SWAC news reports

Southport Waterloo A C

NEWS REPORTS - MAY 2009

News reports and results should be E-mailed or telephoned to Ron Scott

Statement of Practice on the use of photographs

31 May 2009: 3rd place finish at 3rd Young Athletes Meeting: club Athletes-of-Match Niall Cullen and Ellie Roberts.

Bebington Oval was the venue on another glorious summer's day for Round 3 of the Young Athletes League. Progress here continues to be tough and up against Sale Harriers, Wirral AC and Macclesfield Harriers the best we could reasonably expect, on current form, was 3rd ahead of bottom-placed Macclesfield. And indeed that is how the scores ended. Sale won the match with 499 points, Wirral were 2nd with 445, Southport Waterloo 3rd with 297 and Macclesfield 4th on 260 points.
We continued to suffer, more it seems than the other teams today, from gaps in the team sheets, particularly at the Under 17 age group.
Despite the tough grading standards for 2009/10, we had 2 grade 2s at Bebington, Erin Donagh in the 1200m and Niall Cullen in the 1500m, and 9 grade 3s by Ellie Roberts, Katie Morris, Eleanor Newton, Luke Tyson, Michael Panes, Josh Hughes, Andrew Starkey and Danny Driver.
Niall Cullen and Ellie Roberts win the club Athlete-of-the-Match T-shirts.
There were no individual wins in the Under 13 Girls' events but there were some good performances. As in the other younger age groups, it was our middle distance runners who excelled.
Erin Donagh ran another excellent 1200m in a grade 2 time of 4:09.2 for a 2nd place. Ellie Roberts was only a whisker off a grade 2 when she too was 2nd, in the 800m, in 2:35.7. A grade 2 time is 2:35.5!
Becky Sinclair's 11.7 for 75m was a season's best time as was Erin Donagh's 22.6 for 150m. Becky's sister Amy equalled her previous best in the high jump with 1m 10 where Olivia Croft improved on her previous best with a clearance of 1m 25. Lucy Hunter ran an 800m in 3:13 and Alice Cribb ran the 1200m and long jumped 3m 40.
In the Under 13 Boys' events, the main excitement was again in the middle distance races. In the 800m, our lads took maximum points from the 'A' and 'B' races, Andrew Kershaw winning in 2:29.9 - not bad after running an 800m the previous day in 2:28.4 - with Adam Cullen wining the 'B' in 2:41.8.
In the combined 1500m race, Luke Tyson managed to get past Michael Panes just a few metres from the line. Luke's 5:01.4 was a PB and placed him 2nd. Michael's 5:02.5 won us the 'B' event.
Our other event winner in this age group was Adam Laughton who equalled his previous best time of 29.3 in the 200m race. He was also 2nd in the 100m with a time of 14.5.
Matthew Lawson featured in the shot, with a best throw of 5m 04, Tom Clarehugh long jumped 3m 54 and Luke Gravell supported in the 200m, running 33.4. Luke and Tom joined with Adam C and Adam L to get the baton around in 60.2 secs for 3rd place in the 4x100m relay.
Ellon Hart was the only event winner in the Under 15 Girls' - and an impressive win it was too! In the 200m she stretched out the field to win in 27.8 secs.
Its been a while since Sally Wareing ran a 100m race and returning from holiday during the afternoon gave her the opportunity to run one today. 13.4 secs gave her a 2nd place and a big improvement on her PB which was previously 14.5! Emma Dryden also ran the 100m and brought her PB down from 17.0 secs to 16.1.
Katy Hurley showed some speed with 29.9 in the 200m but her best was reserved for the 75m hurdles which she cleared in style in a PB time of 13.4 secs. Both Katy and Amy Aitchison also achieved PBs in the long jump, Amy clearing 3m 80 and Katy 3m 69, and Amy's 14m 63 discus throw was another PB.
In the middle distance races, Patsy Irizar and Ellon Hart teamed up for the 800m where Patsy finished 2nd in 2:39 and Ellon took 2nd 'B' spot with 2:44. Over 1500m, Lauren Clarehugh finished just outside her best time with a good competitive run of 5:22.4.
Patsy, Sally, Lauren and Ellon teamed up for the 4x100m. Their 55.8 was the fastest time of the year but only got them 4th place today!
Amongst the Under 15 Boys, Niall Cullen shows increasing potential as a middle distance runner, He has a strong endurance base and used that to good effect today in the 1500m. Sitting on the leader's shoulder all the way around, he had a great race. The leader eventually broke away but Niall had done the hard work and was rewarded with a new best time of 4:28.1, an excellent grade 2 performance. Niall's high jump of 1m 35 was also a new best clearance.
First year Under 15 Liam Ellis ran 5:09.3 after a long journey back from Wembley. Liam commits fully in races and I don't think it will be long before he is running under 5 minutes.
The effort the lads put in today was evident from the PBs achieved. 10 PBs from 7 of the 9 boys in the squad, including at least one from every track event, was impressive.
Thomas Neal achieved PBs in both the 100m (13.0) and the 200m (26.5) - and in the hammer!
Graham Boreham has been concentrating on field events this season whilst he rebuilds endurance but he responded when the call came today from his team manager to run a 200m! Running that in 29.5 secs - a new personal best time for the distance - was very encouraging. His discus throw of 16m 33 was not far off his best so a good effort today.
In the 400m, Owen Williams' 62.9 was another PB, ahead of George Ingram's 66.0. George was also in the 800m but it was the 80m hurdles were he achieved a PB - 15.7 secs.
In the 800m, Gary Clark regularly achieves new PBs. No massive jumps here; just a gradual improvement which is great! Gary did it again today with a run of 2:27.7.
Adam Mackie got his PB in the shot with a fine put of 7m 53.
Finally, Patrick Cullen had a varied day competing in hurdles, long jump and javelin.
We had just 6 Under 17 Women out at Bebington - which is disappointing considering that this was such a local venue. Katie Morris and Eleanor Newton were the star performers. Eleanor looks such a class act in the hurdles and impressively won both the 300m and the 80m hurdles today in 47.8 secs and 12.6 secs, both grade 3 standard performances and the 300m time a new personal best. In the flat 300m, it was Katie Morris who powered through the field, but had to settle for 2nd place in a grade 3 and new personal best time of 42.9. Eleanor Newton won the 'B' 300m in 45.2 and that was a new PB for her too!.
Sprinter Beth McBride was in great form and looked really committed in both her 100m and 200m races. Taking 2nd place in both races, her 13.0 for 100m equalled her previous best and 26.7 for 200m was a new PB!
Lucy Whitehead was a revelation in the 300m hurdles. With a previous best time of 57 secs, she fairly sailed around to win the 'B' event in 52.1! She also picked more valuable points in the long and triple jump.
Catherine Hulme has been putting in some training in the long jump and it paid off today with PBs in both long and triple. In the long she cleared 3m 91 and in the triple 8m 71. For a longer race, she preferred the 800m today, getting around in 2:41.7.
Finally, Ruth Doran was again our mainstay in the throws. Her discus throw of 19m 54 was a season's best and her shot put of 8m 29 was a new personal best, taking 2nd place.
Lucy, Eleanor, Catherine and Katie finished in 2nd place in the 4x300m relay in a season's best time of 3:09.4.
We managed a few more Under 17 Men and so had fewer gaps in the team sheet. James Armstrong and Jordan Kelly are still not able to compete in their normal events but they are clearly getting competitive in the throws with, for example, James throwing the javelin today a massive 39m 68 to take 2nd place ahead of Josh Francis, 33m 90, but who threw 39m 19 at the last YAL.
Again, there were lots of new PBs but only 1 event win; by Danny Driver in the 100m hurdles in a grade 3 time of 14.8 secs. Danny also achieved a PB in the 400m hurdles, where he was 2nd in 65.0 secs, and in the 100m, winning the 'B' competition with 12.3. Josh Hughes ran the 100m in 11.8 and the 200m in 23.4, very close to his PB at Gateshead the weekend before.
Andrew Starkey won the 'B' 200m in 23.9 and was 2nd in the 400m in 52.6 where Josh Francis' time of 53.2 was a new PB. Josh had another PB in the high jump with a best clearance of 1m 65.
Shaun Parker featured in the jumps, achieving a PB in the long jump with 4m 09 and high jumping 1m 45. Thomas Atherton's 4m 47 long jump was a PB for him
The only middle distance event we competed in in this age group was the 800m where Jack Craig improved his best time to 2:08.1. We were also treated to the sight of Jordan Kelly running an 800, in 2:21.5, but Jordan's team manager and coach Tina Pilkington assures me this was only done as part of his fitness recovery programme!
For some time we have had a very strong team of Under 17 men sprinters so it was disappointing to see them finish 3rd today. That said, 46.3 secs was the fastest time they've run this year!
So another very pleasant day's athletics comes to an end. Thanks to team managers Tina Pilkington and Graham Morris; to our team of officials - Dave Whitehead, Robbie Clark, Malcolm Ingram, Lesley Scott, Sue Gellett, Dan Dalle Mulle, Mrs Hughes, Mrs Kelly, Steve Boreham and Ian Hunter; and to Carlos Irizar for the photos reproduced here and on his web site
Thanks too to all the athletes who worked so hard for the team today.
Full results. Results for club athletes.

30 May 2009: Several PBS at 2nd Mid Lancs meeting

With a Young Athletes League Meeting the following day, most Southport Waterloo athletes stayed away from the 2nd Mid Lancs League fixture at Wilson Playing Fields, Hyndburn - a venue that looks quite different from the winter cross country course!
On a gloriously sunny day, I guess most juniors were content to use the Mid Lancs League for secondary events and to sensibly have a go at events that wouldn't affect their YAL performances. The result was that 8 PBs were achieved by the 11 athletes, the best performance being by Andrew Kershaw, running 2:28.4 for a 2nd place in the Under 13 Boys 800m. That time was good enough to displace Michael Panes from the top of the club's rankings!
In the Under 13 Girls, Becky Sinclair, Lucy Hunter and Erin Donagh all achieved PBs Becky got hers in the 100m, where her previous best of 16.5 secs was knocked for six with a fine run in 15.3 secs to take 3rd place. Lucy Hunter's 37.9 in the 200m was another PB.
In the long Jump, Becky Sinclair recorded another PB of 3m 87 - better than most of our Under 15 girls this year! - and, concentrating on just this event, Erin Donagh was rewarded with a new personal best of 3m 79. Both Becky's and Erin's jumps were grade 4 standards.
In the Under 13 Boys' events, Andrew Kershaw's 2:28.4 800m was a grade 3 standard performance. New recruit Daniel Winkle also recorded a grade 4 performance with a fine long jump of 4m 01. In the same event, Andrew Kershaw's best jump of 3m 62 was a new PB for him - a massive improvement of nearly a metre!
Meanwhile, Adam Cullen was leading in the sprints with 15.1 in the 100m. He was also our best shot putter with 5m 43. Matthew Lawson achieved 16.3 in the 100m and 5m 27 in the shot.
In the Under 15 Boys, Graham Boreham took two personal bests from three field events. In the shot, he improved his previous best of 5m 46 to a new best of 6m 07. His 2nd PB was in the long jump where his best was 3m 83. In the same event, Patrick Cullen achieved an excellent 4m 19.
Patrick Cullen tried his first 1500m and finished in 5:28. Brother Niall focussed on the hammer and achieved two throws over 19m, a best of 19m 28.
Finally, senior (veteran) Tony Hughes was an unexpected runner in the 100m sprint, a distance he covered in 15.9 secs
Full results on the Mid Lancs web site. Results for Southport Waterloo athletes.

27 May 2009: Southport Waterloo dominate at Harrock Hill (by Rick Bowker)

Richard Shearer lead a blazing trail for the rest of us to follow by winning the first of the summer Harrock Hill series. Steve Wilkinson was an amazing 4th after losing a shoe as it got stuck in deep mud early in the race.
'Do the funky gibbon legend' Rob Ashworth finished just behind Steve in 5th. After an epic battle with Steve McLean, I just managed to pull away for 11th place with Steve setting yet another p.b. Brian Davey came in an excellent 21st with Andy Hudson 23rd hot on his heels having one of his best runs for a long time, and Terry Bolland at almost 70 years old stormed round to finish in 64 mins.
Vicky Harvey was first back of the SWAC ladies in 77th place, Rachel Thomas finished in 87th followed by Christine Cutner 91st and Carole James 92nd.
So with Richard first and with SWAC backing him up for a team win you really couldn't ask for more!
The next Grand Prix race is the Freckleton Half on Sunday 21st June.
Race results

23/24 May 2009: Northern Bronze for Danny Driver

Four of the club's junior athletes were at Gateshead over the weekend for the Northern Athletics Under 15 / Under 17 Championships. The numbers competing this year seemed well down; maybe just following lower numbers in county championships or maybe Gateshead was a bit too far to travel on a bank holiday weekend. Each day saw just over 4 hours of track competition but there was a lot of talent on display and many great races.
All of the Southport Waterloo athletes were first year Under 17s and all left with PBs! With others absent for a variety of reasons, we must have some strong contenders for medals next year.
This year's medallist was Danny Driver who competed in the 100m hurdles, run as a straight final of 6. In a well contested race, Danny - the Merseyside champion - was 3rd in 14.76 secs, a new personal best.
Another hurdler was Eleanor Newton, the Merseyside champion over 80m. In her event there were 2 heats and she progressed through to the final in a new best time of 12.46. There, she clocked 12.39 secs, yet another new personal best, against some very fast girls.
Josh Hughes was running on both days of these championships. On Day 1, he competed in the 200m. In his heat he was 4th in 23.72 and qualified for the final where he improved on that time with 23.34 secs - a new PB. On the Sunday, it was his 100m race. He again qualified for the final with a run of 11.74 secs, the middle of three runners crossing the line at the same time. In the final, he ran 11.72 secs.
Finally, on Day 2, Katie Morris was running in the 800m race, her first Northern Championships. She was drawn in the faster of the two heats, the first 5 runners running faster than the winner in the other heat! She responded well to the challenge and kept it up right to the line, being rewarded with a new PB of 2:22.44. Interestingly, the winner of the 800m final - Alex Bell of Pudsey - also won the 1500m final, not something seen very often.
So not many there in our club colours but some great competition and some great results for them. Well worth the long trip to Gateshead!
Full results

23 May 2009: Hutton Roof Fell Race (by Rick Bowker)

There was a good turnout by SWAC members at this year' Hutton Roof Fell Race which incorporated the FRA Inter Counties Championship. Steve Wilkinson, Richard Shearer and Michelle Spencer represented Merseyside, Steve finished 45th (54.35) in the Championship, Richard 47th (54.46), looking less than happy to have been beaten by two ladies, and Michelle 38th (1.16.07)].
Conditions were good for the race apart from some very slippy mud in places. There was a bigger turnout of fast runners this year as it was an inter county championship race. As I still don't feel fully recovered from my Marathon, I decided to enjoy the race and run within myself, having said that I'm not sure I could have run much faster anyway!
The race starts in a field and it was a bit hectic as we swung round and headed through a narrow gap in a stone wall! Quickly we made our way up a very steep climb over rocks and boulders. Once at the top I tried to get my breath back and managed to pass quite a few runners over the easier sections without going into my red zone!
Next was a very fast downhill. Stepping on one of the many jagged rocks or loose stones was the biggest hazard. A lot of concentration was required just to keep upright!
The biggest challenge soon came into sight as we turned a corner and headed up the mountain, zig zagging at first then straight up the scree. This was tough, crawling on my hands and knees at a painfully slow pace. We were all lined up following one another, breathless and with quads full of lactic.
Downhill through craggy outcrops of rock, I overtook a couple of runners. Next, a jump down a rock ledge before a steady downhill to the road, across the road and the start of the final section, a steady climb through trees eventfully coming out on the top of a hill. Some technical downhill work and then very fast down a grassy bank. A slight rise then leads to the final 200m on tarmac. I sprint on the inside, pulling away from the group I've been running with!
Steve McLean set a new p.b. with 58.55, Brian Davey showed his fell running class with 1.00.29 and Gary Kenny overcame long term injury problems to run a solid 1.01.24. He passed me on the main climb as if I was stood still! I finished just under a minute behind with 1.02.22. Carole and Clive James ran together finishing in 1.23.07 and last but by no means least Jon Singleton made a welcome return and conquered the mountain in 1.30.42.
Race results

19 May 2009: Richard Shearer 2nd in Walton Park (by Rick Bowker)

Richard Shearer put in an awesome performance at Walton Park, blazing round the park like a streak of lightening to finish 2nd in a time of 26.28.
I had not run here since 2003 when I ran 27.39. Today I was hoping for sub 29 at least!
From the start I quickly got into a good group. We were moving along pretty fast and by the end of the first lap I got blown out of the back as my legs gave way; 2 miles in 11 mins
Now I was on my own and having to face the uphill section into the wind. Up ahead I saw Dave Edwards of Liverpool Running Club drifting off the back of the group I'd been in. This gave me something to concentrate on and I worked hard to catch him!
I got renewed confidence as I passed him. Another runner got blown out of the back of the group and I now had a new challenge of catching him too. I pulled up to him and hoped he could work with me but I soon found myself moving away. 3 miles, 17.03, I was feeling OK at this point and a sub 29 looked well on the cards as I started my final lap, but once I hit the headwind and uphill my wheels came off! Glancing at the Garmin showed I was crawling at 9 mph! After what seemed like a life time I reached the highest point on the course and now had a welcome downhill towards the finish. I tried to sprint the final 100m but my post marathon legs were well shot!
29.07 I was not happy!!
Keith Middleman finished close on my heels with 29.23. Good job I didn't look back!
Peter Roome also found the London Marathon still in his legs, finishing a minute slower than last year with 30.02. Chris Dunn 30.46 also a London survivor looked less than happy not to break the 30 min barrier too!
Philip Bailey recorded 31.07, Simon Tobin also recovering from the marathon crossed the line in 33.01, just off his target 32 minutes.
Karon Faloon had an impressive run to finish first L55 with 35.36, Carole James 38.18 had to fight nerves before the start, but it was all worthwhile in the end as she now leads the Women's GP Racheal Thomas finished with 39.28, Christine Cutner also a London marathon runner found her legs lacked speed this time and finished 3 mins slower than last year with 40.27.
Jon Singleton after shredding over a stone since the start of the year crossed the finish line in a new age group PB for him in 43.07. Next year Jon plans to be at a fighting weight of 11 stone and running sub 40 min 10Ks.
race results updated Grand Prix table

17 May 2009: Close finish for juniors in YAL Round 2: Club Athletes of Match - Erin Donagh and Michael Panes

The club's juniors were at home for Round 2 of the Young Athletes League, Northern Premier Division, but the visitors proved a tough challenge. Up against Leeds, City of Sheffield and Warrington, it was never going to be easy - no match in the Premier Division ever is! - but Warrington turned out to be surprisingly strong for a club newly promoted. While Leeds romped away, the points between the other clubs were very close during the afternoon but it soon became apparent that Warrington were not going to be caught and we were lucky to finish with 2 match points in 3rd place. I say lucky because if City of Sheffield had brought their required officials they would have beaten us. The closeness of the points shows just how important every athlete and every official and every point can be.
The final points were Leeds City 416.5, Warrington 370, Southport Waterloo 324 and City of Sheffield 320.5.
The toughness of the challenge should take nothing away from the athletes who competed and who were a credit to their club. But, although the team sheets for both boys and girls were fuller for round 2, we were missing a number of high point-scoring athletes who have either moved up to Under 20s or are injured or are cramming for GCSEs. And whilst middle distance running is strong in the younger age groups, it is currently almost not existent at Under 17 level!
Once again, it seems that the YAL results programme has used last year's common grading standards. This year's are - in my view - so much tougher as to be discouraging! However, Erin Donagh ran a great 1200m in a grade 2 time of 4:09; our best club performance of the day. There were three grade 3 performance; by Ellie Roberts and Michael Panes in the Under 13 800m, and by Eleanor Newton in the Under 17 80m hurdles.
The Under 13 Girls' a produced a number of 2nd place finishes together with graded performances by Erin Donagh and Ellie Roberts. Becky Sinclair ran a season's best 11.9 in the 75m and a PB in the 70m hurdles where she was 2nd in 14.7. Erin Donagh ran her first 150m of the season in 23.4 secs before her 2nd place in the 1200m in 4:09.1, just 2 secs slower than at the Merseyside Championships.
In the 800m, both Ellie Roberts and Lizzie McKay ran PBs, 2:39.4 and 3:03.1. Amy Sinclair equalled her previous best high jump with 1m 10, Olivia Croft clearing 1m 15. Olivia also took a 2nd place in the shot with a best throw of 5m 26.
Alice Cribb ran a 25 secs 150m and was 2nd 'B' runner in the 1200m with 4:47. Finally, Lucy Hunter ran 13.2 for 75m, put the shot 3m 10 and was part of the 3rd placed 4x100m team getting the baton round in 66.5.
Sally Wareing was the only Under 15 Girl to achieve one of the new grading standards, a grade 4 in the high jump with a clearance of 1m 40 - a new PB. Sally also achieved a PB in the shot, with a best of 7m 03, and won the 200m against a strong wind in 28.1 secs.
More PBs were achieved in the discus competition where Amy Aitchison threw 14m 14 and Lauren Clarehugh 13m 53. Amy also won the javelin competition with a best of 15m 36.
New runner Chandini Webster and Emma Dryden covered the 100m sprints for the team. And in the middle distance events, Lydia McGill ran an 800 PB in 2:50, behind Vicky Mawer who led her race for most of the 800m just losing out in the finishing straight for a 2nd place in 2:38.9. In the 1500m, Lauren Clarehugh ran 5:22.3 and Patsy Irizar's 5:27.5 to take 2nd 'B' was just a second of her PB from last year, a good result in today's conditions.
Finally, Katy Hurley made a welcome return to the team, running the 75m hurdles in 14.4 and long jumping over 3 metres.
The Under 17 Women's squad was boosted by Megan Woodburn and Ruth Doran. Ruth was missed at Round 1 and had a great afternoon with straight wins in the shot (7m 67), discus (18m 70) and hammer ( a PB 24m 59). In fact, the Under 17 women produced a total of 9 'A' wins and 2 'B' wins - and you can't ask much more than that! But they gave more, actually taking more points in the competition than any of the other clubs' under 17 women. If our other age groups were as strong we would be flying high!
On the track it was sprinters Eleanor Newton and Beth McBride who led the way with graded performances. In the 80m hurdles, Eleanor equalled her PB when winning in 12.7 secs and Lucy Whitehead was 2nd 'B' an another PB of 16.4. Earlier, Eleanor won the 300m hurdles in a grade 4 time of 48.9 secs.
In the short sprints, Beth McBride won both 100m and 200m in 13.4 and 27.1, with Megan Woodburn taking 2nd 'B' spot in 15.6 and 31.9.
In the longer races, Katie Morris won the 300m in 44.7, with Eleanor winning the 'B' in 47.3, and the 800m, in 2:29.8, with Catherine Hulme taking the 2nd 'B' spot with a 2:41 run. Unfortunately, we had no 1500m or 3000m runners!
To round off a good day for the girls, they won the 4x300m relay in 3:11.9.
Amongst our Under 13 Boys it was again the middle distance runners who achieved the graded standards with Michael Panes finishing 2nd in the 800m in a PB and grade 3 time of 2:28.5. Thomas Lodge also did well to win the 'B' race in 2:37.6. In the 1500m race it was the turn of Andrew Kershaw and Greg Cooke, Andrew winning the 'A' race in 5:14.3 and Greg winning the 'B' in 5:17.7, both grade 4 standard times.
Adam Laughton was solid in the sprints, running 14.8 over 100m and winning the 200m race in a PB 29.3 secs. Andrew Yates ran 17.1 in the 100.
Both our sprint hurdlers, Michael Panes and Adam Cullen, achieved PBS in the 75m race, Michael showing increased confidence to knock 2 secs off his previous best to 16.3. Adam ran 16.9.
In the field events, we lacked a high jumper but Luke Gravell long jumped 3m 10 and both Matthew Lawson and Tom Clarehugh put the shot, Matthew with a best of 5m 45 and Tom 4m 02.
There were just two event wins by our Under 15 Boys and both by Niall Cullen. Niall won the 1500m in a grade 4 time of 4:42 and also won the hammer competition with 20m 24, a new personal best.
There were several more PBs In the 200m, Thomas Neal equalled his previous best of 27.2 secs and Anthony Nugent's 29.2 was a PB for him. Then, in the 400m, George Ingram improved on his previous best with 65.6 and, in the 800m, Gary Clark improved his best to 2:28.2.
In the field events, and besides Niall's hammer throw, there were PBs for both Graham Boreham (16m 38) and Chris Lawson (15m 50) in the discus and for Owen Williams throwing 6m 51 in the shot, behind Adam Mackie's 7m 51.
In a tallented 1500m race, Liam Ellis took 2nd 'B' spot with 5:08.7 as part of a varied day that included a 100m sprint and a javelin throw. Patrick Cullen too featured in the javelin and in the 80m hurdles and in the long jump. Jake Hogg took 2nd 'B' in the 800m with 2:33.
The Under 17 Men's team sheet had a number of gaps in it but it was nothing compared to City of Sheffield's. It is encouraging to see that other clubs have problems fielding enough athletes in this age group.
We had 2 graded performances here and two event wins. Josh Francis won the javelin competition with a grade 4 throw of 39m 19. Interestingly, his best from last year as an under 15 was 40 metres so he has moved up from a 600 gm javelin to a 700 gm javelin and is managing to maintain the same distance. Josh also won the high jump with 1m 60 and recorded a PB in the 400m, where, in the 'B' race, he ran 54.9 secs.
The other graded performance was by Danny Driver who seems to improve with every outing. His 400m hurdles time was a PB 65.1 and his 100m hurdles was a grade 4 15.2 secs.
Elsewhere, Josh Hughes was our fastest sprinter, running 12.2 today for 100m and 24.4 for 200m, well supported by Craig Wilson running 13.9 for 100 and Andrew Starkey running 24.6 for 200. Ryan Williams ran 56.8 in the 400m.
Like the Under 17 Women, we are desperately short of older middle distance runners with only the 800m contested here, by Jack Craig running a very respectable 2:08 and a return by Seb Green running 2:31.
In the field events, once again injured athletes James Armstrong and Jordan Kelly helped out in the throws - although 'helped out' understates their immense contribution. James Armstrong improved his javelin PB by a whopping 6 metres to 28m 09, to win the 'B' competition, and improved his previous discus throw by 2.5 metres to 23m 97, to take 2nd place in the 'B'.
Jordan Kelly was 2nd in the Hammer competition with 19m 69 and here Josh Hughes won the 'B' event with a best throw of 19m 69.
Dean Brown made an appearance in the high jump, clearing 1m 50, Shaun Parker long jumped 3m 94 and Thomas Atherton long jumped 4m 16 and put the shot 8m 46, after Seb Green's 8m 99 secured him 2nd place in the event.
With good sprinters in this age group, we easily beat Leeds in the 4x100m relay getting the baton around in 46.9 secs.
Our position is now far from secure in the Northern Premier Division but that will just motivate us, with your help and support, to do the very best we can in the remaining rounds.
Thanks today go to our team managers Tina Pilkington and Graham Morris who work tirelessly behind the scenes to get out the best teams they can. Thanks too to our team of technical officials - Sandra Waters, Rob Clark, Dave Whitehead - who unexpected found himself chief timekeeper when the appointed chief was unable to get to the park in time for the first races, Roger Armstrong, Lesley Scott, Chris Henders, Sue Gellett, Norman Marshall, Helen Lloyd-Jones and Paula Kelly. To Alex Anderson our announcer, to Louise Leek, Patrick Vis and Joe Vis who have moved out of the YAL age groups but came along to help - Louise as starter's assistant / marksman and Patrick and Joe producing the computerised results and providing the scores as we went through the day. Thanks too to Mrs Hughes and to Sue Gellett who manned the refreshment tent, which adds to our own athletes and our visitors enjoyment of the day and helps to pay for the officials' lunches we provide and the cost of first aid cover - for which we thank St John Ambulance.
Finally, thanks to Carlos Irizar for his stunning photographs from the day, a few of which are reproduced her and over 200 more can be seen on his own photographic site
Full results. Results for Southport Waterloo

14 May 2009: YAL Athletes of Match 1

This year, the Young Athletes League, now sponsored by McCains, has changed the way athletes are awarded 'Athlete of the Match' T-shirts. Instead of 'Match' awards there are now 'Club' awards so that each club can award 2 athletes from there team each match.
The T-shirts have now arrived and we have decided to award one to a boy and one to a girl at each match, based on excellence of performance. Athletes will not be able to receive more than one award in the season.
The winners for Round 1 at Blackburn are: Eleanor Newton for her performance in the 80m hurdles; and to Luke Tyson for his run in the 1500m.

13 May 2009: 3 Club wins at School 1 Mile races

The annual School 1 Mile Races were held again in Southport's Victoria Park, under grey and darkening skies. Although a little windy, the rain stayed away until the very end, when the secondary schools presentations were taking place. Then, the heavens opened and Victoria Park and everyone in it was deluged!
Pre-race entries were good and overall numbers were up. 328 finishers in total was about 10 higher than last year. Some schools attended for the first time, including Woodlands Primary and Little Digmoor from Skelmersdale. We look forward to seeing them back next year.
But it was local schools who were battling it out for the main trophies. St Mary's Prep in Blundellsands again won the Primary Trophy from St Lukes Formby 2nd and Shoreside 3rd. The Champion Secondary Schools Trophy was won by Chesterfield High, just ahead of last year's winners, Stanley.
56 Girls toed the start line for the first race, the Year 5 Girls where Tessa Bruce, Larkfield, came though to win in 6:56. Kess Elmore (7:00) of Freshfield and Aimee Haves (7:03) of Shoreside were 2nd and 3rd. St Mary's Prep were 1st team ahead of Churchtown and St Jeromes.
There were even more Year 5 Boys with 67 tackling the classic 1 Mile distance. The winner here was Jack Egglesden from Kingswood in 6:13 with Nicholas Redmond of St Mary's Prep 2nd in 6:19 and Kai Wilson of Kew Woods 3rd in 6:20. The team winner was St Mary's Prep, ahead of Lydiate and Shoreside.
Southport Waterloo runner Luke Spencer was 13th in 6:63.
The Year 6 Girls' race was won by first-timer Courtney Helsby from Little Digmoor, in 6:13, ahead of two Southport Waterloo runners; Ashleigh Jackson of St Phillips in 6:33 and Lauren Deane of St Johns Crossens in 6:35. Becky Sinclair was 6th in 6:44 and sister Amy 9th in 7:07.
Here, the team winners were again St Mary's Prep, from Little Digmoor 2nd and St Lukes Formby 3rd.
Last year's Year 5 winner Calvin Jackson was the winner of the Year 6 Boys' race, running the 1 mile in 6:01. 2nd was Adam Cullen of Southport Waterloo and St Lukes Formby, 6:04, and Tom Clarehugh, Southport Waterloo and Shoreside, in 6:05. This was a very close race with only 4 secs separating the three boys. The club's Matthew Tobin ran 6:31 and Matthew Lawson 7:12.
St Lukes Formby took the team award here with Shoreside 2nd and St Mary's Prep finished in 3rd place.
The Year 7 Girls' race saw a fine win for Erin Donagh, 5:53, ahead of Ellie Roberts, 6:08, both girls from Sacred Heart and running with Southport Waterloo. 3rd place went to Katy Heron of Stanley in 6:12. Katy was last year's Year 6 winner and the Year 5 winner the year before. Other club finishers were Lizzie McKay, 6:49, and (despite falling over) Alice Cribb, 7:15.
Sacred Heart won the team award - incredibly with 4 girls in the top 5 - with Stanley 2nd and Chesterfield 3rd.
Another Southport Waterloo runner took 1st spot in the Year 7 Boys' race. Greg Cooke of Kingswood won in 5:59 ahead of JP Metcalfe of Chesterfield, 6:11, and Scott Rhodes of Stanley and Southport Waterloo, 3rd in 6:20.
The team winner was Chesterfield, with 7 of the top 10 finishers, with Stanley 2nd and Meols Cop 3rd.
In a well attended Year 8/9 Girls' race, Charlotte Sinclaire of Stanley won her 5th School Mile title in her fastest time of 5:47. Charlotte has won each age group from Year 5! 2nd was Southport Waterloo runner Lauren Clarehugh of Greenbank in 5:51 and 3rd was Sain Canadine of Stanley in 6:16. Lydia McGill, a new Southport Waterloo runner, ran 7:21.
Stanley won the team award with their 4-to-count in the top 6, with Sacred Heart 2nd and Chesterfield 3rd.
There was a disappointing number of runners in the Year 8/9 Boys' race but Liam Ellis of Southport Waterloo and Chesterfield was a good winner in 5:31 ahead of George Ingram, Southport Waterloo and Birkdale, in 5:37 and Tom Edmondson, Stanley, in 5:38. Liam was last year's Year 7 winner and improved his time this year by over 20 secs.
This race was closely fought for the medal positions and Southport Waterloo's Gary Clark finished strongly in 4th place, in 5:44.
Chesterfield won this year group with Stanley 2nd.
Laura Hyland of Stanley won the Year 10/11 Girls' race in 6:21 with Cathy Fairclough of Chesterfield 2nd and Zoe Partickson of Stanley 3rd in 6:55.
Despite a small field, three schools finished teams with Stanley 1st, Chesterfield 2nd and Meols Cop 3rd.
The final race for Year 10/11 Boys was won by Jai Vernon McGuigan of Chesterfield in 4:52. Jack Craig of Chesterfield was 2nd in 5:02 and Reece Kitchen, Stanley, 3rd in 5:23.
Chesterfield won the team award from Stanley, confirming them as Champion Trophy winners.
Thanks to Gill Gillison, the event race director and all her helpers and officials on the day. Particular thanks go to Dave Aspinall and his ATC cadets who are an invaluable aid in staging these races.
Full results.

9 May 2009: 19 Medals at County T&F Champs; Club Record and Schools entry standard for Adam Davies

Overall, the number of Southport Waterloo athletes competing at the Merseyside County Track & Field Championships at Wavertree was down on last year - as were the number of medals taken; 19 this year compared to 27 in 2008!
Nonetheless, there were some very encouraging performances despite strong winds and a rain storm during the 1500m races.
Adam Davies led the way in the first wave of hammer events and threw an excellent 51m 73 to win the competition; a new club Under 20 record and a throw in excess of the English Schools senior boys' entry standard.
Erin Donagh also had an excellent race in the Under 13 girls' 1200m, winning impressively in a new personal best time of 4:07.6, another grade 2 standard. That must be equivalent to about 4 minutes without the wind which shows a considerable potential for middle distance running.
Despite the difficult weather conditions there were a number of new PBs across all the age groups.
In the Under 13 Girls, Ellie Roberts took a bronze with a fine run of 2:40.6 in the 800m, a new PB. And in the long jump she managed another PB with a best jump of 3m 80, good enough for another County bronze medal. Alice Cribb was in the 80m and 800m but her best performance was possibly a season's best long jump of 3m 52.
Erin Donagh's win in the 1200m was against 10 other girls with Erin dominant in the early stages and going on to win by at least 20 metres following a late challenge. Ellie's 3rd place in the 800m was won with 17 girls in the field! She was unlucky not to take silver, staging a very strong challenge in the home straight. The Wirral girl in 2nd place just managed to hold her off but both girls were given exactly the same time.
Amy Aitchison was our only Under 15 Girl at the championships. Focussing on field events, she achieved a PB in both the discus with 13m 04 for County gold and the javelin (19m 52) - winning a silver in that event - and put the shot 5m 54.
Similarly, we had only one girl in the Under 17 Women's events. Eleanor Newton took a gold with 13.1 in the 80m hurdles.

In the Junior Women, Lauren Brennan tackled the wind 'head on' to take gold in the 200m in 27.0. Towards the end of the meeting she ran in the 400m race, taking a silver in 59.6 secs.
We had a number of Under 13 Boys competing at Wavertree with the middle distance boys doing particularly well again. Michael Panes and Andrew Kershaw took 1st and 3rd in the 1500m in 5:06 and 5:14 and Thomas Lodge took a 3rd place bronze in the 800m in 2:36.4 with Adam Cullen not too far behind in 2:43.
The other medallist was Adam Laughton, taking silver with a long jump of 4m 16, over a metre improvement on his PB! Adam was also our fastest sprinter, qualifying for the 100m final by winning his heat in 14.4 and running 13.8 in the final for 4th place. Both Michael Panes and Adam Cullen also qualified for the final, both getting a best time of 15.2 secs.
Adam Cullen also had a PB in the 75m hurdles with 17.1.
Amongst our Under 15 Boys, Niall Cullen was the only medallist, taking a silver with a strong PB run of 4:36.4 in the 1500m, run in driving rain. Liam Ellis ran 5:14.
George Ingram ran a PB 66.7 secs in the 400m and Gary Clark ran a PB in the 800m, a good run in 2:28, ahead of George Ingram 2:37 and Patrick Cullen 2:47.
Two competitors in the Under 17 men brought home three medals. Josh Hughes looked good in difficult sprinting conditions. In the 200m he ran 24.2 for a 2nd place. In the 100m he won his heat in 12.1 and was 2nd again in the final, in 11.6 sec.
Danny Driver took his medal in the 100m hurdles, winning that event in 16.0 secs.
Finally, in the Junior Men's competition, 2 more medals went to Southport Waterloo. Adam Davies may still be building up his fitness and strength but a fine throw of 51m 73 brought him gold and a new PB for the 6 kg hammer. And Joe Vis took a medal in the 3000m, run in 9:56.8 for gold. Patrick Vis ran in the 1500m, in 4:37.4, and David Gough ran a PB in the 2000m steeplechase in 7:14.6.
Amanda Crook also ran in the combined 3000m / 5000m race but did not finish.
Junior track & field athletes now look forward to the Schools competitions next week and a Young Athletes League meeting at Litherland on Sunday.
Results for club athletes. Full results.

4 May 2009: Two new course records at Waterloo Races: Club wins in 3K and 5K

Like many other road races, numbers were down in the Waterloo 15K races held on Bank Holiday Monday in Blundellsands. Maybe the bad economic news we are regularly bombarded with encourages a general malaise but for those who came along to Merchant Taylors Playing Fields, there was a very pleasant day of races - despite the wet and windy conditions!
And with 770 runners across the three races, there was plenty of action, both for the fun runners and the competitive club runners at the front of the multi-terrain 15K.
Race sponsor Gillions of Crosby put on a boar roast, and this proved hugely popular with the crowds. Friends and family were also able to enjoy music and commentary from the DJ whilst the runners were out on the course.
With something for everyone, the day's events started with the Fitness Connection 3K Fun Run. Here, about 200 runners of all ages, but mainly youngsters, covered the small and 2 two large laps of the playing fields, allowing plenty of opportunity for the crowds to support the runners as they past the pavilion and finally as they came into the finish.
Southport Waterloo's Niall Cullen, just a day after the Young Athletes League meeting at Blackburn, won the race for the 2nd year running, in a time of 10 mins 31 secs. Jack Courtney from Liverpool Harriers was 2nd in 11:24 and Andrew Kershaw, another of Southport Waterloo's young talented middle distance runners, was 3rd in 11:25. Michelle Spencer was the first female finisher, in 13:04. Chloe Culshaw was the first girl finisher, together with Alice Cribb and Lizzie McKay, both of Southport Waterloo. The three 12-year old girls, running 13:17, 13:17 and 13:18, are part of a talented running group at Sacred Heart School.
Other club finishers included 10-year old Chris Fallon, 6th overall in 12:02, Patrick Cullen (12:05), Adam Cullen (12:06), Matthew Tobin (12:47), Joe Roberts (13:22), Lauren Deane (13:25), Oliver Burrill (14:07), Luke Spencer (14:39), 9-year old Kieran Vis running with brother Sean (14:59), Kieran Andrew (15:19), Nell Vitty (15:35), 9-year old Oliver Roome (16:53), Dylan Howard, running with mum Sam, (17:53), Hannah and Richard Shearer (17:59), Emma Lippitt (18:13) and Debra Vis (21:05).
3K Results
The 5K Marie Curie Cancer Care Fun Run is usually the smallest of the three races but the 108 finishers were only a few down on last year. Following the southern end of the 15K multi terrain course, the rural route is completely vehicle free for all but half a kilometre on pavement and provides for some fast times. The race was won by Southport Waterloo's Jay Tartt in a new course record time of 16:42. In fact, there were 6 Southport Waterloo runners in the top 7 places. Rob Cushion of Liverpool Harriers was 2nd in 17:03 and Under 20 Patrick Vis, Southport Waterloo, was 3rd in 17:43. Last year's winner from Southport Waterloo was Keith Middleman. He shaved 30 seconds off his time to finish in 18:03 but that only got him 4th place today. Steve McLean was next, 5th in 18:14, with Peter Roome 6th in 18:39 and David Gough 7th in 18:39.
Under 20 Louise Leek, Southport Waterloo, was the winner of the ladies race, in 22:45, with Arianna Andreangeli 2nd in 22:56 and Helena McGoldrick 3rd in 23:38.
Other club 5K finishers were Matthew Dryden, 23:15, Clive James, 24:40, Colin Dryden, 26:22, Graham O'Neill, 26:40, Sheila Marshall, 28:55, Sharon Middleman, 30:35, and Norman Marshall, 34:07. Norman and Sheila Marshall deserve special mention as they ran their race and immediately took up their duties in the finish funnell for the main 15K race. No rest for them!
5K Results
In the 25th anniversary Waterloo 15K race, sponsored by Gillions of Crosby, there were 460 finishers over the gruelling course. This race was won by Richard Burney of Liverpool Harriers in 50:02. Last year's winner, Matt Moorhouse of Salford Harriers, was 2nd in 51:14 and Richard Shearer, Southport Waterloo, was 3rd in 52:00. Kirsty Longly of Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton, last year's 5K female winner, was 1st female in the main race this year in 58:13. And that's another course record! Kirsty already holds the 5K course record set in 2007. Rachel Jones, unattached, was 2nd in 58:24 and Nicola Bird of Ellesmere Port Running Club was 3rd female in 59:52.
Liverpool Harriers won both the men's and women's team races.
Other Southport Waterloo finishers were Rob McGrath, 9th in 55:15, Rob Ashworth, 10th in 55:31, Steve Wilkinson, 11th in 55:42, Gerry Lenehan, 12th in 55:54, Rick Bowker, 21st in 58:02. That's 6 club runners getting sub-6 minute times. Phil Bailey was 36th in 60:37, Andy Hudson, 46th in 61:18 - 3 minutes faster than last year, John Sprackland, 47th in 61:28, Ian Dodds, 51st in 61:56, Brian Davey, 54th in 62:22, Dominic Cooke, 65th in 63:27 - 7 minutes faster than last year, and Mike Cunningham 69th in 63:58.
Paul Cain (64:29) Simon Tobin ran 64:38, followed by Boyd Park (66:27), David Farrington (72:19), Nick Sinclair (83:34), Jon Singleton (84:40) and Alan Gray 93:50.
Sue Cooper was the first of the club's female runners home, 1st L55 in 64:20. Vicki Harvey (69:16), Karen Faloon (70:57), Carole James (76:19), Rachel Thomas (77:53), Christine Cutner (79:42), Sandra Waters (83:55), Helen Rigg (84:16) and Gill Gillison (92:05) were our other lady finishers.
15K Results | Updated Grand Prize table | Updated 15K club rankings
Our thanks go to Race Director Mike Wilkinson and his large team of helpers who are essential for an event like this.

3 May 2009: Just a single League point from Round 1 of the YAL

Looking at the opposition in Round 1 of the National Young Athletes League, Northern Premier Division, it looked doubtful we could get more than a single point from the match. We were up against Gateshead and Preston Harriers, much bigger clubs, and the host club Blackburn Harriers would be bound to have a strong team out.
However, as the match unfolded at Blackburn's Witton Park - a track that rumour has it is to be refurbished with a new stand built - it became clear that Blackburn were much weaker than expected. In fact, it turned out to be two matches in one; Gateshead v Preston and Blackburn v Southport Waterloo. With an extra bit of luck and maybe a few more athletes, we could have emerged with 2 points but the final scores were Preston 475, Gateshead 450, Blackburn 294 and Southport Waterloo 280.
In fact, in a reversal of roles over the past few seasons, our girls beat the Blackburn girls; our boys were the weaker team.
Conditions were dry and mainly bright but there was an ever-present wind that affected performances. For the first time for as long as I can remember, none of our athletes achieved a grade 2 standard or better, mainly because several of our elite athletes were either injured or not available for this match. Maybe we have grown too used to James Armstrong achieving a couple of Grade 1s in every match! But its also true that many standards have been stiffened this year, which doesn't do a lot to help athlete motivation. As pointed out to me by coach Steve Boreham, the YAL results programme is still using the 2008 standards although, subject to a few typing errors, the correct standards appear to be printed in the 2009 YAL booklet.
Overall, we had very few graded standards at Blackburn with perhaps the best performances being achieved by middle distance runners, particularly in the Under 13s.
In the Under 13 Girls' events, most of our girls were experiencing YAL for the first time. Ellie Roberts took 2nd place in the 1200m in a grade 3 time of 4:18.5. Becky and Amy Sinclair have been competing in open meetings for a couple of years and having moved up to Under 13s did well in their first YAL. Becky was strongest in the 70m hurdles where she was 2nd in 15.3. Sister Amy was close behind in 15.7 in a very keenly fought race.
Lucy Hunter has had a good cross country season and in her first YAL ran a PB 800m in 3:23.3. Lizzie McKay and Alice Cribb from the Litherland middle distance squad were the other members of the team. Alice was best placed in the long jump with 3m 45 and Lizzie showed some potential with a 3:05.2 800m run.
Our Under 15 Girls' team achieved the most standard graded performances although only 2 new PBs were recorded in the windy conditions. We had three individual wins here too, the best in the 200m where Sally Wareing won the 'A' race in 27.5 with Ellon Hart winning the 'B' race in 27.6, both grade 3 times. Ellon Hart went on to take 2nd place in the high jump with 1m 43, an impressive PB for a girl of her height.
Lauren Clarehugh won her 1500m in 5:19.8. It looked as though a strong challenge from the Blackburn girl might rob her on the line but she held on to win, both girls being given the same time.
New member Lydia McGill had her first taste of club competition and seemed to relish the challenge. She ran 15.2 for 100m and a good long jump of 3m 71, a cm longer than Amy Aitchison's 3m 70 - a new personal best. Amy looks to be a good thrower too with 12m 07 in the discus and 17m 06 in the javelin.
Sally Wareing had a disappointing hurdles race, spending time in the ambulance with a bruised leg - but recovered enough to equal her best shot put of 6m 80, and to anchor the 4 x 100m relay team coming back in 3rd place.
Emma Dryden ran in the sprints and sprint hurdles, 17.0 and 18.6, and Patsy Irizar was 2nd in the 'B' 800m race in 5:33.1.
It was in the Under 17s team sheet that most gaps appeared but the girls had fewer gaps than the boys. Other teams struggle at this age group too, of course, but it was a pleasure seeing a number of individual wins by our girls.
Eleanor Newton started off her afternoon with a win in the 300m hurdles, in a PB 48.1 secs. Eleanor was also 2nd in the sprint hurdles in 12.7 secs and joined with Katie Morris in the 300m race. There, Katie ran brilliantly to win in a PB 43.4 secs with Eleanor 2nd in the 'B' race in 45.5.
In the 800m race, Katie Morris was up against Sigourney Bell of Gateshead - best of 2:14 - and found the first lap incredibly fast. Sensibly, she held back and came though in the 2nd lap to take 2nd place in 2:28.2.
With only 5 girls in the U17W 3000m, we were assured of good points with Jenny Girdler and Catherine Hulme competing. In fact, we took maximum points with Jenny winning the 'A' race in 11:58.0 - running metronomic laps of about 98 secs - and Catherine winning the 'B' race in 12:27.8.
Beth McBride brought some sprint quality to the team with a fine win in the 100m in 13.7 and a 2nd place in the 200m in 27.5. Louise Kelly supported in the sprints with 15.6 and 34.5 off very little training.
Lucy Whitehead was the main long jumper, clearing 4m 26, although Catherine Hulme's 3m 64 was a PB. Finally, Jess Thomas joined the team and picked up points in the shot, discus and javelin.
Turning to the boys, the middle distance runners showed most promise in the Under 13s. In the 1500m, Luke Tyson won the 'A' race in a PB 5:04.1 and Andrew Kershaw won the 'B' in 5:12.2. Both lads did well over the winter and should see the benefits of cross country running on the track this summer. Luke's time was a grade 3 standard, even in the 2009 edition!
Thomas Lodge and Greg Cooke also did brilliantly in the 800m, Thomas placed 2nd in the 'A' race with 2:34.0 and Greg 2nd 'B' in 2:41.5.
With a season behind him, Adam Laughton is now an experienced athlete and he was our fastest sprinter, 14.9 over 100m and 29.7 over 200m.
In the field events, Adam Cullen was 2nd in the shot with a PB 4m 88 and Greg Cooke equalled his previous best in the high jump clearing 1m 10. Tom Clarehugh debuted in the long jump (3m 35) and the shot (4m 31) and new member Luke Gravell long jumped 3m 03.
The boys did really well in the 4 x 100m relay, coming in 2nd in 59.2 secs.
In the Under 15 Boys', Niall Cullen was the star of the show, winning the 1500m effortlessly, and without any real challenge, in 4:45.7 - the only graded performance by this squad. There were, however, no fewer than 8 personal bests!
Thomas Neal and Anthony Nugent were the main sprinters, Thomas running 13.7 and 28.0. Anthony's times of 14.2 and 29.6 were both PBS In the 1-lap sprint, Owen Williams ran a PB 64.3 and Patrick Cullen ran 70.5.
In the 800m George Ingram and Jake Hogg ran similar times, 2:30 and 2:33. In the 1500m Liam Ellis ran a new personal best time of 5:00.3. George Ingram achieved a PB in the 80m hurdles with 16.1, just ahead of Patrick Cullen's 16.3.
Graham Boreham hasn't yet returned to race fitness and has been focussing in the meantime on the throws. It was encouraging then to record new PBS in both the shot (5m 46 - an 80 cms improvement!) and the discus (15m 57).
To top an excellent afternoon, Niall Cullen's best javelin throw of 23m 44 was a PB for him.
There weren't many Under 17 men on our team sheet and surprisingly no middle distance runners at all! Sprint star James Armstrong was competing - but only in the throws whilst injury impacts on his sprint training. James competed in shot, discus and Javelin, his discus throw of 21m 65 a vast improvement on his best from last year of 14m 51.
With James out of action, Josh Hughes was our main sprinter, supported by Danny Driver and Ryan Williams. Josh won both the 100m and the 200m in 12.0 and 23.7. It seems amazing that 12.0 for 100m isn't even a grade 4 standard any more. Danny ran 12.8 to win the 'B' race and he ran a good 100m hurdles in 15.4. Ryan Williams ran 25.9 for 200m and 57.3 for 400m.
Long and triple jumper Jordan Kelly was another athlete suffering from injury but came along to support where he could and took good points in the throws events. Looking at the results, there isn't much difference between Jordan's performances and those by James Armstrong.
Perhaps the surprise package in the Under 17 men's team was Rico Dalle Mulle, coaxed from retirement by team manager Tina Pilkington. He won the 'B' 100m hurdles in 16.0 secs, was 1st in the 400m hurdles in 61.9 and was just 7 cms off his long jump PB with a fine jump of 5m 49 to take 2nd place!
It wasn't our most successful YAL fixture but it was a very friendly meeting, there was a good atmosphere in the team and everyone seemed to enjoy the athletics. And all the athletes gave their very best!
Thanks to team managers Tina Pilkington for the boys and Graham Morris for the girls, to Carlos Irizar for the excellent photos reproduced here and on his web site at http://aol.pixum.co.uk/viewalbum/id/4297194 ; and to all our officials - Sue Gellett, Dan Dalle Mulle, Shirley Hughes, Paula Kelly, Kieron Williams, Jon Hunter, Dave Whitehead, Steve Boreham and Susan Ingram.
Full results Results for Southport Waterloo

2 May 2009: 5th place start in Northern senior league

The North of England Track & Field League kicked off today with Southport Waterloo's seniors competing at Warrington in Division 2W, Round 1.
It wasn't our strongest team but for much of the afternoon there wasn't much between the clubs. In the end, however, we finished 5th of six, with some ground to make up in future rounds. The scores were West Cheshire 401, Blackpool Wyre & Fylde 364, St Helens 342, Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton 316, Southport Waterloo 297 and Manx Harriers 295. Our 297 is quite a bit down on the 324 we scored in Round 1 last year, when we were only half a point behind LPS!; and only 2 points above bottom-placed Manx.
The weather was set fair and the team sheet was fairly full so we had hopes of a successful afternoon. In fact, the points were quite close for much of the match but then West Cheshire and Blackpool started to march away; and we settled into 5th place. Following the merger of the men's and women's divisions a few years ago, it is interesting to see how they fair separately . Today, LPS won the men's match but were last in the women's. Southport Waterloo was last in the men's match and 4th in the women's, repeating our female supremacy of the last 3 or 4 years.
Today's results were achieved without use of any of our Under 17s, maybe because of a YAL the following day.
The stars of the show were Stephen Marshall, back in serious training these days at Litherland, winning the 110m hurdles in 18.4 secs and Lauren Brennan and Stephanie May winning the 'A' and 'B' 400m, both in the same time - almost to the hundreth - of 60.2 secs. The girls also won the 4 x 400m relay.
Looking at the girls' match in more detail, one of the striking success stories was Michelle Spencer. I can't recall road, cross country and fell runner Michelle competing in the Northern Track & Field League before and yet here she was, not only running in a 1500 (in 5:44.2) but showing her range of ability in three throws! She put the shot 6m 35, threw the hammer 16m 91 and a best discus throw of 19m 53 was impressive enough!
Lauren Brennan was 2nd in the 100m with 12.9 and she anchored the winning 4 x 400m team. 2nd leg runner Steph James bought the girls into lead position, the leading margin was extended by Stephanie May and when Lauren took the baton over you just knew she wouldn't be caught.
Despite spending much of the off season in the pysiotherapist's, Stephanie May was back in action in no less than 6 events. Sensibly, she limited her pole vaulting to a 2nd place jump of 1m 70 but her sprinting abilities are a real bonus to the team.
Steph James has had a troubled couple of years since she won the Northern Under 17 800m championships but she is back in full training now and had her first run over her favorite distance for nearly a year. 2:27 was a good start and 28.6 for 200 and a 64 secs leg in the 400m relay shows she still has good basic speed.
Charlotte Buckingham and Sarah Docherty were our other Under 20s. Charlotte performed well over both hurdles, 2nd in the sprint hurdles in 19.7, and was 3rd in the triple jump with 9m 23. Sarah ran a 2:35 800m and long and triple jumped.
Road runners Carole James joined Michelle in the 1500m and Sue Cooper and Angie Delaney were our female 3000m runners. Once again, Sue started well back in the field leaving Angie to forge ahead but an increase in pace in the 2nd half of the race brought Sue up to and past Angie. Sue ran 11:20.7 and Angela 11:43.5.
In the throws, Ann Dignan was our mainstay in shot, javelin, hammer and discus.
In the men's events, Jay Tartt was impressive in the 800m. Fast returning to race fitness, he was well placed with 200m to go but a last thundering 150m got him back into 2nd place a good sub 2 min time of 1:59.7. Michael Evans was also looking a for a good 800m time after a barren 2008 and a return to more serious training. 2:06.0 was a good start to his comeback.
Rob Anderson was our fastest man, 12.4 for 100m and Chris Honess ran both 100m and 200m. John 'JC' Cunningham started the day with an intriguing 400m hurdles, in 69.7 - nearly demolishing the first hurdle! - and then 58.7 for 400m and 26.2 for 200m.
Joe Vis concentrated on the 1500m and was rewarded with a 4:22.4 time whilst brother Patrick was 3rd in the steeplechase running 10:49.6 - his first over 3000m - with David Gough 2nd 'B' in 11:23.0.
Road runners Richard Shearer and Stephen McLean had the strength endurance for the longer 5000m. Richard was 4th in 16:13.8 and Stephen just behind in 17:36.9.
In the men's field events we were missing some key players but Pete Mason was our mainstay in the throws; javelin, hammer, discus and shot, and club coach and official Chris Henders was there supporting in shot, javelin and hammer.
In the horiziontal jumps, Rob Anderson was 3rd in the long jump with 5m 70 and 4th in the triple with 11m 49. Unfortunately we had no high jumpers.
Thanks to Barbara May, our team manager, who came along despite an injury whilst on holiday. Thanks too to Chris Henders, Sue Gellett, Norman Marshall, Peter Mason and Ann Dignan, our team of technical officials on the day.
Full results. Results for club athletes

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