SOME 350 athletes descended upon the Thames Valley Athletics Centre on Saturday to compete in the WSEH Spring Open Meeting, writes Dennis Daly.

There was a large contingent of local athletes present anxious to register performances that would gain them places in club teams for the league competitions that lie ahead.

There were noteworthy performances, particularly in the field events.

Bayley Campbell in the Under-17 (U17) hammer looks to be capable of extinguishing Andy Tolputt's 20-year-old club record this summer with his winning throw of 66.79m.

It was a similar story in the U15 high jump where a leap of 1.65m by Temi Ojora is putting Morgan Lake's record of 1.70m under threat.

The javelin saw Jude Compton-Stewart approaching the 60m barrier with his winning throw of 59.17m.

Further down the age range Archie Goodliff continued his winning ways with an U15 effort of 43.68m.

The long jump was also noteworthy for the number of WSEH winners. Sam Challis set the trend with his excellent 6.54m in the U20 age group.

Kaudia Walas (4.56m) and Rachel Okoro (4.47m) took the plaudits in the U15 and U13 categories, whilst Anthony Robins-Kent was the U13 boys winner with 4.32m. Rico Lionetti was the best in the U15 boys high jump with a 1.50m clearance.

In the sprints, Frank Ahanon set a new personal best of 11.17 seconds (secs) in the U20 100m. Kennedy Bays was the best of the U20 ladies with her times of 12.65secs and 26.86secs for the 100m and 200m double.

Josh Pearson looked impressive with his win in the U15 300m in 37.31secs. Ayoola Badyola was the best of the U15 girls in the 200m with 27.22secs.

Marvin Tchangua was the one to watch in the U15 800m in a personal best of 2:13.06. Rachel Clutterbuck made an impressive debut with her win in the U11 800m in 2:53.90.

WSEH plays host at Thames Valley Athletics Centre for the first match in the Alder Valley Boys League series this Saturday. The first event starts at 11am.