The first Open Meeting staged by the club for several years attracted 88 athletes from across the county and further afield. With all entries made on the day, we had little idea what to expect, and were pleased with the turnout. Despite unseasonal weather for mid-August there were some fine performances both on the track and in the field.

The best Harriers performances were in the sprints. Alice Chapman again demonstrated her great potential with another PB in the 200m (26.8). Gemma Elliott clocked fast times in the 100m (13.0) and 200m (25.9), whilst on the men’s side Alex Brooks in the 100m (11.5), Ashley McClintock, who ran the 200m in 23.3 and Andy Barber who clocked 50.5 for 400m, all impressed.

Visiting athletes to catch the eye included Rugby and Northampton’s under 11 Simone Ager who posted 22.0 for 150m and leapt 3.72m in the Long Jump. With the prevailing wind ideally suited for the half-lap race, Emma McFarlane of Corby AC ran a useful 28.5.

Daventry AC brought a strong squad of young throwers, one of whom produced the only Grade One performance of the day, as under-13 Keiron Russ launched the javelin 34.44m. Niklas Aarre’s discus throw of 25.09m also propelled him into the upper echelons of the national rankings.

Corby’s former English Schools champions Harry Hollis (javelin) and Rachel Backhouse (discus) were both a little below their best, but each provided excellent demonstrations in difficult conditions.

There were certainly lots of positives to emerge from the event; the committee will now have to decide whether to organise further open meetings in forthcoming seasons.

It looks as though the Harriers have missed out on winning the Midland Senior League Division 3 title by the narrowest of margins. We came third in the final meeting at Tipton behind the home club and our main rivals Gloucester and Severn. The results still have to be scrutinised, but if they are confirmed this means that the West Country outfit are champions.

There were some fine performances from the Kettering athletes. The women were again very strong on the track, with Alex Keyworth (200m), Gemma Elliott (400m) and Bessie Rollins (3000m) recording A-string victories. The 4x400m relay team came very close to breaking the league record. On the men’s side, Jonathan Goringe won the 3000m Steeplechase.

It was a combination of unavailabilty of key athletes and the vast improvement of Tipton that ultimately cost the Harriers the league title. Tipton had been favourites for relegation but performed a “great escape” at the expense of Corby, who finish in the bottom two.

Nevertheless, second place and promotion is a fine achievement for Kettering. The team celebrated in appropriate fashion with the ceremonial “dunking” of Chris Mills who is retiring after representing the club for 23 years. A multi-talented athlete, Chris has scored thousands of points for the Harriers and certainly deserves his well-earned rest.

NINE IN A ROW FOR THE YOUNGEST HARRIERS!

This is principally a report of the meeting held at Kettering on 13^th July but, before going any further, we should pay tribute to the efforts during the previous two days of Alex Keyworth, the only Harrier to take part in the English Schools Championships in Gateshead. Alex performed with great credit in the Inter Girls 300m, finishing second in her heat in 41.17 (yet another club record) and fourth in the semi-final. In the final, Alex was a highly creditable sixth. With another year in the age group, she can look to the future with great confidence. Congratulations, Alex, from all at KTH!

For the club’s youngest athletes, the annual Chairman’s Cup is one of the highlights of the track and field season. It is Northamptonshire’s Inter-Club Trophy for Under 13s and Under 11s. Kettering have won the Cup every year since 2000, but they knew they faced a stiff challenge if they were to maintain their unbeaten record for this century.

Corby AC fielded a strong team, especially amongst the Under 13s, and the two North Northants Clubs were neck-and-neck on points throughout the afternoon, with Rugby and Northampton a little way behind in third. With just the relays to take place, Corby were two points ahead but, as Kettering’s Under 11s were unopposed, the Harriers were able to claim victory by just eight points!

The highlight of the day was Danielle Tee’s performance in the Long Jump. She produced a superb leap of 4.57m, which set a new club record; the previous one had stood for 18 years. Edward Cherry was also in excellent form, with victory in the Long Jump and a very fast 800m (2.24.1).

Evie Horsley was a double winner in the sprint events for Under 11 girls and added the Long Jump for good measure. Kettering also took full points in the Under 11s High Jump, thanks to Lydia Cole, Lauren Mehmet, Aiden Morris and Seb Winstone.

During the afternoon the County One Mile Championship was held. Ben Sharman made a brave effort to land the Senior Men’s title, only to lose out to Rugby and Northampton’s Chris Lamb on the final straight. There was also a silver medal for Jake Waples in the Under 17s, with Dan Thompson taking the bronze. Jake McAllister also won a bronze in the Under 15s whilst there was a one-two for Danielle Smith and Kelly Barnett in the Under 17 Ladies.

The afternoon also saw the track debut of Harriers’ chairman Bill Bailey in the Masters Men’s Mile and he ran a highly respectable time of 6:46.

WE SAVED THE BEST ‘TIL LAST

The Harriers Young Athletes team rounded off their UKA League campaign with a good result at Tamworth.

It has been a difficult year and we struggled to field enough athletes in the earlier fixtures. This meant that, had we failed to beat Sparkhill in the last match, we would have finished in a relegation position. But we pulled out all the stops to take a larger contingent and not only did we achieve our objective with a much-improved points total, but we finished only 13 points behind the strong Leicester Coritanian club.

There were strong performances throughout the team. Both Yannick Phippen and Alice Chapman achieved a hat-trick of victories. Alice notched PBs in both the 200m (26.9) and Long Jump (4.71m), whilst Yannick added a new event (400m Hurdles) to his sprint double.

Alex Keyworth was in her usual imperious form as she won over 200m and 300m, whilst Natalie Stapleton also recorded a double, in the Javelin and Discus (with a new best of 21.50m in the latter). Making his debut for the Harriers, Matt McCullough took first place in the Discus.

Jamie Milne won the Under-17 Men’s High Jump in a new PB of 1.66m and Niamh Bailey took the Under-15 Girls with a clearance at 1.40m. Another winner for the Harriers was Sophie Munn in the 300m Hurdles.

There was a series of good 800m from Kettering athletes. Kai Wright again blew away the Under-15 Boys opposition with a powerful run (2.09.7) whilst Edward Cherry clocked 2.25.8 when winning the Under-13 version in a very tight finish. There were fine second places for Jake Waples, Danielle Smith and Danielle Tee.

An excellent 4 x 100m relay victory for the Under-17 men rounded off an good afternoon and showed what might have been achieved with a full turnout at every fixture. Over the season 45 different athletes have represented KTH in the UKA League but only nine appeared in every match. They deserve a special mention:

Credit, too, to team manager Kally Graham for giving so much of her time and effort for what, at times, must have seemed like a thankless task.

SCHOOLS SUCCESS FOR HARRIERS

The month of June saw many of the younger Harriers competing in the Northamptonshire Schools Championships at Corby, where they met the best young athletes from the four areas of the county. Those finishing in the top two progressed to the regional meeting at Leamington.

Pride of place goes to Alex Keyworth who has been selected for the prestigious English Schools Championships for the second year running, having taken the county title in the Inter Girls 300m and second place at Leamington a week later. Alex will travel to Gateshead International Stadium with the Northants team in mid-July.

Also winning at Corby were new Harriers recruit Kai Wright in the Junior Boys 800m and the Inter Boys pair of Liam Annis (1.80m in the High Jump) and Daniel Thompson in the 1500m Steeplechase. Alice Chapman, who is having an excellent season on both track and field, took the Junior Girls Long Jump with 4.62m.

Also qualifying for the regional meeting as runners-up were Beth Horsley (200m), Danielle Smith (800m), Sophie Munn (300m Hurdles), Yannick Phippen (200m) and Jake Waples (1500m) whilst Jackson Langley (Hammer) and Natalie Stapleton (Javelin) took third places in the throws.

At Leamington, the main objective was to reach the demanding English Schools qualifying mark and there were near-misses for several of our athletes. Kai easily won the 800m in 2.09.7 and Hayley Munn ran a season’s best 4.44.3 in the 1500m, but both were just a second or so outside the Entry Standard. It was even closer for our pair of 200m runners, who both finished as runners-up. Yannick (23.5) and Beth (26.8) were both agonisingly close to the time required.

MORE MIDLANDS MEDALS

The Harriers only had three competitors in the Midland Under 20 Championships at Birmingham, and all three of them brought home medals: one gold and two silvers.

Jonathan Goringe had the strange experience of running around the Alexander Stadium by himself, as he was the only competitor in the 2000m Steeplechase! His reward was a gold medal. This was not entirely undeserved as he is ranked second in the event in the Midlands this season and the first-ranked athlete (James Mee of Mansfield) chose to compete in other races.

Ben Sharman and Hayley Munn had to work harder for their silverware. Ben achieved his third personal best of the season at 1500m (4:02). He made a brave effort to defeat the reigning champion (Tipton’s Daniel Cotterill) in the closing stages. Competing at the same distance, Hayley also put in a fine performance, as only a second separated her from Olivia Larcombe of Sutton Coldfield. Hayley’s time of 4:44 was her best of the season. A measure of her improvement is that she was ten seconds behind the same athlete in the Three Counties Championship last month.

Two Harriers ladies competed in the Midland Senior Championships held on the same day. Despite being under the weather, Gemma Elliott finished third in her heat of the 400m. She battled gamely in the final to finish 6th. Rebecca Hall achieved the same position in the final of the 800m.

As a result of another superb set of performances in the Midland Track and Field League, Kettering Town Harriers have secured promotion to Division Two, with one round to spare. In the third match of the season at Corby, the Harriers had a commanding victory by over 30 points from nearest rivals, Gloucester & Severn, who are also very likely to take the step up.

Kettering had the ladies to thank for their success, as they recorded win after win on the track. Gemma Elliott had a wonderful afternoon, recording five wins and a second place, and Alex Keyworth tuned up for the English Schools Championships by setting Under 17 Club Records in both the 200m (25.5) and the 400m (57.9).

Sophie Munn and Marianne Boyle were both winners in the 400m Hurdles whilst Hayley Munn and Danielle Smith took almost full points in the 800m and 1500m. Denise Barclay and Louise Granger made big contributions in the jumps and throws respectively. The ladies rounded off the afternoon with two crushing victories in the relays.

On the men’s side it was a case of “steady as she goes” with only one winner (Pete Mills in the “B” 110m Hurdles) but there were lots of seconds and thirds and some excellent performances. Chris and Andy Mills have been re-writing the club Veteran-35 records all season. On this occasion, Chris improved his Triple Jump record (11.13m) and Andy did likewise in the Shot (10.39m).

On the track Sam Gordon equalled the club Junior Men’s 200m record (22.7) and, in the same age group, Jonathan Goringe took over 50 seconds off his own club best in the 5000m. Several other up-and-coming athletes set personal bests, including Yannick Phippen (200m), Jake Waples (800m), Daniel Thompson (1500m) and Jamie Milne (Triple Jump).

Kettering’s enthusiastic team managers, Andy Mills and Yvonne Elliott, ensured every event (except the women’s Pole Vault) was covered by two athletes. They were grateful to some of the club’s road runners for taking part in the unfamiliar surroundings of the track.

The final meeting of the season is on Sunday, August 3^rd somewhere in the Black Country. Provided we keep within one place and 30 points of Gloucester, the Harriers will win the divisional title.

MIDLAND LEAGUE VICTORY!

June 7th was a great day for the Harriers as the joint senior team triumphed in our home match in the Midland League. In a close-run contest with the Severn/Gloucester team, Kettering emerged victors by 16 points, which takes us equal top of the league. Corby AC were in fifth place.

There were high quality performances throughout the team, including six A-string wins, backed up by numerous other strong efforts that gained good points. And in one or two cases, individuals put personal pride aside by competing in unfamiliar events, in order to ensure that we maximised our score. Particularly praiseworthy in this respect were James Bowyer’s heroics in the gruelling 3000m Steeplechase – he’d never before attempted any race over 800m!

Securing maximum points for the Harriers on the men’s side were Andy Barber in the 400m, Chris Mills in the 110m Hurdles (brother Pete won the B-String), Lee Black in the Long Jump and Jonathan Goringe, who set a new Under 20 Club Record in the Steeplechase. Female winners were Helen Rollins in the 3000m and Alex Keyworth who took the 400m. The Ladies also took first place in the 4x100m relay in very convincing fashion.

Several athletes competed in several different events. Lee Black gained top three places in all three jumps, whilst Andy Mills and Matthew Pelezok had an arduous but productive afternoon throwing (and putting) a variety of implements, as did Louise Granger for the women. Denise Barclay and Sophie Munn were also busy competing in four and three events respectively.

Thanks too are due to the hard-working team of officials, recorders, announcers, caterers etc, who ensured that the day was a resounding success for Kettering Town Harriers.

The next meeting in the Midland League is at Corby on Saturday 5 th July, when we must ensure we are again able to field a full team.

GOLDEN WEEKEND FOR HARRIERS

In blisteringly hot conditions, Kettering Town Harriers bagged a haul of 22 gold medals at the County Championships at Leicester’s Saffron Lane Stadium, where Northants staged a joint two-day meeting with Warwickshire and Leicestershire.

Pride of place goes to Andy Barber and Alex Keyworth whose winning performances saw them break club records. Andy took the Senior Men’s 400m in 50.2s and Alex won the Under 17 Women’s 300m in 41.6.

The Harriers’ Senior Women were especially strong on the track, with a clean sweep first places, gained by Sophie Pallett (100m), Gemma Elliott (200m and 400m) and Rebecca Hall (800m and 1500m).

Three other athletes took two titles. Ben Sharman was in superb form in the middle distance events, on his return from University at Wolverhampton. Against strong opposition, he took the Under 20 Men’s 800m and 1500m double. Hayley Munn showed she is coming into form at the right time, as she won the Under 20 Women’s 1500m and 5000m, whilst Danielle Tee enhanced her growing reputation as she struck gold in the Under 13 Girls 200m and Long Jump.

Keeping it in the family were Bessie and Helen Rollins, who won the Leicestershire versions of the Under 20 Women’s 1500m and 5000m respectively, Daniel and Jake Waples, who triumphed in the Under 13 Boys 2K Walk and the Under 17 Men’s 1500m and Jonathan and Rebecca Goringe – winners in the Under 20 Men’s 2000m Steeplechase and Under 15 Girls 3K Walk.

Jake’s victory was especially notable as he defeated hot favourite George Cardwell from Northampton, who has been virtually unbeatable over 1500m at county level for several years.

The other Harriers winners were Sam Gordon (Under 20 Men’s 100m), Keeley Hayler (Under 17 Women’s Hammer) and Morwena Underwood, who took the Under 13 Girls 800m with a very impressive 2 minutes 30.9s.

Full results can be found via the link to the 3 Counties website on the homepage.