Second place for Watford Harriers (From Watford Observer)

Watford Harriers finish second in final athletics fixture of season

9:46am Thursday 6th September 2012 in Sport

Watford Harriers finished second behind champions Colchester Harriers at Bury St Edmunds in their final Southern Athletics League fixture of the season.

The best performance of the day came from Ben Rochford who comfortably won the 1500m and gained personal bests in the 400m and long jump, before running a superb leg of the 4 x 400m relay to anchor the team to victory.

Ollie Smith on his first run for the team this year did well to win the ‘B’ string 400m and had good runs in both the sprints and both relays.

Corey Keane won the ‘B’ string 1500m, came second in the 800m and was also a member of the 4 x 400m relay team that posted the best time by the club for several years.

The fourth member of the winning relay team was Harvey O’Brart, who also had good runs in his specialist event, the 800m and as a reserve in the 200m.

Mark Gurney gained a PB in the shot putt, but carrying an injury he was a little below his best in the javelin, as was fellow thrower Ray McKenna, whose tendonitis problem was so severe that he probably shouldn’t have been throwing.

Nick Harris put in his normal reliable shift, coming second in both the 110m and 400m hurdles as well as the steeplechase.

Duncan Martin came second in the ‘B’ string steeplechase having already ran the 5000m where he was joined by Mikk Bradley, just one week after gaining a silver medal in the European Masters Marathon in Germany.

Liam Sulaman had a busy afternoon covering all three jumping events with some success.

The best performance on the women’s side of the team came from Liza Croft, who won the ‘B’ string 1500m, obtained a PB when coming second in the steeplechase and gained valuable points in several other events.

Rachel Bentley, on her first outing for the team this season, had very good runs in both the hurdles races and the 200m and also scored well in the long jump and javelin as well as running in both relay teams.

Paige Smith had good runs in both the sprints, gaining a season's best performance in the 100m. She also came second in the ‘B’ string long jump.
Natalie Wickings had good runs in the 1500m and long relay but was a little below her best in the 400m.

Angela Halford made her normal significant contribution, competing in no less than seven individual events and the long relay, scoring a significant number of points.

Team manager Christine Dearman gained PBs in the triple jump, shot and discus, with daughter Chloe coming second in the 3000m and also gaining a PB in the hammer.