The first match of the three match UKWL series took place last weekend at a blustery Copthall stadium, Hendon with Herts Phoenix taking on Harrow, Wigan, Havering and Mayesbrook, City of Portsmouth, Glasgow, Wakefield and Meadway and Maidstone ACs.  With a team made up of many U20 athletes they performed well against some strong senior competitors from their rival clubs.

In the sprints Abbie Griffiths took 5th place in both 100 and 200mrecording a personal best in the 200m of 26.25s.  She was supported by Lauren Thompson in the B string 100m who came 4th and Hannah Lloyd in the 200m who recorded 26.75s a season’s best.  Lauren also took 5th in the long jump in her first competition for some time.

In the 400m Deborah Willis ran a strong race in difficult conditions to take 2nd in the A string with 57.99s, just off her personal best and Alex Hill took 3rd in the B string event with a season’s best of 59.13s.

The 800m saw Sian Harry take 3rd place in a season’s best performance of 2.15.4s and Sian then went on to take 4th in the 1500m in a personal best time of 5.36.54s to complete a hard day at the office.

100m hurdler Claire Humphries was racing for the first time in several weeks and recorded a wind assisted season’s best of 14.39s in taking second behind U20 national indoor champion Marily Nwawulor of Harrow in a good tight race.  
Emily Stevens won the B string in fine style in a season’s best of 14.61s to add to her victory in the A string 400mHurdles earlier in the day in 62.29s.  Hannah Lloyd took 2nd in the B string in that event with 66.56s to show her form is returning.

In the field Gemma Armorgie took 4th with 1.60m in the high jump and Eloise meakins 2nd in the Javelin with yet another throw over 40m – 42.08m.
In the triple jump Polly Woods took a good 4th place with a jump of 10.44m and elsewhere the ladies competed in several unfamiliar events in order to gain good points for the team, particularly Claire Marsh who scored points in the Discus, Hammer and Javelin.

The relay teams recorded 4th in the 4x100m and a convincing victory in the 4x400m to round off their day.

The overall result was as follows

Harrow                                  204
Wigan                                    178
Havering & mayesbrook        164
City of Portsmouth                 161.5
Glasgow                                154
Herts Phoenix                        126.5
Wakefield                                90
Meadway and Maidstone       56

 

Jon Humphries