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 womens 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 2nd
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 2nd 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 5th and 7th 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 3rd in the javelin. Michael
Haslett also did very well dipping to pip 3rd 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 8th 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 4th 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 4th 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)
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