MULTI-TALENTED Basingstoke and Mid Hants athlete Kierra Barker made the perfect start to the 2013 season, winning the under-17 pentathlon at the South of England Indoor Championships.
Barker and clubmate Devon Brimecome travelled to the Lee Valley Stadium, in east London, for the competition, which was 15-year-old Barker’s first at under-17 level.
Despite most of the other girls being older than her, the Bishop Challoner School pupil was a comfortable winner, amassing a personal best of 3,404points, finishing almost 250pts clear of the second-placed athlete.
Barker was dominant throughout and led after the very first event, clocking 8.97seconds for the 60m hurdles, a personal best and the fastest time of the competition.
She was equally impressive in the high jump, clearing 1.69metres to set a new indoor club record, with just one athlete jumping higher.
At that point, Barker looked set to run away with the competition and amass a huge points tally, but she aggravated an old injury leaping 5.11m in the long jump, the third-longest leap of the competition.
Despite this, she threw the shot to a personal best distance of 8.67m, again the third best performance of the day, meaning she was in the lead going into the final event, the 800m.
Barker, pictured right, was forced to consult a physiotherapist before taking part in the 800m, but produced a brave run to win the competition, completing the race in 2min 36.51sec, the second-fastest time overall.
The fastest time was recorded by Brimecome, who clocked a personal best of 2min 36.44sec to edge out her clubmate. She also enjoyed a good day, finishing eighth with a personal best points tally of 2,861pts.
The 14-year-old, who has joined the Down Grange club from Havant, clocked 9.70sec for the 60m hurdles, leapt 1.51m in the high jump and 4.87m in the long jump and threw the shot 6.79m before her fine display in the 800m.
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