MULTI-EVENTER Jo Rowland traded in leafy Horley for Rotherham at the end of last summer to team up with Jessica Ennis' coach Toni Minichiello – and the move is already paying dividends.
Last weekend, Rowland set a new Crawley Athletic Club record to win bronze in the senior women's pentathlon at the England & Wales U20/Senior Combined Events Championships held in Sheffield.
Rowland recorded 8.94 seconds in the 60-metres hurdles, cleared 1.68m in the high jump, threw 12.48m in the shot, long jumped 5.97m and ran the 800m in 2 minutes 19.54 seconds.
Rowland's long jump distance and total score of 4115 points were both personal bests for the 25-year-old, as well as Crawley AC records.
And while the move to the Rotherham/Sheffield border might seem a drastic one, Rowland is confident it was the right choice.
"I've been at Brunel University for the last five years but now I've done my masters and it was time I moved on with the next stage," she said.
"I'm 25 and I'm not going to be able to be an athlete forever.
"I approached Toni and then moved up here at the end of last summer. I have two jobs so I'm either working or training, or walking my puppy. Since I've been with Toni I've done a lot more work of the technical side of events. I felt like things were going well but I didn't expect to go that well on Saturday.
"I got a PB in the long jump and PB score, so I can't complain."
Next up for Rowland is an international in Holland ahead of a big summer for the Surrey multi-eventer.
"There's an international in two weeks in Holland but then I'm not really sure what events I'm doing in the summer," she said. "I'm looking forward to the summer season because I really just want to get things back on track."
