The first Heart of England match of a shortened season saw the Harriers put in a terrific performance to finish in 2nd place overall against some strong competition from local rivals, Corby AC (winners), Wreak & Soar & Saffron. Held in terrific condition at Corby AC, the Harriers secured 18 wins and a 20 second place scores from across all the event.
The 1500m U13G & U15 Girls produced four 2nd places with U13’s Iona Ellwood & Peyton Almond setting new PB’s in the ‘A’ & ‘B’ races with 5.28.2 & 5:36.8 respectively, and in one of the day top performances U13 Jemima Davey running up an AG as an U15 finished in second place with 4:48.1 to smash the 16 year old U13G club record and move back into 2nd place in the UK rankings with a well-executed and paced race. Evie Brooker ran a fine race for 2nd place in the ‘B’ race (5.22.2).
Jemima Davey broke the 2005 U13G 1500m Club Record with 4:48.1 to move to UK number 2
In the boys 1500m Dylan Ransom won a fine U15B ‘A’ with a fine display of 1500m running setting a new PB of 4:43.3 in the same race Freddie Ward making his debut over the distance also won the ‘B’ race. U13’s Zachary Scott won the ‘B’ race in a new PB of 5:14.0, with Harlee Hooker finishing in a new PB in 4th place in 5:16.0.
The 800m’s produced a huge points haul with an ‘A’ & ‘B’ race win in the U15 boys with a powerful display of running from Jacob Asher-Relf easily winning the ‘A’ race in 2:04.9, with Dylan White scooping a maximum haul of points in 2:11.1 in the ‘B’ race. In the U13B 800m Finley Brooker was 2nd in the ‘B’ race setting a new PB of 2:33.5 and George Sharp also ran a new PB for third place in in the ‘A’ race in 2:25.7. U13 Jess Lamb won her 800m ‘A’ looking in total control with a fantastic performance and and new PB of 2:28.6, while Camille Chassainge finished 2nd in the ‘B’ race also with a PB of 2:39.6.
U15 Jacob Asher-Relf, fantastic win in the 'A' 800m, one of 3 victories he enjoyed on the day
The 600m also saw some terrific performances with Tiggy Guthrie-Brown, narrowly missing the win in the ‘A’ race with a fantastic battle with Corby AC’s Francessca Fitzpatrick right to the line with Fitzpatrick getting the nod by just 0.1 sec but Guthrie-Brown was compemsated with a big new PB of 1:51.9, with Clara Booth winning the ‘B’ race in a new PB of 2:04.5. For the Boys there was a fine 2nd place for Rafferty Davey in a big PB of 1:54.4 just holding off Corby AC’s Barney Burma in a fight to the line, with new recruit Oliver Smith also running a PB in the ‘B’ race with 2:00.1 for second place.
The longer sprints saw a spectacular clean sweep for the Harriers with U15 MD athletes Lara Turner & Maggie Gancheva making their debuts in the event and winning in style with Turner posting a fine 43.5 for a UK ranking of 44th, and Gancheva recording a fine 45.0 clocking. Other U15 MD athletes tasting victory over the distance were Jacob Asher-Relf & Dylan White fresh from their 800m wins, both produced powerful performances in their 300m with Asher-Relf winning the ‘A’ race in a superb 38.1 and UK number 7 ranking, and White 40.0 for UK top 45.
U15 Lara Turner fantastic debut over 300m to win the 'A' race and 44th in the UK rankings with 43.5
There were also two wins in the 200m with U13’s Iona Ellwood & George Sharp both recording wins the 200m ‘B’ race with 32.4 & 28.6 respectively. Also scoring well in the 200m were U13 Zane Cooper (27.3), U15’s William Rawcliffe (25.3 in the ‘A’ race) & William Robertson (26.0) and U15G Elizabeth reading (27.9 in the ‘A’ race) all picking up second place finishes.
There was also a brace of second place finishes in the 100m with U15 Elizabeth Reading recording 13.60, U13 Zane Cooper 13.1 in their ‘A’ races, with U15 William Rawcliffe 12.60 in the ‘B’ race.
Other wins saw the distance athletes athletes showing their versatility with U13 Peyton Almond recording a fine ‘B’ win in the 70m hurdles in 15.0, U15 Jacob Asher-Relf winning his third event with the shot (7.06m), and U15 Lara Turner winning the Javelin with a throw of 17.37m. U13 Finley Brooker secured a second place in the ‘B’ long jump with 3.32m, and Maggie Gancheva defied physics with a fine 2nd place in the shot 5.99m.
Sophie Panther picked up a win in the ‘B’ high jump with 1.00m, a second place in both the ‘B’ long jump with 3.01m, and the Javelin with 10.1, with U15 Elizabeth Reading finished in 2nd place with 1.30m jump in the ‘A’ High jump U11 Sabrina Lawton secured a second place in the ‘B’ long jump with 2.74m, as did William Rawcliffe with 4.85m in the ‘A’ event.
In the 4x100m sprint relays comprising of athletes from all the squads, the Harriers fared well with three second places in the U15 female (55.7), U13 male (57.4) and U15 male (50.5).
Successful baton change for the U15G Lulu Mowforth handing to Maggie Gancheva
This was a terrific performance, and the next event held in late August will provide some challenges with some athletes maybe deciding to close down their season for a well-earned rest on or around this time.
Well done to all the athletes who competed.