Arriving at Knowsley Park for this years Northern Championships we were met with an announcement from the tannoy that the ‘going was soft’ and by the time the Senior Men went off at 3.05pm it was indeed that – with plenty of mud to boot. It was also great to see Blackburn Harrier – Lee Thompson – taking on the responsibility of Race Referee for the day.
The Senior Men’s Race saw a big field of 676 runners headed by the eventual and very impressive winner – Ben Connor in a time of 41.13 over the 12k distance.
The Harriers Senior Men’s Team finished 11th of the 50 Clubs competing and were led home by Rob Warner – who had run very impressively at the Cross Challenge in the Cardiff Cross Challenge the week before. Rob placed 25th in a time of 44.00 with Tim Raynes in 60th (46.16) and Tom Blaney 90th place posting a time of 47.44.
Next in came Shaun Livesey in 137th spot (49.54), Chris Davies just four places further back in 141st (50.00), Ben Costello in his first ever Northern Championships in 283rd position (54.56), Andy Heys posting a time of 60.21 (424th) and Danny Teare 606th in 70.44.
One of the runs of the day came from Liz Greenwood in the fifty five strong Junior Women’s Race won by International Harriet Knowles Jones. Liz entered as bottom of age had a very good run placing 6th overall in a time of 22.42 and with two more years in this age group, the future looks very good.
In the Junior Men’s Race, Joe Monk had a very good run in a quality race won by Scott Beattie from Morpeth with local Junior athlete Patrick Dever in 2nd. Joe had a very good run placing 16th overall in a good time of 29.06. Having lost his shoes for the second lap during the race, Marco Maggio found it very tough going and came home in 74th (39.40). All credit to him for completing the Race.
Just four women out in the Senior Women’s Race which saw Victoria Mousley finish in 49th place (35.31) with Beckie Taylor in 58th (36.30), Michelle Teare 255th in a time of 47.17 and Lindsay Davies with a time of 57.40 placing 338th.
The U13 Girls Race featured 223 young athletes and it was a delight to see as they came over the top of the climb at the start.
The Harriers U13 Girls took 14th team place out of the 22 Teams competing and were led home by Hollie Cubbon in 44th position in a time of 13.12 with Eleesha Charnley just three seconds and three places further back in 47th (13.15). Just one second and two places separated Caroline Woodworth in 163rd (15.12) and Keira Haxton 165th (15.13) and they were followed in by Kirsten Coleran (191st) in a time of 16.05.
U13 Boys also had a big field featuring 213 youngsters covering twenty five Clubs. Unfortunately the lads were one short for a Team but that didn’t stop Kyle Taylor-Pomfret from giving it a good go coming home in 87th place (12.53) followed by Ethan Barbarewicz in 110th (13.16) and Rory Teare in 148th (13.41).
Amy Davies had a good run in the U15 Girls Race featuring 179 runners when she placed 34th in a time of 17.39 and just ahead of some of her local rivals. In the U15 Boys Race the Harriers took 10th spot in the Team competition in a field featuring 171 runners and 19 Teams overall.
Matt Ramsden was the first Harrier home in 23rd position posting a time of 15.03 and he was supported by Leon Thomas in 57th place (15.45), Sam Hodkinson 61st with a time of 15.51, Bradley Meikleham in 93rd (16.29) and Jamie Teare in 100th spot (16.39). Making their debut at this championship level which can often be daunting were Ethan Joyce (129th) in 17.34, Harry Wilkin with a time of 19.19 in 155th place and Thomas Betty 156th in 19.21. Good experience for all of them.
Two women and two men in the U17 Races with Nicholas Smith placing 114th in a time of 24.19 and Joe Gebbie, another young athlete making his debut at the Northern Championships placing 118th in a time of 24.25. Maddie Elliott and Natalya Irvine ran in the U17 Women’s Race with Maddie finishing in 44th position (23.19) and Natalya 89th in a time of 26.24.
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The latest fixture in the Winter Indoor Series at Sportscity took place on Sunday January 29th with a number of the Harriers competing over sprints, sprint hurdles and throws.
U17 Bailey Madden was at her second ever Indoor Meeting and just ran the one race – a Heat of the 200m and won it in a new PB time of 27.63, which is three tenths quicker than her run in early January and a great start to her first season Indoors.
Also setting a massive new PB was U15 Myah Booth in the 60mHurdles placing 2nd in her Heat in a time of 9.69, over three quarters of a second faster than her previous best. Myah just missed out on a PB in the 60m (6th) in 8.91 and finished the day off with a Shot Putt throw of 8.81m. U15 Millie Coy also ran the the 60m Hurdles and set a new PB of 9.93, down from 10.04 at her first ever indoor hurdle race in December whilst Phoebe Baxter also in her first ever Indoor Race placed 4th in the 60m Hurdles with a time of 10.49.
Chloe Bleeks (U17) had a great day too in her second outing of the Indoor season winning her Heat of the 200m in 28.45 and then taking 2nd spot in the 60m with a new PB of 8.58, nearly three tenths faster than she has previously run.
Bottom of age U20 Ross Liddle who is concentrating on 400m and 400m Hurdles this year, took on the 600m at his first outing of the year, posting a time of 1.25.63 for 5th spot, this being his first ever trip over the distance.
U15 Christie Sturgess was tackling two events for the first time in her age group – the 60m posting a time of 8.87 (5th), the 60m Hurdles (4th) in 10.30 and then wasn’t far off her PB in the 200m (4th) in a time of 29.42. Another couple of young athletes U17 – Teigan Fawcett and U15 Queen Tanimowo – are also in their first ever Indoor season. Teigan ran the 60m and set a time of 9.08 whilst Queen set a seasons best of 8.71 in the 60m (5th) and then went and won her 60m Hurdles in a time of 10.20.
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