Buoyed by our winning team performance in Round 1 of the Northern T&F League in Eccles, we travelled over to Ashton-under-Lyne and the home of East Cheshire Harriers for Round 2. East Cheshire pushed us very hard and would appear to be our strongest opponents in this league.
While we managed to cover most events previously, there were a few disciplines that we didn’t compete in, Pole Vault being a case in point. A serendipitous opportunity arose in training last week when Rod, the pole vault coach, had a lack of athletes turn up to train so we offered the chance to “have a go” to the sprints group. Ever obliging, Nick Blore, a very versatile and accomplished athlete, took to it like the proverbial duck to water and an hour later we were working out how to get a 14 foot pole to Ashton.
An inspiring start to the day’s proceedings, Nick went on to jump a very respectable 2.40m to claim our first points and we’ve every confidence that he will continue to improve in his new found talent. His success continued throughout the day with a seasons best of 11.7 in the 100m and a new PB of 1.80m in the high jump.
A rather humid and blustery day kept things entertaining on both the track and in the field. Despite this, Tom Willshaw set a new 200m PB of 24.0 closely followed by Tobias Pearson making his track debut in a Harriers vest clocking 25.8 in the 200m and 12.4 in the 100m to get his season off to a flying start. Fresh from his dominant performances in the 200m at last weekend’s Greater Manchester Schools Championships where he set a new club record of 22.15 seconds Albert Bradshaw made the step up to the 400m running a very well judged race to post a winning time of 51.9 seconds, at just 16 years old he has a very bright future ahead of him. Not to be outdone by the men, Rebecca Dilworth also improved her own PB over the same distance with 61.0 to take the victory and later went on to win the 800m. Philip Goodfellow also making his senior debut in the league ran a very solid 2.03.3 PB in his 800m race.
In a much anticipated return to track competition, our very own V60 world record holder Hilary West ran everything from the 100m to the 3000m acquitting herself very well in the process, with Laurence Manley running the 5000m in a new PB time of 17.13.3.
Following the excitement of the relays in Round 1 the senior men put in a heavy baton changing session in training this week, their improvements and slick changeovers earned them a very impressive win over East Cheshire in the 4 x 100m.
Challenging wind conditions made life very difficult for the horizontal jumpers in the field with Callum Wain fairing best, just 7cm short of his PB of 6.22m.
Finally a special mention to the Stockdale family, mum Sue and daughters Ellie and Ruby are our very own answer to the Borlée brothers, competing across 9 different events between them securing vital points for the team.
Such strong performances and a full complement of Track and Field officials gave us enough points to once again nudge East Cheshire into second place on the day. A superb result for us on their own track.
Round 3 takes place on Sunday 4th July at Trafford. Please speak to your team manager if you would like to compete.
Simon Frith