29th Sept 2007. Charlene Thomas in Televised Mile Race at Newcastle.
Charlene was invited to compete in the women's mile race at Newcastle which was televised the day before the Great North Run, and finished a creditable 7th in a top class field.

25th Sept 2007. Three Harriers Winners in Wakefield District Sports Awards.
The club did well at the Wakefield District Sports Awards, organised by the Wakefield Express, with three winners. Martyn Bernard won the Men's Sportsperson of the Year award, for his medal winning performance in the European Indoor Championships and making the final in the World Championships. Club Chairman John Newsome, a former Sportsperson of the Year winner himself in 1968, deservedly won the Lifetime Achievement Award for his years of dedication to the club, and Mark Hellard took the honours in the Disabled Performance of the Year category. Express Report and Video.

23rd Sept 2007. Four British Records for Les D'Arcy at Yorkshire Vets Championships.
At the Yorkshire Vets T&F Championships at Cleckheaton the amazing 86 year old Les D'Arcy won all the throwing events in the M85 category, as expected, and all were PBs and British records for his age group. Linda Risdale also won the W55 Hammer and Shot events.

22nd/23rd Sept 2007. Two Winners and a Club Record at Yorkshire Combined Events.
At the Yorkshire Combined Events Championships at Cudworth Grace Eyles, although only an U13, took part in the U15 Girls Pentathlon, and jumped a New Club U13 Girls Long Jump Record of 4.84m. She was also close with her 1.43m High Jump, as she scored a fine 2265 points for the five events, finishing 5th overall. Bethany Porter also did well to finish 8th with 2076 points.
In the U17 Men's Octathlon Josh Green scored an excellent 4180 points to win the competition, and Leigh Haw scored 2038 points to finish 5th. We also had the winner of the Senior Men's Decathlon competition, as Mark Smith scored 4764 points to clinch the title, with Darren Thomas 4th with 4350 points and Gareth Hepworth 6th with 2896 points, whilst Frederick Flynn came 2nd in the U20 Decathlon with 3737 points. A great showing by the multi-eventers. Download Results from NoEAA

16th Sept 2007. September Open Meeting and Club Championships.
There was a good turnout of athletes for the September Open Meeting, with visitors from many clubs visiting us at Thornes Park. Amongst the highlights were 2 new club records, with Grace Eyles smashing the U13 Girls 100m Club Record with 12.9 secs, a time that ranks her in the UK top 10 this year. During a superb season Grace has broken the 80m, 100m, 200m and Long Jump records in this age group. Also in record breaking form was Rosemary Hackney, who equalled the Club U17 Ladies 300m Record with 40.5 secs, which puts her in the UK top 20. Hannah Yates was also close to the U13 Girls Shot record with 9.02m, and Ricardo Francis continued his excellent form in the U20 Mens category, with a 100m & 200m sprint double in 11.1s and 22.2s. The meeting also incorporated the Club Track and Field Championships, which were well supported.
Full Results, and Championship Winners, and pictures of a proud Sarah Howcroft, taking part in her very first Harriers event.

16th Sept 2007. Paul Hallas Finishes Runner Up in Spen 10k .
Whilst Jack Hallas has been making the news on the track during the summer, this time it was his father Paul's turn, when running for his new Club Wakefield Harriers he competed in the Spen Mileta 10k race, and over a testing course finished a highly creditable 2nd. Paul is a welcome addition to the club, and will certainly strengthen the men's and in particular the vet's distance squad.

15th Sept 2007. Three Team Victories at Yorkshire Road Races & Relays.
The club had a very successful day at the Yorkshire County Road Races and Relays at the Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield, winning the team race in three of the eight races on the card. Best result was by the U17 Men, who dominated the event by taking first and second team places in their 4 x 2 mile relay. The winning team were Dale Worton, Sam Bucknell, Tom Coney & Ben Homer, but Jack Hallas in the 2nd team was the 3rd fastest runner of the day, just a second behind Dale. The U15 Girls team of Lauren Procter, Sally Smith, Samantha Brooke & Eleanor Richmond were also victorious in their race, with Lauren easily winning the race individually. The U13 Boys team of Jake Worton, Jack Mitchell, Jack Richmond & James English had a narrow team victory, led home by Jack Mitchell & Jake in 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Olivia Radclife had a fine run to finish 4th in the U13 Girls race, as the team finished 4th, and in the senior women's race we were without several stars, but the team of Helen Singleton, Chloe Patchett, Katie McHale and Clare Sykes finished a creditable 5th.
Results of all races from Northern Athletics and photographs of the winning teams from Faye Mitchell, and photographs of the runner from Howard Miller.

The successful U17 Men's squad at Don Valley Stadium.

14th Sept 2007. Charlene Thomas Smashes Club 1 Mile Record in Brussels.
Charlene Thomas competed at the Golden League Meeting in Brussels, and in a race won by recent World 1500m Champion Jamal Maryam Yusuf, she recorded the fastest outdoor mile time by a British female since Paula Radcliffe's 4m 24.94s in 1996! Her time is a New Club Mile Record of 4 mins 27.95 secs, breaking Shirley Griffith's previous best, and Charlene is now ranked 12th fastest female Briton over the distance, ahead of the likes of Jo Pavey and Kelly Holmes. Our congratulations to Charlene for a fantastic performance. Report from UK Athletics.

9th Sept 2007. Another World Class Jump from Martyn Bernard in Germany.
Martyn cleared another world class height of 2.27m, when finishing 5th at Eberstadt, Germany at the 29th Internationales Hochsprung Meeting, a yearly high jump fixture. Report from IAAF.

8th Sept 2007. Combined Team Finishes 3rd in North of England Inter-Club Cup.
The combined men's and women's team had a good end of season result to finish 3rd in the North of England Inter-Club Cup Final at Stanley Park, Blackpool. Ricardo Francis was in scintillating form, and used the favourable wind to come 2nd in the 100m in 11.15s, and to win the 200m in 22.19s. Mark Lindsey was also in excellent form, winning the Javelin with 55.58m. The women's team were below strength, but there were fine 2nd places from Katie McHale in the 1500m, Fiona Thomas (Shot) and Debbie Collinson (Discus).
Match Result :- Trafford 197, City of Manchester 160.5, Wakefield 153.5, Blackpool 149, Durham City 128.5, Holmfirth 107.5, Leeds City 104.
Download Full Results from NoE website. and Photographs from Howard Miller.

Chloe Patchett running in the 3000m at Blackpool. Picture from Howard Miller.

8th Sept 2007. Good performances at York Open Meeting.
The club had many young athletes competing in the York Open Meeting, with several good performances. New member Lauren Proctor showed us what a talent she is by winning the U15G 1500m in 4m 45.2s, just 1 second off Tracy Johnson's long standing club record, and there were excellent wins in the U13 Girls events from Grace Eyles (200m 27.6s, 70mH 12.4s & Long Jump 4.44m). Hannah Yates also produced a grade 1 performance with 8.72m in the Shot, whilst in the U13 Boys Jack Mitchell produced a fine winning 800m time of 2m 25.2s. Download full results in Excel.

4th Sept 2007. Thomas Atkinson Smashes Club U17 800m Record
Competing in the BMC races at Stretford, Thomas smashed his PB and easily ran a new Club U17 800m Record of 1 min 55.4 secs, beating the previous record of 1 min 56.3, which was held by Paul Rice, and equalled earlier this season by Jack Hallas. Thomas's time puts him in the top 10 in the UK, and surpasses the Power of 10 National Performance Standard for the U17 men, even though he is still at the bottom end of the age group.

2nd Sept 2007. Vets Team Win Category in Leeds Country Way Relay.
The club did well to get 3 teams of 12 runners out for this year's Leeds Country Way Relay, and the Mens Vets team regained their vets title, and finished 8th team overall.
Download full results from Kippax Harriers.

2nd Sept 2007. Harriers Come 6th in National Junior League Playoff Match.
Against a high standard of competition the combined U20 team finished 6th in the National Junior League Playoff Match, to decide which clubs would be promoted into the Northern Premier League. Ricardo Francis was in good form, winning the 200m and coming 2nd in the 100m, and our other male winner was Chiedu Ufodiama in the Shot. Thomas Atkinson finished 2nd in the 800m, and other top 3 finishers were Dale Worton (3rd 1500m), Ben Homer (3rd 3000m), Josh Green (3rd 400mH) and Matthew Twidale (3rd Javelin).
For the ladies top 3 finishes were achieved by Katie McHale (3rd 800m and 2nd 1500m) and Laura Teasdale (2nd Discus, 3rd Hammer & 2nd Pole Vault).
Match Result :- City of York 508, Trafford 489, Kingston U Hull 486, Glasgow 470, Team Forth 386, Wakefield 379, Spenborough 334.
Full Match Results, and Photographs from Howard Miller.

U20 Athletes Ben Homer and Joe Hargreaves in action at Cleckheaton. Picture from Howard Miller.

2nd Sept 2007. Harriers Competing for North of England U20 Team.
Mikaela Harrison and Nathan Elliott were selected to compete for the North of England team in the SEAA U20 Home Countries International Match at Copthall, against the South of England, Midlands, Scotland and Wales. Mikaela came 3rd in the 400m 'A' race in 58.27s, and Nathan finished 3rd in the 1500m 'A' race in 4 min 06.36s.

1st Sept 2007. Harriers Break Two Records at WYT&F Championships.
At the West Yorkshire Track & Field League Championships at Cleckheaton we had two championship record breakers. Hannah Yates won the U13 girls Shot in a record 8.89m, and Grace Eyles won the U13 girls Long Jump with 4.56m. Other girls to win were Bethany Thomas (U11G Shot), new recruit Lauren Procter (U15G 1500m), Alice Lightfoot (U15G Discus), Faye Mitchell (U17L 100m & 200m) and Fiona Thomas collected 5 Senior titles (100m, 200m, Shot, Discus & Javelin).
For the boys and men victories were achieved by Jack Mitchell (U13B 800m), Ethan Plumb (U13B Shot), Thomas Leyshon (U15B High Jump), Chris Brennan (U17M 100m, 200m & 400m), Leigh Haw (U17M High Jump) and Darren Thomas (Senior Javelin).
Results from Cleckheaton :- Mens and Womens, and see Women's Championship records.

1st Sept 2007. Emily Freeman Helps GB Come 4th in 4x100m at World Championships.
Emily had an excellent run on the third leg to help the GB team reach the final of the 4 x 100m at the World Championships at Osaka. The team of Laura Turner, Montell Douglas, Emily Freeman and Joice Maduaka went round in 42.82 secs, behind the USA who won the semi-final in 42.24 secs.
In the final in the evening they were not quite as fast, but Emily ran a fine bend again to help the team come 4th in 42.87 secs, behind the USA, Jamaica and an inspired Belgium. They just missed bronze medals by a tantalising 2/100ths of a second, but it was still a great result, beating Russia and other leading nations. Final Result from IAAF and report of days events from UK Athletics.

30th August 2007. Good Turnout in Reindeer Romp Relays.
The popular Reindeer Romp series of races finished with a 3 man relay, and was enjoyed by all, with the Wakefield Vets team of Steve Wilkinson, Pete McNamara and Tony White taking the Vets prize. Congratulations to Tony Audsley for organising the series successfully again. Results in Excel.

29th August 2007. Disappointment for Martyn and Emily at World Championships.
Martyn went for broke in the High Jump final at the World Championships at Osaka, Japan, and made a do or die effort to win a medal. After clearing 2.21m he passed the next heights to come in again at 2.33m. He failed his first attempt, then passed until trying what would have been a medal winning height of 2.35m. He came close, and it was clear that such heights are easily within his capability, but it was not to be on this occasion, and he finished 14th.
Result from IAAF and report of days events from UK Athletics.
Emily Freeman had the huge disappointment of being disqualified from her heat of the 200m. She moved slightly in her blocks, which registered as a false start with the electrical timing equipment. She now has the 4 x 100m Relay to look forward to.

27th August 2007. Martyn Bernard Reaches High Jump Final at World Championships.
Martyn cleared an outdoor PB and New Club High Jump Record of 2.29m in the qualifying rounds at the World Championships at Osaka, Japan. Martyn and Tom Parsons both set PBs to clear the qualifying height of 2.29m, so Britain has two jumpers out of the fifteen in the final. A fantastic performance from Martyn, and we all look forward to cheering him on in the final on Wednesday. Result from IAAF.

26th August 2007. Harriers Compete for Yorkshire in Northern Inter Counties Championships.
Several Wakefield Harriers were selected to represent Yorkshire at the Northern Athletics Inter Counties Championships, held at the Costello Stadium Hull, and had great success. Nathan Elliot won the senior men's 1500m in 4m 03.05s and Thomas Atkinson won the U17 men's 800m in 1m 58.6s, whilst for the women Mikaela Harrison was victorious in the 400m in 57.89s and Faye Mitchell came 4th for the county in the U17 Long Jump with 4.84m. In addition Lauren Proctor, who has just joined the club, won the U15 girl's 1500m in her first inter counties competition, in a marvellous time of 4m 47.7s. She is a welcome new member to the team.

25th August 2007. Harriers Compete in UK Challenge Final.
Two Wakefield Harriers made the long trek down to Crystal Palace to compete in the UK Challenge Final. Fiona Thomas came 6th in the Shot with 11.05m, and Ruth Dales finished 6th in the 100m Hurdles in 14.73s. Report & Results from UK Athletics.

21st August 2007. More Fast 800m Times at Stretford BMC Races.
Competing in the BMC races at the Trafford Grand Prix at Stretford, Nathan Elliot and Kelly Johnson were close to their 800m PBs with 1m 56.4s and 2m 09.6s respectively. Results from Stretford.

19th August 2007. Thomas Atkinson Wins Silver and Bronze in Scottish Championships.

19th August 2007. Kelly Johnson Competes for North of England. Kelly Johnson was selected to compete for the North of England in the Under 23 Home International Match staged at Derby, and won the 800m in 2m 09.46s. Results from Northern Athletics. Kelly has a best of 2m 08.4s this season, and is currently ranked just outside the UK top 50. She is pictured right, in action at Derby, courtesy of Northern Athletics.

18th August 2007. U20 Athletes Selected for North of England.
Mikaela Harrison and Nathan Elliot have been selected to represent the North of England in the U20 representative match at Copthall Stadium, Hendon, on 2nd September.

15th August 2007. Northern Athletics Jumps & Throws Meeting.
The first of the Northern Athletics Jumps & Throws meetings was held at Thornes Park. Results from Thornes Park.

14th August 2007. Emily Freeman Selected for Individual 200m at World Championships. In the final wave of selections for the Norwich Union Great Britain & Northern Ireland team for the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan, Emily has at last been selected to run individually in the 200m, as well as in the 4x100m Relay. This is a fantastic achievement for Emily and we send her our congratulations. Report from UK Athletics. Emily is pictured right, in action at Crystal Palace, courtesy of DFImage (www.dfimage.co.uk).

12th August 2007. Senior Team Finish 2nd in Northern Knockout Cup First Round.
In the first round of the Northern Knockout Cup, at Hull, the combined senior team finished 2nd in their match, and thus progress to the final. It was a good all round team performance from both men and women, with winning performances from Ricardo Francis (200m in 23.2s), Kelly Johnson (800m 2m 14.7s), Ruth Dales (100mH 15.5s), Ruth Laybourne (400mH 71.2s), Debbie Collinson (Javelin 36.52m & Shot 11.09m), Faye Mitchell (Long Jump 5.09m), Caroline Nutt (Pole Vault 3.20m) and the women's 4x400m Relay in 4m 03.3s.   Download Match Results in pdf.
Match Result :- Leeds City 259, Wakefield 225.5, Lincoln Wellington 219, Kingston-U-Hull 195.5, Boston 168, Bingley 135, Hull Achilles/Goole 98, Tyndale 11.

12th August 2007. Results of 7th WYT&F League Meeting at Cleckheaton.
The final meeting of the West Yorkshire Track & Field League took place at Cleckheaton, and we had male winners in Ashley Raby (U15B 800m), Thomas Leyshon (U15B High Jump), Chris Brennan (U17M 100m), Dale Worton (U17M 800m), Sam Bucknall (U17M 1500m) and Mark Gilmer (Sen 400m). Our female winners were Bethany Thomas (U11 Shot), Bethany Porter (U13G 70mH), Olivia Radcliffe (U13G 800m), Grace Eyles (U13G High Jump), Hannah Yates (U13G Shot), Samantha Brook (U15G 80mH & 800m), Lucy Holmes (U13G Shot) and Fiona Thomas (Sen 100m & Discus).
Results from Cleckheaton :- Mens and Womens.
Wakefield easily won the women's league title, with Grace Eyles comfortably winning the U13 category, Faye Mitchell the U17s and Fiona Thomas the seniors. After a good points haul in the last match, our men also finished 1st out of the 16 competing clubs, and Chris Brennan won the U17 title. So overall a good season in this league for the club.
Final League Scores after 7 meetings :- Mens and Womens.

11th/12th August 2007. Top Ten Finishes for Wakefield Athletes in UK Championships.
At the England Athletics Under 17 and Under 15 Championships at Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield the club had 3 athletes competing, with all having creditable top 10 finishes. Joe Charlesworth came 9th in the U15 Javelin with 45.31m, Thomas Atkinson came 8th in the U17 800m, after running 1m 58.1s in his heat, and in the U17 1500m Jack Hallas won his heat in 4m 03.87s, before finishing 9th in the final.

11th August 2007. Emily Freeman Breaks Club 100m Record.
Taking part in the 'L.E.A.P.' meeting at Loughborough, Emily competed in the 100m, which had been added to the programme to give some of Britain's top sprinters a last chance to achieve the 'A' standard qualifying times for the forthcoming World Championships. Emily took advantage of the favourable and legal wind to win her heat in a PB equalling 11.40s, before finishing 3rd in the final in a New Club 100m Record of 11.36s, with a wind speed of 1.3m/s. Race winner Laura Turner ran an 'A' standard 11.19s to top the UK rankings and clinch her World Championship selection. Julia White also ran a fine 12.01s in this race, and Ruth Dales ran a fast 14.52s in the 100m Hurdles.

11th August 2007. Martyn Bernard Finishes 5th at the World University Games.
Martyn was selected to compete for Liverpool John Moores University in the High Jump at the World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand, and finished 5th with 2.23m. It was Martyn's first trip to the far east, and will be a good warm up for the World Championships at Osaka, Japan. Report from UK Athletics. and Results of High Jump.

11th August 2007. Middle Distance Runners Competing at BMC Races.
Competing in the BMC / Nike Grand Prix at Stretford, in the women's 800m races Kelly Johnson ran 2m 11.19s and Helen Singleton 2m 11.45s, whilst Lucy O'Gorman ran 4m 29.67s in the 1500m. Results from Stretford.

7th August 2007. Charlene Thomas Competes in Sweden.
Charlene finished 2nd in the 1500m at the DN Galan IAAF World Series meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, running another fast time of 4 mins 13.64s. Report from UK Athletics.

5th August 2007. Club President Douglas Bedford Passes Away.
The Club is very sad to report the death on Sunday 5th August of our long time Club President Douglas Bedford, after a long battle with cancer. Douglas made a huge contribution to the club and to the sport of Athletics, and will be very much missed by the club and all the athletics fraternity. For a detailed tribute to Douglas

5th August 2007. Senior Team Finish 7th in Final UK Women's League Match.
For the third match of the UK Women's League Division 2 at Milton Keynes the team again finished 7th, which means they finished 7th overall, and hence have the disappointment of relegation down to the 3rd division of the UK Women's League. Although it was a much better result than the previous match, we were still short in some events, and didn't manage any 'A' string winners. Ruth Dales again put in a captain's performance, coming 2nd in the 100mH in 14.5s, and there were also 2nd places for Kelly Johnson in the 800m in 2m 08.4s, and from Caroline Nutt in the Pole vault with 3.10m.
Match Result :- Windsor, Slough, Eton & H'low 205, Rugby & Northampton 193, Milton Keynes 167, Team Southampton 160, Belgrave Harriers 131, Havering Mayesbrook 126, Wakefield DH&AC 120, 8 Wigan & DH 94. Results in Excel from UKWAL
Final League Positions :- Windsor, Slough, Eton & H'low 24, Rugby & Northampton 20.5, Milton Keynes 17, Team Southampton 14, Havering Mayesbrook 13.5, Belgrave Harriers 10, Wakefield DH&AC 6, 8 Wigan & DH 3.

4th August 2007. Club Finish 4th in North of England League Division 1 Match 4.
In the 4th match of the North of England League at Stretford the combined men's and women's team had a solid result, finishing 4th on the day. This meant the team finished 2nd overall in the league, which is an excellent achievement. We once again had a surprise appearance from one of our internationals, with Emily Freeman easily winning the 200m in 23.93s, but once again an unfavourable wind spoilt her attempts to gain the World Championship qualifying time. She was in fact our only 'A' string winner, but the club scored consistently in most events, with many U20 & U17 athletes performing creditably.
Match Result :- Leeds City 403.5, City of Manchester 401, City of York 363, Wakefield 333, Trafford 311.5, Wigan 115.
Download Match Results in pdf. and Photographs from Howard Miller.
Final League Positions :- Leeds City 24, Wakefield 17, Trafford 14, City of Manchester 13, City of York 11, Wigan 5.

3rd August 2007. Martyn Bernard and Emily Freeman Compete at London Grand Prix.
Martyn Bernard and Emily Freeman appeared on our TV screens for the third time this week, as they were also shown on Monday's BBC Look North. This time they were invited to compete in the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace, and both competed with distinction. Martyn came 8th in the High Jump, with 2.22m, won by Olympic Champion Stefan Holm, whilst Emily took part in a domestic 100m , where she came 4th, the stiff headwind slowing her to 11.48s. Report from UK Athletics.

1st August 2007. Fast 800m Times at Jarrow.
Competing in the BMC races at Jarrow, Jack Hallas was close to the Club U17 800m Record again with a time of 1 min 56.7, whilst U20 athlete Lewis Tatt was even quicker with 1m 56.1s in his race. Results from Jarrow.

31st July 2007. Martyn Bernard and Emily Freeman Selected for World Championships.
In the first wave of selections for the Norwich Union Great Britain & Northern Ireland team that will compete at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan, next month, Martyn Bernard has been selected for the High Jump, and Emily Freeman for the 4 x 100m Relay. This is a fantastic achievement, and the club sends them our warmest congratulations. Report from UK Athletics.

29th July 2007. Team Finish 2nd Again in National Junior League Match 4.
In their fourth match of the Humber Division at Grimsby the team almost won the match, just losing out to Kingston Upon Hull by a mere 4 points. Our male 'A' string winners were Ricardo Francis (100m in 11.2s), Thomas Atkinson (800m in 2m 00.7s), Dale Worton (1500m in 4m 17.9s), Josh Green (400mH in 59.8s), James Mitchell (High Jump 1.70m), Andre Pobischan (Triple Jump 12.32m), Chiedu Ufodiama (Shot 12.53m) and Matthew Twidale (Javelin 46.68m). For the girls our 'A' string winners were Mikaela Harrison(60.3s 400m & 67.7s 400mH) and Laura Teasdale (Pole Vault 2.20m). Ricardo won the male athlete of the match award.
Match Result :- Kingston U Hull 495, Wakefield 491, Rotherham 440, Scunthorpe 345, Cleethorpes 305, Grimsby 132. Full Match Results, and Photographs from Howard Miller.

28/29th July 2007. Medals for Harriers at the British Masters Championships.
At the British Masters T&F Championships at Birmingham some of out senior athletes were in action. 86 year old Les D'Arcy cleaned up in the M85 category, winning all the throwing events, and Linda Risdale won medals in the W55 Hammer and Weight. Full results from the BVAF.

28/29th July 2007. Three Medals for Wakefield Harriers at the UK Championships.
It was the best UK championships ever for Wakefield Harriers, as our international stars proudly wore their green and white vests for the TV cameras at the UK Championships at Manchester, which incorporated the Trials for the World Championships. Martyn Bernard led the way by winning Gold in the Mens High Jump with 2.24m, and there were Silver Medals for Emily Freeman in the 200m with 23.78s and for Charlene Thomas in the 1500m with 4 mins 10.83s. The windy conditions slowed the track athletes as they attempted to achieve the qualifying times for the World Championships, and we have to admire Charlene's brave front running effort in the 1500m, setting the pace and leading all the way until the last 50m. All three medallists did us proud with fantastic performances. Ruth Dales also competed in the 100m Hurdles, Lucy O'Gorman the 1500m, and Kelly Johnson the 800m, although they didn't progress beyond the heats.

27th July 2007. Young Athletes Team Win Promotion to Premier League.
After finishing 2nd overall in the Northern Division 1E of the Young Athletes League the team have regained their place in the Northern Premier League. Congratulation to all the athletes and to team manageress Sally Holmes. Final YA League Tables.

Some of our successful Young Athletes in action at Thornes Park. Pictures from Howard Miller.

26th July 2007. Martyn Bernard Selected for World University Games.
Martyn is certainly seeing the world this year with his High Jumping exploits, his latest selection being for the World University Games at Bangkok, Thailand. Hopefully he will follow that with a trip to Japan for the World Championships.

26th July 2007. Good Showing by Vets in Third Reindeer Romp.
In the final race in the series the vets put on a good show, with Brian Horsfall being the first Harrier home in 8th place, and second M40 to finish, and Dave Brailsford the first M50. Dave was the M50 series winner, with Graham Whitworth winning the M60s, and Brian Fozard winning the over 65 category. Results in Excel.

25th July 2007. Results of 6th WYT&F League Meeting at South Leeds Stadium.
Mark Gilmer was our only male winner in the senior 200m, but there were close 2nd places for Chris Brennan in the U17 200m and Jack Mitchell just lost out on the line in the U13 800m. For the girls Hannah Yates was a clear winner of the U13 Discus, with Emily Dent winning the U17 event, and Mikaela Harrison dominating the senior 200m.
Results from South Leeds :- Mens and Womens.
With just one meeting left in the series Wakefield have a clear lead in the women's competition, with Grace Eyles leading the U13 category, Faye Mitchell the U17s and Fiona Thomas the seniors. In the men's competition the club lie 2nd out of the 16 competing clubs.
Cumulative Scores after 6 meetings :- Mens and Womens.

24th July 2007. Jack Hallas Equals Club U17 800m Record
Competing in the BMC races at the Trafford Grand Prix at Stretford, Jack equalled the Club U17 800m Record of 1 min 56.3 secs, held by Paul Rice. Jack has already broken the U17 1500m record, and has been having a race all season with Thomas Atkinson to take the 800m record ! Results from Stretford.

22nd July 2007. Three Club Records Broken as Young Athletes Win Again.
In the 5th match of the Northern Division 1E of the Young Athletes League at Thornes Park, the team had another clear win. Thomas Atkinson won the male track athlete of the match award for his 51.5s 400m victory, close to the club U17 record, but there were also no fewer than 3 club records. Josh Green ran a New U17 400m Hurdles Club Record of 59.4s, and Olivia Radcliffe won the U13 1200m in another New Club Record of 3m 58.9s. In addition there was a New Club U13 4x100m Relay Record of 56.4s from the team of Grace Eyles, Bethany Porter, Bethany Sharp and Zoe Kerins.
Other grade 1 and 2 performances were achieved by Marcus Nixey (U15B 200m in 24.6s and 400m in 55.3s), Craig Westerman (U15B Discus 33.79m), Will Mulroy (U15B High Jump 1.65m), Faye Mitchell (U17W Long Jump 4.96m), Lucy Holmes (U15G Long Jump 4.86m and Shot 9.18m), Grace Eyles (U13G 75m 10.3s and Long Jump 4.44m), Bethany Porter (U13G 75m 10.7s), Beth Sharpe (U13G 150m 20.9s), Zoe Kerins (U13G 150m 21.1s), Olivia Radcliffe (U13G High Jump 1.40m) and Hannah Yates (U13 Shot 9.03m, very close to the club record).
Team Result :- Wakefield 400, Spenborough 285.5, Jarrow & Hepburn 280, Pudsey & Bramley 199.5. Download Full Match Results, and photographs from Howard Miller, and more photographs.

21st July 2007. More Fast Times from our Middle Distance Runners.
U17 runner Thomas Atkinson ran a new PB of 1 min 56.72s in the BMC races at Solihull, very close to our U17 club record. Helen Singleton also reduced her best 800m time to 2 min 10.88s, whilst Nathan Elliott continued his run of good form with 3 mins 56.24s in his 1500m race. Results of BMC races.
Meanwhile Charlene Thomas was racing further afield in Madrid, Spain, and came 5th in a 1500m race in 4m 11.03s, against Russian and Moroccan opposition.

18th July 2007. Chris Price Finishes 9th in Doncaster 5K.
Chris ran another good 5K road race, finishing 9th in the Doncaster Town Centre Open race in 16 min 25 secs. In the separate Vets race Richard West came 30th in 19 mins, and making their debut in Vets road races were Shirley Griffiths and Sharon Marshall, with Shirley running well to finish 3rd lady. Stuart Anderson ran to his usual high standard to finish 2nd in the M65 category. Results from ukresults.net.

15th July 2007. Harriers in Action at the Barnsley Young Athletes Open Meeting.
At the Barnsley AC Young Athletes Open Meeting the conditions were extremely testing for all, with heavy rain persisting through the day. But Wakefield had a good turn out supporting the club, with our U13 Girls doing particularly well. We had the following girl medal performers :- U13 100m 2nd Grace Eyles 13.4s, 800m 1st Olivia Radcliffe 2m 33.0s, High Jump 1st= Olivia Radcliffe 1.40 m, Shot 1st Hannah Yates 8.59m, 3rd Grace Eyles 8.09m, Long Jump 1st Grace Eyles 4.56m & 3rd Bethany Porter 4.32m. And for the boys medals were won in the U13 800m 2nd Jack Mitchell 2m 26.2s, U15 Boys 100m 1st Marcus Nixey 12.4s, 200m 1st Marcus Nixey 25.0s.    Report and Results of Wakefield athletes kindly sent in by Dave Radcliffe.

15th July 2007. Team Finish 2nd in National Junior League Match 3.
In their third match of the Humber Division, delayed by two weeks because of the floods at Hull, the team finished a creditable 2nd behind a strong home team. Our male 'A' string winners were Thomas Atkinson (400m in 51.7s), Joe Hargreaves (3000m in 9m 41.5s), John Paul Dale (110mH in 17.4s), Chris Price (2000m S/C in 6m 29.4s), James Mitchell (1.65m High Jump) and Matthew Twidale (40.73m Javelin). Female winners were Kate Wilson (60.9s 400m), Katie McHale (4m 50.6s 1500m), Reagan Wright (4.94m Long Jump), and the 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relay teams.
Match Result :- Kingston U Hull 532, Wakefield 380, Rotherham 373, Cleethorpes 274, Scunthorpe 199, Grimsby 128. Full Match Results, and photographs from Howard Miller.

15th July 2007. Emily Freeman Takes on the Champions at Norwich Union Grand Prix.
Emily found herself taking on the world's best at the televised Norwich Union Grand Prix meeting at Sheffield's Don Valley Stadium. With American World Champion Alison Felix and Jamaican Olympic Champion Veronica Campbell in the field she could not have had tougher opposition, but she ran superbly to finish 6th. She was first Britain home, beating Joyce Maduaka in 23.35s in the wet and cool conditions, which slowed all the sprinters. Race Result

15th July 2007. Three Harriers Selected to Compete for North of England team.
Julia White, Ruth Dales and Fiona Thomas were selected to compete for the North of England team in the inter territorial match at Birmingham. They all performed with distinction, helping the north to finish 3rd, with Julia running the 100m and 200m in 12.24s and 24.98s, Ruth running the 100m Hurdles in 14.52s and Fiona throwing the Shot 11.36m. Results

13th/14th July 2007. Harriers in Action at the English Schools Championships.
Several athletes from the club were selected to compete for their County Schools teams at the English Schools Track & Field Championships at Birmingham. In the junior boys Discus Craig Westerman came a fine 7th with 35.46m, and in the intermediate boys Thomas Atkinson came 5th in his heat of the 800m, Jack Hallas came 11th in his 1500m heat, and Josh Green came 5th in his heat of the 100m Hurdles in 14.19s, close to his PB.
In the junior girls Long Jump Lucy Holmes came 15th with 4.77m, in the intermediate girls Rosie Hackney came an excellent 7th in the 200m in 25.69s, and in the senior girls Discus Rebecca Birch was our top placed athlete with a superb 5th place, throwing 39.28m, whilst Reagan Wright came 5th in her 100m heat. Download Full Results from ESAA

11th July 2007. William Mulroy Equals League Record at 5th WYT&F League Meeting.
The popularity of the league continues, with another large turn out for the 5th meeting at Cleckheaton. The highlight of the night was the victory by our own William Mulroy, winning the U15 boys High Jump in 1.71m, which equalled the league record. We also had victories in the U13 800m from Jack Mitchell and from Saul Gavaghan (U13 Shot) and Dale Worton (U17 1500m). In the girls events our winners were Bethany Thomas (U11 Shot), Grace Eyles (U13 80m and Long Jump), Olivia Radcliffe (U13 800m), Alice Lightfoot (U15 Discus) and Fiona Thomas (Senior 100m and Long Jump).
Results from Cleckheaton :- Mens and Womens.

10th July 2007. Middle Distance Runners Achieve Fast 800m Times.
Competing in the BMC races at the Trafford Grand Prix at Stretford, Nathan Elliot ran 1m 57.24s for 800m and in the women's 800m races Kelly Johnson ran 2m 08.41s, Helen Singleton 2m 12.88s, and Lucy O'Gorman 2m 13.37s. Results from Stretford.

8th July 2007. Two Club Records in North of England League Division 1 Match 3.
In the 3rd match of the North of England League at Sports City Manchester the club had it's best result of the season, with international star Martyn Bernard inspiring the team to a fine 2nd place, a result which leaves the club in a clear 2nd place with just one match to go. Martyn won his specialist event the High Jump with a spectacular 2.20m clearance, but then amazed his team-mates by winning the Long Jump in 7.04m, and then jumping a New Club Triple Jump record of 14.63m, to remind us all just what a talented athlete he is. He broke the old record that had stood for 31 years to former England Rugby Union captain Mike Harrison. The High Jump turned out to be our best event, with former English Schools champion Richard Dent making a comeback to win the 'B' event. The 4 x 400m Relay team was made up of four U20 athletes Freddie Flynn, Jack Hallas, Tom Atkinson and Lewis Tatt, who ran a New U20 4 x 400m Relay Record of 3 mins 33.05 secs.
The women's section performed well throughout, with many fine performances, but particularly outstanding were Kelly Johnson, winning both the 400m in 58.32s and 800m in 2 m 14.4, Ruth Dales winning the 100m Hurdles in 14.61s, Naida Bromley winning the Javelin with 39.91m, and the 4 x 400m Relay team, who won in 4m 05.99s. There were several U20 athletes in the team performing with distinction, and U17 Rosie Hackney made her debut for the senior team with excellent 2nd places in the 100m and 200m.
Match Result :- Leeds City 466, Wakefield 381, City of Manchester 348.5, Trafford 316.5, City of York 286.5, Wigan 236.5. Download Match Results in pdf, and photographs from Howard Miller.

7th July 2007. Fast 800m Run from Charlene Thomas in Belgium.
Charlene Thomas ran her fastest 800m of the season when finishing 6th at the Leon Buyle Memorial Meeting at Oordegem in Belgium in 2 mins 04.71s.

7th July 2007. Senior Team Finish 7th in UK Women's League Match 2.
A small squad of senior women's athletes made the long trek down to Eton, for the second match of the UK Women's League Division 2. A shortage of middle and long distance runners meant that the team were always going to struggle, and they ended up 7th. The best event for the team was the 100m Hurdles, where Ruth Dales won in a fast 14.05s, with Naida Bromley 2nd in the 'B' race with 15.07s. Naida was impressive in the field events, with 2nd in the Javelin with 41.10m and another 2nd in the Long Jump with 5.60m. Julia White made good use of the windy conditions to run fast 100m and 200m times of 12.06s and 24.56s, and teamed up in the 4 x 100m Relay team with Ruth, Naida and Kate Edmondson to come 3rd in 48.67s. There were also 3rd places for Fiona Thomas in the Shot and Lynsie Whyke in the Triple Jump.
Match Result :- 1 Windsor, Slough, Eton & H'low 240.5, 2= Rugby & Northampton AC 173, 2= Havering Mayesbrook AC 173, 4 Milton Keynes 164, 5 Team Southampton 143, 6 Belgrave Harriers 131, 7 Wakefield D. H. & AC 97, 8 Wigan & D. Harriers AC 61.5. Results from UKWAL

4th July 2007. New Track Handicap Event at Thornes Park.
There was a new event for young athletes to try out. Results in Word.

4th July 2007. Chris Price Finishes 3rd in Hyde Park 5K.
A small contingent of road runners competed in the first of the Hyde Park 5K race series, hosted by Leeds City AC. Chris Price ran well to finish 3rd in the good time of 16 min 03 secs, and was followed home by Steve Faulkner in 20th, Carl Quinn in 24th and Richard West in 25th, with Richard being the first over 50 runner home. Results in Excel.

2nd July 2007. Another New Club High Jump Record for Martyn Bernard.
Not content with his performance of 2 days ago, Martyn came 2nd at the MAI Galan meeting in Malmo, Sweden, and jumped another New Club High Jump Record with 2.26 m. With the recent spate of excellent performances by our international athletes, we now have 4 athletes ranked in the top 4 in the UK :- Emily Freeman (100m and 200m), Charlene Thomas (1500m), Aine Hoban (10000m) and Martyn Bernard (High Jump).