Preston Harriers’ athletes were represented in 3 meetings at Blackburn, Liverpool and Wigan on 13 & 14 April. Over 60 attended the Mid Lancs League fixture at Blackburn, which saw some outstanding performances, arguably the best being 14-year-old Isaac Delaney, who hurled the discus a lifetime best of 35.28m, nearly 5 metres further than his previous best, to move to 3rd on the national rankings in the under 15 age group. The throw was an English Schools’ entry standard. He also put the shot 11.09 metres to win that event and also ran 13.1 sec. for the 100m. Eleanor Noblet continued to show her talent with wins in both the 100m in 13.1 secs. and long jump with 4.99m in the under 15 age group. A time of 28.1 saw Evie Noblett win the 200m and Tamalyn Dickinson threw 28.75m to win the Hammer in the same age group.
New sprint find Harry Appleton showed his speed to record a sprint double in the 100m and 200m in the under 13 boys event recording 13.9 and 29.5 sec respectively. Connor Rigby had a dream début in the under 13 boys 75m hurdles winning in 13.5 secs. Long jumpers Logan Campbell and James Ince leapt 4.20m and 5.50m respectively to win the under 11 and under 13 events. In the under 13 girls 800m new athlete Poppi Watson ran 2.39.3 to win and Olivia Miller won the under 15 girls 1500m in 5.01.4. A winning jump of 4.87m saw Lauren Tunstall win the under 17 girls long jump.
Liverpool was the venue for the Jumps and Throws Festival. Alex Bernstein’s massive throw of 60.19m in the under 17 hammer, a new lifetime best, took him to top of the national rankings.
The Open meeting at Wigan saw the following winners:- Senior Lady Sophie Warden 300m hurdles 48.0 secs Under 20 Men Harvey Noble pole vault 2.50m & shot 10.15 Under 15 Girls Molly Parkinson javelin 20.53m Under 15 Boys George Lowe high jump 1.63m. Isaac Delaney discus 32.31m & shot 10.25m Under 13 Girls Cerys Allen 150m 20.2sce Under 13 Boys Corey Middleton 75m hurdles 15.8 secs & shot 5.32m, Dan Valentine 1500m 5.01.1 Under 11 Boys Oliver Kambamba 75m 11.6 secs, Austin Allen 150m 23.2 secs
Next weekend sees the Youth Development League Under 13 and Under 15 first fixture at Sports city Manchester where Harriers start their defence of the Northern title which they won last year.