Created by : Tom Shaw On : Thu, 01/23/2025 - 13:27
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We start this weeks report in-doors over the weekend of the 18 and 19th, Worksop Harriers had three athletes competing in the National Indoor Combined Events Championships at Sheffield.
Taking part at the highest level of domestic competition were Alicia Wells and Charlotte Ayton in the U20 Women’s Pentathlon along with Brooklyn Crooks in the U20 Men’s Heptathlon. To compete at this level in a combined events competition the athletes must be very competent at all the athletics disciplines, which requires a high level of ability and a strong dedication to consistent and regular training.
Completing all five events on the Saturday, Alicia finished in overall 9th position with 3115 points and Charlotte was not far behind in 15th with 2958 points. For these two young ladies to finish in the top 15 in a National Championship is an excellent achievement, and they will still be in the same age group next year.
Brooklyn completed his seven events over two days and, having started his athletics journey just over 18 months ago, has had to work very hard to pick up all the necessary skills in such a short space of time, especially for the sprint hurdles and pole vault. To achieve a 12th place finish at this level of competition is another excellent performance for this young man.
Very well done to these young athletes who are setting an excellent example to the rest of their training group.
Results:
U20 Women’s Pentathlon
Alicia Wells (9th) Charlotte Ayton (15th)
60m Hurdles 9.83s (744pts) 9.61s (787pts)
High Jump 1.56m (689pts) 1.47m (588pts)
Shot Put 8.84m (454pts) 7.39m (360pts)
Long Jump 4.91m (535pts) 5.02m (565pts)
800m 2m 29.98s (693pts) 2m 38.51s (590pts)
Overall Points 3115 points 2958 points (New PB)
U20 Men’s Heptathlon
Brooklyn Crooks (12th)
60m 7.66s (622pts)
Long Jump 6.16m (621pts)
Shot Put 11.40m (570pts)
High Jump 1.84m (661pts)
60m Hurdles 9.07s (730pts)
Pole Vault 3.30m (431pts)
1000m 3m 13 .67s (537pts)
Overall Points 4212 points (New PB)
On to Sunday and busy across the board as our local-XC Competition made a belated but welcome return following the cancellation of the first match earlier in the year. Down to just four events, this year kicked off a challenging Clowne Course. A figure-8 5.5 miler that never seems to flatten out. Over 40 Harriers joined runners from Clowne, Retford, Killamarsh and Handsworth, seeking to repeat last years success which saw the Men take 1st place in their competition.
The first race is always an unknown as runners from each club to see who’s coming out of Winter in great shape and who’s looking to get round but by the time the results were in it became obvious the Harriers will be looking to retain their hard-earned trophy as five Harriers packed the top-10 with Tom Shaw leading the field home to a third straight win on the Clowne Course, followed closely by new-addition Luke Davis (4th), Matt Daly (6th) and a double of Nick Moore and Dom Fielding (8/9th). Another new addition Barnaby Gray made it clear just as good on the mud as the road with an excellent 12th whilst Paul Marriott showed continued fine form in 16th to round out the scoring-7. Its not just about first-7 though as a superb 23 men total wore the green-and-black both pushing on their team mates and ensuring we didn’t leave any points on the table to achieve also the bonus points for team turn-out.
Making it a double on the day Hannah Miller led the ladies out as a well paced race saw her take the lead around mid-way and not look back as she held on to lead the ladies race home. Madi Spencer and Julie Holloway (19th and 26th) joined the ladies next whilst it was a close run race between a fine debut from Sam-Robinson, seasoned-XC pro Cathy Mhembere and a fast improving Camilla Mercer (27th, 31st and 32nd) with Rachel Silcock rounding out the scoring 7 in 36th. Not just the boys having fun but the ladies also showing there’s a great team spirit there with 19 runners also achieving the bonus points and narrowly finishing 4th team on the day there is certainly something to play for as the combined men and women sit joint 2nd overall!
It wasn’t just our Seniors getting their fill of XC as over at Berry Hill it was third match of the Notts Mini-League XC. U11 to U15 girls and boys had a range of events from 1,500 m up to 4,000 m. Starting with the youngest and four each in the girls and boys. For the girls Aya St Juste was first home in 4th joined by Lauren Townrow, Libby Mould and Harriet Bell for a full squad. Matching them in the boys and sprint finish right to the very line saw George North pip 3rd place to finish 2nd with Oakley Allsop in next and Hugo Mcarthy and Younger Freddie North finish very close! Up one age group and to 2k and Heidi Marks, Eliza De Villiers and Holly Bulmer forms our U13G squad whilst in the boys race it was 3k for Isaac Beresford and Henry Marks. Up to top of races two excellent runs as in the girls U15 3k we had Miley Townrow and to the boys and 4k Harry Cole.
Whilst most of the report details with team outings this week a special shoutout goes out to Stu McCluskie. Following a challenging 2024 Stu has made an excellent start to the year as he looks to return to form and with an entry to Brass Monkey Half Marathon in the calendar Stu made a very welcome return to distance running as he completed the course out of York as with an initial aim to just beat m the 2:45 cut-off, it was never really in doubt as Stu was well clear in a time of 2:16:58.
A slightly belated report also means we can catch up with yet more XC action. In the Independent Schools Association at Bedstone College at Shropshire we had multiple Harriers representing their schools. With about 100 per race & the top ten qualifying for the next round there was plenty to race for!
In the Year 3/4 completion, Freddie North qualified in 9th with in Hugo McCarthy 13th. Two in Y5/6 as George North and Aya St Juste both qualified for the boys and girls respectively, both with an excellent 4th place finish. Finally, in Y 7/8 Issac Beresford ran close in 11th.