26th January 2019

MILLS TIES FOR U20 TITLE AT INDOOR COMBINED EVENTS INTERNATIONAL

There was an excellent victory for Holly Mills (Laura Turner-Alleyne; Andover) in the U20 women’s pentathlon on day one of the Indoor Combined Events International Match in Cardiff, as she tied with Maria Vicente of Spain on 4216 points.

In a contest between teams from Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Czech Republic, France, Spain and Poland, Mills scored a significant personal best of 4216 points to move her to third on the UK all-time under 20 list behind Morgan Lake (4527) and Katarina Johnson-Thompson (4526).

She started incredibly well with a personal best over the 60m hurdles, stopping the clock at 8.42, taking 0.08 seconds off her previous best. This meant she led the competition heading into the high jump, and she continued her impressive form, clearing 1.75m on her second attempt to match Vicente’s effort.

11.27m in the shot put and 5.92m in the long jump – a second place behind the Spanish athlete who leapt 6.15m – confirmed she would go into the final event over 100 points behind the talented Spaniard who has won World and European U18 heptathlon titles over the past two years.

However, it was Mills who earned a stunning win in the 800m, clocking 2:19.75 compared to Maria Vicente’s 2:27.69. Staggeringly that left both athletes on the same number of points at the end of the competition and they shared the victory.

It was an impressive performance from Amaya Scott (Matthew Watson; Southampton) who won the shot put event with a best of 13.17m which provided 739 points. A PB of 9.08 in the 60m hurdles, 1.69m in the high jump, 2:29.50 over 800m and a useful 5.80m leap in the long jump contributed to her final score of 3962 which sealed her fourth place overall.

Jenna Blundell (Julie Alexander; Team Bath) finished on 3694 points and started well with a personal best of 8.67 which left her in fifth place after the first event. 1.69m in the high jump, a 9.49m shot put effort, 5.59m in the long jump and a 2:33.51 time posted over 800m left her in sixth place overall.

Meanwhile, Andrew Murphy (Colin Sinclair; Kilbarchan) leads the way for the Brits in the senior men’s heptathlon in eighth on 3032 points after day one. Ben Gregory (Aston Moore; Birchfield Harriers) lies 14th with 2915 points while Howard Bell (Iain McEwan; Edinburgh AC) is one place behind on 2890 points. John Lane (Toni Minichiello; Sheffield & Dearne) withdrew after his opening 60m.

In the under 20 men’s heptathlon, after three events Jack Turner (Kevin Skinner; Exeter) leads overall on 3042 points overall. A 7.17 clocking over 60m was a PB and a perfect start to the competition, the fourth fastest overall. 7.06m in the long jump, 12.58m in the shot put and a best clearance of 1.94m in the high jump contributed to his lead at the end of day one.

Joel McFarlane (Central) lies in fourth with 2986 points with a leap of 7.08m the furthest overall in the long jump. Elsewhere, Scott Brindley (Mark Stringer; North Ayrshire) is eighth currently on 2792 points.

Live results can be found on the Welsh Athletics website.

Results:

U20 Women

Senior Men (current standings)

U20 Men (current standings)