Congratulations to Lancashire’s Senior Men’s Team who took the Bronze Medal at the this years Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships held at Prestwood Hall in Loughborough on Saturday March 11th – (ALL AGE GROUP RESULTS).Lancashire’s nine athletes home crossed the line in 13th, 17th, 35th, 67th, 69th, 75th, 117th, 205th and 218th.
Four members of Blackburn Harriers werre among the six counters for Lancashire (276 points) who placed 3rd behind Hampshire (236 points) in 2nd and Leicestershire & Rutland (157 Points) who won – Daniel Bebbington, Matt Ramsden, Ben Fish and Joe Gebbie. Daniel led the Lancashire team home finishing in 13th spot in a time of 38.47, followed by Matthew Knowles (17th) in 38.56, Matt Ramsden (35th) in a time of 39.59, Ben Fish in 67th (40.58), Grant Cunliffe in 41.01 (69th), Ross Harrison 75th in 41.12, Luke Foley (42.04) in 117th, Se Loughlin (205th) in 44.07 and Joe Gebbie in 218th spot running 44.25.
Lancashire’s U13 Girls team presenting Lancashire Team Managaer Steve Duxbury with a birthday card.
Lancashire Bronze Medalists
L-R Daniel Bebbington – Grant Cunliffe – Ben Fish – Ross Harrison – Matt Ramsden
Photos courtesy of Steve Duxbury
Daniel Bebbington (4124)
Matt Ramsden (4137)
Ben Fish (4128)
Joe Gebbie (4130)
The U20 Men’s race saw Lancashire come home in 13th place out of 23 complete County teams on the day with Blackburn Harriers David Holman leading the team in with a 36th place finish time of 30.49. In the U17 Men’s race there was a 7th place finish for the County out of 39 teams which saw Daniel Smith from the Harriers finish in 6th place (22.50) for the team. 258 athletes representing 38 Counties made up the U17 Women’s field – Lancashire taking 29th place overall. Evie Taylor and Keira Haxton from the Harriers were in the team with Evie crossing the finishing line in 149th spot andf 3rd counter in 24.40 as Keira placed 186th in a time of 25.48. There was another 7th place finish for Lancashire – this time in the U20 Women’s race – which had Abigail Stratton coming home as 2nd counter for the team in 34th place overall with a time of 25.55.
David Holman (104)
Over 300 athletes respresenting 43 Counties lined up for the U15 Boys race resulting in Lancashire finishing 8th overall. Oliver Gill and Sam Aspey from Blackburn Harriers were included in the team finishing as 2nd and 3rd counters – Oliver coming home in 38th place (15.16) with Sam in 43rd spot running 15.18. Exactly 300 U13 Girls from 41 Counties took part in the U13 Girls race – Lancashire taking 9th place overall. Three Blackburn Harriers ran in the team which had Agatha Taylor being 4th counter, placing 89th overall in 14.32 and this after losing a shoe just after the Start. Emma Robertshaw came home in a time 14.46 (112th) with Lottie Hesketh in 152nd (15.07).
(U17 Men’s Race Video) Courtesey of Becky Willoughby
(U15 Boys Race Video) Courtesy of Becky Willoughby
(U13 Girls Race Video) Courtesy of Becky Willoughby
Oliver Gill (1524) – Sam Aspey (1519)
Oliver Gill (1524)
Sam Aspey
L-R Lottie Hesketh – Emma Robertshaw – Agatha Taylor
Agatha Taylor (504)
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Final Mid Lancs Cross Country fixture of the this season took place on Saturday March 11th in sunny but cold conditions and muddy underfoot. The turnout was down, impacted undoubtedly by the clash with the Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships being held on the same day. (Mid Lancs Results).
Just 31 girls and 40 boys ran in the U11 Races which saw Theo Addy come home in 17th spot in the boys race in 7.32. Evie Fort and Charlotte Smith took part in the U13 Girls race featuring just 24 runners – Evie finishing in 13th (10.40) and Charlotte (15th) in a time 10.58. Only 13 runners in the U13 Boys race which saw Liam Bennison take 2nd spot in 10.55 behind the winner from Kendal – Harry Coulter (10.42). The U15 Boys race had 23 runners lined up at the start and it proved to be a good day for the Harriers as Logan McCredie took the win in a time of 13.36 with team mates Jack Wood in 5th place (14.16) and Matthew Smith in 6th (14.23) winning the team race from Kendal-Helm in 2nd and Rossendale in 3rd.
Evie Fort (191) – Charlotte Smith (201)
Logan McCredie (2364)
Jack Wood
Matthew Smith
With three Blackburn Harriers in the first five places, the day was a good one for the Senior Women’s team as they took the team 1st place from Chorley in 2nd and Blackpool in 3rd. Amy Davies led the team home by winning the race and 1st U20 in a time of 21.13 with Ellen Sagar-Hesketh in 2nd (21.36), and Becky Shorrock finishing in 5th (23.11) as the three counters. V50 Lindsay Davies came home in 30th place out of a field of 92 runners in 25.42. Just two runners in the Senior Men’s race with a 131 strong field – Sam Hodkinson finishing in 4th place overall and 1st U20 with a time of 34.16 and Danny Maynard in 52nd spot running 39.02.
Amy Davies & Ellen Sagar-Hesketh
L-R Amy Davies – Ellen Sagar-Hesketh – Becky Shorrock – Lindsay Davies
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Turning to the Indoor season and the weekend of March 11/12th saw the hosting at EIS of the England Athletics U15 & U17 Combined Event & Para Championships with Blackburn Harriers Kara Dacosta taking part in the PenlU17W – (RESULTS). Thirty two U17 Women contested the event covering five disciplines which saw Kara finish in 24th position with a total points score of 2912.
The five events covered 60m Hurdles; High Jump; Long Jump; Shot Putt and 800m. Kara posted a time of 9.68 in 6th place for 60m Hurdles; came 2nd in her High Jump Pool with 1.62m; jumped 4.02m in the Long Jump (15th) in her Pool; threw a new PB of 7.35m (16th) in Pool B and finished off with a win in her Heat of the 800m, clocking 2.28.60 and just half a second outside her personal best.
The sixth and final fixture of this years Sale Indoor Winter Series took place on Sunday March 12th which included a number of Blackburn Harriers contesting, sprints, hurdles and jumps. (RESULTS). Very good performances from the athletes as they recorded five wins, four 2nd places and eleven new Indoor PB’s.
Starting off with Sprints and the 60m – Senior Brandon Zimyemba set himself a new PB of 7.19 in 2nd spot of his Heat and made it a double new PB in the 300m, winning his Heat in 38.97. U17 Charlie Unsworth took 2nd spot in Heat 15 (7.32) followed in Heat 16 of the 60m by Harriers U17 athletes finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th – Daniel Nuttall in 2nd (7.36), Henry Harwood in 3rd with a new PB of 7.55 and Oliver Palk in 4th, also running a new PB of 7.71. Aidan Downes – also U17 won Heat 18 with a new PB by half a second as he clocked 7.90. Daniel and Oliver then went on to run a second Heat in the 60m – Daniel clocking 7.44 in 6th and Oliver 7.71 exactly the same time as his first Heat.
U17 Alisha Lehner had a cracking day too, adding to the list of new personal bests by Harriers athletes. She set three new PB’s, firstly in the 60m clocking 8.67 in 3rd with Isabelle Hartley just outside her personal best in 5th spot (9.31) in the same Heat. She then ran a new PB of 46.39 over 300m in winning her Heat with Zoe Green in 3rd (50.49). Alisha rounded off a perfect day for herself by chopping 3 tenths off her time in the U17 60m Hurdles placing 4th in a new PB time of 9.76.
Over 300m U20 Ben Boocock clocked 38.91 in 3rd place in his Heat followed in Heat 16 by a win for Oliver Palk in a time of 38.88 with team mate Aidan Downes clocking a new PB of 39.62 in 4th spot. Yet another new PB in the next Heat and this time for Henry Harwood with a 2nd place in a time of 41.46. U20’s Thomas Monks and Hayden Mercer went in Heat 2 of the 600m resulting in a win and a new PB by well over a second and a half for Thomas of 1.25.39 with Hayden clocking 1.29.74 in 5th position. Well done to U17 Zoe Green as she knocked a huge seven seconds off her 600m personal best time in setting herself a big new PB of 1.47.63 (4th).
In the field events – Daniel Nuttall took on Long Jump and Shot Putt alongside team mate Isabelle Hartley who contested Shot putt too. In a Long Jump Pool of 19, Daniel leapt out to 5.36m in 4th place followed by a throw of 8.01m in his first ever attempt at the Shot Putt whilst Isabelle had a throw of 7.66m in her Shot Putt placing 7th in the eleven strong contest.
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On the Road meanwhile at the Longton 10k on Sunday March 12th with just short of 200 finishers – (RESULTS). Salford’s Chris Livesey took the win in 33.01 from fellow Salford athlete David Rigby in 2nd (33.26) and Blackburn Road Runners Alex Curran in 3rd (33.52). Chris Davies (V45) was the first Blackburn Harrier to cross the finish line taking 7th place in a time of 34.50 and was also the first V45. Stephen Walter was back out racing for the first time since December and was the next to finish in 11th spot posting a time of 36.03. Matt Nuttall won the V50 prize as he came home in a time of 38.27 in 19th spot with V50 Lindsay Davies in 66th spot running 48.06.
Up in Scotland – Helen Leigh who is 2nd claim for Blackburn Harriers, decided to leave the fells and cross country and return to the road for a 10k race for the first time since September 2021 when she ran at the Northern 6-Stage Road Relays in Redcar. Just over 250 runners took part in the Nairn 10k won by Moray athlete Kenny Wilson in 30.50. Helen finished in 3rd place in the Women’s race and 33rd overall with a time of 38.35 – Inverness’s Jenny Bannerman winning the Women’s race in 36.45.
Chris Davies (46)
Stephen Walter (244)
Matt Nuttall (137)
Lindsay Davies (47)
Helen Leigh (127)
