European Championships in Berlin
Holly Bradshaw is having a great year. The British No.1 Pole Vaulter has got progressively better throughout the season which saw her clearing 4.80m in Germany in the middle of July. In the European Championships she qualified for the Final with a first time clearance of 4.50m and went on in the Final to clear 4.55m and 4.65m at the first attempt, passed 4.70m and then cleared 4.75m for the second time this year culminating in a very well deserved Bronze Medal.
Sophie Hitchon qualified for the Hammer Final on Friday with a distance of 68.74m before finishing 8th in the Final with 70.52m. Sophie – British record holder and No. 1 – has said that she is working on a change in her technique and is confident that once she has got on top of that she will become more competitive with consistently longer throws. As Sophie’s sister posted on Twitter “The road to success is always under construction’.
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BMC Gold Standard Races – Milton Keynes – Saturday August 10th
After running a time of 2.04.57 over 800m at Watford during the week Jess Judd ran the BMC 5000m on Saturday evening to head a field of twenty one athletes in a winning time of 15.37.23 with Emily Thornhill in 2nd (15.58.31) and Emelia Gorecka in 3rd (16.06.30). In doing so, Jess broke Blackburn Harriers Club Record which was set by Pauline Powell in 2001 and was just three seconds outside her own personal best.
In the week leading up to Milton Keynes BMC Rob Warner ran the 1500m at the Watford BMC on August 8th to clock a time of 3.52.10 in 11th place.
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Northern Track & Field Championships at Wavaertree – 10 & 11th August
It was a pretty good weekend for the Harriers at the weekend in this years Northern Championships with a number of Medals being won by our athletes. Charlotte Williams in only her third competition of the year followng injury followed her wins in the Mid Lancs (53.07m) and UKYDL (57.11m) with a throw of 57.20m at the Championships to secure the title with Zoe Price in 2nd place (55.12m)
After the presentation Charlotte spoke to the Club about her comeback commenting “I am very happy to come back into competitions with a win at each one and becoming northern champion. It’s been a hard journey where I never thought I’d be back to this point. I am now training hard and looking forward to nationals in the next two weeks to see what I can do there! I’d like to thank everyone in the club, the coaches and parents for the continuous amounts of support!“
U17 Abigail Brown went into the Championships with a shoulder injury which hampered her performance. In the Hammer she placed 11th in the thirteen strong field with 32.72m and due to the injury wasn’t able to compete in the Discus and Shot. Nicky Saunders won a Bronze Medal in the U15 Girls Discus with a new PB throw of 28.86m placing third out of a field of fifteen competitors and this was after she threw another new PB in the U15 Girls Hammer placing 5th with 31.16m.
U17 Solomon Brown came straight from the airport having flown back from holiday in Bulgaria to win the 400m Hurdles and become Northern Champion in a time of 60.04. After a nights sleep he was back the following day to take Bronze in the 100m Hurdles with a time of 15.51 and that into a headwind of -2.9.
(400m Hurdles)
(100m Hurdles)
There was another Bronze Medal in the Hurdles for the Harriers, this time won by U17 Millie Coy in a battling 300m Hurdles Race with a new PB of 47.43. Millie was also back on the Sunday and this time in the Javelin in a competition featuring thirteen athletes where she finished in 8th position (33.06m) some four metres outsider her best.
English Schools Hurdler Myah Booth had a very good Championships as she won her Heat of the 75m Hurdles in a time of 12.04 and again into a headwind of -4.9 going onto claim the Silver Medal in the Final clocking 11.60 – the headwind dropping to -1.7. Then onto the Shot Putt in which Myah threw 10.84m, just 15cms outside rhest best to win her second Medal of the Championships with a Bronze in 3rd place.
(Heats)
(Final)
Tobi Olidapo had a great first ever appearance in a Championships entering the U13 Boys 100m and Long Jump. Running into a big headwind of -2.6 he won his Heat to qaulify for the Final in a time of 13.62 and then went onto win Bronze in the Final, clocking 13.78 and this time into a wind measuring -3.0. In the Long Jump he wasn’t far away either jumping a new PB distance of 4.52m in 7th place and just 14cms outside the Medals. Also in the Long Jump was Saul Sharp who also had a good day posting a new PB of 3.69m – going on to run a time of 2.44.59 in the U13 Boys 800m.
Tobi’s older brother Tope Olidapo (U17) entered the 100m and 200m – having pulled up with a cramp in the 200m he was back for the 100m on Sunday clcoking 12.98 in Heat (1). Ethan Downes who has had an excellent season this year in the UKYDL, was like all the sprinters running into substantial headwinds and in Ethan’s Heat it measured -3.4 as he ran a time of 12.62 in 3rd place which didn’t get him a place in the Final.
U17 Amy Davies clocked a time of 5.03.97 in the 1500m coming home 6th in the Final whilst Harry Wilkin ran 5.05.46 in the U17 Men’s 1500m. In the U15 Girls 800m – Eleesha Charnley placed 4th in Heat (2) ot three Heats with a time of 2.25.56 which meant she missed qualification for the Final. Hayden Mercer ran the U15 Boys 800m qualifying for the Final as a fastest loser in 2.19.26. A much better performance in the Final saw him run very close to his personal best as he clocked 2.13.82.
The U13 Girls 800m was run as three Time Trials with the winner of each Race taking the three places on the Podium. Keira Haxton ran a really gutsy and competitive race as she fought to finish in 2nd place in her Race with a time of 2.41.89.
In the 3000m Nick Smith was invited to run in the U17 men’s Race as there had been only the one entry in the U20 Men’s 3000m. Matt Ramsden was hopeful of a Medal in the U17 Race which featured a number of good athletes in the Entry List. On the day two of the athletes who lined up were sub 9 minute athletes – Joseph Buckley and Matt Ramsden and that is how the Race finished with Buckley winning in a time of 9.12.07 and Matt in 2nd place closing the winner down all the time in the home straight as he clocked 9.14.52 to win Silver. Nick Smith ran a time of 10.10 and was presneted with the Gold Medal.
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Pligrim’s Cross – August 8th
John Horrocks has continued his fine form on the Fells in his latest Race – Pilgrims Cross – which is part of the Rossendale Series. This latest outing saw John take 3rd place in a time of 40.54 with Luke Turnmer taking the win (40.05) and Andy Buttery in 2nd (40.13).
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Boulsworth Races – Sunday August 12th
(All photos from Boulsworth courtesy of David Belshaw)
Charlotte Smith maintained her run in the Series on Sunday coming home in 4th place (4.17) in the U9 Girls Race. Matthew Smith has had a great Series and won the U11 Boys race again in a time of 6.59 with Theo Robinson in 7th place in a time of 7.56. Imogen Robinson maintained her good fun with 4th position in the U11 Girls Race clocking 8.16 and followed in by Tippi Francis in 8th place (8.46). Codie Dewhurst bagged himself anothet top three place as he came home with a time of 7.14 in the U13 Boys Race as Libby Neal finished 10th in 9.03 in the U13 Girls Race.
In the Senior Race Ian Clarkson finished 98th overall in 61.17. (RESULTS)
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