It was the ninth year in a row that Blackburn Harriers Sportshall Group have taken on Kirkham Grammar School, a fixture which has been won by Kirkham for the first 8 years.

Would it change this year and produce a win for the Harriers?

Well Indeed it did. So big congratulations to all the youngsters who turned out and gave of their best on the day, leading to the victory. Congratulations also to the young athletes from Kirkham Grammar School who helped make the the day and the athletics a very enjoyable occasion.

(Blackburn Harriers Sportshall Team – v – Kirkham Grammar School)

Alison Hulme who is the Sportshall Group Co-ordinator and also organiser of these fixtures was delighted to be able to report the win for the Harriers and told us “On Saturday 21 May 2016, after 6 years of trying, Blackburn Harriers’ U11 team finally got their hands on the Centenary Shield, beating Kirkham Grammar Junior School in a very close competition! The competition was started in Blackburn Harriers’ Centenary year (2010) and involves teams of 10 boys & 10 girls competing in 4 track events, 4 field events and 2 relays. The Kirkham teacher who devised the competition is Alf Oddie, who competed for Blackburn Harriers for many years.

After the track events the scores for both teams were even on 44 points; Blackburn pulled slightly ahead after the field events with 91 points compared to Kirkham’s 85 points. First place finishes by both Blackburn boys & girls 4x100m relay teams secured the victory, with Blackburn scoring 141 compared to Kirkham’s 123 points overall.

Blackburn girls were particularly strong with 1-2 finishes in 150m (Holly Bell & Charlotte Clapham), 600m (Kate Cookson & Caroline Woodworth), Long Jump (Sacha Brown & Holly Turner) and Triple Jump (Kate Cookson & Emily Cottam). For the boys, Harrison Allcock was first in 60m & long jump and Isaac Butler had an impressive run to win the 600m. Special mention must go to Jadyn Armstrong who bravely finished her hurdles race after taking a nasty tumble. Other team members were: Natasha Hill, Lucy Ramsden, Harry Anderton, Codie Dewhurst, Thomas Flynn,Alexander Galiatsatos, Oliver Proctor, Saul Sharp, Harry Thomas, Theo Sturgess.

Thanks go to the Kirkham teachers, Jean Leigh, Danny Maynard and all of the parents & relatives who made this event a success”.