RUGBY & Northampton AC finished a pleasing second in the Midland League Division One meeting at Loughborough on Sunday.
They fielded a much stronger team than the opening fixture, but as expected the competition was also of a much higher standard so they were delighted to come away with second place in the match.
It places them second equal in the league, behind Birchfield Harriers who are clear leaders at the halfway point in the season.
Highlights of the day for R&N were A&B string victories in the men’s 400 hurdles (Pat Mills and John Bell), men’s triple jump (Themba Luhana and Mo Oseni), ladies 100m (Emma Bailey and Ellena Ruddock), ladies javelin (Kerry Murch and Louise Hanby) and finally an almost unheard of double on the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay when the men’s squad prevailed by one hundredth of a second in a blanket finish.
There were also B-string victories for Kevin Murch (javelin), 3,000m (Daisy Melville), Emma Bailey (400H) and Grace Adeyinka (shot).
Overall for the men it was the field events that led the way with Glyn Hollingsworth taking two second places in the throws whilst the jumps and pole vault all produced good points.
Charlie Barker and Ian Gidley both scored well while the versatile Luke Townsend claimed a pair of third places in the long jump and the B-string 100m.
On the track the sprinters did well in some close races with Clinton Osaba-George too second place in the 100m whilst Tom Johnson timed his run perfectly to take second place in 200m B.
In the 400m, Ross Allen dipped under 50 secs to take third place whilst Pat Mills, who had a busy day, was fifth in the B string.
In the sprint hurdles Luhana faced a quality race but lost his stride pattern as he finished third.
In the middle distance events Paul Birch, Ben Townsend and Chris Perez all picked up useful points.
For the ladies it was the track runners who were dominant and in addition to the sprinters Hannah Scales took third and fourth in the 400 hurdles and 400 respectively, while in the longer events Jo Pulsford and Charlotte Inwood each took three events with Pulsford taking a second and third whilst Inwood took a second and fourth.
Both rounded off the afternoon by competing in the 4x400m relay.
Emily Waugh continued her return to form as she finished second in the 1500m.
In the field, Kerry Murch scored well in all four thows with support coming from mum Debbie who narrowly beat her in the hammer.
Grace Adeyinka also had a busy afternoon taking third and fourth places in the triple jump and long jump and Katie Rowe also covered three events.
At the end of a hard-fought day, the R&N squad moved through to finish second and with their blend of youth and experience including several of the successful Young Athletes teams of recent years.
A major bonus was the return of Bailey, who won two individual events and featured in both relays.
R&N’s next match is at Cheltenham on July 7 and in spite of the English Schools Championships the previous day, R&N are expecting to field a stronger team and consolidate their position in the league.