CITY of Plymouth’s Nicolas Maczugowski ran a new 400m hurdles personal best to claim a silver medal at the South of England Under-17 Championships at Chelmsford.

Maczugowski clocked 56.88 seconds, which was more than a second faster than he had previous run, to finish behind English Schools’ runner-up Hayden Christian at the championships.

He did edge out Kent’s Cheyne West for the silver medal. The pair are the top two ranked first-year under-17s in the UK this season.

Maczugowski is ranked 11th overall in the U17 age group, despite only taking up the event this year.

He also clocked 52.79 seconds in the heats of the 400m at Chelmsford. He did qualify for that final but opted not to run it and save himself for the hurdles.

Meanwhile, the joint City of Plymouth/Tavistock/Erme Valley athletics team impressed at the latest Southern Athletics League Division Two West meeting at Horspath at the weekend.

The joint team finished second to move up the season’s standings.

Tavistock’s Emma Ryder clocked a new 400m PB of 60.25 seconds to picked up full points in that event. She also easily won the 800m A race in 2:15.26. Verity Tank won the 400m B race.

City of Plymouth’s Jacob Lamboll claimed victory in both the men’s A 200m and 400m events. He clocked 22.29 seconds for the 200m and 49.61 in the 400m. Tavistock’s Joe Wheeler made it a double in the 400m by winning the B race, while Plymouth’s Brook Adnitt did the same in the B 200m.

Plymouth’s Toby Clayden took victory in the A 110m hurdles in 15.69 seconds and also came second in the 100m.

The combined team also picked up plenty of points in the women’s middle distance events with Molly Shorey winning the A 1,500m, Molly Gilbey the 3,000m and Verity Tank the 1,500m steeplechase.

In the men’s middle distance events, Plymouth’s Daniel Newman was close to his lifetime best as he took second in the 800m with 1:56.94. On a boiling hot day, he also clocked 4:26.12 to take third in the 1,500m.

Tavistock’s Joely Bytheway took full points in the women’s A 400m hurdles with a 66.15 run, with Georgina Buckingham taking victory in the B race.

The City of Plymouth/Tavistock/Erme Valley team impressed in the relay events, picking up lots of valuable points.

Plymouth’s Dan Pearce bagged lots of points for the team. He finished second in the A 400m hurdles in 62.89. He won the high jump with 1.73m, also took victory in the javelin with 43.95m, came second in the triple jump with 11.35m and came third in the A shot. He also picked up points in the B discus and hammer.

Team-mate Nubia Evans-Shields won the women’s A discus and also came second in the shot and javelin, while Zoe Crutchley came first in the A women’s hammer with a season’s best throw of 31.43m.

Full results can be found HERE.