A double record breaking performance by Yannick Phippen was the highlight for Kettering Town Harriers in the first match of this season’s Midland Senior Track and Field League Division Three.
Benefitting from favourable conditions, the bang in form 18 year-old sprinter became only the second Harrier ever to break the 11 second barrier as he narrowly beat Bromsgrove’s Dewi Hammond in the 100m. His time of 10.9 broke his club junior record, as did his 22.3 in the 200m, where he was second to Tamworth’s Thomas Burton.
Also running well for the Harriers in the sprints were Niamh Bailey whose 25.7 for third place in the 200m was a huge PB and Ashley McClintock, who won the B 200m in a swift 22.9.
Jamie Dean was Kettering’s only other A-string winner, with a mature performance in the 110m Hurdles that brought him home in 17.2, well ahead of Tamworth’s Adam Young.
Second places were achieved by Jonathan Goringe, who had to give best in the 2000m Steeplechase to the experienced James Griggs of Coventry, the evergreen Andy Mills, who threw the discus 35m and Gemma Elliott whose 59.4 in the 400m was her best time for a couple of years.
Sophie Munn had a productive day, taking second place in the 400m Hurdles, before returning to win the B 800m.
Matt Peleszok had time for just one attempt in the Shot Put before dashing up the motorway to watch his beloved Shrewsbury Town narrowly miss promotion. It may have been some small consolation to him that he took top place in the B String!
Overall, the Harriers were competitive across all disciplines, except for the Women’s Field events where, despite some sterling efforts by wonderful volunteers, we harvested only a small number of points.
This, combined with a significantly higher standard of competition in the division this year, meant that although we were well in contention for third place for most of the afternoon, we finished fifth and face a hard task over the next three meetings if we are to avoid relegation.