Sale Harriers Manchester was well-represented at the Loughborough International Athletics meeting on May 23^rd, with many of the club's highest achievers commencing serious competition for the first time in 2010.  The weather was superb and resulted in some excellent early season performances. 

The sprints were particularly fertile, with Rebekah Wilson winning a 100m race in 11.93s and HCA member Katherine Endacott recording a pb of  11.53s in the 100m and an outdoor best of 23.64 in the 200m, which bodes well for the upcoming European Club Cup.  Lucy Evans, representing Wales, also went under 12 seconds in the match race, running 11.95s.  Shaunna Thompson had an off day in a highly competitive 200m match race, but Andy Robertson maintained a superb start to the season in the men's 100m, winning the B race in an excellent 10.46s. Meanwhile, Chris Craig was frustrated by the wind gauge, as he triumphed in the B 200m race in an outstanding 20.98 seconds, with the wind reading agonisingly just 0.3 m/s over the legal limit.  Ryan Oswald also returned to competition with a solid outing in the 100m.

New members Rhys Smith and Dave Hughes both performed well in the 400m, with Rhys taking part in a very strong match race (48.66) and Dave clocking a very respectable 47.85s in one of the guest 400m events.  Debo Ademuyewo also got his 400m season under way with a decent run out (49.36).  In the women's event, Kelly Massey took some very useful scalps, finishing 2^nd in the match race in 54.65.

There were good performances in the hurdles, too, as Andrea Vinet got her season under way with a 14.02 clocking, while Nick Gayle hit a hurdle in the men's match race, which threw him off his stride and affected his time.  Chris Wakeford, a new member this year, got close to his pb with a 54.40 run in the longer hurdles.

In the endurance events Nick Samuels again showed how much he has improved with another sub 3m50 1500m, this time crossing the line in 3:48.44, while Sonia Samuels showed that her husband couldn't take all the family credit, by finishing 3^rd (9:13.06) ahead of Lisa Dobriskey in a high quality 3000m.  Kaye Kirkham also had a run out in the 800m.

There were also some strong performances in the field, with club members winning both the men's and women's javelin competitions.  Matt Hunt, representing England, threw superbly to beat James Campbell with 71m52, not far off the club record, while Laura Whittingham threw a series of pbs to win in 53m84.  In the other throws, Scot Thompson represented Scotland in the shot and improved his outdoor sb to 16m20, while a trio of Sale Harriers competed in the women's event.  Rebecca Peake (15m83) edged out Scotland's Alison Rodger (15m37), with multi-eventer Katia Lannon flying the flag for Wales.  The women's hammer was also a club affair, with HCA member Sophie Hitchon taking the honours and the victory for GB juniors in an excellent 65m93, just 5cm short of her pb.  Yet Sarah Holt was also over 65m (65m51) and Laura Douglas over 60m (60m86) to complete an excellent competition.  UK number 1 Alex Smith, still recovering from food poisoning and a face-first fall in training, came a credible 5^th in the men's event with 67m55.

The jumps events were just as spectacular, with Steph Pywell's 1m90 pb requiring Jess Ennis to draw on all her reserves to beat her in the high jump.  In the Pole Vault, while Abigail Haywood unfortunately no-heighted, Andy Sutcliffe, still in heavy training, managed a decent 4m90 as his season starts in earnest.   In the Triple Jump, new member Ricardo Twumasi, representing Loughborough, came 5^th, with 14m57, while his training partner Steve Small jumped a season's best of 7m24 to equal that position in the Long Jump.  An excellent season awaits all. (Written by Dean Hardman)