Athletics: National title for Exeter Harriers' Sam Talbot

EXETER HARRIERS Exeter Harriers' 15-year-old multi-eventer Sam Talbot came from behind to win the national under-17 combined events title. Competitors in his age group normally take part in the octathlon, but they had two extra disciplines to tackle in the decathlon. And Talbot also managed to beat the points tally Commonwealth Games silver medallist and training partner Ashley Bryant set when he was an under-17. The action on day one was very close, with Talbot leading by just 87 points from Max Price of Stevenage. Talbot set new personal bests in both the 100m and long jump, had a disappointing high jump but regained the lead with a blistering win in the 400m. Day two saw Talbot set himself up well with a win in the 100m hurdles, throw a PB in the discus Talbot led by just 2 points and also set a new best in the pole vault of 3.30m to extend his lead. Talbot lost the lead in the penultimate event, the javelin, throwing 37.84m to Price's leading throw of 45.10m, but Talbot's superior time over Price in the final 1,500m event gave the Harrier a chance. "I knew I had to beat Max by 15secs to win the competition. It was tough with strong winds," said Talbot. Pulled along by Tom Chandler of Central AC, Talbot secured the title by a margin of 155 points over Price in second and Chandler in third.Results, National Under-17 Combined Events Championships: 1 Sam Talbot 5,908pts (100m 11.08, LJ 6.55, shot 11.75, HJ 1.53, 400m 51.57, 100H 13.68, discus 27.11, PV 3.30, JT 37.84, 1,500m 5.06.54), 2 Max Price 5,753, 3 Tom Chandler 5,624 Exeter Harriers' senior men's team had only 14 athletes available for the final British Athletics League fixture of the season as they were relegated from Division Three. With a weakened squad, they finished eighth in Abingdon on Saturday and that left them seventh out of eight in the league for this summer. However, the team are looking for a quick return with some promising youngsters coming through and a large number of athletes returning from injury. There were some bright points on Saturday, with Steve Turnock and Dominic Allen dominating the javelin to win both the A and B string events. Turnock has been struggling with injury all season, but he managed to win the A competition off just half a run up. Allen took the big step up from under-17 level to the senior ranks in his stride and performed impressively well to win the B string. Jack Bancroft showed his promise again in the longer events by finishing second in a fiercely contested 3,000m with a final lap of 61secs. Dave Dawson threw outstandingly well to record season's bests in the shot putt and discus, finishing second in the shot with 13.51m and fourth in the discus with 43.75m.Results, British Athletics League Division 3, Abingdon: 100m, A: 5 Tyler Johnson 11.01. B: 5 Owen Styler 11.10. 110m hurdles, A: 7 Oliver Berry 23.02. 200m, A: 7 Owen Styler 22.67. B: 5 Tyler Johnson 22.98. 400m, A: 7 Josh Trigwell 51.56. B: 1 Tyler Johnson 50.49. 400m hurdles, A: 7 Matt Parsley 65.88. B: 5 James Berry 63.10. 800m, A: 8 Matt Dowell 2.01.21. B: 7 Matt Parsley 2.15.23. 1,500m, A: 8 Matt Dowell 4.23.73. B: 7 Oliver Berry 4.33.08. 3,000m, A: 2 Jack Bancroft 8.47.33. B: 4 James Denne 9.26.40. 3,000m steeplechase, A: 6 Oliver Berry 10.35.67. 4x100m relay: 56.23. 4x400m relay: 7 3.38.52. High jump, A: 7 Todd Allen 1.70. Long jump, A: 7 Tyler Johnson 6.02. B: 5 Dominic Allen 5.95. Triple jump, A: 7 James Berry 12.26. B: 8 Oliver Berry 10.31. Pole vault, A: 7 Matt Parsley 1.60. B: 7 Oliver Berry 1.10. Discus, A: 4 Dave Dawson 43.75. B: 6 David Robinson 25.11. Hammer, A: 7 Dave Dawson 36.49. B: 8 Jack Bancroft 9.95. Javelin, A: 1 Steve Turnock 59.40. B: 1 Dominic Allen 51.84. Shot putt, A: 2 Dave Dawson 13.51. B: 8 David Robinson 7.72Match results: 1 Crawley 391pts, 2 Nene Valley 344, 3 Swansea 334, 4 Bedford 297, 5 Mansfield 217, 6 Reading 212, 7 Trafford 202.5, 8 Exeter Harriers 188Overall league positions: 1 Crawley 31pts, 2 Nene Valley 25, 3 Bedford 24, 4 Swansea 23, 5 Trafford 13, 6 Mansfield 11, 7 Exeter 9, 8 Reading 8 Jack Moncur, 15, was elated to receive the call-up from Scotland last month to compete in the javelin at the Celtic Cup international in Dublin, but has returned disappointed with his performance. Competing in the under-18 age group, he had a best throw of 49.64m which put him fourth. Moncur said: "It didn't go as well as planned. I was struggling with technique, which I have done all season, and despite extra sessions with George (Eccles, coach) I couldn't put it into practice." Moncur was just a metre off his personal best, but was hoping the occasion would lift his performance and he would be able to overcome technical difficulties which have hampered him, along with many Harriers athletes, with the prolonged refurbishment of the track at Exeter Arena. Two Exeter Harriers athletes returned with medals from the British Masters Athletics Championships. Ian Allen won gold in the male over-45 high jump with a leap of 1.65m and also won bronze in the long jump, equalling his season's best of 5.91m. Mike Bourcier-Mayo claimed bronze in the male over-65 hammer with 27.05m, and was also fifth in the discus (36.09m) and shot (9.69m).HALDON TRAIL RUNNERS Angus Menter led Haldon Trail Runners home at the Run Exe Summer 5k Series last week. He finished third overall and the first male over-40 in 16.35. Tom Bates followed in 13th place in a personal best time of 18.06, with Laurie Kidd 17th in a PB of 18.49. Martin McEneny was 34th in 20.00, Charlotte Weedon 36th in a PB of 20.05 and Jim Mouat 70th and first male over-65 in 24.26. Three Haldon Trail Runners took part in parkrun 5k races last Saturday. Bates and Nathan White ran the Exeter Riverside parkrun, with Bates finishing third in 18.11 and White 13th in 19.26. Mouat was 48th and first male over-65 at the Parke parkrun in 24.26.EXMOUTH HARRIERS Pete Fletcher was the first of six Exmouth Harriers to finish last week's fifth round of the Run Exe Summer 5k Series. He finished sixth in 16.59 and is on course to win the senior men's category in the series. Jon Garrity was 14th in 18.22 and is looking good for third place in male over-40 section, with Chris Dupain 16th in 18.35 last week and currently second behind Fletcher in their age category. Richard Bishop was 28th in 19.40 and Richard Hawes 31st in 19.46, with Hawes second in the male over-45 series. Dave Eveleigh was 57th last week in 22.00 and lined up for second in the male over-60 series. AXE VALLEY RUNNERS Axe Valley Runners won both the men's and women's races at Crewkerne Running Club's Haselbury Trail 10k. Matt Clist won the multi-terrain event in 38.34 and Lin Lascelles was the first woman, finishing 18th overall, in 44.56. Phil Bayliss was the first male over-60 and 23rd overall in 46.16, while debutant Joshua Hopson was 29th in 47.30. Other AVR finishers were: Eleanor Wood 36th overall and 3rd woman in 48.52, Mark Hilder 53rd in 52.02, Paul Hampton 84th in 1:02.07, Sue Venn 101st in 1:07.10 and Gary Reading 103rd in 1:08.38.