CROYDON Harriers began their Lily B girls' league campaign with a solid runners-up finish at Sutton Arena last Saturday.
In the six-club fixture, Guildford & Goldalming took the honours on 285 points, with Croydon on 240 well clear of Dorking & Mole Valley (132pts), Reigate (127pts), Hercules Wimbledon (89pts) and Fleet & Crockham (63pts).
Croydon racked up five event maximums throughout the afternoon, and a further six individual A victories
On the field, Anieshka Mido (29.16m) and Emma Fossett (27.25m) ensured an A & B win in the U17 women's hammer, and Fossett went on to win the A javelin with a 31.50m effort.
Ines Zepa-D'Aboui claimed a pair of wins in the U13 discus (12.67m) and shot (7.15m). She was ably supported by Renae Jackson (6.57m) to ensure maximum points.
There were also individual wins for Kayla Bowley (U13 long jump, 3.97m) and Lauryn John-Greenwood (U15 high jump, 1.47m).
Rochelle Roye and Stevie Lawrence both cleared 2.35m in the U17 women's pole vault to take the spoils, before Lawrence took to the track to notch a 1500m win in five minutes and half a second.
In the sprints, Marcia Sey crossed the line first in the U13 girls' 200m (28.4s) and 70m hurdles (12.7s), and Esinam Dake (13.9s) topped the standings in the same age group in the 100m.
Ashleigh Clarke won the U17 women's 100m in 12.5secs, but in the B race Eleanor Smith-Hahn was forced to pull up due to an injury but still valiantly walked through the line to score.
Croydon need to finish in the top six to qualify for the main end of season final, with two more fixtures of the round-robin format still to come.
British junior international long jumper Elliot Safo competed as a guest at the British Athletics League Premiership fixture at Lee Valley and leapt to a wind-assisted 7.43m in his season opening effort.
In road running action, Lisa Harris finished runner-up in the women's race at the Sutton 10K in 39 minutes and 15 seconds.
Ben Savill spearheaded the men's challenge finishing 15th overall in a new lifetime best of 36:20. Mark Maginn (96th, 42:04) and Norman Hemming (13th M60, 48:18) were also in action in the 434-strong field.
In the pick of the ParkRun contests, Peter Chambers finished first at Banstead Woods in 16 minutes and six seconds nearly a minute clear of his nearest challenger. Sam Clayton was third at Lloyd Park and Jordan O'Dongo was first U14.
