TWO City of Salisbury athletes made their mark at the Yeovil track open event as they each chalked up encouraging wins in different styles.

Alex Mundell beat her previous best for the 1,500m steeplechase by a big margin of 11 seconds to record 5min 15sec, crossing the line ahead of the field.

Then in the 3,000m steeplechase, Tom Cummings left a lasting impression at the water-jump, accidentally jamming one of his spikes into the hurdle barrier and then crashing into the water, head-first.

Despite this unorthodox approach, he recovered well and went on to win the race in a good 9min 49.9sec.

Salisbury’s biggest ever squad of 65 athletes took part in the Wessex Young Athletes match at Basingstoke, where Austen Lane, pictured, was top of the bunch when he set a new league and club record for 200m with a sparkling 22.3sec. Jacob Collins then broke the club shot put record with 11.58m; Abigail Burn was clear winner of the 1200m and Alice Smith won the 300m and set a new pb in the 200m with 26.8sec.

At Boston in the USA, Clive Smith ran the annual Patriots’ Day city marathon.

After starting conservatively in a field of 38,000, he steadily ticked off the miles on the rolling tarmac.

Though, some 20mins slower than his best, his time of 3hours 22min 15sec was good value on the famously tough course.

More locally, the hilly Figsbury Challenge 5k was won by James Ruskin from Salisbury in 16min 06sec after he pulled away towards the top of the big climb ahead of Sam Rogers, second in 16.48.

Lewis Fuller clocked 18.03 with Ian Stott not far behind with 18.48 to win his age group, and ahead of his son Ben’s 19.58.

Katherine Bleakley won the award for first lady with a well-earned 20.01.

At the Houghton Trail 11k, a muddy off-road race, Kevin Tilley rested his speed shoes and took a good fourth place with a run of 44min 53sec.