The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
By Barry Warne
Nene Valley Harriers delivered an emphatic win in their East Anglia League fixture at King’s Lynn last Sunday.
The senior teams were cobbled together, with a number of club coaches making up the numbers in the sprint relays and several youngsters were making their club debuts.
South Holland star Donovan Capes was on stellar form, setting a new record in the under-15 boys shot with a terrific throw of 15.09m.
Capes, who broke Martin Tinkler’s 14-year-old record, now holds the number one spot in the UK as a result.
Capes, the grandson of legendary South Holland thrower Geoff, also threw the discus 35.27m to take top spot, a feat matched by Jack Griffin (32.1m) in the ‘B’ event.
The under-17 boys won virtually everything with Lewis King, Joseph Purbrick, Samuel Staines and Sam Oakley all in good form.
Will Kong clocked 51.5m to win the 400m, while George Harrison enjoyed a 100 per cent record in the shot, hammer and discus.
The men’s senior team were indebted to Simon Achurch and Dave Bush, who scored heavily in the throws.
James Marsh pulled off a sprint double winning the 100m in a time of 11.4secs and the 200m with a new personal best (PB) of 23.1secs.
Tomi Ogunyoye won the long jump with a distance of 6.34m, along with the high jump and B 200m, while Joseph Prince placed first in the 400m.
Throwers Alex Stubley and Hazel Gering performed well for the senior ladies’ section, as did middle distance runner Nicky Morgan – who was first in both the 1,500m and B 400m. Hannah Knight took the 800m honours.
Isla Fullock-Holmes won the under-13 800m in 2.37.9mins and the under-15 girls’ match saw fine performances from Evie Blow, Alexa Boole, Lottie Hemmings and Aoife Glaswell.
There were firsts on the track for under-17s Keira Gilman, Katie Calcutt, Ellie Rainbow and Molly Peel. Peel won the 800m in 2.23.3mins.
Elizabeth Pusey was first in the hammer with a 34.49m throw, while Elizabeth Moorhouse won both the shot and discus.
Under-13s Felix Bowling and Riley Vines won the A and B high jump, while under-15s Theo Briston and Seth Carew did the same in the 300m. Briston won his race in a time of 41.1secs, while Carew clocked 42.6secs.
Kai Chilvers was first in the under 15 B 800m, too.
- Spalding’s Will Hughes bowed out in the semi-final of the 200m at the England Athletics under 20 and under 23 Championship staged at Bedford.
Nene Valley Harrier Hughes ran a season’s best 21.84secs in his heat before clocking 22.26secs in his semi final.
Three Nene Valley middle distance athletes went out in the heats, with Archie Rainbow running a time of 1.57.93mins in the under-20 800m.
Aaron Hunt clocked 4.05.8mins in the under-20s 1,500m, while Alex Hampson was disappointed with his time of 4.08.99mins in the under-23 race.
Former Nene Valley star James McCrae, now competing for Sheffield outfit Hallamshire AC, ran 3.52.92mins in his under-23 1,500m heat, qualifying as a fastest loser.
McCrae then finished tenth in the final in a time of 3.55.20mins.
- A quartet of Nene Valley Harriers’ girls competed in the East Anglian Schools Combined Events Championships held in Chelmsford at the weekend.
Under-17 Fran Fenwick took sixth place with 3,765 points, while Holly Aslin gained 3,132 points to finish 13th.
Grace Tidman was 15th with a 3,050 points tally, with under-15 Katie Marsh placing 16th on 2,133 points – collecting personal bests in both the high jump and 800m.
