Training comes together for Essex Combined Events Championships.

THURROCK was the venue for this year’s combined events championships, that served as both an open and county championship event. Harlow had three athletes competing at three different age groups; Leo Chashchin took part in the U20s, Grace Iyinbor in the U15s and Mia Rowan in the U13 competition.

Having all the age groups in attendance and all competing in a pentathlon format, meant that some did not start with the traditional first event of hurdles. Some categories had no hurdles at all.

The girls both got underway with long jump. Grace was in good form as she was consistently over 4m and equalled her PB of 4.06cm in the third round.

Mia also jumped well but her longest legal jump stood at 3.41cm. She only fouled by a small margin with a longer jump and the signs are that she could achieve closer to 4m as the season unfolds.

The Under 20 format was unusual as this is not a traditional event. The five events were; long jump, javelin, 200m, discus and 1500m. Long jump is a strong event for Leo and so he began in confident fashion. His leap of 6.19m equalled his best and was enough for second place and good points.

He then moved on to Javelin as the girls headed for the hurdles. It wasn’t quite his best throw but 30.64m was only the second time he has been over thirty metres and secured third in the event.

Meanwhile on the track Grace ran the 75m hurdles in 12.99s to shave a hundredth from her existing PB. Mia ran the 70m hurdles in 12.60s to reduce her PB too.

The final event before the break was 200m for Chaschin and Shot for the girls. Mia managed a putt of 5.74m to increase her PB by 10 cm in the second round. Grace also threw a PB in the shot that now stands at 7.74m. In a very quick 200m race, Chashchin was only just outside his best but 24.49 was a good time nevertheless.

The girls’ afternoon got underway with high jump. Mia managed a best jump of 1.08m but looked capable of more in future. Grace set another new PB as she cleared 1.36m. And once again she too looked capable of going higher.

Chashchin was very sensible, throwing a safe standing discus throw in the first round. He fouled in the second round but remained confident to use a full spin turn in the final round. His risk was rewarded as he threw a new PB of 23.25m.

All three had to be mentally prepared for the final gruelling endurance event. Grace managed to run her 800m in 2.54.0 minutes. Mia ran hers in 2.49.0minutes, which knocked five seconds from her mark set indoors earlier this year.

Chashchin ran his 1500m sensibly by setting a strong pace to string the field out. However, realising he wasn’t going to do enough to displace the leader, he dropped back into the pack and shadowed his nearest rival for silver. Although time by now was irrelevant 5.07.3 minutes was a good effort at the end of a bitterly cold afternoon.

His overall points total of 2449 was his best for this multi-event format and earned him silver. Although they did not make the podium Mia and Grace had both performed very well. In the U15 event Grace’s total of 2165 points was enough for seventh in the overall rankings and fifth in the Essex Championship. Mia’s total 1617 points saw her eighth overall and sixth in the Essex competition.

Club chair Steve Lott said; “Many congratulations to all three. It takes a huge amount of mental effort to deal with the ebb and flow of multi-eventing. Being able to put aside disappointment, pick yourself up and go again is an art in itself. These three have shown that they have that toughness. I’ll look forward to seeing how they progress in the coming years.”