THURROCK Harriers tough afternoon of competition in the 3rd round of the Southern Mens’ League Division 1 at Bexley on Saturday was made all the more gruelling by torrential rain and strong winds.
However, they battled their way to 2nd place beaten only by the Kent club, Medway and Maidstone.
Michael Shortall is unbeaten this season in 110 and 400m hurdles. He continued his run in fine style on Saturday. He backed up these 2 wins by his usual solid performances in the sprints and jumps. Unusually, he was not the top points scorer. This accolade fell to Ben Gibbs who also scored a double win, for him in the sprints. He also won the B high jump and produced an eye opening 12.05m triple jump. His other points came from the pole vault and hammer. Personal bests were hard to come by but 400m specialist Jack Farmer produced one in the long jump where he leapt 5.66 to come 2nd in the B string. Dan George dragged a winning high jump from his injury stricken body and threw well in the shot, discus and javelin. Another winner was Douane Jibunoh who won the B shot and was 2nd in the javelin. His effort to produce a top ranking discus throw was thwarted by a torrential downpour.
The middle distance squad, all 4 of them, performed well. Scott Rice and Alex Houghton ran near personal bests in the 5k to get 2nd in both the A and B string, and they did the same in the steeplechase. Dennis Cross as always a good team man gave his all in the 400, 800 and 1500m races while Gary Rowlett made a good debut in the 5k. Mark Jenkins as always made an invaluable contribution in both the hurdles races, pole vault and discus. The result means that the senior men move up to 4th place in the league with every prospect of reaching even higher with their home match next month.
Crown to Crown
The June edition of the Crown to Crown fun run saw Thurrock’s Don Lawless finish in 8th place. Other finishers and times were John Russell 20.01, Jason Syrett 20.32, Gary Rowlett 21.18, Martin Mack 21.35, Sarah Eves 24.44.
