A busy week for Blackburn Harriers athletes covering track & field, road and fell racing and for all age groups. Starting off the week with track & fieled at Trafford ion Tuesday 12th May with Jack Wood, Daniel Bebbington, Ben Makin, Maddie Elliott, Gordon Ballantyne, Benedict Raby, Ibraheem Kantharia were all competing over 1500m, 3000m and 800m. U16 Benedict started off in the 1500m with a seasons best performance of 4.28.74. In the 800m races, Daniel won his race in a time of 1.54.44 with Ibraheem in the same race, setting a new PB of 2.00.12. U18 Jack ran the 1500m clocking 4.14.84. On to the 3000m and Ben ran a seasons best time of 8.53.31 in Heat 1 and Heat 2 of the 3000m saw Gordon clocking 9.14.67, followed in Heat 3 by Maddie running a new PB of 9.52.78 in 4th place – the second new personal best of the night. (RESULTS).
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One day later, it was the tuurn of the road and this time at Bideford in the England Athletics 10k Masters Championships. Blackburn Harriers James Bretherton raced in this event and took 3rd spot in the V45 age category, running a time of 33.26.7 and 20th overall. (REPORT & RESULTS). A few days later, James was back out on the roads, this time at the Lancaster Power 5k coming home in 5th place overall, the first V45 and setting a new PB for 5k of 15.43 in race 1 – the race being won by Sedbergh’s Evan Allen in 15.35. Mark Almond ran in Race 2 , with a time of 18.33 (7th) and first V55 alongside team mate Adrian Shorrock who took the 3rd V55 place in 19.30 (20th) and a fine run fromn U16 Charlotte Smith who ran a new PB of 19.30 and 5th female.
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On the Fells at the Esk Valley Junior FRA Championships with Bendict Raby, Eleanor Jenner and William Jenner who were all competing for the Harriers. Bendict – in the U16 Boys race – came home in 7th position overall, running 24.11 with team mate Eleanor placing 11th in the U16 Girls Race in a time of 30.12. (U16 RESULTS). William ran in the U14 Boys race placing 17th overall with a time of 22.14. (U14 RESULTS)
James Bretherton (146)
Benedict Raby
Eleanor Jenner
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Back to track and field and Saturday saw the running of the BMC Grand Prix at Trafford, clashing as it did with the Northern League fixtures. Joe Monk had a very good night chopping a huge 28 seconds off his previous best to set up a new PB of 14.17.79. Daniel Bebbington went in the 1500m A race and clocked 3.47.80 whilst in the 800m races there was a new PB by half a second for U16 Millie Jordan 2.12.66 followed by U18 Agatha Taylor in the following race, clocking 2.14.38 and also a new PB by three tenths… (RESULTS).
Millie Jordan (90)
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Bury was the venue on Saturday May 16th for the first Match of this years Northern League West Premier Division. The team had a number of athletes missing which meant it was always going to be a tough ask to finish near the front or indeed get a win. In the end, we managed 2nd place which is a good start to this years ambition of winning the Northern League for the third year in a row. A big thank you to all of our athletes who produced some very good performances and new personal bests on the day and also a big thank you to those athletes who stepped in at the last minute to cover spots that had been vacant. It makes such a difference and adds that important dimension of mutual support, camaraderie and team spirit, values that take us a long way. The final results saw Trafford AC take the win with 411 points, Blackburn Harriers (348.5), Sale Harriers (338); Bury AC (337); West Cheshire AC (305), Wirrall AC (284.5).
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Our Throws team got us off to a very good start in the Hammer – Matt Heywood (49.93m) and Anthony Kent (48.01m) taking the A & B wins alongside Ava Leigh (51.88m) in 2nd place in the Women’s Hammer. Anthony and Matt placed 4th (34.89m) and 3rd (23.03m) respectively in the Discus alongside a 4th (11.02m) for Anthony in the Shot Putt (4th) with Tony Balko 5th in the B Shot Putt (8.59m). Ava Leigh added a 4th place in the Shot Putt in adding to the points total in 4th spot (9.72m). Kady Thompson took on the Discus (15.42m) in 6th spot and then paired with Ellen Sagar-Hesketh for the Javelin – Kady takeing 4th place in the A (23.77m) with Ellen 2nd in the B with a throw of 23.60m. In the Men’s Javelin Loucas Lancashire continued with his consistent throwing, placing 4th (40.28m) with teamate Michael Morton 2nd in the B, throwing a new PB of 34.00m.
Ava Leigh
Charlie Palich and Ernie Hobson – Ernie’s first competition in the Senior league – took 4th (11.30) and 2nd (11.60) respectively in the 100m which was a new PB for Ernie, the same pair taking on the 200m with Charlie clocking 23.80 in the A (5th) and Ernie running his second new PB of 23.50 in 2nd spot in the B. Maximum points for the Hrriers were won in the 400m as Matthew Sharples clocking 50.80 after a terrific tussle up the home straight with Trafford’s Willam Jones (50.90) alomgside Ethan Cutler who had another very good run, clocking a new PB of 52.40 to win the B race. In the Women’s Sprints Evie Fort ran 13.70 (5th) and Grace iLunga (13.90) 5th in the B for the 100m – Evie then joining Agata Tomasz in the 200m – Agata (28.50) in 5th and Evie also 5th in the B (28.70). Poppi Watson equaled her personal best of 61.80 in the A 400m (3rd) alongside Lottie Smith who took 3rd place in the B (64.30) which was a new PB by over a second.
Charlie Palich (131)
Lottie then took on the 800m with teamate Keira Haxton – Keira placing 2nd in the A (2.22.20) with Lottie placing 2nd in the B (2.35.60). In the 1500m Holly Moffatt clocked 5.03.80 in 5th with Isabelle Perry running 5.12.0 in 3rd spot in the B. The 3000m produced two 4th places – Louisa Powell-Smith clocking 10.33.60 in the A and Ellen Sagar-Hesketh (11.12.40) in the B race. The Men’s middle distance races saw Ismael Alvarez Hassany have a battle with Traffords Jordi Evans-Rodriguez as he placed 2nd in 2.00.20 behind the winner (2.00.10) and in the B race, Sam Aspey took the win, clocking a new PB of 1.58.50. Jack Lamb ran an excellent race to win the 1500m in a new PB of 4.06.50 as did Max Cunningham who won the B in 4.12.70 in his first track race for two years. Another double win for the Harriers in the 5000m in what was a very honest race resulting in Ross Harrison winning the A in 15.01.50 alongside team mate Ben Fish winning the B in 15.37.50.
Jack Lamb (121) and Max Cunningham (103)
The Hurdles saw George Camara place 3rd in the A (58.90) which was a massive new PB by over three seconds alongside team mate Codie Dewhurst winning the B race in 63.90 just shy of his personal best and his first race of the year. Millie Pilkington clocked 83.50 in 4th spot in the Women’s 400m Hurdles. George Whittaker ran the 110m Hurdles cllocking 17.50 in 4th. In the Jumps Tamzin Osborne came 2nd with a clearance of 2.90m in the Pole Vault and in the Long Jump Grace iLunga came 5th with 4.04m. In the High Jump Lia Cooper in her first senior match cleared 1.35m in 5th as Imogen Robinson took 2nd in the B (1.20m). Logan McCredie and Louis Crake were the pairing in the Men’s Long Jump – Logan placing 4th with 5.44m and Louis in his first outing in a senior event also ,placed 4th in the B with 4.61m. The High Jump saw Decathlete George Whittaker clear 1.70m which equaled his personal best in 3rd in the A with Abdollh Shriha clearing the same height of 1.70m to win the B and good to see him back competing again. The triple Jump had George Camara and Oliver Jones pairing for the event – Oliver another new athlete making his debut in the senior leagiue. George leapt out to 10.90m in 4th (A) and Oliver took 2nd in the B with a jump of 10.60m.
In terms of the Relays – always a highlight in finishing the days events – we were unable to field two mixed 4 x 100m teams finishing with just one – Evie Fort; Agata Tomasz; George Whittaker; Ernie Hobson placing 5th in 48.80. In the Men’s 4 x 400m just a tenth of a second separated the first two Sale (3.29.90) and Blackburn Harriers (3.30.00) Sale taking it right on the line – the team being – (Matthew Sharples; Ethan Cutler; Logan McCredie; Ismael Alvarez Hassany). The Women’s 4 x 400m team – (Isabelle Perry; Lottie Smith; Louisa Powell-Smith; Holly Moffatt) took 3rd place with a time of 4.20.10).
L-R Isabelle Perry – Lottie Smith – Louisa Powell-Smith – Holly Moffatt
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No rest for the wicked as they say, as the very next day we were up at Lancaster in the second match of this years Mid Lancs T&F League – Sunday May 17th. Overcast and windy early on, turning sunny and warm as the afternoon progressed. (PROVISIONAL RESULTS).
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The Harriers Throws Squad had a very good day. In the U16 Girls Shot Putt, thje Harriers took 1st, 2nd and 3rd places – Dana Juma posting a new PB of 10.48m in winning, Madeline Partridge also posting a new PB of 9.80m in 2nd and Marika Behnke in 3rd with 8.57m, just 9cms short of her personal best. Marika then went on to win the Javelin with a distance of 26.44m and in the Hammer, Madeline Partridge set her second new PB of the day in winning with 45.61m. In the Discus, Madeline made it three wins and three new PB’s as she won that event with 33.44m alongside team mate Marika Behnke in 2nd spot (20.29m). Loucas Lancashire and Peter Sagar-Moss took 1st and 2nd places in the U18 Men’s Javelin – Loucas winning with 40.33m and Peter 2nd throwing 37.59m. Peter also took 3rd place in the Shot Putt with a distance of 8.28m, having started the days events with a 2nd place in the U18 Boys 3000m (10.23.8). The U16 Boys Shot Putt saw James Acton-Grieves place 4th with a new PB of 9.51m whilst in the U16 Boys Javelin – Zakaria Haq came 6th with 31.28m and 7th in the Shot Putt (8.17m). Jenna McKinlay placed 4th in the U14 Girls Shot Putt throwing 6.20m.
L-R Madeline Partridge – Dana Juma – Marika Behnke
U12 Olivia Mitchell was competing for the very first time as she clocked 14.2 in the 75m, then jumped 2.19m in the Long Jump and followed that with a run in the 600m of 2.31.5 – so well done to her for doing all three events at her very first ever meeting. U12’s Hugh Russell-Blackburn and Harris Rawlinson went in the 600m – Hugh placing 9th overall (1.58.1) and Harris 11th in 2.07.1. Going onto the 150m Harris clocked 24.0 (5th) in Heat 2 alongside team mate Hugh running 23.1 (5th) in Heat 1. New members Ernie Chetwyn and Arthur Siggs ran un Heat 3 – Eernie running 25.2 and Arthur (26.3). U14 Hannah Moore had a good day to winning the High Jump with a cleraance of 1.29m and then took 2nd spot in the Long Jump with a distance of 4.03m. Lily Mae-Newton, Sophie Douglas, Mya Chadwick and Pippa Blackburn ran in the U14 Girls 800m – Lily placing 6th overall in 2.37.6, Sophie 8th in 2.40.1 for a new PB by six seconds and Mya in 12th spot (2.42.2) which was a huge new PB by 17 seconds in only her second ever race. Pippa placed 16th overall running 2.48.4. India Gooden ran the U14 Girls 100m in 15.5 and 15th overall and in the 200m Amelia Carrier clocked 33.7 (8th) in Heat 1, Sophie Douglas ran 29.8 (4th) in Heat 2, Pippa Blackburn clocked 31.4 (7th) in Heat 3 and Mia Logan ran 32.2 in 4th spot (Heat 4). Seren Gooden clocked 14.8 in Heat 1 (5th) – Eliza Garcia ran 29.6 in the U16 Girls 200m in Heat 1 and in the U16 Girls 100m Amelia Carrier clocked 16.2 (6th) in Heat 3. U14 Harry Mitchell was just one cm away from his personal best as he placed 2nd in the U14 Boys High Jump with a clearance of 1.40 and then clocked a new PB of 14.1 in 6th spot overall in the 100m (14.1). Back on the track and Ben Hawksworth clocked 5.12.0 in 6th place of the 1500m – and just one cm outside his best.
In the U16 Boys 300m James Acton-Grieves smashed his personal best, setting a new PB 40.5 in 5th place and his second of the day and in the U16 Boys 200m Joshua Carrier clocked 26.0 in 13th place overall and a new PB by 1.7 seconds and followed that up with a 13.0 clocking in the 100m (4th) for a second new PB of the day. Thomas North ran 2.12.8 in the U18 Men’s 800m.
Harry Mitchell
William Grundy was out competing in the Southport Triathlon – Sunday May 17th – and had a fine race, winning his age group category – (17-19) – and 5th overall, posting a combined time of 2hr 14.09 9 (20.19 for the Swim; 69.32 for the Bike and 38.31 for the Run). Cameron Lambert also competed placing 3rd in his age category (30-34) with a finishing time of 2hr 18.38 ( 23.21 for the Swim; 67.25 for the Bike and 42.10 for the Run). In the Women’s Race Leah Hoole won her age category (20-24) with a combined time of 2 hr 35. 46 (28.05 for the Swim; 77.01 for the Bike and 43.35 for the Run). (RESULTS)
Leah Hoole
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