IPSWICH Harriers' Under-17 boy's team had to settle for sharing the East Anglian League trophy with Luton after a closely fought final at Bury St Edmunds.

Stuart Watson

IPSWICH Harriers' Under-17 boy's team had to settle for sharing the East Anglian League trophy with Luton after a closely fought final at Bury St Edmunds.

highlights included Matti Mortimore winning the javelin and discus, as well as Chris Bradshaw and Rhys McDonald winning the 'A' and 'B' string triple jumps respectively.

McDonald also just finished two centimetres behind first place in the long jump and then came second in the 200m.

Anthony Kitterman won his 400m event, while Andy Constable stormed home first in the 800m.

Once the final results were totalled up, Ipswich and Luton were left deadlocked on 163 points, ahead of Nene Valley and Chelmsford.

The final proved a triumph for Harriers' strength in depth, with the club able to contest all of the age divisions.

The club's U13 boys' team once again performed well and went into the final relay knowing that a win could secure the trophy.

However, a fourth place finish behind eventual winners Cambridge meant that they had to settle for second place overall.

Prior to the relay, Ipswich had competed well in the middle distance events. Rob Tennant won the 1500m 'A' string, while Bradley Wattleworth had an excellent debut in the 800m by finishing a close second.

Harri Mortimore enjoyed a clean sweep of victories in the throws, while Kasey Hagan and Errol Thompson had their usual battle in the high jump, with Hagan finishing on top this week.

Hagan also did well to win the 'B' string hurdles and Thompson the long jump with an effort of 4.54m.

Ipswich's U13 girls were two places further back in their section even though they were just seven points behind the winners Nene Valley.

Not for the first time this season, Enya Moore and Emily Lambert dominated the sprints, Moore winning both the 'A' string 100m and 200m and Lambert the 'B' string.

There were good debuts from Emily Bate and Alice and Emily Robinson. Alice Robinson volunteered for the 800m which is above her normal distance and performed well to record a time of 2:48.5.

Emily Robinson had an excellent 1500m in her first race, recording a personal best of 5:36.4 to finish third behind two of the best girls in the country.

Bate recovered well after an early fall in the same race to earn valuable points for the team, while Ellie Bloomfield threw a distance of 22.08m to win the discus.

The U15 girls' section was dominated by the City of Norwich who finished way ahead of the rest of the field.

Only eight points separated the next four, with the Harriers finishing fifth.

The best performance was Jade Ramsey, who still qualifies for U13 level, obtaining a time of 2:32.3 in the 'A' string 800m against far older girls. Lucy Barnes finished second in the 'B' string of the same event.

Charlotte Shelley won the high jump with an effort of 1.55m, with Rachel Hall achieving third in 'B' string.

Hall also finished third in the 'B' string javelin, while Sian Fagg worked hard to earn valuable points in all three throwing disciplines.

Elsewhere, Ipswich's U15 boys were well beaten into fifth place with no-one winning an event on the day.

Caine Sobers finished second in the 'A' high jump, with James Mann coming second in the 'B' string.

Mann also finished second in the 'B' string javelin, while Frank Bloomfield did well in his three throwing events.

It had proved to be a great day for Ipswich's senior athletes, the men's side claiming the title and the women's side finishing second.

Results

Under-17 Boys: =1st Ipswich 163, =1st Luton 163, 2nd Nene Valley 141, 3rd Chelmsford 125, 4th Cambridge 71, 5th Peterborough 69, 6th Gt Yarmouth 51, 7th Colchester 48.

Under-15 Boys: 1st City of Norwich 163.5, 2nd Peterborough 143, 3rd Nene Valley 140.5, 4th Chelmsford 124, 5th Ipswich 110, 6th Colchester 101, 7th Cambridge 91, 8th Luton 59.

Under-15 Girls: 1st City of Norwich 132, 2nd Peterborough 96, 3rd Chelmsford 95.5, 4th Colchester 95, 5th Ipswich 88, 6th West Norfolk 81, 7th Nene Valley 74.5, 8th West Suffolk 67.

Under-13 Boys: 1st Cambridge 110.5, 2nd Ipswich 107, 3rd Peterborough 99.5, 4th Chelmsford 99, 5th Nene Valley 81, 6th Colchester 66, 7th Diss 53.5, 8th Luton 44.5.

Under-13 Girls: 1st Nene Valley 101, 2nd City of Norwich 100.5, 3rd Chelmsford 96, 4th Ipswich 94, 5th West Suffolk 92.5, 6th Peterborough 82.5, 7th Braintree 79.5, 8th Diss 38.