The first Rosenheim match of the season saw a small team of Walton athletes turn up to the not-so-local David Weir leisure centre in Sutton.

Despite the low numbers, a series of good performances and many PBs led to good team positions by the end of the evening.
Starting with the women, there were strong performances in the 200m from Emma Horsey and Jemima Hobbs running 27.4 and 30.6 respectively into a noticeable headwind, Emma coming 3rd in the scoring race. Emma also secured 1st place in the 400m with a very good time of 60.7. Jemima also ran the 400 non scoring with a time of 66.0.

Rachel Pharaoh was the sole female entrant in the 1500m and ran a good time of 5:14.8 in blustery conditions. Debbie Singleton claimed a valuable 3rd place in the 4KG hammer, throwing 19.43 and then 25.29 with the 3KG hammer non scoring. Debbie was also juggling officiating duties for multiple events – thank you Debbie! Nicole Riehl also threw the 3KG hammer non scoring and landed 27.02m for a PB in her first competition.

These performances ensured 4th place on the night – just missing out on third place by 1 point, so well-done ladies.

The men also had a very successful evening given the small team size and track proceedings kicked off with a PB and a 2nd place in the 2km steeple chase by Robert Smith, followed by a brilliant run in the 800m from Michael Cottrill. Michael started strongly and was in 2nd place after the first lap. At 500m he attacked the leader, but the Epsom athlete responded well and held on. Michael bided his time, remained strong and with 100m to go he kicked hard and passed the Epsom athlete who had nothing more to give. Michael ran home in 1st place taking almost 2 seconds off his PB in 2:04.8. A very mature run from the U20 athlete in his first 800 of the season.

Alex O’Neill doubled up in the short sprints running a PB of 12.4 in the 100m (into a headwind) for 3rd place and 26.9 in the 200 also for 3rd. Matt Pharaoh ran a steady 3km race in 9:50.8 and came in 3rd in the final event of the evening securing vital points for the overall standings.

Then we have Martin Willis, who ran the 1500 in 6:14.0 (3rd), threw the discus 18.72 (3rd), threw the javelin 21.95 (3rd) and tried his hand at the high jump (1.0m – also for 3rd). Lots of points scored during a busy evening for Martin and all results were PBs.
This means the men finished the evening in 2nd place overall by just 2 points – so every performance counted.

Well done and thank you to every athlete that attended and competed. Thank you also to Debbie and Christian for helping officiate (and giving me an easy ride as stand in team manager).
Sorry if I have missed any results or any details are incorrect. If so, please let me know and I will amend what is necessary.

Robert Smith