PLYMOUTH Harriers athletes Sam Yearling and Steve Fletcher enjoyed a great battle in the second Armada Summer 5k Series run of the season on Wednesday evening at Saltram House.
Teenager Yearling managed to edge out his club colleague Fletcher by just one second to win for the second month running.
Yearling clocked 17.06 minutes for the tricky multi-terrain run around the National Trust property, with Fletcher finishing in 17.07.
Third home was Plymouth University’s East Kent athlete Ben Hall, who clocked 18.20 minutes, with Plymstock veteran Graham Bale fourth and Erme Valley’s Liam Hallows fifth.
Maddie Horton was convincingly the first women home in 19.39 minutes, with Lauren Knox second in 20.34 and Erme Valley youngster Bella May third in 20.48.
The second run in the series saw 168 finishes. Full results can be found HERE while a gallery of pictures can be viewed below.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday night at the quick Run Exe Summer 5k Series, Tavistock Run Project’s Jim Cole took victory in 15.34 minutes.
Exmouth’s Robert Ellis denied Run Project a one-two by just edging out Jordan Andrews by two seconds. Ellis clocked 15.54 minutes with Andrews finishing in 15.56.
Elsewhere, there were plenty of eye-catching track and field performances from the region’s athletes at the weekend.
Cornishman Patrick Swan, representing the University of Plymouth, won the shot at the BUCS Championships in Bedford with a throw of 16.10m. He also took fourth in the discus with 46.16m.
City of Plymouth’s Victoria Weir just missed out on a medal in the 2,000m steeplechase. She finished fourth in the quickest race of the year in 6:45.52. That time also ranks her fourth in the UK senior women’s rankings.
Also sitting fourth in the UK rankings is fellow City of Plymouth athlete Sammie Harris after she finally got a legal 100m hurdles run in at the the UK Youth Development League Meeting in Swansea.
Harris, who has just moved up to under-20 level, had twice gone under 14 seconds but both efforts were wind-assisted. However, she ran 14.19 into a headwind in Wales to get on the ranking list. She also ran 12.54 seconds for the 100m flat and 26.41 for the 200m.
Her club colleague and fellow multi-eventer Emily Bee has not yet found her form over the 100m hurdles but she did set a new javelin PB of 35.54m and leaped 5.32m in the long jump.
Ben Foster, who sits in the top 10 for the under-17 shot, continued his good form with a 13.79m throw in Swansea. He took victory in the A event, with Tavistock’s Edward Fileman winning the under-17 B shot with 11.24m. Fileman also threw a PB of 46.36m in the discus and came second in the hammer with 55.20m.
Lois Fileman set a new PB in the under-20 women’s hammer with a 43.26m, while she won the discus with 31.73m. Team-mate Hannah Gellatly was second in the under-17 hammer with 38.64m.
Plymouth’s Danny Filewod moved up to 12th in the UK under-17 400m hurdles rankings with a new PB of 59.63 seconds.
Tavistock’s Tilly McDowell is now 11th in the under-17 1,500m steeplechase rankings after a PB run of 5:35.41 in Wales. She also ran 5:12.44 for the 1,500m flat on the same day.
There was a PB for Plymouth’s Oliver Woodmason in the under-17 1,500m with a run of 4:28.43. He also did the 800m where he ran 2:12.49.
Team-mate Dan Newman set a new under-17 400m PB of 54.22 seconds, while he also ran 2:05.04 in the 800m.
Erme Valley’s Estelle Hodges enjoyed a good run in the under-17 80m hurdles with a time of 12.74 seconds.
On the same day, younger and older athletes from the region competed at the South West League Cup in Yeovil.
Plymouth’s under-13 athlete Rosie Northcott set new PBs in the 100m and 200m of 14.40 seconds and 28.48 seconds, respectively. Her sister won the 800m in 2:28.12, having improved her UK-leading time five days earlier with a 2:22.23 run at the BMC Meeting in Exeter. Poppy Northcott also set a new long jump PB of 4.39m at Yeovil.
Lili Fern claimed a new best in the under-15 200m of 27.12 seconds. She also ran 12.92 seconds for the 100m.
Fellow Plymouth athlete Tom Roberts set a new PB in the under-17 boys’ 200m of 23.86 seconds.
Aaron Miller continued his good season with victory in both the men’s 100m and 200m in 11.34 seconds and 23.39 seconds, respectively.
Tavistock’s Nicolas Maczugowski won the under-13 high jump in 1.40m, which was just one centimetre of his lifetime best. He also leaped 4.34m in the long jump.