11 July 2011

For images from this weekend’s event please visit www.hsphotos.co.uk

The second day of the McCain UKA Challenge – Jumpsfest and Throwsfest was highlighted by a competitive men’s high jump competition won by Samson Oni (Trevor Llewelyn) and a big javelin PB from Lee Doran (John Davies).

World indoor finalist Oni appears to be rounding in to form in time for this month’s Aviva UK Championships and World Trials as the Belgrave Harrier cleared a season’s best of 2.27m to beat Olympic finalist Tom Parsons (Fayyaz Ahmed), who jumped 2.24m.

Parsons took an early lead, but Oni moved in to first after clearing 2.21m – a height which took Parsons three attempts to clear. The pair then went over 2.24m at the first time of asking, but Oni was the only one to get over 2.27m, which he did on his third try.

The women’s high jump was similarly close as Steph Pywell (Graham Ravenscroft) and Jayne Nisbet (Emily Parker) were neck and neck through to 1.86m. Both cleared that height on their second go, which represented a PB for Nisbet and moves her to equal fifth on this year’s McCain Power of 10 rankings.

But Pywell went one better and cleared 1.88m on her first try. The Sale Harrier then skipped 1.90m and had three attempts at a would-be PB of 1.92m, but it was not to be. Pywell’s season’s best puts her at No.2 on this year’s McCain Power of 10 rankings.

One day before she turned 20, world junior champion Sophie Hitchon (Derek Evely) came close to breaking her own UK record in the hammer. Her winning throw of 68.95m is the second best result ever by a British woman in the history of the event, and she followed it up with throws of 67.62m and 67.87m.

European under-23 bronze medallist Sarah Holt (John Pearson) was also in good form as she broke her PB twice – first with 66.18m, then with 66.46m in round five, moving her up to fifth on the UK all-time list. Hitchon’s training partner Zoe Derham (Derek Evely) produced her best throw of the year so far with 65.37m for third place.

In the men’s competition, experience won over youth as Mike Floyd (Kevin Madden) broke 71 metres for the third time this year, winning with 71.22m. Birchfield’s James Bedford (Dave Smith) was two and a half metres back in second with a season’s best of 68.72m, while English Schools champion Michael Painter (John Painter) took third with 68.64m.

Doran was in the form of his life in the javelin and saved his best until the last round, unleashing a throw of 77.54m. Up until that point, Daniel Pembroke (Kevin Pembroke) had been leading with his first-round throw of 73.92m, but he ultimately had to make do with second place.

Doran’s mark takes him to No.2 on this year’s McCain Power of 10 rankings and moves him to 15^th on the UK all-time list.

Doran’s training partner Lianne Clarke (John Davies) won the hotly-contested women’s competition whereby just 41 centimetres separated the top three athletes. Clarke’s second-round throw of 51.96m proved to be the best of the day, but Tesni Ward (David Parker) came close with her 51.63m, finishing a shade ahead of Katy Watts (Bronwin Carter), who threw 51.55m.

17-year-old Freya Jones (William Bushnell) was the top junior, rebounding from the disappointment of missing out on gold at the English Schools by throwing 50.45m in fourth place.

Nick Thomas (Guy Spencer) won the men’s triple jump with a mark that would have been a season’s best, were it not for the 2.3m/s tailwind. The Jamaican jumped 16.30m in the final round, having led since his first jump. Newham & Essex club mate Kola Adedoyin (Frank Attoh) finished second with 15.88m, just enough to hold off Babatunde Amosu (John Vernon) in third, who jumped a PB of 15.85m.

Nadia Williams (Peter Stanley) continued her domestic dominance of the triple jump in the women’s competition, winning with a second-round jump of 13.53m, which she backed up in the final round with 13.48m. Hannah Frankson (Larry Achike) was once again over 13 metres, but was some way behind in second with 13.08m, as Sineade Gutzmore (Kevin Reeve) took third with 12.84m.