Many thanks to Alan Appleby for providing the text.
Once again the Northern League match was held at Bury and Preston had to rely on its Track
and Field stalwarts to field a team. The lack of a track this year has had a big negative impact on keeping together as a club so hopefully we will be meeting back at the refurbished track before the final match and fill all the events with many new faces, and show the other five clubs just what we can do.
It was a fine Sunday morning but again a chance of thunderstorms later in the afternoon.
Ruby Allison was an early starter in the pole vault and put in a decent performance, coming 2nd with a 2.10m clearance. Isabelle Duckett was busy; she was 5th in the long jump with a leap of 4.10m; triple jump saw her 4th with 9.2m and in the 100m, in which she hadn't competed for two years, she ran 13.5 seconds for 2nd. Finally she ran in the 4x100m relay where the team came 3rd.
Miri Luft, a real Harriers stalwart in Track and Field, competed in the 100m hurdles, where she
came 3rd in 19.2sec; 400m hurdles, (2nd in 74.7sec), high jump, (joint 1st with 1.50m), triple jump, (1st in 8.11m); 200m (3rd in 31.1sec), and also ran in both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Phew! What an athlete!
Kacie Calvert, specialising in the throws, put in some fine performances; she was 3rd in the shot with 7.76m, 3rd again in the discus, throwing 23.15m, and also 3rd in the javelin with 27.19m. Furthermore, she threw 16.08 metres in the hammer, with her mum supporting her throughout the long day.
Another young U23 throws specialist was Emily Worthington who competed in the shot, (3rd with 7.02m), discus, (1st throwing 19.51m) and javelin - her strongest event - where she was 3rd with 30.35m.
Our other throws competitor was Alex Proffitt throwing the hammer 16.61 for 5th place and she alsocompeted in the long jump and officiated, gaining valuable points for the team.
On the track Carol Holt, ladies’ team captain, ran the 100m in 13.8sec for 5th , the 200m in 28.3sec for 4th , the 400m for 5th in 68.8sec, and the 4x100m relay to finish her day.
Katie Littlefair tried the 800m and came 1 st in 2.23.9sec, using her 400m speed for a super finish going from 5th to 1st over the last 120m. She also ran the 3000m in 13.08 but didn't enjoy the longer track event and she finished off the day with the 4x100m relay.
Cathy Flitcroft also ran the 3000m in 12.38.3 putting in a steady run after officiating most of the day.
Vikki Duckett, not to be outdone by her daughter, ran in the 800m coming 3rd in 3.03.5, the 1500m, coming 5th in 6.29.3 and the 4x400m relay showing mums can do it too.
Sue Wickham ran the 400m for 4th in 1.46.8 as well as the 4x400m relay, while Julie Tyrer ran the 1500m coming 4th in 7.25.9 and also the 4x400m relay...Julie was praying that there wouldn't repeat of last time where she was drenched in the thunderstorm and luckily even though we got the thunderstorm, Julie stayed dry!
We mustn't forget the officials who turned out for the club; without them there wouldn't be a
competition – Dave and Cathy Flitcroft, Roy Swinbank, Alex and Steve. Barbara Gilles was there too, but not as a Preston official in this instance.
In the men’s events we had no one in 100m, steeplechase, hurdles, long jump, triple jump, pole vault, hammer or relays and just one competitor in 200, 1500, 5000m and high jump.
On a brighter note we had George Lowe giving the high jump a go with a strapped up calf; he cleared 1.55m. In the discus he threw 25.86m for 1st and in the javelin, his main event, he blitzed it with a throw of 52.51m.
Josh Ingham, another stalwart, ran the 200m in 23.1sec for 3rd , and the 400m in 51.5 for 1st.
Young Harry Appleton turned out for his club and ran the 400m in a new pb of 51.0sec for another 1st place. He and his dad looked pleased with that performance.
Chris Livesey ran the 800m coming 3rd in 1.55.6 in a tough race. Joe Monk was our other 800m runner - he was also 3rd in 2.04.9.
Graham Topping, who is making a tentative comeback, ran the 1500m and looked strong to finish in 4.37.7. Brendan Pugh stepped up to run the 5000m putting in a good effort to finish in 20.45.4. Gary Still was 4th in the shot with a throw of 9.51m while in the discus he threw 29.71 for 1st.
Finally Steve Hallas, men’s team captain, who had arrived after running 38 minutes in the
Wilmslow 10k, a club championship road race, did shot and javelin as well as officiating in the shot as retriever to again win valuable points for the club. Those shots appeared to get heavier and heavier as the event went on!