Red Rose XC League – November 12th
Another good day for the Harriers at the third fixture in this years Red Rose Cross country League which saw the Club achieve on the day:
3rd Team in the U11 Girls — 3rd Team in the U13 Boys — 2nd Team in the U13 Girls — 2nd Team in the U15 Boys — 4th Team in the Men’s Senior.
In the Series to-date the Harriers Teams have the following positions as they go into the last fixture at Marl Pits on December 3rd: U11 Boys Team (8th) — U11 Girls (2nd) — U13 Boys (2nd) — U13 Girls (1st) — U15 Boys (2nd) — Senior Women (6th) — Senior Men (1st).
SERIES RESULTS (after three fixtures)
In the Individual standings Tim Raynes is in 1st position for the Senior Men — Chris Davies is 1st in the V40’s — Andy Buttery is 3rd in the V45’s — Chris Balderson is 6th in the V50’s — Matt Ramsden is 2nd in the U15 Boys — Amy Davies is 4th in the U15 Girls — Eleesha Charnley is joint 5th in the U13 Girls with Hollie Cubbon in 9th and Leah Hoole in 10th — Harvey Ashworth is 6th in the U13 Boys — Kate Cookson and Caroline Woodworth are joint 6th in the U11 Girls.
The U11 Boys came in 8th Team of eleven being led by Saul Sharp in 24th in a time of 7.40, supported by Oliver Gill in 37th place (8.02) and George Ramsden 49th in the field of 81 runners, posting a time of 8.26. Over in the U11 Girls, the Team finished in 3rd place, just one point behind second placed Team Bury. Caroline Woodworth in her first competitive year is making great strides and led the Team home in 7th place (7.55) as is Keira Haxton, also in her first year who placed 13th out of the 75 runners in a time of 8.09. Jasmine Schofield in her first season for the Club came just two places further back in 15th (8.18) whilst Hannah Davies, the youngest member of the Team came home in 23rd (8.36), with Isabelle Hartley in 46th (9.05). Great team spirit among all these youngsters.
The U13 Boys race with 44 runners saw Harvey Ashworth put in another really good performance finishing 7th overall (12.26) and helped lead the Team to 3rd place on the day. Another young athlete who is coming on and putting in consistent performances is Ethan Barbarewicz, placing 13th in a time of 13.09 and backed up well by George Whittaker in 21st (13.30), Jasper Smith (24th) in 13.45, Kyle Taylor-Pomfret in 25th place (13.52) and Rory Teare in 30th position (14.19).
(L-R Ethan Barbarewicz – Kyle Pomfret – Rory Teare – Jasper Smith – George Whittaker)
Eleesha Charnley once again ran a great race finishing 4th in a time of 13.13 which saw just four seconds cover the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Girls in the 68 strong field. Eleesha led the Team home to 2nd place on the day with good runs again from Hollie Cubbon in 7th (13.25) and Leah Hoole (10th) in a time of 13.38. Lucy Brady another young athlete in her first season coming home solidly in 39th spot (15.19) and similarly Kirsten Coleran in 53rd with a time of 16.16).
It was Matt Ramsden who led home the U15 Boys Team in 2nd place with Rossendale winning on the day. Matt finished 2nd overall in 14.40 with Jamie Teare placing 10th (15.51), Leon Thomas 13th in 16.05, Sam Hodkinson (15th) in 16.21, Bradley Meikleham in 17th position (16.40), Luke Ingleson (27th) in a time of 17.58, and Harry Wilkin in his first ever competitive race for the Club coming home in 33rd with a time of 19.16. With the last fixture at Marl Pits on December 3rd, there is everything to play for as Blackburn Harriers and Rossendale Harriers are both on 39 points. Should be a great end to the Red Rose Cross Country season for all the lads in the two teams. In the U15 Girls, Amy Davies had another good run to place 4th in a time of 17.37 and she is in 4th position for the Series overall. A good run at Marl Pits may take her into the top three. Chloe Bleeks had a run out in the U17 Women’s race taking 13th spot in a time of 28.50.
One hundred and eighteen runners in the Women’s Senior Race won very comfortably by Laura Riches in 21.41 by half a minute from Katie Buckley in 2nd. Becky Taylor is back in racing mode and had another solid run to take 13th place in a time of 23.50, with mum Jackie Taylor also returning to racing in 71st position (28.33) and followed by Lindsay Davies in 99th (33.42).
The Men’s Senior Team went into this fixture with Team wins in the first two rounds and individual wins in both. At Bolton, the young East Cheshire athlete – Joe Steward – showed everyone a clean pair of heels winning by a minute and twenty one seconds in a very, very good performance.
Tim Raynes, winner at Leigh in Round One and leading the Series, once again was the first Harrier home in 4th place (36.52) with Tom Blaney in 13th spot (38.40) and Chris Davies 16th in a time of 38.51. In 22nd place came Andy Buttery (39.25) and then our next counter in that part of the Race had to drop out with an injury. Chris Balderson was next in for the Club (71st) in 43.59 with Aqua Damour in 105th (46.38), Warren Smith 110th (47.01), Craig Greenough (115th) in a time of 47.40, Allan Hartley in 174th place (51.41), Danny Teare in 189th (53.14) and Richard Taylor 214th (56.35).
♦
Cheshire 10k at Arley Hall – November 12th
One thousand, three hundred and ninety one runners completed this annual race in the picturesque setting of Arley Hall in Cheshire, the race being won by Mohammed Abue-Rezeq in 30.27 in pretty bad weather conditions overall.
Ben Fish was the first of five Blackburn Harriers contesting the Race, coming home in 3rd place with a time of 31.20 followed by V40 Shaun Livesey in 26th place (34.15) and 3rd V40 on the day.
Catherine Guinan, Jan Buckingham, and Michelle Teare had a good day and one to remember with new PB’s for Michelle and Catherine.
(L-R Michelle Teare – Jan Buckingham – Catherine Guinan)
V45 Catherine placed 464th in a time of 49.04, setting a new PB, nearly a full minute faster than her previous best, whilst V50 Jan came home in 510th spot with 49.49 just twenty seconds away from her PB and just five seconds further back in 514th, came V40 Michelle in 49.54 which was a new PB by a massive two and half minutes. Meanwhile, Claire Bridge popped over to Lytham to run the Windmill 10k along with nearly a 1000 other runners – RESULTS – placing 311th in a time of 53.31.
♦
