The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Nene Valley Harriers pulled off an exciting victory in their Southern League Division One fixture at Bedford last Sunday.
Leading after the opening race – the 400m hurdles, in which Sean Reidy and captain Dave Bush gave the Harriers maximum points – the 2015 league champions maintained a narrow lead all afternoon.
And, just as the lead looked to be coming under threat, Martin Tinkler and Simon Achurch picked up maximum points in the days final event, the discus, to secure a famous win.
Nene Valley pulled off plenty of wins, but the highlight of the afternoon was 16-year-old Aaron Hunt’s second-placed run in the 1,500m.
Hunt took the race to a pair of experienced runners from Bedford and County AC and, despite being passed on the final lap, he held on to finish second in a time of 4.04.9mins, over two seconds inside the English Schools Championships qualifying standard.
Young athletes are establishing themselves in the Nene Valley senior ranks thick and fast. Under-23 Sean Gamory comfortably won the 400m with a 50.5secs clocking, while Alex Hampson – from the same age group – was first in the 800m in a time of 1.58.2mins.
Bush then picked up his second win of the day in the B 110m hurdles.
As is often the case, Nene Valley dominated the mens’ throws with Tinkler winning the shot with a putt of 14.32m, along with the discus and B hammer.
Achurch won the B discus and hammer too, while Ben Stephens threw 13.42m to win the B shot.
The ladies’ also put in a fine performance, picking up win after win on the track.
Claire Smith was first in the B 200m, while Georgie Ivens won the 400m in 59.00secs.
Teenager Megan Ellison tore the field apart as she won the 800m in 2.16.1mins, with another youngster, Amber Park, coming in as runner-up in the B race.
Emma Maltby and Rosie Jacobs earned Nene Valley maximum points in the 1,500m, while track specialist Nicky Morgan won the B 5,000m.
Away from the track, Bethany Denial achieved a B long and triple jump double, while shot putters Becki Hall and Priscilla Dadzie earned maximum shot putt points.
