This years Northern U13/U15/U17 T&F Championships at Wavertree were held in blistering heat and it is massive credit to athletes, officials and all volunteers that they were able to put on such an event in the prevailing conditions. (Day 1 & Day 2 Results). Turned out to be a great weekend for the Harriers as the athletes won 4 Gold, 5 Silver and 3 Bronze Medals to which was added – 9 new personal bests.
Day One on Saturday started with U15 Imogen Robinson in the High Jump Final featuring 10 athletes – Imogen clearing 1.40m in 8th place. On to the Sprints and it was Daniel Nuttall who took the first Heat of the U15 Boys 100m in 11.72, advancing to the Final which he won in 11.55 from rival Oliver Nunn (Blackpool) running 11.63 – this was the Harriers first Medal of the weekend and signifcantly it was Gold. In the U13 Boys 100m Heats, Jayden Dacosta went in Heat 2 of 3, placing 2nd (14.14) to advance to the the Final where he placed 7th clocking 14.65 and a great effort in his first competitive season for the Club. Ben Stratton was in Heat 2 of 3 in the U17 Men’s 800m, qualifying with a time of 2.05.31. Running considerably faster in the Final, Ben clocked 2.01.88 in 5th spot – the race being won in 1.59.50 by Liverpool’s Josh Redmond. George Ramsden and Sam Aspey went in the U15 Boys 800m – George clocking 2.23.61 in Heat 1 of 3 and Sam clocking a new PB of 2.11.36 in Heat 3 which qualified him for the Final where he ran 2.13.03 in 6th spot. Still on the 800m races and the U13 Boys had Jack Baranowski and Theo Robinson representing Blackburn Harriers, the event being staged in three Time Trials – the fastest runners on paper all in Time Trial 1. Jack had a very good run, setting a new PB of 2.12.47 to take the Silver Medal and the second Medal of the day for the Club behind the winner Thomas Thake who set a new Championship Best Performance of 2.11.96. Jack’s time places him at number 5 in the National Rankings. Theo was just a second outside his personal best as he ran 2.27.15 in 7th position (Time Trial 2). George Camara lined up in the U15 Boys 80m Hurdles coming 7th with a time of 13.85 and good experience competing at Regional Championships.
Day 1 Photos from Nothern Athletics
Imogen Robinson
Daniel Nuttall
Jayden Dacosta (12)
Ben Stratton (439)
Jack Baranowski
George Camara (3rd from the Left)
Charlie Unsworth was in good form in the U17 Men’s 200m, run over three Heats, with Charlie placing 2nd in Heat 1 running a new PB of 22.98 – his first time under 23 seconds, qualifying for the Final in which he clocked 23.39 in 7th spot. Kara Dacosta qualified for the U17 Women’s 300m Final as she finished in 2nd spot in Heat 1 of 2 with 42.67 going on to the win the Harriers third Medal of the day which was Bronze in 3rd place clocking 40.32 and a new PB by 8 tenths. Back to the 200m and this time for the U15 Boys where Daniel Nuttall won Heat 1 of 2 in a time of 24.45 to move to the Final. The 100m had seen Daniel take Gold from Oliver Nunn in Silver – this time the finishing places were reversed in a very tight race – Daniel winning the Silver Medal in 23.35 with Oliver taking the Gold in 23.26. Jayden Dacosta was another Blackburn Harrier taking on the sprint double in the U13 Boys, running 29.36 (4th) in Heat 1 of 2 in qualifying for the final where he ran a tenth faster to place 5th with a time of 29.26. The U17 Women’s race featured a teriffic battle between Blackburn Harriers Isabel Holt and Stockport’s Freya Murdoch resulting in Isabel winning the Silver Medal in a time of 10.10.63 and the fifth Medal of the day for the Club – behind Murdoch’s time of 10.10.30, just three tenths separating the two athletes.
Kara Dacosta
Daniel Nuttall (178)
Daniel Nuttall
Isabel Holt (515)
Isabel Holt
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After a day in which the Harriers won one Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze Medals alongside athletes setting three new personal bests, we were looking forward to see what Day Two would bring – and what a start. George Williams in his first season throwing Hammer set himself a new PB of 36.54m in winning the Gold Medal. Kara Dacosta then made it two Gold Medals at the beginning of the second day as she set a new PB of 1.65m to win the U17 Womens High Jump – her second medal of the Championships. Dexta Thompson ran a great tactical race in the U17 Men’s 1500m – staying in the front pack for 1100m and then took it on from the bell, holding the lead down the back straight and then hitting the home straight with a really strong finish to go clear and win the Gold Medal in 4.07.20. Jack Lamb also running for Blackburn Harriers in the Final and in his first track season with the Club ran a time of 4.28.72 in 8th spot. Back on the sprints and three Heats of the U17 Men’s 100m which saw Charlie Unsworth comfortably qualifying for the Final in 2nd spot of Heat 1 (11.71); However, warming up for the Final he hurt his back and had to sadly withdraw. The U13 Girls 100m started off with 28 entries meaning 4 Heats and in Heat 2 Caris Peter-Thomas qualified for the next round, coming home in 2nd position with 13.58 and going onto qualify for the Final, clocking 13.62 in 3rd place in the first of two semi-final races. On to the Final where Caris just missed out on the Podium finish, running 13.86 in 4th place. Caris has had a great start to her first year at the Club, having broken the U13 Girls 100m and 200m records and now reaching the Final of the Northern Championships. Imogen Crooks and Millee Schofield were drawn in Heat 1 and Heat 2 respectively of the 3 Heats for the U15 Girls 100m – Imogen going through with a new PB of 13.54 in 4th place and Millee winning her Heat in 12.81. In the Final Millee won the Harriers 4th Medal of the day as she took the Silver in a time of 12.78. Our next Medal came from Matthew Smith in the U17 Men’s High Jump where he cleared 1.60m to take the Silver Medal.
George Williams (455)
Kara Dacosta
Kara Dacosta
The start of the U17 Men’s 1500m
Dexta Thompson (443) – Jack Lamb (396)
Charlie Unsowrth (445)
Caris Peter-Thomas (108)
Imogen Crooks (227)
Millee Schofield (316)
Millee Schofield
Matthew Smith
Matthew Smith
Over to the middle distance races where Charlotte Roberstshaw ran 2.40.01 in 7th spot in Heat 3 and in the U17 Women’s 800m Keira Haxton also ran in Heat 3 clocking 2.26.41 in 7th position. Time Trials came into play again in the U15 Boys 1500m Final and again, the fastest athletes on paper in the first Time Trial which included Oliver Gill and Sam Aspey. As the race entered the final lap it looked as though the first three places were already settled, Myles Fraser in 1st, Evan Grime in 2nd and Oliver Gill in 3rd. Just on the bend of the home straight Liverpool’s Oscar Kewley accelerated past Oliver to edge out of the Bronze Medal position, but Oliver responded immediately, not only going back past him, but finishing just over two tenths behind the Silver medal position, securing the Bronze Medal with a big new PB time of 4.17.67, an improvement of over 5 seconds. Sam Aspey came home in 6th place with another big new PB by over 4 seconds, clocking 4.28.02. In the 2nd Time Trial and his second new personal best in the Championships.
Charlotte Robertshaw (311)
Keira Haxton (Inside Lane)
Start of the U15 Boys 1500m
Oliver Gill (156)
Sam Aspey (132)
Matthew Smith who had earlier been in the High Jump winning a Silver decided to take the U15 Boys 1500m race on from the beginning and paid the price a little, finishing in 5th spot with 4.41.46. Sister Charlotte Smith competed in Pool B of the U13 Girls Long Jump placing 9th overall with 3.28m, later on clocking 34.49 in 7th position in Heat 1 of 4 Heats in the 200m. Caris Peter-Thomas qualified for the Semi- Final from Heat 4 with a 2nd placed finish (29.20) – clocking 29.60 in the Semi (4th). Imogen Crooks and Millee Schofield were out again in the U15 Girls 200m – Imogen clocking 28.25 (5th) in Heat 2 – just 5 one hundreths outside her best and Millee coming 2nd in Heat 3 with a time of 26.91. The Final saw Millee just miss out on her second medal of the Championships coming across the line in 4th place with 26.60. Kara Dacosta winning Gold and Bronze Medal, had a busy weekend and finished 6th in Heat 2 of the U17 Women’s 200m with a time of 26.83. Back to Time Trials – this time four of them – in the U13 Girls 800m, the Medals all coming from Time Trail 1 which had Agatha Taylor winning the Bronze Medal with a determined run in 3rd place clocking 2.25.60 and a new PB by a full 2 seconds. Final Field event of Day saw Kady Thompson throw 24.32m in the U17 Women’s Javelin in 8th place.
Matthew Smith in 3rd spot
Charlotte Smith
Caris Peter-Thomas (108)
Millee Schofield (316)
Kara Dacosta (483)
Agatha Taylor
Agatha Taylor
Kady Thompson
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Still on the Track and this time with Ben Fish who was at Loughborugh on Wednesday August 10th — (RESULTS) — during last week in the BMC 5000m A Race where he came home in 6th spot clocking 14.47.55, it being notable that the first five all ran new personal bests to stay in front of Ben who is in his first year as a V40. Ben’s time has moved him up to 2nd place in the V40 National Rankings for 5000m and after the race he told the Harriers “It was quite a close race with 17-18 seconds separating 1st to 9th. I was about 4-5th through most of the race. Conditions were pretty good as it was a late start (9:20pm)”.
Codie Dewhurst took on his last race before going on holiday at the Trafford Grand Prix on Tuesday August 9th running in the 1500m – Heat 5. Going into the race with a previous best of 4.28.8, Codie demolished that time, clocking a massive new PB of 4.16.87 as he finished in 2nd spot. (RESULTS).
Codie Dewhurst in 3rd place
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Helen Leigh was out again after doing some huge Fell & Mountain races of late and this time it was at the running of the 36th Lowther Fell & Trail Run on Sunday August 14th — (RESULTS). The race had 131 finishers and was won by Helm Hill’s Joe Kenny in 1hr 30.15. Helen had a great run in the heat, coming home in 9th place with a time of 1hr 50.40 and 2nd Woman overall behind Eden Runner’s Emma Neil (1hr 49.33). After the Race Helen told the Harriers that she ran the “Lowther trail half marathon today on a whim, to get some speed back in my legs. Only picked the hottest day ever, fortunately there was a river half way to literally face plant into. Was 2nd in 1.50 and 9th overall so pretty happy with that on tired legs!”
Off Road again and this time braving the huge temperatures were young Blackburn Harriers Liam Bennison, Alex and Charlotte Rothwell at the Boulsworth Fell Race on Sunday August 14th – (RESULTS). Liam ran in the U11/U13 Race coming home in 4th place with his time of 7.42.9m whilst Charlotte took 26th spot running 9.38.1. Alex took 5th spot overall in the U15/U17 Race with a time of 18.20.2.
Photos courtesy of David Belshaw
Liam Bennison
Charlotte Rothwell
Alex Rothwell (137)
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