Purdue's stunning return to top form (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Purdue's stunning return to top form

8:00am Saturday 4th September 2010 in

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CHARLIE Purdue continued in her rich vein of form by recording a new personal best for the 5,000m at a meeting in Cardiff.

The 19-year-old from Hook won the event at the British Milers Club Nike Grand Prix in a time of 15min 23.4sec, taking more than 25 seconds off of her personal best. It also makes her the second-fastest British under-20 of all time, behind Zola Budd.

Two other north Hampshire athletes were also in action at Cardiff over the weekend, running in the McCain Challenge final. Basingstoke and Mid Hants’ Andy Blow finished second in the 400m hurdles, while clubmate Kieran Showler-Davis was fourth in the 200m.

Young multi-eventer Kierra Barker also had a good weekend, claiming victory in the Northern Ireland Pentathlon Championships.

The 12-year-old Basingstoke and Mid Hants athlete produced the best performance in each of the five disciplines on her way to a personal best tally of 2,527 points, which puts her third in the British rankings. She also claimed victory in the high jump at the Oxford City Open.

More youngsters from Basingstoke and Mid Hants were in action at the Southern Counties under-15 and under-20 Inter-Counties Championships. Sprinter Myles Richardson produced the best performance, claiming second place in the under-15 200m with a personal best time of 23.18sec.

Richardson was also in action at Down Grange as Basingstoke and Mid Hants claimed second place in the Alder Valley Boys Trophy Final, winning the under-15 100m and 200m.

Under-17 Chris Ladhams also won two events, the 400m and 800m, while under-13 JJ Crookes claimed the A long jump, as well as the B 100m and B 200m.

The other Basingstoke A string winners were Richard Fernando (under-15 800m) and Caleb Jones (under-15 long jump), while the under-13 and under-15 4x100m teams also claimed victory.

The final results saw Basingstoke’s under-13 team claim victory, while the under-15 and under-17 teams were second. Overall, they finished just one point behind winners Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow.