OUTSTANDING WEEKEND FOR MANX ATHLETES AT LANCASHIRE TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Thanks to Chris Quine for the link (click here for results) and for the following report.

Eight golds, thirteen silvers and eight bronze was the medal haul for Island athletes in the Lancashire Track and Field Championships at Blackpool last weekend. Held in perfect weather conditions on both Saturday and Sunday, local athletes also picked up personal bests and national standards.

The Manx Harriers organised trip saw a party of over 40 travel to Stanley Park, nestling in the gaze of the world famous tower. This was a great opportunity to pit themselves against the best in Lancashire and experience the drama of competing in a championship event.

In the senior women’s’ events, Julie Harrison won both the 400m and 800m, the latter event by over 50m. It was encouraging to see a number of medals amongst the junior women; Rachael Kelly won the 1500m in a personal best of 5mins 10s and followed this up with a win in the 400m hurdles with Michelle Greaves 2^nd in the same event, whilst Kirree Kermode collected a couple of medals in the throws.

Not to be outdone Chris Whitlow was the sole junior man in the squad but picked up medals in the long jump and high jump.

The under 17s showed good promise for the future. Amongst the lads Ben Brand finished 3rd in the 400m with an excellent personal best of 53.6s and followed this on the Sunday with a silver medal in the 800m having made a bold bid for victory on the 2^nd lap. He was supported in the middle distances by the stylish Lee Butterworth who ran personal bests in both the 1500m and 3000m and James Eccles who ran personal bests in the 800m and 1500m. James was also in action on the field where he won the discus (31.95m). Also in the field Shaun Cregeen won silver in the high jump (1.78m).

Meanwhile the under 17 women, whilst not winning any medals, Rhian Evans and Ciara Kaneen both ran personal bests placing them 5^th and 7^th in the 300m. Ciara was also unlucky to be tripped in her 800m heat – all part of the learning experience at this level of competition.

The under 15s gave the party plenty to shout about. The sole Northern AC representative, Peter Richardson, had a great championships, winning the long jump (5.38m), 2 silvers in the 100m (12.3s) and 200m (24.7s) and 3^rd in the javelin. Michael Haslett also did very well dipping to pip 3^rd place in the 200m having earlier won silver in the 80m hurdles.

The under 15 girls picked up a bronze medal through Harriet Pryke in the 200m (27.1s) whilst in the 1500m Nicola Cooil smashed her personal best with a time of 5m 11.9s but such was the competitiveness of this race, this was only good enough for 8^th place. 

A number of under 13 girls also made the trip gaining useful experience for the future. Star amongst these was Rachael Franklin, who ran a very mature 1500m to win the silver medal (5m 21.8s) with Lauren Whelan 4^th in the same event (5m 31.2s). Both girls also reached the final of the 800m. In the sprints Danielle Ross ran a personal best of 14.5s for 4^th place in the 100m.

A number of club officials were involved in timekeeping and judging which will be useful experience for on-Island events. Special thanks are due on behalf of the team of athletes, officials and supporters to Di Shimell for all her hard work in organising a successful trip.

Di Shimell pictured recently at the Peel to Douglas run (ML)