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- Cardiff Feel The Fourth On Return To Top Flight
By Owen Morgan
Cardiff Athletics’ women’s team made their return to the top flight of the UK Women’s League at Leigh with a highly creditable fourth place in the season’s opening fixture.
There were fine individual performances throughout the day as Cardiff amassed a total of 157 points, to bring them a total of five match points, which leaves them fourth in the eight-team Premier division – ahead of the likes of Birchfield Harriers – after one match.
The 400m witnessed a pair of Cardiff personal bests where Sophie Becker clocked 54.74 in the A string race and Rhiannon Linington-Payne recorded 54.53 finishing second to fellow Welsh athlete Melissa Roberts, of Birchfield, who also enjoyed a PB of 54.25 in the B race on Sunday.
Commonwealth Games and Olympic bobsleigh star Mica Moore clocked a season’s best time of 11.91 as she gained maximum points in the B string 100m race.
The 800m was a source of good points for Cardiff where Lizzie Harris won the A race in 2:11.89 and Naomi Reid took the B race in 2:15.83. It was a busy afternoon for Reid who finished third in the 1500m A race in a season’s best 4:45.04.
Clara Evans set a new personal best of 10:00.16 in the 3000m A race, while the Cardiff quartet clocked a club record 3:40.94 to finish second in the 4x400m.
There was a Cardiff win in the high jump B event where Deana Kealy also set a new PB of 1.65m and the long jump also saw good points for the Welsh club as Rebecca Chapman finished second in the A event and Sara Geary was second in the B event, both in season’s best distances.
Sarah Omoregie also claimed a second place in the shot put A event with a throw of 14.81m, while Sabrina Fortune went one better by winning the B event in 12.87m.
Cardiff’s Bethany Moule was second in the A string javelin with 46.30m, while Wales team-mate Bethan Rees won the B competition with 47.79 for Birchfield Harriers.
In the First Division, Welsh Commonwealth international sprint hurdler Caryl Granville made a busy and successful return from injury for Swansea Harriers.
Granville, who until recently had been sidelined through injury since the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April 2018, gained a win and two second places for her club side.
She was runner up in the A string 100m hurdles in a time of 13.94 and the B string 400 flat, where she clocked 57.02.
However, she topped the podium in the 400m hurdles B event, where she won in a time of 58.71. Team-mate Bethany Kennedy was second in the A string race where she clocked 58.31.
Points were generally hard to come by for Swansea in the sprints, however Lauren Williams picked up a third place in the 400m A race in 55.80 and their sprint quartets took second in the 4×100 and third in the 4x400m relays.
Abigail Goodwick-Latham was another busy athlete for Swansea. Having finished sixth in the 800m A race in a new PB of 2:19.47, she won the 1500 B race in 4:52.56. Meanwhile, Sian Kirk finished fourth in both the 800B and 1500 A races – clocking a new PB of 4:50.49 in the latter.
The longer distance races were a rich source of points for Swansea with Sophie Harris enjoying a comfortable win in the 3000m A race, finishing over half a minute clear of her nearest rival in 9:30.87.
Meanwhile, team-mate Kate Roberts was equally impressive in the B race, also finishing over half a minute clear of the field in 10:20.29.
The 3000m steeplechase saw Ffion Higginson claim second spot in the A race in 7:23.18, while Bronwen Stratton-Thomas took maximum points in the B event in a PB of 8:05.56.
The field events proved difficult for Swansea, although Emily Lloyd claimed second in the pole vault B event with 3.50m.
Young Gwennan Lewis put in a real shift for the team recording PBs in the shot put and discus and a season’s best distance in the hammer.
Swansea finished their first fixture of the season in sixth place in the eight team first division.
