Athletics: Derby captain full of optimism
Derby returned only four event winners from the meeting at Abingdon and were hit by one or two late withdrawals.
Long-jumper Simon Roper delayed his league comeback because of a slight niggle and middle-distance runner Luke Gunn (pictured) took the reluctant decision not to risk a slight calf strain.
"Luke was desperate to run for the club for the first time for two years but he has to make sure he's right," said Harries.
"The same goes for Simon. It would be stupid to mess up his season this early after such a long time out.
"As it happens, Fran Baker won the long jump for us anyway."
The other winners for Derby were Dave Westbury in the steeplchase, Chris Davison in the B-string steeplechase and Judah Simpson in the B 100m.
Simpson, who also came fourth in the 200m, was one of six athletes making his league debut and it was the performances of those that pleased Harries.
"Niall Maguire ran 1.56.9 for the 800m the week before, so we put him in the 1500m B race and he set a PB, which is good for a 16-year-old against seniors in the BAL for the first time," said Harries.
Other debutants were JJ Heath, in the high jump and triple jump, Shane Booth in the high jump and javelin and Tom Phillips in the 800m, while Sam Worrall ran his first-ever 400m hurdles in the A string and came fourth in 58.8 seconds.
RESULT: BAL National Three, Abingdon: 1 Crawley AC 308pts, 2 Derby AC 295, 3 Cambridge Harriers 290.
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