jump, another PB with a shot of 8.91m and a superb 800m of 2.29.3. Two more Herts Phoenix athletes and debutants at the event were 300m Hurdles runners Hannah Lloyd and Rebecca Hore, both of whom competed at the English Schools track and Field championships earlier this year.

Hannah returned a points score of 3445 which included the fastest 200m of the day (26.8s) and a strong 800m, shot and high jump to give her the bronze medal in both the Eastern Counties and Hertfordshire County Championship events.  One place behind her with 4th in both events was Rebecca who totalled 3353 points also running strong 200m and 800m races.

In the senior competition Claire Jaggard produced a fine performance despite not having competed very frequently this summer.  She returned a points score of 3973 which was sufficient to win her the Hertfordshire County Championship Gold along with two silver medals in the South of England and Eastern Counties championships.  Her scores were 15.9s (hurdles), 1.51m (high jump), 8.47m (shot put), 27.08s (200m), 5.09m (long jump), 23.10m (javelin) and 2.42.21s (800).

These results show the emphasis that the club has placed on combined events and the opportunity it gives athletes to try different events in a competition atmosphere.  All these athletes will now have a short break before starting their winter training and preparing for 2009.

 

Jon Humphries