Proud Rieley beats mumps to make his England debut

Rieley faced a race against time to make it for the Wales U20 International in Cardiff after contracting the disease about a month ago. But he proudly pulled on the England vest and finished fourth in the 1500m.

In a tactical race, the first 700m was very steady and as the pace quickened, he just missed out on a podium place in the last 200m when the lack of traning took its toll.

Harriers also fielded several athletes in the Charnwood Open Meeting at the Paula Radcliffe Stadium in Loughborough, and several produced terrific performances, most notably Chris Monk, who dominated the 800m A race, leading all the way.

Bethany Williams, in her last race before she flies to the USA to start her scholarship, was comfortably the fastest lady, although she took several bumps and a couple of spike marks, and she was followed home by Jonny Lowe.

U13 Beth Hamilton continued her relentless improvement with another new best time and also a tactical masterclass that showed maturity beyond her years, while at the other end of the age scale, Bev Armstrong, ran a very strong race as she continued to enjoy her first summer on the track for more than 20 years.

In the 1500m, Jake Orr proved that he’s another U13 progressing nicely as he knocked three seconds off his best time. And over 100m, U15 Ben Madeley recorded a new best time to win his heat, closely followed by Chris Ashmore, while Ellie Sheppard shrugged off recent injury to clock a PB.

Field performances were led by Kelsey Pearce, who launched the shot to a massive distance of 12.08 metres to continue her superb run of form. Both Ellie Sheppard and Tammy Smith also recorded new best throws.

In the javelin, Bryony Evans seems to get better with every competition as she completed another best, while coach Chris Ashmore’s throw put him in the top 20 ranked over-50s in the country.