It’s been a great year for the Harriers Lower Age Group Team covering U13 and U15 Boys and Girls. Some of the athletes involved were experienced in competitive athletics whilst others were new and competing in their first season – some great individual contributions and performances were spread across the season as the Team came 2nd in the first fixture, going on to win Fixtures Two, Three and Four – However, the greatest compliment goes to the team spirit and mentality manifested at each fixture with athletes taking on board the need to see themselves as a Team, pushing their limits and their comfort zones.

Team spirit is everything and turns good individual athletes into an even better Team and the Team really did finish the season in style recording 21 Individual wins, 20 second places, 19 new Personal Bests and right at the end of the day, the U15 Girls 4 x 100m Relay Team of – Millie Coy / Queen Tanimowo / Myah Booth / Bailey Madden – smashed the Club record of 53.6 set in May 1986 with a new time of 52.1.

YDL Results

The Club’s Team Managers reflected on the season and shared their thoughts after the Club were confirmed as Champions with Promotion to Division One. Danny Teare Boys Team Manager commented “A typical Manchester drizzly day did not dampen  the desire of the Harriers YDL team to go out there and get the job done.  As at the 1st 3 fixtures, every member of the boys team was focused on their events and giving it their all.  The lead on the day changed hands a couple of times but once all the results were in, it was a narrow team win, making that 3 out of 4 fixture victories in the league.  As you would expect towards the end of the athletics season, a few injuries had crept in for some athletes necessitating a couple of last minute changes on the day.  We were in the fortunate position to be able to fill those gaps at short notice and maintain the momentum.  We wish those athletes who had to withdraw a speedy recovery and return to form. Contrary to previous years, we have been in the fortunate position of having high athlete availability at most fixtures.  This has meant that it has not been possible to accommodate all athletes in all fixtures.  As I have previously said, as the top of age group athletes move on next season, there will be more opportunity for others.  I’d like to convey my thanks to the parents who manage those messages to their children.  So finally, that is promotion achieved and next year we will have the challenge of competing against a largely new set of clubs.  My thanks to the athletes for all their efforts this season and to the parents for providing their logistical and emotional support.

Mick Angland Girls Team Manager told us.“Here come the girls! I am really proud of all the girls that have taken part in the YDL this season. It’s great to win the league but more importantly it was fantastic to see the team spirit grow as the season progressed. There is always plenty of opportunity for athletes to compete as individuals in other competitions; but the YDL allows the girls to contribute to a team performance; sometimes this means tackling events that the girls are not necessarily comfortable with; or giving another athlete the chance to contribute. Having said that, there have been some great performances by talented athletes. Well done everyone. Keep competing, train hard and enjoy. Girl Power!! “

On a grey and drizzling morning the Hurdles were first up, again producing wins and good points for the Harriers as they have throughout all four fixtures. U15’s Harry Jackson and Jamie Teare teamed up in the 80m Hurdles with Harry setting a new PB – 5th in the ‘A’ (15.1) and Jamie 2nd in the ‘B’ with 16.2 – in the U15 Girls 75m Hurdles Myah Booth won the ‘A’ in 12.1 while Queen Tanimowo won the ‘B’ in a time of 12.9 – there was another double win in the U13 Boys 75m Hurdles which saw Rory Teare win the ‘A’ in 13.9 and Ben Boocock winning the ‘B’ in a new PB time of 13.4 – in the U13 Girls 70m Hurdles Emma Love came 3rd in the ‘A’ in a time of 13.2 with Shannon Paige 2nd in the ‘B’ and posting a time of 12.9.

       

Kyle Mashiter was hindered with a hamstring pull in the U15 Boys ‘A’ 100m and finished 5th in 13.0 with Jonathan Gough 2nd in the ‘B” in a time of 12.3, a new PB by two tenths – Amy Wiggans also ran a new PB by two tenths finishing 6th in the U15 Girls ‘A’ 100m in 14.1 with Abigail Armas winning the ‘B’ in 14.0, a new PB by a tenth – Shannon Paige ran the U13 75m ‘A’ race in 10.9 (4th) and backed up by Holly Bell in the ‘B’ (5th) in a time of 11.8 – distance runner David Holman took on the U13 Boys 100m ‘A’ and came 5th in 14.7 whilst Joel Booth had a very good race to place 4th in the ‘B’ in a time of 14.3.

   

 

Kyle Mashiter ran a time of 25.4 in the U15 ‘A’ 200m for 3rd spot with Sam Hodkinson in 4th (26.5) in the ‘B’ Race whilst the U15 Girls powered to a double win in their 200m – Millie Coy winning the ‘A’ in new PB time of 27.5 which was half a second quicker than her previous best and Caiden Hesketh taking the ‘B’ in a time of 28.5 which was also a new PB by a tenth – Joel Booth ran a new PB time 29.3 by two tenths in the U13 Boys 200m ‘A’ in equal 3rd place whilst Joseph Joyce placed 5th in the ‘B’ in a new PB of 30.9 – Holly Bell placed 7th in the ‘A’ U13 Girls 150m (23.9) with Kate Cookson 5th in the ‘B’ Race in a time of 22.9.

       

U15 Ethan Joyce ran a first class race in the 300m ‘A’ setting a new PB of 41.9 in 2nd spot whilst Harvey Ashworth ran the ‘B’ in 45.5 which was a good run after a bad start. Bailey Madden was the ‘A’ runner in the U15 Girls 300m coming home 3rd in 45.1 with Eleesha Charnley 5th in the ‘B’ (46.8).

   

In the Jumps Events the U15 Boys got the Team off to a very good start with Jonathan Gough winning the ‘A’ Long Jump (5.37m) and George Whittaker setting a new PB of 4.50m in the ‘B’ to place 2nd. Jamie Teare came 4th in the ‘A’ U15 High Jump with a clearance of 1.45m with Jonathan Gough 3rd in the ‘B’ (1.40m). The U15 Girls added a double win in the Long Jump with Baily Madden winning the ‘A’ (4.57m), a new PB by 32cms and Macy Haworth winning the ‘B’ also with a new PB by 16cm (4.46m), whilst in the High Jump Queen Tanimowo cleared a height of 1.30m to take 4th in the ‘A’. U13 Hayden Mercer jumped 3.92m for the first time in competition in the ‘A’ Long Jump with Kyle Taylor-Pomfret coming 4th in the ‘B’ with a leap of 3.75m – Hayden Mercer went onto clear 1.30m in the ‘A’ High Jump (4th) with Rory Teare pulling off yet another win for the Team in the ‘B’ High Jump (1.30m). Emma Love jumped 4.21m in the ‘A’ U13 Girls Long Jump to place 2nd which was also a new PB with Shannon Paige 4th in the ‘B’ with a distance of 3.56m – and – in the U13 Girls High Jump Emma cleared 1.30m to win the ‘A’ supported by Danielle Probert in the ‘B’ who cleared a new PB of 1.20m for 3rd place.

There was a big new PB for Kyle Mashiter in the U15 Boys Shot as he threw 8.35m – up from his previous best of 5.90m to win the ‘B’ whilst Ethan Joyce tried the event for the first time ever and came 4th in the ‘A’ with a distance of 8.51m – George Whittaker came 6th in the U15 Boys ‘A’ Discus (17.52m) and Kieran Carrol 4th in the ‘B’ (17.06m) following that up with a throw of 12.84m in the Hammer (5th) in the ‘A’ and 5th again in the ‘A’ Javelin (23.57m) with new member Harvey Bradshaw placing 4th in the ‘B’ with a throw of 13.61m.

 

In the U15 Girls there was a double win and new PB’s for Myah Booth winning the ‘A’ Shot Putt with 10.12m and Izzy Thompson winning the ‘B’ with 7.82m – Izzy then went onto come 2nd in the Discus with 21.76m and 2nd again in the Hammer (20.74m). In the Javelin there was another double win for the Harriers, Millie Coy winning the Javelin (28.11m) and Myah Booth the ‘B’ with a throw of 24.03m.

 

Danielle Probert and Caroline Woodworth were the throwers in the U13 Girls events with Danielle  taking 5th in the ‘A’ Shot (5.25m) and 3rd in the ‘A’ Javelin (17.91m) – Caroline placed 4th in the ‘B’ Shot (4.64m) and 2nd in the ‘B’ Javelin (14.74m). Kyle Taylor-Pomfret came 3rd in the U13 Boys ‘A’ Javelin (22.89m) with Dexta Thompson coming off a real tough battle in the 800m placing 2nd in the ‘B’ with a throw of 18.81m – Joseph Joyce was 4th in the ‘A’ U13 Boys Shot Putt (6.67m) with Reece Simpson 3rd in the ‘B’ (5.92m).

 

 

 

Good runs by the U15 Boys in the 800m but the two North Cumbria athletes who won the races were just too good on the day. Leon Thomas took the Race on from the gun which probably cost him a little in the closing stages as he finished 3rd in 2.12.4 with Sam Hodkinson who ran an altogether more measured race coming 2nd in the ‘B’ with a time of 2.13.3 – George Whittaker ran a new PB by three seconds (2.31.4) in the non-scoring 800m. In the 1500m it was a similar story, this time with the Menai athletes just a couple of seconds too strong. Matt Ramsden had a great run to place 2nd in a new PB time by one tenth of 4.26.3 in the ‘A’ Race as did Jamie Teare who clocked a time of 4.38.2 for 2nd in the ‘B’ also a new PB by two tenths.

Sophie Stanworth was just a second outside her personal best in the U15 Girls ‘A’ 800m – 3rd in 2.26.1 with Eleesha Charnley 2nd in the ‘B’ in a time of 2.30.5 which is just four tenths short of a new PB. Amy Davies ran to form in the U15 Girls 1500m ‘A’ Race coming in 3rd in a time of 5.03.2 – the winner – 2nd ranked in the country – posting a time of 4.40.3. Lancashire County Champion Hayden Mercer came 2nd in the U13 Boys ‘A’ 800m in 2.27.5 whilst Kyle Taylor-Pomfret set a new PB of 2.33.1 in the ‘B’ Race for 2nd spot.

There was a great battle in the U13 Boys 1500m between Dexta Thompson and David Holman. The winner of the ‘A’ Race again was just a bit too quick for the Harriers lads on the day the race evolving into a a ‘dip to end all dips’ by Dexta to just take 2nd in the ‘A’ Race (5.01.2) from David who won the ‘B’ Race in 5.01.3. Enthralling to watch! Kate Cookson was running the 1200m for the U13 Girls for the very first time and finished really strong to come home 2nd in the ‘A’ Race with a time of 4.16.4 with Caroline Woodworth winning the ‘B’ in a clocking of 4.19.0 just a couple of seconds behind her personal best. Leah Hoole took 2nd spot in the ‘A’ U13 800m in 2.37.3 with Eleanor Allsop in 3rd in the ‘B’ (2.51.1).

(Before….

….and after)

 

 

♥