Wakefield Harriers

2009 Club News January - March

29th Mar 2009. Harriers in Action at Spenborough Winter Warm-Up Meeting.
There were quite a few club members competing at Spenborough's Winter Warm-Up Meeting, with some creditable performances. Craig Westerman wasn't too far off the U17 Club Discus record with his 38.08m PB throw, and Sarah Drake made a welcome return to form with her 39.08m Hammer throw. Other good winning performances were by Zoe Kerins (U15 200m in 27.0s), Alistair Robinson (mens 400m in 52.5s), Olivia Radcliffe (U15 800m in 2m 28.6s) and Jack Mitchell (U13 1500m in 4m 51.6s). Leading Results

28th Mar 2009. Lauren Proctor Selected to Compete for England.
Lauren Proctor was selected to compete for the England Intermediate Girls team in the Aviva Schools International match at Bangor in Wales, and ran with great distinction, even though she had been ill in the week leading up to the race. She came home 4th, just missing out on a medal on the line, and helped England to a comfortable team victory. Our congratulations to Lauren on what will hopefully be the start of a long and illustrious international career. Results from English Schools website.

25th Mar 2009. Young Harriers to Compete in London Mini-Marathon.
Sally Smith, Daniel Franks and Michael Callaly have accepted invitations to represent Yorkshire and Humberside in the London Mini-Marathon on the 26th April. This 3 Mile run takes place as part of the London Marathon series, starting at old Billingsgate and finishing under the Flora London Marathon gantry in The Mall, so to be part of the atmosphere of the world famous London Marathon will be a great experience for them.

22nd Mar 2009. Sarah Beevers Breaks Club Record for 20 Miles.
As part of her build up for the London Marathon Sarah Beevers took part in the East Hull 20 Mile road race, and did well to finish 5th lady, running a New Club 20 Mile Record of 2 hrs 17 mins 45 secs, to add to her collection of steeplechase club records.

22nd Mar 2009. Chris Price Finishes 4th in South Leeds 5 Mile Road race.
Chris Price has continued his return to form in the South Leeds 5 Mile road race, finishing an encouraging 4th in 28 mins 02 secs. Race Results from ukresults.net.

21st Mar 2009. Lauren Proctor 2nd in English Schools' Cross Country Championships.

The club had many members representing West Yorkshire Schools and running very well in the English Schools' Cross Country Championships at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire. In the Intermediate Girls race Lauren Proctor confirmed her recent excellent form and had another outstanding run to finish 2nd behind pre-race favourite Emilia Gorecki, who hasn't been beaten for 2 years. With Lauren Brooke finishing 119th and Sally Smith 214th the club made up half the West Yorkshire team who came 12th. There were 4 Harriers in the Senior Boys race where Jack Hallas was West Yorkshire's 1st counter in an excellent 17th place. With Sam Bucknell 108th, Dale Worton 159th and Tom Coney 292nd they helped the county to 7th place. In the Junior Boys race Matthew O'Connor was 92nd and Daniel Franks 170th, and in the Junior Girls race Libby Greatorex was 83rd and Olivia Radcliffe 157th, to complete a good day for the club's distance runners.


See Adam Kerfoot's album of West Yorkshire runners which includes many Harriers, and download Full Results and More Pictures of all races from ESAA website. Also Download a Video (10.3 Kb) from Alan Spurr of Lauren chasing Emilia Gorecki towards the end of the race.

15th Mar 2009. Distance Runners Tackle Spenborough 20.
A hardy group of distance runners from the club tackled the tough Spenborough 20 Mile road race, some of them using the race as part of their build up for the London Marathon. Neil Penn had a solid run to come 26th in 2 hrs 10:09, and he was followed by Richard West 38th in 2 hrs 15:09 and Chris Ward 61st in 2 hrs 22:21. Results from ukresults.net.

14th/15th Mar 2009. Zara Hohn Wins BUCS Indoor Titles.
For the second year running Zara has become the British students indoor champion in her specialist event, by winning the BUCS Indoor Championships at the EIS Sheffield. She ran the 60m Hurdles in a time of 8.38s, and she also just missed a medal in the 60m flat, coming 4th in 7.69s. Results from BUCS.

7th Mar 2009. Lauren Proctor Wins Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships.

Lauren Proctor was one of several Harriers selected to compete for Yorkshire in the Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships at Nottingham, and she had the best result of her young career by convincingly winning the U17 title by over half a minute. This was a truly wonderful performance to win her first national title, as she is only in her first year in the age group.
Sally Smith and Lauren Brooke were competing in the U15 age group and did well to come 73rd and 140th, and Libby Greatorex also performed admirably to come 85th in the U13 race. For the boys Daniel Franks came an excellent 39th in the U13 boys' race, and Dale Worton was 199th in the U17 mens' race.
Report and Race Results in Excel from UKA.

6th Mar 2009. Disappointment for Martyn Bernard at European Indoor Championships.
Martyn Bernard came 8th in his heat in the qualifying round of the High Jump at the European Indoor Championships in Turin, Italy, with a height of 2.22m. At the last European Indoors in Birmingham in 2007 Martyn won a bronze medal, so he will be disappointed with this, but hopefully he can return to top form for the outdoor season. Report from UKA

1st Mar 2009. Chris Price Competes in Norton 9 Mile Road Race.
Chris Price had his first UK road race of the year and was our first runner home in the Norton 9, near Doncaster, coming 13th in a time of 51 mins 36 secs. Race Results from ukresults.net

28th Feb 2009. Four Harriers Compete in the Indoor City Challenge Final.
Three Harriers were once again selected to compete for 'Team Sheffield' in the McCain Indoor City Challenge Final at Cardiff. Zara Hohn had a clear victory in the 60m Hurdles in a fast 8.31s, Helen Singleton came 2nd in the 1500m in 4m 32.11, and Mikaela Harrison ran 59.43s to come 8th in the 400m. Debbie Collinson once again competed for 'Team Newcastle' in the Shot, coming 5th with 11.56m. Download Results

25th Feb 2009. Alex Potter Wins Northern Police Cross Country League.
After coming 2nd in the final race in the Northern Police Cross Country League Alex Potter claimed the overall title in her first season of cross country. The club had several members competing for the West Yorkshire Police in the league, with the improving Anna Gaches finishing 4th in the ladies league. Carl Quinn came an excellent 4th overall in the mens' league and Neil Dutton finished 33rd. Download Results in Excel

24th Feb 2009. Martyn Bernard Selected for European Indoor Championships.
Martyn Bernard has been selected to compete in the High Jump for the Aviva Great Britain & Northern Ireland Team at the European Indoor Championships in Turin, Italy on 6-8 March. At the last European Indoors in Birmingham in 2007 Martyn won a bronze medal, so hopefully he can repeat that achievement or go even better, and we congratulate him on his latest international selection. Report from UKA

22nd Feb 2009. Road Runners in Action over the weekend.
The club had runners taking part in road races around the region, with some creditable performances in the Snake Lane 10 at Pocklington near York and the Huddersfield 10k.

21st Feb 2009. More Fast Times from Zara Hohn in Norway.
Zara Hohn continued her fine indoor season with another two fast runs at the Floro Games in Norway, twice running 8.36s in her two 60m Hurdles races.

21st Feb 2009. Another Club 3000m Record for Charlene Thomas in British Grand Prix.
Two of Wakefield Harriers' international stars were invited to compete in the Aviva British Grand Prix at the NIA in Birmingham. Charlene Thomas had a tough task, competing against the Commonwealth 5000m Champion Vivian Cheruiyot in the 3000m, but had another great performance to run a New Club 3000 Record of 9m 01.63s, not far from the qualifying time for the European Indoor Championships. Martyn Bernard took on a top class field in the High Jump, and finished 4th with 2.23m. Results from UK

21st Feb 2009. Young Runners at the National Cross Country Championships.
The club had a small contingent of young cross country runners who made the long trek to London to take part in the English National Cross Country Championships at Parliament Hill Fields. In the U13 Boys' race Daniel Franks ran very well to come 38th, with Michael Callaly 163rd. In the U15 Boys' race Jordan Turner was 140th, in the U15 Girls' race Lauren Brooke was 123rd, and in the U17 Ladies Sarah Franks was 173rd. Race Results from English Cross Country Association.

19th Feb 2009. Second Thornes Park Indoor Athletics Meeting.
There was another good turnout of young athletes for the second Indoor Athletics Meeting at Thornes Park Stadium. Download Results in Excel.

15th Feb 2009. Sarah Beevers Runs First Half Marathon.
A couple of Harriers ran in the Liversedge Half Marathon, from Roberttown, with Sarah Beevers having her first attempt at the distance as part of her Marathon build up. She was up with the leading women before struggling with cramp in the last 3 miles, and finished 5th lady in 1hr 30:07. Race Results from ukresults.net

14th/15th Feb 2009. Three Bronze Medals and New Club 3000 Record at UK Indoor Champs.
At the Aviva European Trials & UK Indoor Championships, at the Sheffield EIS, the club had 3 athletes appearing on TV, and each winning medals. Charlene Thomas showed that she is back on top form by finishing 4th and running a New Club 3000 Record of 9m 07.29s, a huge improvement on the previous record by Aine Hoban. Martyn Bernard also finished 4th in the High Jump with 2.19m, but both he and Charlene both came away with bronze medals as their competitions were won by a guest from overseas. Zara Hohn also won a bronze medal in the 60m Hurdles in 8.49s after running a fast 8.35s in her heat, to cap a good day for the club. Helen Singleton also did well to come 6th in the 1500m in an indoor PB of 4m 25.34s.
Report & Results from UK Athletics.

14th/15th Feb 2009. Several Finalists at English U20 U17 & U15 Indoor Championships .
At the England Athletics U20 U17 & U15 Indoor Championships at the NIA at Birmingham there were a few Harriers competing, and several made the finals of their events. In the U17M High Jump William Mulroy & Thomas Leyshon finished 5th & 6th respectively with their clearances of 1.81m & 1.76m. Sally Smith came 5th in the U17W 1500m in 5m 01.41s, and Bethany Porter came 8th in the U15G 60m Hurdles in 9.59s. Results from England Athletics.

14th Feb 2009. Good Team Result for M50s in Yorkshire Vets Cross Country Championships.
In the Yorkshire Vets Cross Country Championships at York the mens' over 50 team of Paul Hallas (9th), Dave Brailsford (21st) and Richard West (26th) were just out of the team medals in finishing 4th team out the 16 complete teams from the 44 competing clubs. Brian Fozzard ran well to finish 3rd in the M70 race, just losing 2nd place in the run in.
Men Over 40 results , Men Over 50 results , Women Over 35 & Men Over 70 results.

8th Feb 2009. Two Indoor Club Records at Second Leeds Indoor Open Meeting.
Several Wakefield Harriers were competing in the second Leeds Indoor Open Meeting, with some good sprint and hurdles performances being recorded. The highlights were by Bethany Porter, who ran a New U15 Club Record in the 60m Hurdles with 9.5secs, and by Nathaniel Davis, who equalled Chris Brennan's U17 mens 60m record with his time of 7.4s. Download Results

8th Feb 2009. Four Harriers Selected to Compete in the Indoor City Challenge.
Three Harriers were selected to compete for 'Team Sheffield' in the McCain Indoor City Challenge at the EIS, against other teams from the North of England and Scotland. Zara Hohn confirmed her recent good form with a clear victory in the 60m Hurdles in a fast 8.34s, whilst Helen Singleton came 3rd in the 800m in 2m 11.74s, and Mikaela Harrison ran 60.8s to come 6th in the 400m. Debbie Collinson competed for 'Team Newcastle' in the Shot, coming 4th with 11.16m. Download Results

7th Feb 2009. West Yorkshire Schools Cross Country Championships.

Once again there were a large number of Harriers competing for the Wakefield District and for other schools areas in the West Yorkshire Schools Cross Country Championships, which took place at Leeds Grammar School. We had several medallists, including one winner, as Lauren Proctor romped home for a resounding win in the snow in the Inter Girls' race. Medals were also won by Jordan Turner (3rd Junior Boys), Jack Hallas (2nd Senior Boys) and Dale Worton (3rd Senior Boys), and several other club members should also be selected to run for the county in the forthcoming English Schools Championships. Results from Leeds and more photographs from Fiona Lancaster.

7th Feb 2009. Martyn Bernard Competes in Germany.
Martyn Bernard competed at the 'High Jump with Music' meeting at Arnstadt in Germany and came 6th, improving his season's best to 2.27m. Download Results.

5th Feb 2009. Zara Hohn Smashes Club Record Twice in Slovakia.
Running into some great form Zara Hohn smashed the Club Record for the 60m Hurdles twice at the ELÁN Indoor Meeting at Bratislava, in Slovakia. In her first race she ran 8.38s, before running a New Club 60m Hurdles Record of 8.29s in her second race.

1st Feb 2009. Wakefield Harriers Have 4 Teams Competing in France.
The Harriers were once again invited by Wakefield's twin town of Castres to take part in their long distance relay race, the 27th Ronde Givree. 16 athletes competed in 4 teams, and once again came back with 2 trophies - the ladies team came 3rd and the M50 team also came 3rd in their respective categories for the 2nd year running, out of the 270 competing teams.

Read a detailed report of the weekend, and get Full Results from www.runningmag.fr and from Race website

1st Feb 2009. New Club Record for Beth Porter at First Leeds Indoor Open.
A few Wakefield Harriers were competing in the first Leeds Indoor Open Meeting, with the top performance by Bethany Porter, who ran a New U15 Club 60m Record with her winning time of 8.1secs. She also won the 60m Hurdles with 9.9secs.

1st Feb 2009. Helen Singleton Finishes 2nd Lady in Dewsbury 10k.
In the Dewsbury 10k Helen Singleton confirmed her recent excellent form with the fine time of 35 mins 32 secs to finish 2nd lady. Neil Penn was 28th overall out of over 900 finishers in a PB of 34 mins 57 secs, and Brian Fozzard did well to run 47 min 05 secs in the M65 category. Full Results from tdl.ltd.uk

31st Jan 2009. Martyn Bernard Competes for Britain in Aviva International.
Martyn Bernard competed in the High Jump for Great Britain at the Aviva International at Glasgow in the match between Great Britain & Northern Ireland, USA, Sweden, Germany and a Commonwealth Select team, and finished 4th with a jump of 2.24m. Results from UK Athletics

31st Jan 2009. Zara Hohn Equals Club 60m Hurdles Record.
Zara Hohn equalled her own Club 60m Hurdles Record when running 8.42 secs to finish 2nd at the Birmingham Games behind international Sarah McGreavy. Download Results.

25th Jan 2009. Sally Smith and Thomas Leyshon Win Northern Indoor Championship Titles.
At the Northern U17 & U15 Indoor Championships which took place at the EIS Sheffield, the club had two winners and three other medallists. A day after ploughing through the mud in the Northern Cross Country Championships Sally Smith beat yesterday's winner to win the U17L 1500m in 4m 57.33s, and Thomas Leyshon and Will Mulroy came 1st and 2nd in the U17M High Jump, both clearing an excellent 1.82m. Other medallists were Rebecca Watts, who came 2nd in the U17L 200m in 26.14s, as well as 6th in the 60m in 8.33s, and Craig Westerman, who won bronze in the U17M Shot with 12.20m.
Also making the finals of their events were Beth Porter, who came 4th in the U15G Long Jump with 4.86m as well as 4th in the 60m Hurdles in 9.70s, after running a New U15 Club Record of 9.63s in the heats. Jamie Baxter was 4th in the U17M 600m Hurdles in 8.97s, Grace Eyles was 5th in the U15G 200m in 26.4s and 7th in the 60m in 8.31s, and Matthew O'Connor was 6th in the U15B 800m in 2m 23.40s. Download results from Northern Athletics.

24th Jan 2009. U15 girls' Team Win Bronze In Northern Cross Country Championships.
In the Northern Cross Country championships at Sherdley Park St Helens, the club had a good day, with the U15 girls doing exceptionally well to finish 3rd team. Sally Smith finished an excellent 6th, and with Lauren Brooke 39th, Olivia Radcliffe 43rd and Louisa Long 46th the team won bronze team medals in 3rd, and were first Yorkshire team. The U15 girls are pictured right with their bronze team medals.
Yorkshire Champion Lauren Proctor wasn't too happy in the muddy conditions but still came a creditable 8th in the U17 ladies race. The U17 mens' team, the Northern Champions from last year, also found the mud difficult and finished 7th team, but were still first team home from Yorkshire. Tom Coney was first finisher in 39th, followed by Sam Bucknell 58th, Dale Worton 64th & Thomas Atkinson 79th. In the U13 boys' race the team also finished an excellent 7th, and first Yorkshire team, with solid runs from Daniel Franks 17th, Michael Callaly 51st, Benjamin Read 95th & William Ingram 104th. Our only other complete team was the Senior Men who finished 32nd, with Neil Penn and Martin Green our leading runners 159th & 178th out of the large field of over 600. Chris Ward, Richard West, Tony White and Tony Audsley completed the team.
In the other races there were some good individual performances. In the U13 girls Libby Greatorex ran well to finish 26th, and in the U15 boys Jordon Turner was our first runner home in 53rd, with Matthew O'Connor 84th and Jack Mitchell 106th.
Results of all races from Northern Athletics

22nd Jan 2009. First Thornes Park Indoor Athletics Meeting.
There was a good turnout of young athletes for the first of the Indoor Athletics Meetings at Thornes Park Stadium. Download Results in Excel.

20th Jan 2009. Martyn Bernard Selected for 'Commonwealth Select' Team.
Martyn Bernard has been selected to compete in the High Jump for a 'Commonwealth Select' team at the Aviva International at Kelvin Hall, Glasgow on 31st January. The meeting will be a match between Great Britain & Northern Ireland, USA, Sweden, Germany and a Commonwealth Select team, and will be televised. Details from UK Athletics

17th/18th Jan 2009. Helen Singleton Wins Two Titles in Northern Indoor Championships.
At the Northern Athletics Senior & U20 Championships at the EIS, Sheffield, the club had several athletes competing, with two athletes winning senior titles. Helen Singleton had an excellent weekend, winning the 1500m in 4 mins 33.37s, and also taking gold the next day in the 3000m at her first attempt at the distance, winning in 9 mins 48.15s. Zara Hohn won the 60m Hurdles in a fast 8.49s, as well as coming 5th in the 60m in 7.76s. Other medals came from Caroline Nutt, coming 2nd in the Pole Vault clearing 3.00m, and Lynsie Whyke who long jumped 4.59m to take 3rd place. Chris Price came 8th in the 3000m in 9 mins 46.71s.
In the U20 mens' events Dale Worton came 2nd in the 1500m in 4 mins 12.90s, Tom Coney came 5th in the 800m in 2 mins 02.42s, and James Mitchell came 5th in the 200m in 22.83s, as well as 8th in the 60m in 7.24s. For the ladies Faye Mitchell finished 4th in the 200m in 26.83s.
Results from Northern Athletics.

18th Jan 2009. Fourteen Harriers Compete in 'Brass Monkey' Half Marathon at York.
There were fourteen Harriers running in the 'Brass Monkey' Half Marathon at York. Richard West was our first male runner home in 1hr 21 mins 33 secs, which placed him 3rd vet 50 and 65th overall out of the large field of nearly 1300 runners. Alex Potter was our first lady in 1hr 35 mins 52 secs, close to her PB. Full Results from ukresults.net

17th Jan 2009. Two Young Harriers Compete at Vault Manchester.
Abigail Roberts (under 13 ) and Sally Spurr (under 15) both achieved PB's, with Abigail jumping 2.32m and Sally 2.12m at the specialist pole vault event, Vault Manchester. The girls have been training for about six months, and are beginning to show good progress.

14th Jan 2009. Martyn Bernard Competes in Germany.
Martyn Bernard got his indoor season off to a solid start, competing in an International High Jump meeting in Cologne, Germany, coming 2nd with a clearance of 2.22m.

10th Jan 2009. Lauren Proctor & U15 girls' Team Win Yorkshire Cross Country Titles.
In the Yorkshire Cross Country championships at Rotherham the club had a good day, with an individual winner, one team victory, four individual medals and two team medals. Lauren Proctor (pictured right) was outstanding on the switchback hilly course, and in cold conditions won the U17 Ladies Yorkshire title by a whole minute, to lead her teammates Alice Lightfoot (17th) and Sarah Franks (28th) to 4th team place. Sally Smith came an excellent 2nd in the U15 girls' race, and with Lauren Brooke 7th and Louisa Long 10th the team were clear Yorkshire champions, with Olivia Radcliffe close behind in 12th to emphasize the team's dominance in the age group.
The U17 mens' team's hopes of remaining Yorkshire champions were dashed by injuries to two key runners, but Dale Worton ran outstandingly well to finish 3rd, and with Tom Coney 11th and Thomas Atkinson 20th the team still came an excellent 2nd, with Nathan Bolton only just behind in 21st. There was another bronze medal for Libby Greatorex who ran outstandingly well in the U13 girls' race, and with Sally Spur 33rd and Jessica Rowlands 67th their team came 11th. The U13 boys' team finished a fine 5th overall, with Daniel Franks having an excellent run to finish just outside the medals in 4th, with Ben Read (22nd) and Michael Callaly (26th) completing the team. In the U15 boys' Daniel O'Connor came 22nd and Jack Mitchell 28th. The senior teams were below strength but there were fine runs from Sarah Bostwick and Jonathan Prideaux leading the women and men home respectively, with the mens' team finishing as 10th Yorkshire club.
Download Mens Results and Womens Results from Northern Athletics.

4th Jan 2009. Martin Green First Vet Home in Pennine 10k.
Martin Green and Neil Penn were in action on the roads again in the Pennine 10k from Brighouse, and both performed well. Martin came 5th and first vet in 35 mins 51 secs, and Neil was 9th in 36 mins 41 secs, out of a field of over 300 runners. Results from Halifax AC

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