A NUMBER of athletes claimed season or personal bests in the final Devon Open Series competition of the summer at Braunton on Sunday.
The top performances in north Devon came in the veteran and younger age groups.
Tavistock’s 63-year-old runner Allan Herdman (pictured top) clocked a season’s best 2:22.67 to win the veterans’ 800m race.
Fellow veteran Emma Stepto, of Cornwall AC, showed her class to win the 5,000m in 17.09.81, which ranks her as the UK’s top over-45 athlete in 2016 at that distance.
Another veteran to catch the eye was footballer and former Plymstock School staff member Roger Bonaparte.
Bonaparte, who turns 49 next month and competes for Bideford, clocked an impressive 12.16 seconds to win the 100m.
In the senior age group, City of Plymouth’s Hannah Blair won the women’s mile in 5:16.82, while her team-mate Steve Bromhead won the 100m (12.10 seconds), 200m (25.38 seconds) and took second in the long jump (5.34m).
At under-20 level, Tavistock’s Charlie Shipton won the hammer and shot putt with distances of 35.40m and 8.30m, respectively,
Tavistock’s throwers were in good form. Harry Tomlin set to new personal bests in the under-13 category. He won the javelin with a distance of 33.25m and shot with 9.93m.
In the under-15 age group, his team-mate Edward Fileman won the discus with 23.07m and claimed personal bests and second places in the hammer (33.70m) and shot (7.51m).
Another Tavistock thrower, Ben Rogers, won the under-17 hammer and shot and took third in the javelin.
On the track, Tavistock’s Oliver Woodmason won the under-13 800m with 2:24.92.
City of Plymouth’s Emily Bee showed her versatility at Braunton. The pentathlete, who has excelled in the sprint hurdles and long jump this season, won the 300m in an impressive 42.71 seconds, jumped 1.55m in the high jump and threw 8.20m in the shot, which earned her third.
Erme Valley Harriers’ Paige Johnson won the girls’ under-13 100m in 13.89 seconds and claimed victory in the hammer. Her team-mate Ella Isaias was third in the under-13 high jump. She jumped the same height, 1.30m, of the top two but lost out on countback.