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England athletes continue good form in Tallinn

A team of five senior athletes and two under-20 women represented England at the recent Tallinn World Combined Events Tour 4/5 February 2023.

The women’s team of Jordanna Morrish (coach: Rafer Joseph, club: Bracknell AC), Emily Tyrell (Kevin Skinner, Exeter/Bath University), Lucy Fellows (Zac Harrop, Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow/Millfield School) and Bryony Bovell (John Shepherd, Guildford and Godalming) – the latter two both U20 women – were joined by Lewis Church (David Hull, Tonbridge), Harry Maslen (Sam Stanislaus, Ilkey/Gateshead), and Caius Joseph (Rafer Joseph, Basingstoke and Mid Hants) in the men’s senior team.

Church and Morrish were nominated as captains for their respective teams supported by Team Lead Rafer Joseph, coaches Ben Hazell and Laura Turner-Alleyne, and medical support Cieran Keen.

Day one of the Heptathlon saw solid performances from Church, Joseph, and Maslen with Church and Maslen down 82pts and 78pts, respectively, and Joseph down 32pts on their PB performances produced at Sheffield at the recent England Athletics Combined Events Championships.

Church jumped a season’s best in the high jump (2.00m), Joseph threw a season’s best in the shot (13.38m) and Maslen ran a PB in his 60m (7.17s).

Day two got underway with the men’s hurdles where all three team members again produced solid performances close to PBs. The pole vault saw Maslen fail to record a height which was unfortunate given he was vaulting well.

With Joseph and Church both recording 4.43m the three progressed onto the 1000m where they raced well.

The women all started well with Fellows running a hurdles PB (8.85s), Morrish a season’s best (9.30s) with Tyrell only one hundredth off her PB (8.58s). Bovell was also close to her PB and so the start of their competition was positive.

The high jump proved difficult for some of the women. Morrish jumped a below par 1.64m. Bovell and Fellows jumped solidly but the bad news of the day was that Tyrell sustained an injury whilst jumping and had to withdraw from the high jump.

She still managed a shot PB (10.79m) after some medical attention but as she could not take off in the long jump, decided to end her participation.

Bovell, Fellows, and Morrish all went on to throw well in the shot and gained further points in the long jump with acceptable performances. They all ran hard in the 800m finishing the day a little down on overall best performances, but healthy and ready for the UK Champs where the men will also compete again.

Rafer Joseph said:

“As a development team, it was a learning opportunity for the athletes to compete alongside world class combined eventers, at a world class event, and I am sure the experience will serve them well in the future. The competition produced some very special individual and overall performances, to a very receptive, knowledgeable, and supportive crowd. The value of providing the opportunity for our combined event athletes to be part of competitions of this standard cannot be underestimated. They are inspiring, showcase firsthand how world class athletes compete and conduct themselves, allow learning to occur and of course motivate!”

Results

  • Lewis Church 10th

7.39, 6.74, 13.39. 2.00, 8.34, 4.43, 2.41.94 – 5486pts

  • Caius Joseph 13th

7.15, 7.08, 13.38, 1.73, 8.53, 4.43, 2.49.16 – 5289pts

  • Harry Maslen 18th

7.15, 7.01, 12.04, 1.88, 8.28, NH, 2.54.66 – 4575pts

  • Jordanna Morrish 16th

9.30, 1.64, 10.23, 5.70, 2.22.24 – 3728pts

  • Lucy Fellows 20th

8.85, 1.58, 11.14, 5.87, 2.39.97 – 3640pts

  • Bryony Bovell 21st

9.07, 1.56, 9.96, 5.69, 2.28.32 – 3604pts

  • Emily Tyrell

8.58, 1.64, 10.79, 4.85, DNS

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