By Graham Carter
CRAWLEY duo Jade Nicholls and Steph Smith crowned a successful weekend for the town by clinching a gold and silver respectively at the English National Championships.
Nicholls retained the title she won last year with a throw of 54.84m.
This was well short of what she was hoping for in terms of another Olympic qualifying distance of 59.50m (B standard) or 62m (A standard) but it was enough to keep her on track to be selected for this summer’s 2012 games, having finished over 4 metres ahead of her main rival and runner-up Eden Francis.
Nicholls was happy with her position but was disappointed with her form in the cold and damp conditions which is several metres short of where she would like to be throwing.
She said: “I’ve had a dip in form but it was better than last week and at least I was ahead of Eden, who I am leading 4-0 in head-to-head contests this year.
“I feel I’m on track and should get to the Olympics barring a disaster.”
June is a big month in Nicholl’s preparations with this weekend seeing her competing against international opposition at the Bedford International Games.
This will be followed by her competing in Sweden in two weeks followed by a return to Birmingham for the all-important UK Trials on June 24.
She then rounds the month off by flying to Helsinki in Finland to represent GBat the European Championships.
With qualifying starting on June 30, this will be her last chance to put in a qualifying distance before the Olympics themselves.
Nicholls previously won a bronze medal at the European Under-23 Championships held in Lithuania.
Smith leapt an improved height from her last outing at the Loughborough International, reaching 3.72m which gave her a highly creditable second place behind Sale Harriers Abi Hayward.
Although she actually won the event this year she was happier this time around as she registered a better height.
Smith said: “This was a better display as I gained all my heights at the first attempt.”