England U15 & U17 National Track & Field Championships – August 26/27th
Going into the National Championships Charlotte Williams had had a very good season winning the Lancashire Schools Title, the Lancashire County Title, winning Silver at English Schools, Silver again at the Northern Championships as well as a Bronze Medal at the SIAB International in Dublin. Entering this weekends National Championships ranked 2nd in the country, Charlotte put in another cracking performance capping of a great season in winning the Silver Medal with a throw of 58.07m.
Charlotte spoke to the club following the Championships to tell us “I am very pleased with my performance at Bedford this weekend and to come away with a silver medal at a huge event like that with a big field of 20 girls who are all good throwers is great, it has brought my season to a brilliant end and I will now be working towards the 2018 season. Thanks to everyone for all the support”.
U17 Sam Gaskell had also qualified for the Nationals in the Hammer currently in 8th place in the National Rankings with a throw of 59.11m. In the Final Sam threw 49.14m to finish in 11th place.
(Charlie with her Coach Mick Hitchon)
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Mid Lancs Medal Meeting – Saturday August 27th
Glorious sunshine greeted the athletes on this final day of the Mid Lancs T & F League for 2017. The Harriers had twenty four athletes competing on the day who produced fifteen personal bests and eight gold medals.
(A special mention to the unsung heroes – the officials who give their time voluntarily)
Some really good performances and highlights for the Harriers on the day and none more so than Emily Taberner’s hat-trick of new PB’s in the U17 Women’s Throws – she obliterated her Shot Putt best by over two metres in placing 2nd (10.13m), added two metres to her Javelin to place 5th with 30.97m and added a metre and a half to her Discus finishing in 3rd place with 22.70m, all of which won her a Silver and Bronze Medal. Abigail Brown was also in personal best form beating her previous Discus best by nearly 4 metres winning the event with a new PB throw of 23.85m to take the Gold medal. She took a second Gold Medal in winning the Hammer (27.23m) before rounding off the day with a 4th placed distance of 7.28m in the Shot Putt. Nicole Saunders had a good day too in the U13 Throws finishing 4th in the Shot Putt (7.53m) before winning two Gold Medals and setting new PB’s in the Hammer with 29.29m and the Javelin with a throw of 26.05m. Anthony Kent U17 also had a very good day winning two Gold Medals in the Discus where he is ranked 12th in the country with a throw of 40.23m and Shot Putt with 12.89m which was just outside his personal best.
New member U15 Matthew Heywood is settling in to the Club which can be seen in his 4th placed throw of 7.27 which was a new PB by nearly a metre and a half and a 4th placed throw of 20.01 in the Discus. Kieran Carroll won Silver in the U15 Boys Javelin with a new PB of 27.25m as well two 5th places in the Discus (18.39m) and Hammer (15.48m). Kyle Taylor-Pomfret (U13) also got in on the new PB’s with one in the Hammer placing 4th (16.38m), 4th in the Discus with 18.82m before winning Silver in the Javelin with a distance of 22.01m. Other U13 Boys were having a go too in the Throws which saw Isaac Butler take two 4th places in the Shot Putt (4.89m) and Javelin (18.67m). Dexta Thompson finished 6th in the Discus with 12.68m – an event he has never done before – and 5th in the Javelin with a throw of 18.53m.
In the Sprints there was a new PB for U17 Emily Warren in the 200m clocking a time of 26.50 in 2nd place which was four tenths faster than her previous best and this after she had equaled her personal best in the 100m (3rd) in 12.80. Chloe Bleeks also ran the 100/200m double taking 7th place in each with 13.30 in the 100m and 28.50 in the 200m. U17 Ben Whittaker doubled up in the 100/200m finishing 5th in the 100m (12.30) and 4th in the 200m (25.20). Seniors Paul Coffey and Reece Phillips were also in action with Paul finishing 3rd overall in the 100m (11.40) and 5th in the 200m clocking 23.20 – Reece placed 9th overall in the 200m in a time of 25.80 in his first run over the distance since 2014. U15 middle distance boys Zachary Walmsley and David Holman threw themselves into the 200m with Zachary taking 5th in 29.20 and David 7th in 31.20, an event that he hasn’t tackled before. U13 Isaac Butler finished 5th in Heat 2 of the 100m with a time of 15.5 which was just a tenth outside his personal best.
One of the highlights of the day on the track was the attempt by U15 Matt Ramsden to break his 3000m personal best after finishing 4th at the Northern Championships last week. The 3000m at the Mid Lancs is usually a mixed race with male and female and different age groups all running together. Matt whose personal best is 9.34.4 ran with senior athlete Chris Davies and kept with him the whole of the race until just after the 300m mark to go. Chris pulled slightly away from him to set a new PB by four seconds of 9.21.1 (2nd) and Matt chopped a huge 10 seconds off his previous best time to set a new PB of 9.24.4 in 3rd place overall and 1st U15 Boy – the run keeps Matt at the top of the North West Rankings and moves him up to 18th place nationally. Jasmine Aherne also ran a new PB of 12.39.4 to take the U17 Women’s Gold Medal in the same race.
(‘Stick with him Matt!!!’)
Leah Hoole had a great day winning the U13 Girls 800m in a new PB time of 2.33.50 whilst in the 1500m Amy Davies ran 5.07.5 to win the U15 Age Category and in the same combined age group race U13 Hollie Cubbon finished 5th in 5.23.5 with Abigail Stratton 6th in 5.55.6. U15 George Whittaker added to the accumulation of new PB’s in the 800m finishing 2nd in a time of 2.28.3 which was three seconds faster than he has previously run. Harry Wilkin finished 5th in the same Race with a time of 5.03.50.
Hayden Mercer and Dexta Thompson battled one another in the U13 Boys 800m with Hayden finishing 2nd in 2.25.10 just under a second outside his personal best – Dexta finished 3rd in 2.26.6 which was just four tenths outside his PB. There was another battle of the U13’s, this time between new member Zachary Walmsley and David Holman in the 1500m which saw David take 3rd place in 5.04.5 and Zachary 5th clocking 5.14.4.
Emma Love took on the U13 Girls High Jump coming in 4th with a clearance of 1.30m and 4th again in the Long Jump out of 21 athletes with a distance of 4.20m and just 1cm off winning a medal…..Abigail Stratton also had a go at the High Jump finishing 6th (1.15m).
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Watford Open Graded Meeting – August 23rd
Rob Warner continued his very good season with a win at Watford in the 3000m clocking a seasons best time of 8.28.77 in the race containing 19 athletes. Rob’s time was just two seconds outside of his personal best for the distance set in 2016 and when speaking to the Club he told us that he “was really pleased with the race, I knew there was a couple of guys in there aiming for fast times but unfortunately the first mile a little too slow in 4:34. I went to he front after 4 laps and kept the pace moving along at about 69s and was hoping for some help in terms of getting the pack back on track! Unfortunately, the other two just sat in behind me so I decided to keep the pace comfortable and make a race of it instead of a time trial. I picked it up with 700 to go started to move away with 500 to go, I ended up closing with a 60 last lap and a 29s last 200! I was quite surprised that I ended up running 8:28 as it’s not far off my PB and I felt relatively comfortable and in control – going to have one last go at the 3k at the last Watford and hopefully can look to get under the 8:20 barrier, hopefully the speed I managed to show over the last 600 on Wednesday means a quick time is there if the pace is good from the start”.
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Mid Cheshire 5k – Thursday August 24th
Joe Monk was looking for a fast 5k entering this race featuring four hundred and seventy six runners and one which has a reputation for producing fast times which didn’t disappoint – Charlie Hulson winning in a time of 14.34. Joe had a cracking race taking some significant scalps on the day as he finished 8th and 1st Junior Male in a time of 15.18 – one place and three seconds in front of James McNally. Clearly pleased, Joe spoke to the Club after the Race commenting that he “Equalled my PB of 15:18, was a little disappointed as the race didn’t go off quick and was much more tactical due to it being end of season. Happy to equal my best though and kick on now”.
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Pilling 10k – Saturday 26th August
A good day for the Harriers Women at this local 10k when they won the Team Race led home by Joanne Nelson in 12th place overall – 2nd Woman and 1st V45 Woman – in a time of 40.22. Then came Carol Reilly in 24th place in a time of 46.25 with Janine Fallon right behind in 25th clocking 46.31.
Afterwards Joanne summed up the Race telling the Club that she “really enjoyed the Pilling 10k. It’s a fairly flat and fast course over 2 laps. After struggling with a hamstring injury since March and health problems since April it was good to get a race completed. We managed to scoop first ladie’s team too, with myself as 2nd lady, Carol as 4th and Janine in her debut as a Harrier in 5th. My time of 40 mins 22 is a few minutes off my best, but ok as an indicator of where I am at. Onwards and upwards….fingers crossed”.
(L-R Joanne – Carol – Janine)
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Riverside Half-Marathon – Sunday August 20th
One hundred and twenty six runners in this local Half-Marathon which saw Derek Reilly come home in 8th place and 2nd V45 in a solid time of 82.34. Partner Carol Reilly also raced taking 46th position overall in a time of 1hr 44.25. Riverside Results
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Cookson’s on Tour – Somewhere in France, sometime in Summer
The Cookson family have been on holiday in France and found themselves a Race where John, Hannah and Katie were all able to run.
John told us about the experience which sounds pretty good – “We saw a fete day race advertised in the local village but when we made some enquiries we couldn’t enter as it was full. A quick google later and we found a trial race close by. How lucky was that! Kate was the first girl in the fun run and 2nd overall. Hannah and I had a crack at the 8.2km trail race. Hannah was 1st Junior women (30th out of 81 runners). It was a cracking event, a really well organised tough little trail race by a group who do a lot of fund raising work for a multiple sclerosis charity. All runners got a bottle of the local red wine and the fete afterwards included paella whilst entertainment was provided by a brass quartet and a covers band. Hannah got a trophy and bag of goodies for her efforts and Kate got a medal. Only wish we’d packed our Harriers vests! Will know better for next time”.
