Cheshire Championships
The sun shone on Macclesfield for a glorious weekend of athletics at the 2024 Cheshire County Championships over the weekend of May 11th and 12th. Macclesfield Harriers had a fantastic turnout with a team of around 90 athletes, which made up over a quarter of the total competitors. Many of the younger junior athletes were competing in their first competition for the club.
U20
It was great to have several athletes turning out to represent the Harriers in the U20s. Joseph Nwankwo continued to excel at the javelin, throwing a season’s best and earning a bronze medal. Rebecca Dilworth raced the 400m brilliantly to secure the win, in 59:43, taking home the gold. Dylan took on the 400m hurdles and the 800m over both days and bagged two medals, one silver and one gold. Last but by no means least, Hayden competed in 4 events: High Jump, Shotput, Discus and Javelin. Excellent performances in all 4 events finished with 4 podium placements: 3 gold and 1 silver. Congratulations also go to Emma Johnson who competed in the Derbyshire Championships and finished 1st in the 1500m with a PB of 4:59:69.
Absolutely top-class athletes and great role models to the juniors coming through!
U17B
Amidst exam season, the U17B team put in strong performances on both days: PBs, podiums and medals were the order of the day. Notably, Basil, Thomas and Jared put in excellent performances in the 100m, all achieving PBs in a very quick race. Jared also took on the 800m and 1500m and was rewarded with a silver medal for his brilliant 1500m, taking his PB to 4 mins 31. Toby tried his hand at the javelin and threw over 28m – well done! Gold medals dominated for Isaac, Matthew and Jake who ran and jumped their way to victory. Isaac competed in the Long Jump securing the win with a personal best of 5.85m. Matthew took on the double of the 1500m and 3000m, racing with the U20 and Seniors and took home a double gold with significant PBs in both events. Jake also became a double gold medalist with great races in the 400m and 800m, where he led from the gun.
U17G
The U17G also performed strongly across both days – Millie Egerton started the Championships off with a silver medal in the Hammer throw matching her performance of the year before and very quickly after that Elizabeth Pendrill won gold in the 300m Hurdles with a personal best time of 45.13: a time that qualifies her for the English schools’ finals. The ladies 100m was a close race with Millie Egerton getting bronze with a PB of 13.64. The next event was a resounding gold Medal for Emma Farmer in the High Jump with a PB height of 1.51m. The personal bests carried on with a great run from Eliza Duffy in the 300m in a PB time of 45.25 to get her a bronze medal and in the 1500m Eva Mion took silver in a PB time of 5.12.34. The second day for the U17G started brightly in the 200m with Elizabeth Pendrill and Eliza Duffy taking part. Elizabeth took bronze in a close race and later in the afternoon Eva Mion just missed out on a medal in the 800m.
U15B
There were medals galore in the U15B – Tristan Lamprecht won gold medals in the 100m, Long Jump, and Javelin and a bronze in the Discus; his performance (and gold medal) in the 80m Hurdles was national standard. Samuel Savage threw his way to a gold medal in the Discus and also won silver medals in the 200m and the Shot. Eric Dickinson won a gold medal in the Hammer. There was a fantastic Macclesfield-only podium in the High Jump – Tristan with gold, Tomas Bedoya with silver and Samuel with bronze. Tomas also jumped to a bronze medal in the Long Jump. Christopher Melvin won a silver in the 200m; and in the longer 1500m distance George O’Donnell won a well-deserved silver and Jake Ireland a bronze. What an amazing team of U15Bs!
U15G
We had 6 U15 Girls competing – in the 100m Abbie Egerton ran a great PB securing her place in the final and Brianna Hamilton who was competing with the club for the 1st time. Brianna also competed in the Long Jump, securing 2 new PBs in both events. Florence Beard, who has been with the club a year now, competed in the 200m and 300m finals, where she ran massive PBs in both races, a great season opener for Flo. Rosie Bevan was also competing for the club for the first time and ran a great time in 300m for her first competition. Alice Mendham won a silver medal in the Long Jump with a great jump of 5.11m! Holly Walker ran herself to a PB in the 800m. One the U15G team was competing at the same time in the Staffordshire Championships – Ava Wragg won a fabulous silver medal in the 300m.
U13B
In the U13B, in his first full season of High Jump, Ben Hunsley won an amazing gold medal and also a silver medal in the Long Jump; in addition, he qualified for the 100m final but narrowly missed out on a podium place. In an extremely close race, Tom Ardron pushed across the line to win a well-deserved gold in the 75m Hurdles. There were some other fantastic PBs on the track – Elliott Jones in the 200m and Henry Talbot, George Sellars and Oscar Furness all in the 800m. The top team was completed by Elliott and George Allen also jumping in the Long Jump.
U13G
The U13G fielded a large team of 12, of whom 5 were competing for the very first time. Lauren Harper picked up 2 fabulous field medals – a silver in the Discus and a bronze in the Javelin with PBs in both events. Annabelle Brown and Amelie Whelan both made the 75m final as well as the 150m final alongside teammate Georgia Evans but unfortunately all missed out on medals due to very tough competition in both distances, all running amazing PBs. Emily Beever, Kira Corfield, Francesca Hudson, Eryn Mitchell (all competing for the first time), Alice Hodgson and Iona Fisher also all ran the highly contested 150m. Emma Bedoya and Georgia competed in the Long Jump and were both joined by Alice and Phoebe Patmore in the High Jump. Kira, Eryn and Annabelle all earned PBs in their first Shot competition.
U11B&G
Many of the U11Bs were also competing for the first time – 5 boys (Lenny and Maddox Lamptey, Barney Evans, Zac Groarke and Daniel Willcock) all earned places in the 75m final although just missed out on a podium place. Lewis Furness, Zac, Barney and Oscar Redfern all ran PBs in the 600m. PBs all round also in the Long Jump for Barney, Lenny, Zac, Maddox and Oscar.
The U11G team was small with Mia Labrosse and Bella Talbot, who was competing in her first Track & Field competition. Both competed in all 3 events with Mia winning silver medals in the 75m and the Long Jump and a bronze medal in the 600m.
Senior Ladies
Impressive teams were also fielded in the senior events. Five women represented the club across a wide range of events and netted a haul of individual medals. Lisa Hunsley stormed to victory in the 100m earning herself a gold medal, followed by Hilary West who took the silver. Hilary competed in further events and became a double medalist with a bronze in the 400m. Faye Sharpley also ran the 400m and 800m and also took home two medals, a silver and a gold respectively. Charlie Bird also secured a podium finish with a silver in the hammer. Last but by no means least a special mention must be made of Caroline Gisby, who after beginning Saturday morning with the Bikeathon, also took part in five further events over the weekend, some of which she was trying for the first time! Impressively, she did all these whilst simultaneously team managing the U13G group. It was great to see her set new PBs and take home a gold medal in the Pole Vault (and now club Senior Women’s record holder!) and 3 further bronze medals in Long Jump, Shotput and Discus. Congratulations!
Senior Men
About a dozen senior men participated in events across both days, with some taking part in several events. Jasyn Savage competed six times in a range of track and field events and was rewarded with bronze medals for his mighty throws in the Javelin and Discus. Ashley Pritchard bagged himself bronze, silver and gold in the events he selected and was the only senior male to achieve this feat. Other silver medals went to Mark, David S, James and Ray and other bronze medals went to David C, David S, Declan and Ray. PBs were in abundance too which was great to see, and mention must be made of Graeme Eddie, who some might say is a glutton for punishment; not only did he get a PB in the opening 3000m event on Sunday, but he also returned for the closing 800m race and again was rewarded with a PB. Ray also took on mixed distances, trying out the 200m, 1500m and 3000m steeplechase over the weekend. Hope the calves are doing well chaps!
Congratulations to all – these achievements were all very well deserved and what a rewarding weekend for the club.
Finally, huge thanks are due to Michael Thorley for all his time and effort, both in the weeks leading up to the Championships, working alongside Cheshire County AAA on the organisation, and as clerk of course over the weekend, ensuring everything was set up on time and ran smoothly. Many thanks also to all the Macclesfield volunteers – parents/helpers/coaches/officials who supported the event in so many ways – officiating, looking after athletes, preparing teas, site preparation, grass cutting etc. What a successful weekend for the club all round!
