THERE was plenty of action for Woodford Green with Essex Ladies athletes this weekend, even if some members were away at the World Championships in Berlin.

While Sarah Claxton, Jeanette Kwakye and Joice Aduaka competed on the same stage as Usain Bolt, there was work to be done in Cardiff, at the UK Challenge series.

At the event, Woodford Green with Essex Ladies notched up an impressive four victories Tim Abeyie, Graham Hedman and Callum Priestley triumphed on the track, while Emeka Udechuku was successful in the field.

In blustery conditions, Abeyie won over 200m, recording a time of 21.37s.

Hedman enjoyed a comfortable victory in the 400m with 46.72s, while Priestley was also comfortable in the 110m hurdles, with a time of 13.92s.

Udechuku destroyed the rest of the field in the discus with a throw of 55.64m, and then promptly secured second place in the shot with 17.82m.

Tom Norman was not far behind in fouth, with his throw of 51.81m.

There were several other good performances in the field.

In the men’s hammer, Mark Dry was close to his best in a tight competition. He was third with a throw of 69.51m.

In the women’s triple jump, Stephanie Aneto finished in second place with a 13.17m leap.

In the long jump, Kim Murray placed second with 6.02m, while in the women’s pole vault, Maria Seager was third with 4.01m.

Her coach, Christian North, got in on the action too, finishing third in the men’s event with 4.91m, one place behind Alasdair Strange in second, who threw 5.06m.

Other track action included a fine second place in the 3000m steeplechase for Diana Kennedy. She recorded yet another personal best of 11min 11.70s.