Reading Athletic Club’s Senior Women contested their opening fixture of the UK Women’s League this past Saturday as they made their way to Cardiff for their Division 2 fixture.
A number of injuries severely dented their team, particularly in the sprint area, whilst a number of factors on the day threw a few spanners in the works, that coupled with horrendous conditions with Hurricane-like gusts of winds, just made the day that more difficult that it needed to be. However the senior ladies of Reading are nothing but resilient and they rallied round together and managed to secure the club a decent 5th position in difficult circumstances.
The throwing squad were virtually full strength however and they chipped in with some terrific points. In the hammer Danni Opara secured a decent 4thA whilst Laura Pearce filled in the b-string to throw the hammer for the first time in over 5 years.
The Discus saw maximum points gained as Amy Holder & Danni Opara were in formidable form, Amy won the competition with a 45.81m throw whilst Danni won the b-string with 40.40m.
The Javelin served up the same result, Katherine West made her UK League debut as she made it a winning one by taking the honours with 40.32m. Laura Pearce completed the double with a 29.57m b-string winning effort.
Finally the shot saw only one point dropped, Danni was a clear winner when launching out to 13.91m, Amy then secured 2ndB with a 9.54m effort.
In the middle distance events, Emma Taylor gave a solid effort in the 800m A race in tough windy conditions as well as racing round equally tough conditions in the 400m. Sue Francis placed 5thB in the 800m, The 1500m saw Sarah Wilkins race very well to claim 3rdA whilst Julia Henderson gave a solid account of herself with 2ndB. Debbie Taylor & Sue Francis tackled the 3k as Debbie placed 5thA with Sue 4thB, whilst in the steeplechase, Anna claimed a solid 5th position.
Tayla Benson ran a decent 400mh race when taking 5thA, whilst Freya Tubb also made her UK League debut with a solid 4thB effort. Tayla then looked equally impressive when claiming 3rd in the 100mh race in 17.46, as she then contested the triple jump and leapt 9.66m for 5thA, as Meryl Austin’s 9.18m saw her clinch 2ndB. Elsewhere in the jumps Caroline Parkinson leapt 3.10m in the blustery winds in the pole vault for 2nd. Helen Buckley claimed 5th in the high jump, a position she also repeated in the b-string long jump, whilst in the a-string Charlotte Gorman leapt 6th.
The relays then brought a close to the day as both teams did exceptionally well, especially the 4×100 team who were a scratch team, as Amy, Katherine, Emma & Tayla claimed 5th, the 4×400 race saw Debbie, Sue, Sarah & Julia combine to claim 7th to give the team 5th.
With the next match a month away, Reading can hopefully return much stronger and push for the top positions in that match at Newham.