Combined - Niamh goes 4th as records fall
The previous weekend (21st/22nd) saw 3 Harriers (Niamh Bailey, SG Heptathlon Ella Palmer JG Pentathlon & Bradley Fox SB Decathlon) competing at the English Schools Combined Events National Final in Birmingham. With up to 40 qualifying in each age group nationally the harriers were looking for some good performances to place well overall.
Niamh and Bradley both started on Saturday with both performing well. Some highlights were Niamh's 200 posting a good time of 25.52 and Bradley posting PBs in the Shot (11.52) and High Jump (1.76). After Day 1 both harriers were placed well with Niamh in 4th and Bradley in 14th.
Bradley started off the second day with a PB in the 110m Hurdles lowering his Club Record to 16.21 winning his heat. He also went to next event to set a discus PB(28.21)after 2 not throws. Niamh started the second day with a strong performance in the Long Jump (5.21m) securing her a points score of over 600 points. The Sunday also saw the start for Ella. She started well in the hurdles (12.79) to put her 27th after one event. She went on to have a steady set of performances with the highlight being a new PB in the Long Jump of 4.67m this put her in 33rd going to the last event.
In the final events of the day it dreaded 800s and 1500s. Ella ran a blistering race with the time being one of the fastest of the weekend to move her up to 25th overall. Bradley ran his 1500m in the first heat of the 1500m eventually lumbering round in 5:33 to finish 19th overall. Finally it was down to Niamh who was lying in 6th to run a tactical race to try and move up the places. She ran her heart out to finish 4th again for the second consecutive year capping off a good year for her.
Final Positions and Point Scores
Niamh - 4th 4368 PB & Club Record
Bradley - 19th 4861 PB & Club Record
Ella - 25th 2463 PB