In what turned out to be another closely fought contest, Blackburn Harriers won the second fixture of this years Northern League Division One. After finishing a very close second behind Hull in the first fixture – just two points the difference – the win at Blackburn by just seven points, took the Club to first position at the half way stage.

Men’s Team Manager  – Tony Wood – was delighted and commented that “Another good result for the Club and of course a win in Division 1 is always very satisfying. It sets us up for the next two fixtures and still with a possible league title chance at the end of the season”. 

Women’s Team Manager – Jan Buckingham – was equally pleased and said “Well done to everyone yesterday in what were pretty chilly, windy conditions at Witton. Everyone’s efforts, some in ‘unusual’ events, meant we clocked up a good points tally for the team”.

Full Results HERE

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In the Throws there was a big haul of points for the Harriers. For the second fixture running, Simon Brown (39.26m) and Tony Balko (29.90m) won the Discus A and B strings for maximum points. They backed that up with Tony taking 4th in the Javelin (30.63m), 2nd in the ‘B’ Hammer (28.19m) and 3rd in the Shot Putt (10.91m). Simon placed 2nd in the Javelin (29.88) and 4th in the ‘A’ Shot Putt with 10.91m. Nathan Billington in his first competition for some time, following an injury did well on his return gaining a 3rd placed 32.47m in the ‘A’ Hammer.

On the Women’s side Rebecca Orrell took on the ‘A’ Discus (4th) with a throw of 24.23m, Shot Putt (5th) with 7.94m, Hammer 4th with 41.47m which was just 5cm short of her PB and Javelin for a 5th placed 17.06m. She backed that up with a leg of the 4 x 100m Relay. Phoebe Howe stepped into help out in the ‘B’ Discus (12.70m) and ‘B’ Shot Putt (5.53m) with Polly Pearse contesting in the Javelin (5th) 20.19m).

In the Jumps Olivia Brooks came 3rd in the Long Jump (4.70m) and won the ‘B’ High Jump with 1.45m for good points. Polly Pearse jumped well in the ‘A’ High Jump taking 2nd in 1.50m and added a 4th placed 9.28m in the Triple Jump. Anna Leigh in her first outing in T&F took 4th spot in the ‘B’ Long Jump with 3.93m. In the Men’s Jumps Oliver Aspden jumped 5.65m in the ‘A’ Long Jump (3rd) and 1.65m in the High Jump (2nd). Ross Liddle placed 4th in the ‘B’ High Jump (4.88m) and then was joint winner with 1.45m in the ‘B’ High Jump. Ben Aspinall, having been out injured for some weeks, returned to competition to win the ‘A’ Triple Jump with a leap of 13.83m and was backed up for the Team by Zac Howe taking 4th in the ‘B’ with 9.92m.

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Good points helped build the Teams total in the Hurdles where Polly Pearse took 2nd in the 100mH (17.1) and Katie Buckingham won the ‘B’ (17.5). In the 400mH it was a double win with Katie running 67.9 and Phoebe 78.3. In the Men’;s Hurdles there was double win in the 400mH with Oliver Aspden in the ‘A’ 63.4 and Ross Liddle in the ‘B’ (64.5). Oliver added a 2nd place in the 110mH with 16.7.

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Paul Coffey, Archie Braysford and Dominic Bretherton took on the Sprints with Archie coming 4th in the ‘A’ 100m (11.4) and Paul winning the ‘B’ with 11.2 which was a welcome return to form him. He then finished 5th in the ‘A’ 200m with 23.8 and Dominic came 3rd in the ‘B’ (24.5). In the Women’s Sprints Hayley Candler took on the 100m running 14.0 and the 200m (29.9). Anna Leigh stepped in and ran the ‘B’ 200m in 31.9.

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Zac Howe and Connor Makin ran the 400m with Zac taking 2nd place in the ‘A’ (52.8) and Connor 4th in the ‘B’ (56.1). Zac then went and won the 800m ‘A’ Race in 1.58.3 and Morgan Phillips made it a double win when taking the ‘B’ in 2.02.6. Good times given the strength of the wind on the back straight. Rob Warner and Joe Monk added more points with Rob winning the 1500m ‘A’ in 4.14.8 and Joe coming 2nd in the ‘B’ with a new PB by 6 seconds (4.27.9).

SONY DSCSONY DSCOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABen Fish took maximum points for the Team when winning the Steeplechase in 10.27.6 and then took a very closely contested 5000m when edging out David Rigby in 15.42.4 – both athletes being given the same time. Chris Davies made it another win double in the Steeplechase taking the ‘B’ in 11:15.0. Katie Buckingham and Phoebe Howe ran the 400m with Katie taking 5th in the ‘A’ (64.6) and Phoebe 3rd in the ‘B’ (67.0). Anna Leigh took 5th in the ‘A’ 800m with 2.46.2 and Laura Hesketh, in the first of three wins on the day, took the ‘B’ in 2.36.4. Laura went on to win the ‘B’ 1500m in 5.25.1 and the ‘B’ 3000m in 11.13.6. U17’s Liz Greenwood and  Grace Handley earned good points in the 1500m and 3000m with Liz winning the ‘A’ 1500m in 5.03.8 and Grace in the ‘A’ 3000m taking 2nd spot with a time of 10.38.2. A third, two fourths and a fifth in the Relays ended a good day all round for the Harriers.

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