COLCHESTER and Tendring Athletic Club finished a creditable third in their latest Southern Athletics League division three fixture, in Luton.

They battled hard against some stiff opposition, to leave a positive impression on team manager Jenny Williams.

The Black Vests' men off to a good start, with excellent sprinting from Akin Akinboh who finished second in his 100 metres race in 11.5 seconds and 200m in 23.5s.

Owen Fookes gave a good account of himself in the 400m to finish second in 54s, while Olli Gifford worked hard all afternoon and clocked a personal best (PB) of two minutes 0.72s in finishing second in the 800m.

Sam Gardiner gave his all in the 800m with a time of 2m 09 2s and Ermeas Afewerki showed up well in a fast 1,500m to finish second in 4m 20s.

CATs' 4x400m squad of Owen Fookes, Olli Gifford, Sam Gardiner and Ermeas Afewerki ran an exciting race to win in a time of 3m 38.3s.

In the field events, Adam Vigar had a busy afternoon, taking part in four events.

His best performance was in the long jump where he finished third with a distance of 5.30m.

Stefan Godran had an excellent throw of 36.24m to finish third in the javelin while Bradley Hicks gave his all in the pole vault to finish third (1.80m) and 1,500m.

Cleveland Williams scored valuable points in the shot putt and discus.

In the Ladies section, Lauren Woodiwiss was in sparkling form with wins in the 200mm (27.7s) and 400m (62.6s, PB).

In the 800m, Emily Donoghue ran her first-ever 1,500m steeplechase and was rewarded for her effort after finishing third in 6m 37.2s.

Sian Hicks, Diane Wooller and team captain Sian Gifford all worked hard to score valuable points in the 1,500m and 5,000m.

April Castle took part in an amazing nine events with a PB in the 400m hurdles (3m 80.8s) and triple jump (9.36m).

April's sister Debbie was also in great form, winning her discus with a throw of 32.17m while her sister Hannah came second in the B String discus.

Carey Hollick did well in the shot putt to finish third while Sarah Kelley looked strong in all her field events, winning her pole vault in an excellent 2.65m.

CATs' 4x100m relay of April Castle, Sarah Kelley, Lauren Woodiwiss and Sian Hicks finished second and the squad also secured a brilliant second-place finish in the 4 x400m relay.

Result: l St Albans; 2 Luton; 3 CATS; 4 Peterborough; 5 Barnet; 6 Chiltern Harriers and Bedford.

CATs' highly-rated sprinter Joy Ogunleye narrowly missed out on a medal at the English Schools Championships in Birmingham.

After winning her Senior Girls' 100m heat, she clocked an excellent 12.13s to finish fourth in the final.

There were excellent performances by CATs' athletes in the Eastern Veterans League at Chelmsford.

In the over-35 group, there were season best performances by Justin Hubbard and Aaron Bollu in the long jump and 200m respectively.

Life PBs were achieved by Cleveland Williams in the over-50 shot putt and Carey Hollick in the over-35 shot putt, 1.5 kilometre walk and 200m.

In the oldest age group, Diane Wooler moved towards the top of national rankings in both the 200m and 800m.

Steve Cartwright, also in the older category, looked in good shape with an excellent performance in the 400m hurdles.

Asian Gifford completed the team giving a good account of herself in both the 400m hurdles and 800m, giving away more than ten years to other competitors.

This joint team with Ipswich Barriers provides great competition for the older athletes, in a friendly atmosphere.