Greater Manchester Mini Run 23 May

 Six club members took part in the Greater Manchester mini-run. Zoë Woodward (8.53) was eighth girl - 37^th overall. Joanne Sturgeon recorded 9.37, 22^nd girl and 93^rd overall. Carl Fairclough was 96^th, 74^th Boy, in 9.39. Laura Crook recorded  9.46 to finish 101^st as 23^rd girl, closely followed by Katy Jolley 9.54 -119^th overall and 30^th girl. Amy Fairclough was 40^th girl to finish in 148^th place in 10.13. There were 900 finishers. Well done everyone.

 National Junior League : Bebington 23 May.

The club consolidated its position in the National Junior League with the men’s team finishing fourth and the ladies team taking eighth place. Ben Fisher won the Athlete of the Match award for his 54.07 javelin throw, Sheru Gulati won the plaudits for competing in a variety of events and showing potential as a thrower. Steve Moran pulled a few strings to compete, unfortunately the last one was his hamstring as he was taking part in the triple jump along Jake Davidson whose javelin throwing in support of Ben had the Macclesfield officials completely flummoxed.

Layla Tapley was announced as achieving an Olympic qualifying standard by  taking third place in the men’s 200 but order was restored when Richard Atherton claimed the time to rank alongside the 11.3 club record he equalled in the 100 metres. Steve Mayers ran quick sprints and was part of the 4 x 400 metres team which beat SouthportWaterloo.

Tom Griffiths made a welcome return to competition in the 3000 metres, keeping enough in hand to hold off John Appleton who later ran a splendid third lap in the 4x400. Tom Rigby did extremely well against the under 20’s and Sarah Lewis was delighted with yet another personal best in the 100 metres. Lucy Mitchell made an interesting javelin debut after a painful 100 metres while Steve Knowles played an excellent supporting role in the high jump, shot putt and short relay. Results : 

Burnley Throws Night : 19 May

Vicky Johnson continued her excellent season by setting a new club record 25.68 in the discus at the Burnley Throws night competition. Vicky also threw the hammer 27.88, the javelin a personal best 18.35 and only withdrew from the shot with injury    after reaching 8.79.  

Liverpool Women's 10k 16 May 

Early indications are that sixteen ladies competed for the club in this annual event, equalling the record set last year. The actual number will be confirmed later this week. Julia Eccleston (46.55) was first back ahead of Pam Appleton (49.43) who was the eleventh over 50 to finish. Claire Newing (51.10) knocked almost five minutes off last year's debut time while Rosie O’Hagan (51.19) made an excellent debut.  

Margaret Hunter-Frackelton (55.07) finished just ahead of Dorothy Fairhurst whose 56.12 earned her fourth place in the over 60 category. Linda White (58.12) came home two minutes later, closely followed by Jean Dearing (58.30) who ducked under the hour mark having recorded over 62 minutes a year ago. Kath Ryan (59.53) also beat the hour mark. 

Janet McCormack (60.26) has a target for next season while Janice Lawson (62.32) was two minutes quicker than a year ago. Joanne Taylor ran very well to finish in 64.12, one second ahead of workmate Adele Rasul. Sandra Howarth was round in 71.27, three minutes faster than last year with Jeanette Sanderson recording 79.05 and Anne Johnson walking the course in a superb 81.02. 

With Cecilia Fitzsimons recovering from injury, Louise Casey recovering from Las Vegas and Christine Dempsey recovering - she didn't say from what - the record turn out of sixteen will be broken in 2005. 

Cheshire Championships: Warrington 15/16 May.

The club has another three county champions. Craig Knight (100m - 11.4), Dave Twigg (1500m 4.19.9) and Jake Davidson (Triple Jump - 12.55) all won titles at Warrington, Dave and Jake also collecting silver medals in the 800m (2.02) and long jump (5.84) respectively.

Merseyside Championships: Wavertree: 15 May 2004

Despite the absence of a dozen athletes who were following the fortunes of St Helens RLFC at Cardiff the club increased its medals haul over 2003 by ten percent with nine titles, seven silver medals and a further eight bronze on a hot day at Wavertree. 

Vicky Johnson took the largest haul with gold in the hammer, discus and shot, Laura Crook was the under 13 Girls' shot putt winner and took silver in the 80 and 150 metres. Joanne Sturgeon won the under 13 1500 metres ahead of Zoe Woodward and also collected silver in the high jump. 

Javelin throwers Ben Fisher and Becky Keegan both won county titles, Steve Knowles won the under 17 long jump to which he added silver in the triple jump and bronze in the high jump. 

Jourden Cotter took the under 15 1500 metres title, just missing Laura Davenport's club record by 0.4 secs, while Dave Forrester gained a silver medal in the metric mile. Club Secretary, Julia Hayes, collected her second county medal with silver in the senior hammer.

Steve Mayers was three tenths of a second outside the magical 2 minutes barriers in gaining bronze in the 800 metres, Richard Atherton recorded 23.4 in the 200 metres  for his third place, Rebecca Hutchinson claimed bronze in the javelin.  

Becky Keegan recorded a personal best 25.06 for the hammer bronze, Sarah Lewis set a personal best 13.09 secs in the 100 metres and Mike Ehlen collected third in the under 17 triple jump after missing out in the under 15 high jump. Steve Clague and Rachael Hutchinson won bronze medals in the hammer and javelin. 

Thaddeus Amin-Somuah missed out on a medal in the 200 metres, finishing fourth, Anthony Marsh being similarly placed in the javelin. Other finalists included Helen Drillingcourt (150 and 600), John Appleton (3000), Greg Williams (800) and Tom Rigby (1500). 

Coaches Joe Ehlen, John Irwin, Ray Vose, Danny McLoughlin, Geoff Johnson, Roseanne Hutchinson and Phil Thomas all attended and there was plenty of parental and family support for all the athletes with some trying to check on the score from the Millennium Stadium and others meticulously trying to avoid it!! Results  

National Young Athletes League:Warrington 9 May:

Unfortunately, as a result of a computer virus, most of the original report on this match has been lost. All that remains is the five paragraphs below. As regards the fixture, the club provided two of the four Athletes of the Match, Vicky Johnson     in the shot putt and Zoë Woodward in the 1200 metres. Individual and team scores are given in the results section. 

Joe Ehlen, Danny McLoughlin, and “volunteers”  John Woodward and Andy Drillingcourt. Dave Morley acted as track referee, Tony Davidson stood in support after a confusing half hour as a timekeeper when Ray Vose arrived to join Dave Green on the stand.  

The club is awarded 15 points for providing its full quota of officials and, in view, of the closeness of the result, their contribution was invaluable. Some key personnel will be unavailable at Blackburn next time, and additional help will be required to ensure the club scores maximum points for providing the requisite number of helpers.   

In addition to the required officials Paul Forrester had some on-site training as a marksman, Stephanie Forrester & Hazel Morley completed the girls’ recording, while Chris Dempsey, Denis Fulton and Phil Thomas also helped with the results service. Chris, along with Layla Tapley provided first aid cover.  

Many thanks to the parents who attended. The next Young Athletes match is at Blackburn on 6 June 2004. Full details will be distributed via team managers in   the weeks prior to the match.  

Mens Results    Womens Results  

Road Round Up: 

Over 50 Veteran Ritchie Bradshaw used the Spenborough 20 in March to warm up for London, recording 2.48.57 while on 2 May John and Pam Appleton took part in the Dallam Dash in Cumbria recording 41.14(28th) and 51.18(87) respectively. 

Open and Medal Meetings : Warrington 2 May : Trafford 3 May. 

Vicky Johnson competed at Warrington on Sunday recording 9.13 (Shot) and 23.17 (discus) then travelled to Trafford on Monday where she won three gold medals in the hammer (30.59 - club record), discus (22.46) and shot (9.10). Further results will be posted this week. Congratulations Vicky. Results now reveal several season/personal bests for Mike Atkinson, Tom Green, Amy Fairclough, Mike Ehlen, Hanna Green and Rachael Hutchinson. Full Results  

Northern League - Amended Result: 

The Northern League result has been re-scored three times and the revised result is:- 1 Liverpool H.A.C. 441; 2 Wigan & District  347; St Helens-Sutton A C 344;  4 Macclesfield 317;  5 SouthportWaterloo A C 272; 6 Wirral A C 270. If only Andy O'Connor had limped the final five and a half laps of the 5000 in excruciating pain; if only Peter Code hadn't been held up in Knutsford; if only Ray Vose had been able to clear the pole vault. But life isn't about "if only", it's about accepting reality and doing what you can to change it next time round. Bebington, Saturday 6 June. 

Cheshire League : Bebington : 2 May 

Hopefully full results will be available by the end of the week but the initial team scores indicate that the club won the under 11 competition with 112 points, Macclesfield (100), Manchester (48) and Wirral (32) filling the next four places.  

Macclesfield won the ladies competition with 157, followed by East Cheshire (134), St Helens-Sutton (100), Manchester (79) and Wirral (70). Macclesfield took the men's competition with 205, from St Helens-Sutton & Manchester (143), Wirral (106) and East Cheshire (35). 

Amongst the highlights of the afternoon was the dramatic javelin throwing of Phil Sturgeon and Will Crook (the latter only five metres short of gaining a place in the senior men's team!) and the senior men's relay team of Andy Drillingcourt, Will Crook, John Irwin and Joe Ehlen who excelled by running the 4 x 100 metres relay 0.5 seconds faster than the under 11 boys' team! 

Special thanks go to our officials, Dave Morley, Nicola Quinn, Dave Green, Danny McLoughlin, Paul Forrester , John Irwin and Frank Atkinson and team managers, Julia Hayes, Roseanne Hutchinson and Joe Ehlen. As for parents there were many new ones and too many to count but they will be noted at future matches. Their support was magnificent and the veritable sea of red and black in the sunshine was a sight to behold. 

The most important people, of course, are the athletes and there were a number of interesting performances for the analysis team to go through in preparation for the next Cheshire League match at Connahs Quay on the second Sunday in June. Book the date now. 

Note: Regrettably we did not receive the results for the Cheshire League until 23 May. Several of them conflicted with the performance reports provided by coaches. The results, as given, have been posted on the website and if anyone identifies where errors have occurred could they please let Phil Thomas know so that amendments can be made to provide as accurate a record as possible.

Results  

Northern League Round 1 : Macclesfield : 1 May 

The final result of the first Northern League is in doubt after an initial scrutiny indicated the scorers had wrongly placed the women’s 4 x 400 metres team in  fourth instead f third place. However, this doesn't appear to be the only error and  we expect some changes when the scrutinised result is confirmed at tomorrow’s Cheshire League. The match itself, held in excellent weather at Macclesfield, produced another ten club records as our youngsters were excellent and our experienced athletes joined them in performing above and beyond the call of duty.   

Phil Robinson debuted in the pole vault with second place, set a personal best for a win in the ‘B’ javelin, was third in the 400 metres hurdles, cleared the high jump, claimed third in the discus, shot putt and the ‘B’ hammer. Only the League rules prevented him competing in any more events .  

Ben Fisher opened his season with club junior and senior records in the javelin, a feat also achieved by Lucy Mitchell in the triple jump while Anna Sheffield claimed the senior and under 17 records in the hammer. Lucy also set new junior long jump marks .  

Caroline Morley took on the hard tasks of three 400’s in the afternoon, setting club under 17 and senior records in the hurdles and flat 400. Richard Atherton won the 100 B and 200 A races while steeplechaser, Ian Hayburn, who learned to high hurdle on Thursday night (!) proved invaluable in both events, the 400 metres hurdles and the 400 where he stepped in for Ray Vose who had aggravated a groin injury running the high hurdles as one of his five events .  

Greg Williams improved his junior steeplechase record substantially, ran a steady 1500 metres and learned that the second 200 of a 400 metres relay is as hard and as fast as the first 200. Michelle Murray had the same experience but only after an excellent afternoon’s competition in which she ran the 100 and 200, high jumped, shot putted and competed in the 4x100 metres in the club’s cause .  

Layla Tapley put her own disappointment to one side to act, with Jackie Turner   & Joanne Taylor, in team support of Julia Eccleston who took on the unexpected mantle of ‘A’ string distance runner in the 800, 1500 and 3000 metres with three personal bests .  

Once Andy O'Connor's calf gave way with five laps to go Barry Graney became our only 5000m runner to finish. Dave Twigg ran intelligent 800 and 1500 metre races before contributing to a fine 4 x 400 metres performance .  

Steve Mayers ran the 400 and 800 combination for the second week in succession and took on the role of lead runner in the 4x100 in addition to his 4x400 metres relay run. Despite being troubled by a tight calf Craig Knight was second in the 100 metres and Steve Moran improved on his long jump of the previous week following his last minute call up to the senior ranks .  

Nicola Quinn picked up points across the field events.Julia Hayes’ disappointment at losing her hammer record was tempered by the second place she earned in the ‘B’ event. Taja Rundle contested the javelin by gaining fifth place .  

Sarah Lewis continued her fine form with third place in the 100 metres and a superb first leg of the relay while Sue Lowrie surprised herself with her performances in both relays, particularly after an afternoon timekeeping. Melissa McLoughlin was even quicker than last week over her chosen 400 metres .  

It was so close to an outright second place, which any one of a number of things on the day might have achieved. Hopefully we’ll have sorted out the glitches for the second match which takes place at Bebington in June .   

Many thanks today to our army of officials, Dave Morley and Mr Davidson on the track, Sue Lowrie, Paul and Ray Vose who shared the timekeeping between them, Roger McCall, John Irwin, Joe Ehlen, Paul Davenport and Tony Raffle on the field. At least half of them will be on duty at the Cheshire League tomorrow. Phil Thomas was team manager and is still allegedly sane .  

Thanks too to Mr Atherton, Mr Sheffield, Mr & Mrs Davidson, Mr & Mrs Moran and sibling, not to mention Wayne Joyce who attended to watch and Peter Code who almost made it to the pole vault competition and may strengthen our cross country team in the winter .   

Thanks to everyone for an excellent start to the four match season. We were looking to consolidate this season. Perhaps our sights will be set a little higher after today’s performance.

Results