27th January 2019
EMERSON AND TURNER TAKE TITLES AT INDOOR COMBINED EVENTS INTERNATIONAL
Great Britain & Northern Ireland won the Indoor Combined Events International Match in Cardiff, with two stunning victories on day two courtesy of a world lead by Niamh Emerson (coach: David Feeney, club: Amber Valley & Erewash) in the senior women’s pentathlon and Jack Turner (Kevin Skinner, Exeter) in the junior men’s heptathlon.
Emerson was in magnificent form as she scored a total of 4544 points to go to the top of the current world standings, also moving to fourth on the UK all-time list behind Katarina Johnson-Thompson (5000), Jessica Ennis-Hill (4965) and Kelly Sotherton (4927).
It was a superb start for the world junior heptathlon champion who blitzed the opening 60m hurdles in a personal best of 8.68. She followed this with 1.83m in the high jump before her field leading 13.60m shot put effort proved significant.
6.11m in the long jump and a personal best of 2:14.48 over 800m confirmed her place on top of the podium and leaves her in a great position ahead of the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
The British women’s team won overall with Alice Hopkins (Marcia Marriott; Oxford City), Ellen Barber (David Feeney; Yeovil) and Lucy Turner (Gateshead) all putting in fine performances to beat the Spanish, French, Czech and Polish teams.
Hopkins scored three personal bests out of a possible five. She crossed the line in 8.64 over the 60m hurdles to begin proceedings, before clearing 1.75m in the high jump. On course for a lifetime best, she ran a great final 800m in a time of 2:25.61 to score her best ever total of 4080 points.
Barber was 11th with 3979 points with a 9.08 PB over 60m hurdles and an equal lifetime best of 1.71m in the high jump contributing to that score. Turner placed 13th with a final total of 3903; she also clocked a personal best in the 60m hurdles of 8.54.
After leading the competition from day one, Jack Turner maintained the pressure and won the U20 men’s heptathlon with a total of 5430 points. After a personal best over the 60m flat on Saturday, he showed his speed over the hurdles on Sunday, posting a lifetime best of 8.05 to kickstart his campaign on day two.
4.15m in the pole vault – which was a personal best and his first time ever over 4m – propelled him into a great position ahead of the final event. A time of 2:50.55 in the 1000m confirmed his place at the top of the podium.
Joel McFarlane (Central) also secured his spot on the podium as he bagged a bronze medal after a fine seven events. Lying fourth after day one, he started the second day with a bang, recording a lifetime best of 8.49 in the 60m hurdles. A clearance over 4.35m in the pole vault and a 1000m time of 2:50.31 secured a third-place finish on 5326 points.
Scott Brindley (Mark Stringer; North Ayrshire) was sixth – moving up two positions after his final three events – scoring 5228 points with 8.33 in the 60m hurdles his highlight.
In the senior men’s event, Andrew Murphy (Colin Sinclair; Kilbarchan) climbed to fifth in the overall standings with a career best score of 5628 points, just 12 points outside the Scottish record.
The Kilbarchan athlete scored two personal bests during the competition with a shot put mark of 13.91m achieved, and on the quick track, another 60m hurdles personal best, this time 8.36.
Team captain Ben Gregory (Aston Moore, Birchfield) finished sixth on 5561 points while Howard Bell (Iain McEwan; Edinburgh AC) was 13th scoring 5231 points.
On the first day of action, Holly Mills (Laura Turner-Alleyne; Andover) tied for the U20 women’s pentathlon title with Spain’s Maria Vicente.
Results on day two:
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