There’s all to fight for in round three of the competition this weekend with a number of star athletes supporting their clubs

Recently crowned UK champions Victoria Ohuruogu, Charlotte Payne and Adele Nicoll are set to compete for their clubs in the third round of the National Athletics League on Saturday (July 2).

Stakes are high as, for the Premiership and Championship teams, the matches will decide whether they compete in either the Cup or Plate finals in Bedford in August.

At the match in Hendon, which will be live-streamed by Vinco, Ohuruogu will hone her preparations for the World Championships, for which she secured 400m and relay selection this week. Her club, Newham & Essex Beagles, are yet to confirm which events.

The Beagles have a strong team which also includes 69m hammer thrower Katie Head. Also in the field for them will be Freya Jones, the UK’s top javelin thrower in both 2020 and 2021, who is making her season’s debut.

However, Thames Valley Harriers look to be favourites in that match as the champions seek their third win out of three this season. They will face Harrow and Shaftesbury Barnet, who are both two points behind on 14 in second and third. With double points awarded in the final, all is still to play for, though.

TVH have a solid outfit throughout as usual and it again includes shot putter Amelia Strickler, who has just been included in Britain’s team for the Worlds, plus 400m hurdlers Jess Tappin and Nicole Kendall.

Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow will have sprint-hurdler Megan Marrs, who has been named on Northern Ireland’s team for the Commonwealth Games. Jacob Paul is due to line up for them in the 400m hurdles, less than 48 hours after his appearance in the Stockholm Diamond League. They will also have recent UK discus bronze medallist Amy Holder.

Owen Merritt in the hammer and Callum Taylor in the javelin are among several guest athletes in that match seeking standards for the World Under-20 Championships.

Meanwhile, on the other side of north London at Woodford, Nicoll will be trying to build on her recent PB of 17.59m which won her the British title. The Birchfield athlete has already secured Welsh Commonwealth Games selection.

The Midlanders also have Northern Irish sprinter Leon Reid, who is heading to Birmingham for this third Commonwealths, having won 200m bronze last time.

Blackheath & Bromley, who are also on 14 points and stand fourth in the league, will include team manager Niamh Bridson-Hubbard, a winner in the last round who is down on this occasion for the 1500m, 3000m and javelin.

Bristol & West’s hopes will be led by 400m runner Oliver Biddle, who picked up top points for them last time with a PB. Meanwhile, UK shot put No.4 Patrick Swan will be in action for Swansea.

Crawley lead the Championship standings as they head to the match at Bournemouth. There, UK hammer champion Payne, fresh from moving to third on the UK hammer all-time list with 70.59m last weekend, will be in action for Reading. The national league record – including marks from the old UK Women’s League – is 67.94m and could be under threat.

Thomas Staines, who has run 1:45 for 800m, will be putting in some speed work over 400m for Basingstoke & Mid Hants.

In the other Championship match in Stevenage, Aimee Pratt is making a stop on her journey to the Worlds in Eugene with a 1500m run-out for Sale. Also going for the Manchester club will be recent UK silver medallist Kirsty Law and 2019 Euro U23 200m champion Shemar Boldizsar.

Wigan will have another of the women challenging the league hammer record in the shape of Tara Simpson-Sullivan.

Following his decathlon breakthrough past 7700 points this year, Lewis Church will go in the high jump, pole vault and discus for Tonbridge.

In Yeovil, three-time Paralympic throws champion Aled Davies is due to compete as a guest.

In each of the Premiership and Championship divisions, the top eight clubs over the first three rounds in each of the Premiership and Championship will contest the two Cup finals, while the bottom eight clubs will be involved in the Plate finals.

The fight for places is currently going down to the wire in the Premiership as just one point separates five teams from 8th to 12th in the seasonal standings. Sheffield & Dearne, with eight points, are currently in pole position from among them to claim one of the eight spots in the Cup final.

However, Swansea, Glasgow, Birchfield and Notts are all on seven points and even Cardiff, on six points, are not out of it. National 1 clubs will continue on a round-robin basis for the August match.

Aside from the Cup and Plate competitions in the Bedford finals, the overall standings in each division will be decided on points scored over all four matches.

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