Finn O’Reilly broke a club javelin record as Colchester Harriers finished fifth in the latest round of the Eastern Young Athletes League, in Bedford.

O’Reilly smashed Harriers’ javelin record with a throw of 27.62 metres, in the fourth round of the league.

O’Reilly also ran a new personal best (PB) in the 75m hurdles (16.0 seconds) and was third in the long jump.

Harriers’ club signing Callum McKay was second in the 100m and followed this by winning the 100m in 26.4s.

George Dobson was second in both the long jump (4.64m) and 100m, along with third in the 200m.

Jonah Varela ran a new PB of two minutes 48.9 seconds in the 800m, while Harriers’ 4x100m relay team came third.

Harriers’ under-15 boys found it tough going against some very strong opposition but stuck to the task.

Charlie Dobson ran a PB of 26.4s in the 200m and also jumped a best of 4.72m in the long jump. In the middle distances there were excellent runs by Harry Varela (2m 17s) and Thomas Harrison (2m 33s).

In the 1,500m, Sam Comisky (5m 13s), Matthew Harrison (5m 04s) and Jack Shepherd (5m 08s) all claimed PBs.

Tom Mitchell was second in the javelin (34.61m) and was well supported in the throws by Jack Singleton, who was third in the javelin (15.88m).

In the under-17s, Ben Gale run a solid 100m (11.9s) and 200m (23.9s), while Connor Oliver also ran well in the 100m (11.9s).

Callum Pettit-Coombes was second in a closely-contested 100m hurdles in 15.5s and then threw the discus 16.82m.

Harriers’ girls had a depleted squad but they all battled hard.

Lauren Strutt claimed a PB in the 800m (2m 52.9s) and 70m hurdles (15.8s), where she took more than a second off her PB.

Rachel Hoddell ran the 1,500m and also finished fourth in the shot (5.28m).

Francesca Harley was fourth in the 100m (14.4s), long jump (3.68m) and 200m (30.2s), while Savanna Harrison was third in the 100m (16.1s), She also claimed a PB in the javelin (8.82m).

Rachel Harvey showed consistency in the long jump finishing with 3.65m and fourth place.

Harriers’ under-15 girls performed well with Caitlin O’Reilly finishing second in the 100m (13.2s) and 200m (28s).

She also claimed a PB in the javelin (16.28m), where she finished fifth.

Faith Alao supported the team well in the 100m (second 14.1s), shot putt (second, 7m 50cm) and discus (fourth, 11.45m).

Phillipa Davenall threw the discus an impressive 22.76m for second place and was third in the shot putt with 8.60.

Eliza Ridley-Johnson was fifth in the 800m (2m 44.4s) and also competed alongside Courtney Bland in the long jump, gaining valuable points for the club.

Megan Sifford was seventh in the 1,500m in 5m 48.6s.

In the under-17 girls, Harriers’ Charlotte Head was fourth in the long jump (4.28m) and fifth in the shot putt (6.12m).

Joy Huggins was fifth in the 800m (2m 42.3s) and second in the shot putt (4.27m).

Katherine-Jayne Watts ran a strong 1,500m, leading the field by a good margin in finishing first in a time of 5m 01.2s.

n Following a personal best in the 400m hurdles, at the Southern Athletics League meeting, Heather Shepherd was selected for the Senior Essex team at the South of England Inter Counties Championships, held in Abingdon, Oxford.

She again excelled herself with another personal best of 64.36s to move into the top 60 ranked 400m hurdlers in the country.