Croydon Harriers’ men and women kept their Southern Athletics League promotion hopes alive after a hard fought runner-up finish at Croydon Arena on Saturday.
The hosts lost out to Division Two East leaders Belgrave, who were bolstered by GB international Will Sharman breaking the league and stadium record in the 110m hurdles during the meeting, clocking 14.23 seconds.
Croydon had been trailing in third for most of the day, but a late rally saw them pull clear of Bexley (181pts) on 193pts, 17 shy of Belgrave.
It was a fruitful day in the middle-distance ranks, with Dom Nolan making a welcome return to the Croydon fold winning tactical 800m (two minutes 1.50secs) and 1,500m (4:12.37) races respectively.
He was backed up by Kieron Connor (2:01.91) and Alex Penfold (4:24.75) respectively in the B races to secure maximum points.
Women’s captain Stevie Lawrence (800m, 2:20.67) and debutant Saron Haileselase (1,500m, 4:49.15) secured wins in the women’s equivalent events.
In the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, Ernie Hann won on debut in a well-paced 10:57.59, and Glenn Barden pulled away in the B event in a lifetime best of 11:13.70 to make a double first.
Twinelle Hopeson
Sam Haswell (3.60m) and Emmanuel Thomas (3.10m) bagged a double win in the pole vault.
Croydon’s 4x100m team recorded a time of 44.75secs to edge home as victors, while Twinelle Hopeson enjoyed a double win in the 100m (12.21sec) and 100m hurdles (15.00secs).
On the field, Cora Sexton leapt to 9.48m on her competitive return, and Zoe Fossett won the B event by 7cm in 8.49m.
Fossett would also secure a B win in the javelin with younger sister Emma topping the A standing in 34.34m. Saskia Navratnam was a clear victor in the discus in 34.60m.
The team was also crucially underpinned with team members rallying in unfamiliar events - James Eccles (six events) and women’s team manager Amy Dowsett (six events and both relays) provided vital contributions and scored 20 points between them.
The senior squad’s fate will be decided in the final fixture of the season at fellow promotion hopefuls Dartford on August 15.
Zoe Fossett
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here