Guernsey Press

Mercier goes gold with island record 3k run

SARAH MERCIER slaughtered the island record in landing the South of England 3,000m title at Lee Valley in London.

Published

Mercier, 24, the reigning NatWest Island Games 5000m champion, ran a superbly judged race in the capital to not only grab her first major area championship, but also give herself a perfect fillip with the NatWest island Games less than a fortnight away.

Mercier's new PB of 9-35.64 was a whopping 11sec. improvement on her best and eight seconds inside the island record held by Louise Perrio.

'Sarah ran very well and I was very impressed,' said athletics development officer Tom Druce, who was track side.

'She ran quite a sensible race and while others went out fast she never lost touch and slowly came into it.

'With three laps to go it was clear she was going to win and there was no need for a sprint finish. It was a measured attack.

'Her last kilometre was the fastest of the three which for a championship race when you have to speed up in the later stages was a positive thing.'

Her winning margin was three seconds and her form bodes well for Jersey where she will be bidding not only to retain her 5,000m title from Bermuda, but also improve on her silver in the 1,500m.

Other highlights from the 11-strong GIAAC contingent in London were an under-20 women's long jump bronze for Sarah Waters, who will be making her Games debut in Jersey.

The 17-year-old produced a very consistent series of jumps including a season's best of 4.98m.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.