A last minute change from entering the Lee Valley open 60m & 200m sprints competition to the U15s Pentathlon saw Kacey Walters of Cambridge Harriers coming 4th place in a field of 48 U15s competitors, finishing just 2 points behind the 3rd placed athlete. Not having had much time to train for the event, and having had a few rushed last minute mini-sessions on Tuesday for the hurdles, shot put (thanks Pete), long jump and a few laps round the track, Kacey came away with a new Pentathlon PB of 2689 points, (an improvement of nearly 300 points from last year’s one in March 2018), with a new PB in the 60m hurdles of 10.40 and another in the 800m of 2.53.93, she came 1st in the  high jump with a jump of 1.60m, (having cleared 1.60m she decided to go for broke and skipped the next height of 1.63m going for the 1.66 clearance but it wasn’t to be), she also won 2nd place overall in the shot put with a put of 9.72 (not quite her 10.22 PB but good enough points wise). Unfortunately confusion with Kacey’s long jump run up saw her not achieve a distance anywhere near what she is capable of or near her PB of last year, and unfortunately cost her a higher placing, but lessons were learned and experience was gained and to be honest, well done for just jumping in and having a go last minute. Stand out performance of the day was the 800m (nobody’s favourite event at the end of such a long hard slog day), and having had only a 15 minute break from the end of the high jump comp because they brought the event forward, a very determined performance saw Kacey run 2.53.93 besting her PB of 2.57.63 so a massive well done.
- Gill Barber