THIS weekend was designated in the busy athletics calendar as Inter Counties weekend. Rhiana Drew was selected for the Under 20 event at Horspath, Oxford. She was selected to throw hammer as the A competitor. This was no less than she deserved having won county and regional medals earlier in the season and throwing consistently well throughout at club matches.

Prior to the start of competition, Drew’s personal best stood at 37.24m. In a consistent series of throws, she managed to improve on this considerably. She threw 38.27m to take third overall, just eleven centimetres shorter than Khelya Ekwe’s, from Surrey, throw. Sapphire Houston-Ball, from Kent, who was the highest ranked competitor in the competition won with 41.77m.

Drew, who is a first year in the age group, will end the season inside the top thirty athletes for the discipline. Essex ended the day in second place behind Surrey in the nine-county match.