Mid Lancs  

Mid Lancs - Litherlad 29/07/2006 

The penultimate meeting of the Mid Lancs Track & Field league meeting of 2006 was held at Litherland on 29 July 2006. Preston Harriers manage to hold on to first place in the women’s league but Blackpool cut the lead at the top to only 51 points. The men’s team came out of the meeting holding on to third place with hosts Southport & Waterloo just behind in fourth.

It was a windy and at times very wet day at Litherland, which affected all athletes’ track and field performances.

In spite of the conditions a number of Preston athletes produced excellent performances.  Leading the athletes were seniors Andrew Robinson and Andy Leat who between them secured 38 out of a maximum possible 42 points from their six events.  Robinson won the long jump (5.87m), the javelin (36.71m) and came second in the 100m (12.6s). Leat won the 100m (12.1s), the triple jump (13.22m) and came second in the high jump (1.75m).

Ryan Sumner recovered from nearly falling flat on his face at the start in the 100m to get a point and subsequently produced a great leap of 5.53m in the U17 men’s long jump to obtain maximum points.  Leame Isherwood won the U17 triple jump with 11.16m and came second in the high jump (1.70m). Matthew Wadsworth then ran spot on 5mins in the U17 men’s 1500m for second place.

U15 boys Matthew Bugler, Kristian Bibby and Nathan Crowe all gained valuable points.  In the U13 boys, newcomer Darren Evans added nearly 1.5m to his previous best in the shot with a massive 9.44m, nearly twice as far as his nearest rival.

With the rain pouring down and the wind straight into their faces, Preston’s Sophie Ealand battled to stay in touch with Lucy Mansfield of Blackpool in the 100 and 200m, but had to settle for second place in both events.  Hannah Lupton comfortably won the U15’s high jump event with a clearance of 1.53m and came third in the long jump (4.54m). Her sister Amy won the U13 girls long jump (4.45m) and came second in the high jump (1.35m).

Georgia Robbins scored points in the U15 girl’s long jump with 4.27m and Eleanor Douthwaite added points in the U15 girl’s 800m (2:33.2).

Lauren Bugler won the U13 girl’s 800m (2:37.9) and Becky Noblet (2:40.4) wasn’t far behind in third.  Later, Jess Crook (5:36.9) added points as the third counting athlete in the U13 girl’s 1500m.

The U13 girls 4 x 100m relay team of Becky Noblet, Jess Crook, Lauren Bugler and Amy Lupton on paper were always going to struggle against a theoretically faster sprint team from Blackpool. However, they proved that what may be lacking in pure sprinting can be made up in efficient baton changing. The middle distance trio of Noblet, Crook and Bugler exchanged much better than the Blackpool girls and with the baton in Amy’s hand she was not going to be caught.

With the last of the Mid Lancs league fixtures at Hyndburn on 12th August and Blackpool in close second position, Preston need to ensure they field the strongest possible girl’s team in order to hold on to top spot in the ladies’ league.

Also for any athletes who have only competed in one Mid Lancs fixture, you are reminded that you need to have competed in two or more to qualify for medals at the medal meeting on 25th August.

Mid Lancs League Meeting 22nd April 2006

With a number of older Preston Harriers juniors involved in the junior league meeting at Cleckheaton on the Sunday, the younger athletes and a handful of seniors were left to carry the flag at the first Mid Lancs league meeting of the season..more

With a fairly strong wind in the faces of athletes on the finishing straight, it wasn’t a day for setting personal bests and most of the track times were adversely affected by the conditions.

Highlights of the day included Harriet James setting a new personal best of 1.51m in winning the U15 girls high jump and the clean sweep of the U13 / U15 girls and boys 4 x 100m relay teams at the end of the event.

The first of the 4x 100m relay races involved the U13 girls. Rachael Kenny led off the girls. She passed the baton to Jess Crook with the two Blackpool girls exchanging simultaneously. Jess then blasted down the back straight opening a five-meter gap, ahead of the Blackpool team coming into the second change. A bit of a shaky second baton change allowed the Blackpool team back into contention, but a strong bend from Lauren Bugler enabled her to pass the baton to Amy Lupton for the final leg just ahead. With the baton firmly in Amy’s hand she wasn’t going to be caught as she opened up the lead again over the last 50m to a win the race in a time of 58.4 secs.

Next it was the turn of the U13 boys. The two younger U13s Mckenzie Hull and Niall McCoy led them off with David James running the bend and finally James Turner to bring the baton home in a winning time of 60.8 secs.

Leading off the U15 girls was Sophie Ealand who was quickly up on the shoulder of the Southport girl on her outside. She passed the baton to Louisa Hodgson who stormed though past the athletes on the outside and opened up a 3m gap going into the second change. Louisa passed the baton to Hannah Lupton who opened up this margin by a further metre coming into final leg. The girl on the final leg for Southport had earlier recorded the fastest time in the 100m, so with the baton in her hand Harriet James had to work hard to stay ahead. She did so and brought the baton home in a winning time of just 53.9 secs – a time only bettered once by any U15 girl’s team in the Mid Lancs league in 2005.

With minor injury niggles to two of Preston’s first choice U15 boys, expectations might not have been high for the U15’s 4 x 100m team of Matthew Bugler, Andrew Harrison, Chris Kenny and Edward Greenhall. Matthew, Andrew and Chris gave Preston a significant lead, but Southport’s final runner had run over a second faster than Edward earlier in the 100m. The exchange to Edward was good and although the Southport athlete was catching Edward with every stride, he ran superbly to hold him off to the finish line to take first place for Preston in 54.60 secs.

Harriet James also won the long jump with 4.63m. Just behind Harriet in 2^nd place with 4.52m was Hannah Lupton. Hannah also came 3^rd in the 100m (13.9) and 3^rd in the high jump (1.35m).

In the U13 girls age group Amy Lupton won the 100m (14.8s), long jump (4.14m) and shot (6.37m). Just behind Amy in the 100m was newcomer to the track Rachael Kenny in 2^nd place with a time of 15.3s. Jess Crook won the 1500m (5:25.2). Lauren Bugler won the U13 girls high jump and was second in the 800m (2:40.0).

In the U17 boys Jonathan Harker had wins in the 100m (12.3) and 200m (24.2). Steven Porter won the Javelin (48.11m) and shot (14.08m) and brother Michael won the U15 javelin with a throw of 29.46m.Mark Sutton won the U15 boy’s high jump (1.56m) with George Sharp second (1.53m).

Amie Kevan won the U17 javelin (23.74m) and Kayleigh Huggins the U15 event (21.74m). Kayleigh followed this with two 2^nd places in the discus (18.28m) and triple jump (8.34m).

In the U13 boys James Turner had a good day winning the long jump with a leap of 4.42m and 3^rd places in the 100m (15.3s) and shot (5.68m).

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