CITY of Plymouth’s Nicolas Maczugowski became South West Schools’ pentathlon champion at the weekend.
Club colleague Adam Dingley came fifth in the same junior boys’ event at Yeovil as Devon won the team competition to secure a place at the English Schools’ Combined Events Championship at Bedford in September.
Maczugowski was in top form to score a total of 2,764 points and edge out Exeter athlete Stefan Chirita, who was representing Somerset Schools having moved to Millfield School. The pair now sit second and third in the UK rankings.
Maczugowski set three new PBs and equalled another in the five event competition.
He ran 11.90 seconds for the 80m hurdles – an event where he is ranked in the top five nationally – then threw a new best of 12.29m in the shot, which moves him up to 11th in the UK in that event. Next he leaped a massive 5.71m in the long jump. That was half-a-metre further than he had leaped before, but the wind was just 0.1 above the legal limit. A PB of 1.50m in the high jump followed before clocking a quick 2:15.98 in a great race with Chirita in the 800m.
Dingley finished just behind fellow Devon athlete Josh Taylor. Taylor took fourth with 2,057 points, with Dingley collecting 1,999 to make sure Devon won the team award.
Dingley ran 11.94 seconds in the 80m hurdles, threw 7.37m in the shot, leaped 5.22m in the long jump, then set a new PB of 1.44m in the high jump before clocking 2:42.66 in the 800m.
Tavistock’s Ben Callard just missed out on a medal in the senior boys’ decathlon. He finished fourth on his debut at the multi-event.
He almost certainly would have got third had he not fouled out of the pole vault. In the end he was just 57 points off third.
He ran 11.14 seconds for the 100m, leaped 6.47m in the long jump, threw 8.82m in the shot, leaped a PB of 1.71m in the high jump, ran a PB of 51.05m in the 400m, clocked 23.82 seconds for the 110m hurdles, threw 24.75m in the discus and 34.98m in the javelin before running 5:39.98 in the 1,500m.
In the intermediate boys’ octathlon, City of Plymouth’s Matthew Newton came sixth with 3,102 points courtesy of a 5.60m long jump, 15.87m discus throw, 26.36m javelin throw, 58.69 seconds 400m, a 17.70 seconds 100m hurdles run, 1.50m in the high jump, 10.58m in the shot and 5:36.72 in the 1,500m.
Ella Isaias came eighth in a strong intermediate girls’ heptathlon with 3,941 points. She ran 13.07 seconds in the 80m hurdles, leaped 1.62m in the high jump, threw 8.91m in the shot, ran 28.07 seconds in the 200m, managed 4.57m in the long jump, achieved 21.49m in the javelin and ran 2:31.94 in the 800m.
Isaias (high jump), Maczugowski (discus), Dingley (80m hurdles), Callard (long jump) and Newton (triple jump) will also represent Devon at the English Schools’ Track & Field Championships in Manchester in July.
Also named in the Devon team for those championship are Nubia Evans-Shields (discus), Louisa Hess (hammer), Phoebe Milburn (hammer), Molly Shorey (1,500m), Kate Gray (300m hurdles), Charlotte Walker (discus), Hannah Walker (hammer), Hannah Gellatly (hammer), Jed Hutchings (1,500m), Rory Summers (200m), Thomas Elliott (400m), Noah Jones (pole vault), Toby Claydon (110m hurdles), Edward Fileman (discus) and Oliver Smart (3,000m).
Meanwhile away from the track, Tavistock Run Project and Erme Valley Harriers athletes were among the prize winners at the Exeter Half Marathon on Sunday.
Run Project’s Liam Nicholls came third overall with a 1:13.52. He was only beaten by Cornwall AC athletes James Cultan (1:13.02) and Liam Rowe (1:13.13).
Erme Valley’s Simon Fitze was eighth overall and first M45 in 1:16.18, with Run Project’s Alex Peyton-Jones 12th and second M40 in 1:18.06.
Erme Valley’s Alison McEwing was second woman with a 1:20.18 run, with club colleague Alison Thorn not far behind and taking the second F45 award in 1:23.35.