On a dark winters Friday night – 141 years since the Club was founded in 1883 – the lights went on and the stage was set for another celebration of the achievments of Blackburn Harriers, it’s teams and individual athletes. It was also a night when we could say a very big thank you to our own Holly Bradshaw – 4 time Olympian and Olympic Bronze Medalist – not only for her achievments in the sport, not only for her medals and honours achieved all over the world, but as importantly, for what she represents in terms of her sporting and life values and the immense example she has set for women and young girls in our sport. Starting off the night, with a packed room of over 250 people, Blackburn Harriers Chairwoman Caerwen Butler introduced Holly as the Guest of Honour who would be presenting the Awards to our athletes – and saying what a privilige it was to not only have Holly as a member of the Club but also to be able to share a stage with her and express how much she has been inspired by Holly’s journey. With huge thanks to Mizuno – Holly’s sponsors – the audience was treated to a video – a surprise to Holly – which covered some of the highlights of her career as well as showing how it all started for her. An emotional watch for sure and certainly for the author of this report. After the video Caerwen spoke to Holly about her career, her high points, her low points, how she dealt with adversity and what advice she would give young athletes today, just starting out, concluding with a tribute to her on behalf of the Club for her work and representation in standing up for women and young girls issues in athletics.
(VIDEO)
All Photos on Blackburn Harriers Facebook Page – HERE
Holly speaking to the audience with Caerwen Butler, Blackburn Harriers Chairwoman
George Woodburn presenting flowers to Alison Hulme in recognition of all that she does as a volunteer in the Club which includes coaching, officiating, marshaling and helping at all Blackburn Harriers events as well as supporting Lancashire and Northern Championships.
Isabelle Hartley presenting flowers to Susan Woodburn, Blackburn Harriers membership Secretary for the last 12 years. She does a fantastic job in ensuring that all athletes are registered for competition, supports coaches and team managers with all the information they need and spends such a lot of time as a volunteer into making her job professional, efficient and productive for the Club.
There was a great atmosphere in the room with huge applause for the recipients of all the Awards. It is only when the Clubs athletes, coaches and team managers come together on an evening like this, that you can begin to appreciate the breadth of activity within the Club and what the squads are achieving, both at a team and collective as well as individual level. A big shout out too, for all of the Clubs coaches who give of their time voluntarily, supporting all of our athletes. Shout out to for Sylvia Almond who came to the evening. Sylvia was a long time Track Referee for the Club and her husband, Arthur Almond, sadly passed, was a leading middle distance coach at the Harriers for many years. A big thankyou to Lee Thompson and Paul who also help to make the evening as good as it is, with the professional stage presentation who make sure that all of the photos and categories of Award Winners are projected for everyone to see.
Blackburn Harriers President – George Woodburn – took over the first part of the Awards evening, calling up athletes who had won Awards for Endurance events covering road, cross country and track, and he was foillowed by Blackburn Harriers Chairwoman – Caerwen Butler – who presented the Awards for the rest of the categories. List of Awards were as follows:
Cross Country
Junior Girl (U13/U15) Millie Jordan; Inter Girl (U17/U20) Isabel Holt; Senior Woman Rebecca Ward;
Junior Boy (U13/U15) Theo Robinson; Inter Boy (U17/U20) Oliver Gill; Senior Man Matt Ramsden; Vets Louisa Powell-Smith
Road Senior Woiman Jess Warner-Judd; Senior Man Matt Ramsden
Fell Senior Man Josh Holgate
Sportshall
U11 Girl Winner Amelia Pacelli – Runner Up Hanna Krolikowska
U11 Boy Winner Isaac Doolan – Runner Up Noah Baah
Track Endurance
Millie Jordan (U13/U15); Charlotte Robertshaw (U17/U20); Ellen Sagar-Hesketh (Senior Woman);
Jack Baranowski ((U13/U15); Ben Stratton (U17/U20); Matt Ramsden (Senior Man);
Sprints
Caris Peter-Thomas (U13/U15G); Millee Schofield (U17/U20 Woman);
Jack Duxbury (U13/U15B); Charles Unsworth (U17/U20); George Whittker (Senior Man);
Jumps
U13/U15G Isabella Finn; U17/U20W Tamzin Osborne;
U13/U15B Abdollh Shriha; U17/U20M Daniel Nuttall; Senior Man George Whittaker;
Throws
Dana Juma (U13/U15G); Olivia Thomasson (U17/U20W);
Alex Burn-Groves (U13/U15B); Goorge Williams (U17/U20M); Matthew Heywood (Senior M);
Hurdles
Alisha Lehner (U13/U15/U17W); Millie Pilkington (Sen W); Abdollh Shriha (U13/U15/U17M); Codie Dewhurst (U20/Sen M);
Vets Track & Field Winners Rebecca Ward and Ben Fish
Multi-Eventer of the Year Abdollh Shriha
Team of the Year – Northern League West Prenier Division Champions – Blackburn Harriers Senior T&F Team
Most Improved Athlete (U13/U15/U17W) – Joint Winners – Millie Jordan & Tamzin Osborne
Most Improved Athlete (U13/U15/U17M) – Daniel Bretherton
Most Improved Athlete (U20/Sen/Vets) – Isabelle Hartley
Most Improved Athlete (U20/Sen/Vets) – Matt Ramsden
Endeavour Award – Sienna Rose-Wareing
Best young athlete perforamnce of the Year (U13/U15/U17W) – Millee Schofield
Best young athlete perforamnce of the Year (U13/U15/U17M) – Jack Baranowski
Best senior athlete perforamnce of the Year (U20/Sen/VetsW) – Isabel Holt
Best senior athlete perforamnce of the Year (U20/Sen/VetsM) – Dexta Thompson
Ace Award for overall outstanding contribution by an athlete – John iLunga
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