The big performances this week were recorded by Preston’s rising star Patrick Dever over in America at the NCAA Division 1 Championships where on June 9th he won the 10,000m title in a championship record and PB time of 27:41.87. This makes him the fastest ever Preston Harrier over this distance on the track, places him second in Britain for the distance in 2021 and is just 13 seconds off the Olympic qualifying standard. Then two days later he was again in action in the 5000m where he placed 6th in a new PB time of 13:19.85, again placing him second in Britain in 2021 and just 6 seconds short of the Olympic standard. Patrick has well and truly announced himself on the athletics scene with these results in what appears to be a real breakthrough year for the young Harrier.
Not to be overshadowed, Tiarnan Crorken was in action at the BMC Watford meet where he placed second in the 1500m in a new PB time of 3:39.41, making him the fastest ever Preston Harrier for the distance.
Closer to home there were three track meets held over the week and first up was the Trafford Sprints Grand Prix where Josef Wilson, Kianna Proctor and Emily Reynolds all ran new 400m PBs with Proctor and Reynolds both taking second place in their events.
On the Saturday (June 12th) it was the Lancashire Schools Championships where the Harriers were out in force with 28 athletes lining up. The standout performances on the day came from Cieran Milligan who won the males U15 800m and Queenivette Nguta who won the womens U15 100m.
The Northern Athletics Championships were staged in Leigh at the weekend and there were some great performances by the Harriers team with gold for Ed Jeans (Senior Men’s Hammer), Alex Bernstein (U20 Men’s Hammer) and Scott Sinclair (U20 Men’s Triple Jump). Additionally, Sophie Warden hit a new 400m hurdles PB on her way to silver with Curtis Mitchell taking silver with a season’s best in the Senior Men’s 110 metres hurdles. Ben Read took bronze in the Senior Men’s steeplechase. Other notable performances included Kianna Proctor recording a new 400m PB and season’s bests for Harvey Noble and Louisa Cole in the 100m and Joshua Ingham in the 400m event.
Up on the Fells, Alistair Palmer took on the infamous Ennerdale Horseshoe, a 23-mile slog featuring over 7500ft of climb. Palmer took 79th place on the day in a time of 4hr:34.