Peterborough and Nene Valley Athletics Club
2015
A medal haul for NVH at the regional champs. Here's Ken's report.

Eastern Counties

27/06/2015
A medal haul for NVH at the regional champs. Here's Ken's report.

The Eastern Counties Track and Field Championships took place at Cambridge on Saturday 27 June 2015 and it gave a number of the clubs English School qualifying athletes the opportunity to warm up for that event in a fortnights time.

There were a number of regional titles and several other medals taken on the day. Although there was not a large turnout form Nene Valley, the club did take titles and other medals. David Bush, Georgie Ivens and being double Regional Champions.

David Bush ran a seasons best 57.41s in the men's 400m hurdles to win the Eastern Counties title and then followed this up with a javelin regional title. Although this started a bit lethargic from the summer heat, he came through in the last two rounds to throw 41.83 and finish with another gold medal.

Georgie Ivens still on a comeback after a year out injured won regional titles at both the 400m and the 200m for the senior ladies. Her 58.58s 400m time demonstrated how far she has come back in little time as her target had been to beat the 60 second mark. She was able to dominate the 200m coming off the bend in the lead and managing to hold off an Ipswich Harrier as she tired in the final stretch. Although the time of 26.54s is along way from her best this is another good marker as to her recovery.

Jasmine Allen who is competing in the English Schools Championships for the first time in a fortnight entered the under 15 girls long jump determined to prove that the 5.20 she had jumped a couple of weeks previously was no fluke. She only relaxed and took the pressure off herself towards the end of the competition. She had been leading at the split with a jump of 4.78 only to see it marginally taken away from her in the fourth round. The relaxed approach and jumps for the final two rounds saw her clear 5.12m and 5.09m to not only take the title but to assure her as much as anyone else that it had not been a fluke previously.

She took the same attitude into a quality 200m competition running a 26.6s heat whilst easing off over the second half of the race. The final was a treat for sprinting. Despite being unable to beat the eventual winner she ran a personal best time of 26.29 just missing out on the club record 26.2 set by Lily Hughes now one of the clubs foremost under 20 athletes.

Megan Ellison warmed up for the English Schools Championships recording a personal best time of 2:15.93 in the under 15 girls 800m to take the area title. She ran a strong race and is getting closer to the club record she would like to attain.

Lydia Church another athlete who will be at the English Schools competed in the throws events and succeeded in winning medals for the hammer and discus. Her performances of 40.19 and 22.63 were not at the same level that she has recorded recently but her mind is clearly in two weeks time and the throws she recorded have set her up well for those Championships which is the objective.

Issac Huskission, another English Schools Championships qualifier, competed in the under 20 mens hammer and discus with a championship title int he hammer. these performances also suggest that his preparation for the schools is well on target.

Other competitors included Amber Park who was targeting a time of under 5 minutes in the under 15 girls 1,500m. She had a race plan to go out hard and try to hang on as she tends to be unable to increase pace significantly until the sprint finish. Although the race plan was superseded by the field which went out hard as a whole she was able to hang on close enough to the main pack for a personal best time of 4:59.48 In the same race Josephine Fortune was left between groups and ran a tough race effectively on her own to finish 7th.

The under 13 girls were represented by Jose Downer and Dior Harrison. Jose recorded a personal best long jump of 4.59m to take the bronze medal and only missed out at the end of the 100m final after looking across on the line. her 200m was even closer to a medal finishing marginally in fourth place. Team and training mate, Dior Harrison joined her in the long jump and 100m finishing 6th and 8th respectively with a similar position for her over the 70m hurdles.

Senior men
Hammer 5th Sam Wilson 41.58
Javelin 1st David Bush 41.83
400m hurdles 1st David Bush 57.41

Senior ladies
400m 1st Georgie Ivens 58.58
200m 1st Georgie Ivens 26.54

Under 13 girls
100m 6th Jose Downer 13.87
100m 8th Dior Harrison 14.63
200m 4th Jose Downer 29.33
70m hurdles 8th Dior Harrison 15.95
Long jump 3rd Jose Downer 4.59
Long jump 6th Dior Harrison 3.92

Under 15 girls
1500m 6th Amber Park 4:59.48
1500m 7th Josephine Fortune 5:22.59
200m 2nd Jasmine Allen 26.29
Long jump 1st Jasmine Allen 5.12

Under 17 ladies
800m 1st Megan Ellison 2:15.93
Discus 2nd Lydia Church 22.63
Hammer 3rd Lydia Church 40.19
Pole vault 3rd Rosie fresen 2.80
Shot 1st Lydia Church 10.87

Under 20 men
Discus 3rd Issac Huskisson 30.92
Hammer 1st Issac Huskisson 50.78