On a fine day at the delightful setting of Cambridge University athletics track, Harriers began their East Anglian league campaign. Ipswich took a strong team in each age group other than the U13. The U13 teams have good athletes to call on but there were simply not enough again at the start of the season. Although only Cambridge and, in the girls, Great Yarmouth, managed to field a team with larger numbers. It is disappointing that it is still extremely difficult to attract boys from other sports, particularly football. Overall, Harriers recorded a convincing victory with the U15 Girls and Senior Women particularly dominant.

Overall Score

Ipswich 866

Cambridge & Coleridge 767

Great Yarmouth 433

Nene Valley 306

Leighton Buzzard 167

Huntingdon 149

Georgina Wright made a convincing debut for the U13 girls, winning the Long jump with 3.87, and recording PBs in the 100 and 200 with 14.8 and 31 respectively. She was ably supported in the sprints by another debutante Maddie Baker. Lucy Peake followed on her success at Enfield with a pb of 5.57 in the 1500 and gained valuable points in Shot and Long Jump. Three other debutantes were Jasmine Mallet finishing 4^th in A string 800, with Elise Morey 3^rd in B string 800 with Olivia Mair winning the B string 1500 in 6.01.

The U15 girls were once again far too strong for the opposition. The sprint duo of Emily Lambert and Enya Moore again won the 100 and 200m A and B string. Lambert got a pb of 12.6 in the 100 which achieves the National School standard. Emily Robinson proved what an all rounder she is by coming 2^nd in the sprint hurdles and the 800m. Rachel Ryan improved her pb in the 800 to 2.37. Katie Peake enhanced her 1500m time to 5.24. The star of the show was Sarah Prescott-Smith who won the Long Jump, High Jump and the sprint hurdles. The three throws were all won by Harriers, Helena coe the shot, Ellie Bloomfield the discus and Alice Robinson the javelin.

The Senior Women were nearly as dominant in their section. The Malster twins, Georgia and Gemma were superb in the sprints. Georgia won the A 100m while Gemma won the A 200. Georgia won the 400m as well then they partnered Jess Crissell and Kerry Dixon to win the relay. Crissell also performed well in her first competitive triple jump, getting 9.73 but just spoiling a jump that was well clear of 10 metres. Charlotte Catttermole won the 100m sprint hurdles in style then Charlotte Shelley won the 80m hurdles as well as the Long and high jump. Ruby Budd won the B string 80m hurdles after falling heavily, then got up later on to run a good 1500m.

There were depleted places all round in the U13 boys races. Richard Lea made a good debut in the 100, Long Jump and shot.

Theo Passmore won the 800m by some distance in 2:36 and then won the B string 200. James Bowskill improved his 800m time again and gained valuable points in the shot and Long Jump. Charlie Startin ran really well in the 100 and 200 before throwing a really good distance of 17.55 in the javelin depite it being his first serious attempt at it.

The sprint pair of Wesley Doyle and George Johnson produced good time of 12 and 12.2 respectively in the 100. Debutant Finlay Hudson had a good triple jump of 10.33 before recording a pb of 63.0 in the 400 metres. Cameron Duncan improved his 800m time to 2.32 behind Ross Tennant who came 2^nd in the A string with 2.22. Kasey Hagan won the sprint hurdles with 13.6, then mastered the High Jump with 1.60. Charlie Middleton won the hammer impressively with 18.41 and has improved greatly over the previous season.

Another sprint pair in Tom Powell and Leon Holmes ran well in the 100 and 200 before anchoring the relay team to their victory. James Mann and Tom Powell both cleared 1.65 to win the A and B string High Jump with Tom taking the A due to fewer failures. Theo Moore is anothere thrower who is improving with each event, he won the discus with 26.49 as well as his efforts in the shot and hammer.

Finally the Senior Men were again too strong for their opponents holding off the challenge from the home side. Adam Rawling won the 100 in 11.3 to start the men off. Tim Byford won the B 400 before finishing 2^nd in the 800. Nigel Hatman and Anthony Kitterman won the A and B sprint hurdles respectively before Kitterman gave everyone a scare when he pulled up in the relay, but the injury was not as bad as had been feared. Joe Bloomfield won the shot in 12.94, the discus with 42.97 and the hammer with 59.16. Tony Fuller and Nigel Gillingham were excellent value for money in the other throw, the javelin.