12 Nov 2017, Stanley Park, Blackpool
The inaugural meeting of this new league attracted 265 athletes from all over Lancashire and some coming from Cumbria. Seven athletics clubs and 2 schools sent teams to contest the first fixture. Preston Harriers were champions for the last 9 seasons of the old Lancashire Sportshall League but had stiffer competition than in previous years, particularly in the under 11 age group.
Newcomers Broughton Primary School had a great day, winning both the under 11 boys and girls age groups. Preston Harriers won the other 4 age groups, these being the under 13 and under 15 boys and girls age groups. Harriers won the overall match with a total points score of 696 against second placed Chorley A & Tri Club of 416.
Harriers had 5 of the 6 age group athletes of the match awards. The highest point scorer was Evie Noblett with 26 points, winning the match age group award for the under 13 girls. Harriers’ talented trio Ethan Hallas, Will Whiteside and Taylor Jacob tussled hard between them for the under 15 boys age group award. Ethan just pipped Will by a point, 25 to 24, to secure the award with Taylor on 21. The 3 other athletes of the match were James Ince under 13 boys (25 points), Evie Parkinson under 15 girls (24 points) and Cerys Allen under 11 girl (21 points).
Harriers’ best under 11 boy was new athlete Luke Atkinson, who scored 9 points and was the fastest 1 lap runner. Another new athlete, Isaac Delaney, won both the shot and the vertical jump to score 19 points in the under 13 boys age group. Hayden Middleton, another under 13 boy, won the 4-lap event scoring a total of 12 points. Eleanor Noblet, under 13 girl, despite winning the long jump and vertical jump was 3 points behind clubmate Evie Noblett on 23 points. Also in the under 13 girls age group Tamalyn Dickinson and Anna Thompson scored 14 and 11 points respectively. Other good points scorers in the under 15 girls age group were Lois Carroll, Lauren Tunstall and Tiffany Xavier with 21, 19 and 10 respectively. Arran Baldwin (14 points) and Charlie Hodgson (10 points) helped Harriers to win the under 15 age category. The next fixture is at Blackpool again on 14 January 2018
Lancashire County Sportshall League Standings 1 Preston Harriers 696pts, 2 Chorley A & TC 416, 3 Blackburn 370, 4 Broughton Primary School 298, 5 Blackpool Wyre & Fylde 191, 6 Lancaster & Morecambe 156, 7 Westholme School 108, 8 Kendal AC 103, 9 Hyndburn AC 76.