Busy weekend brings big rewards!

Junior Harriers were in action at venues across the North in one of their busiest weekends of the season and came home with more trophies, medals and PBs to celebrate.

On Saturday, Tom Kramer, Charlotte Bowker and Beth Halliday made the trip to Macclesfield to take part in their 10th anniversary Open Meeting. All were in tremendous form and produced a host of PBs. Tom lowered his 200m PB again to 25.7 for 2nd place, reached 8m10 with his shot put to take 1st and won the long jump with a best of 5m33. Charlotte breached the 6m barrier for the first time with a shot put PB of 6m05 and followed with a stunning effort in her 200m to knock almost a second off her previous PB with a 3rd place finishing time of 27.5. Beth continued her progress in the U17women’s shot, also breaking 6m for the first time with a best of 6.05 for 2nd place.

On Sunday, Niamh Nugent flew the flag for Harriers at the Sale Junior Open Meeting, bringing home a bronze medal after a spirited run in the 600m. Our older juniors made the trip to Wakefield for the Wilkinson Ackworth Open Meeting and delivered an excellent set of performances in very hot conditions. Highlights from the day included;

Naomi Richardson increasing her long jump PB again to 4m33 for 2nd place and producing a strong finish in the 800m for another 2nd place finish in a PB time of 2.53
Tom Kramer taking 1st place in the long jump and 2nd in the shot, then running a fine 26.1 in his second 200m of the weekend
Beth Halliday adding to her medal collection with 1st in the U17 women’s shot with a best of 5m69
Beth Greenwood adding 60cm to her shot put PB and running a brave race for 4th in the 800m in a PB time of 2.54
Jenny Sherwin showing further promise in the 200 with a PB of 29.1 and the shot with an excellent first effort of 6m10
Tom Holroyd producing a battling performance against a tough field of 400m runners for a PB of 61.0 secs
Charlie Maslen performing well in all three of his running events on a busy afternoon’s activity
Charlotte Bowker increasing her shot put PB again to 6.06 and running under 28 seconds again in her 200, finishing 2nd in her heat in a time of 27.9

Well done to all our athletes for some excellent efforts and for supporting each other as a team, and thanks to all the parents who turned out to support them (especially Graham for his hard work fielding and raking!).

Beth and Tom's fine efforts in Birmingham

Beth Halliday and Tom Kramer travelled down to the Alexander Stadium on Starurday to represent Greater Manchester in the Mason Trophy Inter-regional schools championships event.

Whilst both found the competition tough, they had an enjoyable day and benefitted from the experience of competing at one of the UK's premier venues.

Beth did everything asked of her and more by increasing her PB in the shot by over 30cm, recording a best of 5.96. Tom was a little below his recent best in the long jump but still recorded two jumps of over 5m with a best of 5.27.

Beth and Tom are pictured above proudly wearing their Greater Manchester vests

Harriers top of class in Rochdale Schools

Our junior Harriers were in fine form over the two days of the Rochdale Inter-schools Championships at Springhill last week.

On day one, Jack Walsh and Tom Kramer enjoyed the best of the conditions on a glorious day, both winning gold with ease in the 800m and long jump respectively. Beth Halliday threw a PB using the 3.25kg shot of 6m66 to finish 5th overall.

On day two the athletes had to contend with appalling conditions, with wind and driving rain throughout. Our athletes showed their toughness however, and came home with a fine haul of medals.

Sophie Thirsk started things off with a fine 2nd in the 1500m, then Charlotte Bowker justified her selection for the 800m in style with an emphatic win, Beth Greenwood chasing her home for an excellent bronze medal.

Naomi Richardson defied the conditions to clinch a comfortable win in the long jump, then Jenny Sherwin rounded off the individual honours with a 2nd medal of the week in the 200m, this time taking the gold in a time of 30.7.

Charlotte and Jenny were in action for Hollingworth in the 4x100 relay, Jenny running a fine lead off leg and Charlotte producing a power-packed anchor leg to secure a medal placing. Naomi was given a lot to do on the anchor leg for Wardle but ran a cracker to chase the Hollingworth girls home. For the boys, Lewis Thirsk did very well in the triple jump to finish 8th in his first attempt.

Well done to all our athletes for representing their schools and Harriers with distinction. Our pictures above show all our medallists celebratig their successes.

Harriers shine in Greater Manchester Schools Champs

Eight of our Junior Harriers were part of a twelve-strong Rochdale Schools team that took part in the Greater Manchester Schools Championships at Trafford AC last Saturday. On a glorious day, our athletes performed well against some high quality competition.

Tom Kramer (pictured above receiving his gold medal) and Beth Halliday had days to remember in their long jump and shot put events, both achieving selection for the Regional Schools Championships in Birmingham next Saturday (20th June). Tom had an outstanding day in the long jump, producing his most consistent display yet of 5 metre+ jumping and taking the gold in a close fought contest with a best of 5.43. Beth continued her medal spree in ther shot, claiming bronze with a PB of 5.64.

Naomi Richardson made it a hat-trick of PBs in a week in the long jump, her 4.27 being good enough for 4th, while Sophie Thirsk was close behind in 5th also with a PB of 4.24. Jenny Sherwin built on her debut 200m showing with a good 4th in 29.9 while Tom Holroyd made a sound competitive debut in a hot Inter Boys 800m, running a highly respectable 2.18. Jack Walsh ran well in the Junior Boys 800m, while Charlotte Bowker battled on bravely despite a nasty stitch to finish 7th in the 800m.

Best of luck to Tom and Beth next Saturday from all, lets hope the 'Harriers Minibus' is rocking on the return journey!

Harriers big midweek medal haul

The second of Oldham & Royton AC's junior medal meetings took place last Tuesday night and Harriers juniors were out in force again. Yellow and black were the dominant colours of the night as a massive squad of 17 athletes produced some fine performances across the event range.

It was great to see our younger athletes made a big impact, with Daniel Moore, Jacob Slough and Niamh Nugent all performing very well in each of their three events.

Also in the Under 9s/11s age group, Dante Dawes bagged three medals, including gold in the 75m and long jump (a fine PB of 3.59), Jake Walker won gold in his 600m and silver in the long jump (another PB of 3.44).

In the under 13s, Lucy Moore enjoyed track success with silver and bronze in the 800m (a very good time of 2.52) and 75m, while Lewis Thirsk secured silver in his 75m. James Kramer posted an improved long jump and shot put, while Charlie Maslen made an encouraging debut across three events.

Moving up to the Under 15s boys, we saw that Tom Kramer had a liking for this track, lowering his 200m PB to 25.9 with a polished display of sprinting for the gold. Silvers followed in the 100m and long jump. Jack Walsh continued his rapid development as a long jumper with a fine PB of 4.73 for bronze to go with his silver in the 1500m and bronze in the 200m. Liam Moore delivered some sound performances across his events in a tough age group.

Our Under 15 girls had a busy and productive night, highlights including Charlotte Bowker's PB of 28.4 for silver in the 200m and Naomi Richardson's second PB of the week (4.26) for silver in the long jump. Jenny Sherwin showed great promise in her first effort at 200m with bronze in 29.8, while Beth Greenwood produced a pB of 3.37 in the long jump. Sophie Thirsk defied a niggling knee to post solid 4th place efforts in the 200 and long jump.

Our squad are shown above, showing off their medals. Well done to all who took part and thanks to their parents and friends for their support on the night. The next Oldham and Royton event is on Tuesday 7th July.

Full Results

Great show at GM Championships

A big squad of junior Harriers enjoyed a successful day at the Greater Manchester Championships on a blustery Sunday at Trafford. There were some excellent performances across all age groups and events.

Medallists on the day were Tom Kramer (100m bronze and long jump silver), Charlotte Bowker (shot put silver), Jack Walsh (1500m bronze) and Beth Halliday (shot put silver).

Other highlights included another solid show from Naomi Richardson in the long jump (5th) and a rapid 75m heat win for Dante Dawes. There were also a number of encouragign performances from some of our Harriers who were new to competitive action, including a fine 5th in 14.4 in the 100m from Jenny Sherwin. A full list of the results can be seen on the Trafford AC website, go to http://www.traffordac.co.uk/ and look for fixtures / results.

Tom Kramer is pictured above, receiving his 100m medal from the Mayor of Tameside, while his fellow Harriers keep themselves wrapped up against the elements!

Victory for Walsh at Saddleworth Fell Race

Congratulations to Jack Walsh for winning the U14's Saddleworth Fell Race, with a lead of over 2 minutes.

(picture: Jack Walsh at a recent fell race)