| Kirsty second again 30
May The popular Mersey Tunnel 10K run once again showed the class of Liverpool Harrier, Jenny Clague, who strode to a comfortable win with 36.17. She still remains the queen of Merseyside distance running but LPS`s Kirsty Longley continues to chase. She was second once more in 38.04 but well clear of the third woman. The gap looks huge but Kirsty will never give up. At the Northern U15 and U17 championships at Leigh Sean Kirkbride made the final of the U17 1500m finishing 9th and with a useful time of 4.22.67. Andrew Williams did not progress beyond his heat of the 400m but will be satisfied with a 52.7 posting. At U15 Alex Higham recorded 26.52 in his heat of the 200m. Northern Results Report Charles Gairns |
| Four PBs in succession!
23 May Nowhere is the decline in athletics participation beyond 17 years more obvious than in the National Junior(Under 20) League. The second match locally saw Liverpool Pembroke Sefton struggling yet again to get bodies out but clearly they are not alone in this dilemma with even combined clubs unable to cover the entire smorgasbord of events. The issue of retention is one the governing bodies of the sport continue to ignore at their peril. At Wavertree host club Liverpool Harriers duly ran away with the team competition with LPS a lowly 7th out of eight clubs. The bright spots were few but they did lift the spirits on a beautiful afternoon. Most prominent was the efforts of Ruth Doran in the Shot Putt who posted four successive personal bests to take her to 9.47m and a hairs breadth away from winning that competition. Arguably, though, Mike Carmona-Jones Discus throw of 35.65m was actually the best club performance of the day. Throwers to watch. Elsewhere Stuart Dolman was a sharp third in the 200m with 22.90 and a useful posting of 11.30 in the 100m. The club`s only winners were the 1500m duo of Mike Bride with 4.15.20 in the A event and Mike Wilson the B victor with 4.19.90. Minor placings went in the 800m to Jai Vernon-McGuigan with 2.08.20 and a battling George Curran on 2.10.00. Billy Williams has been disappointed with his High Jump performances so far this year but his third placed leap of 1.80m demonstrated that he is almost certainly on the way back. Report Charles Gairns |
| 1,2,3 for LPS 16 May
The strength of the club's 400m squad was evident at the inaugural North West Track & Field Championships held on Saturday at Stretford. In the senior men's 400 metre race, Nathan Hilton (48.84) took gold, just edging out Harry Doran (48.99) who took silver, whilst Danny Higham (50.14) took the bronze. LPS Young Athletes were also competing at Stretford on the Sunday. They had a comfortable victory over hosts Trafford & Bolton. The outstanding individual performance of the day came from Kate Doran in winning U17W high jump with a leap of 1.67m, a grade 1 standard & English schools qualifying height; Kate had earlier won the long jump (4.56m). There was a triple success for Ruth Doran in winning U17W hammer, shot & javelin, whilst debutant Tom Woodland (U13 Boys) made it a sprint double winning the 100m(13.8) & 200m (27.7), both graded performances. There were double successes also for Alice Donnelly (U17W) in the 300m hurdles & triple jump, Amy Aitchison (U15G) in the javelin & discus & Amelia Mclaughlin (U15G) in the high jump & 75m hurdles. Jack Crook(U13B), James Grundy (U15B) & Alistair Nelson (U17M) made it a clean sweep in the 1500m event winning all 3 age groups. Not to be outdone, Charlotte Haines also crossed the line first in the U15G) 1500m Report Wally Bridson |
Throwers and
Jumpers excel in County Championships 9 May  As usual Liverpool Pembroke Sefton athletes were split between the
Merseyside(Wavertree) and Lancashire(Blackpool) championships. There
were numerous good results and medals at both venues and an early season
trend towards quality throws and jumps continued. In Liverpool there
were predictable Under 20 victories for Dean
Matthews in the Triple Jump(13.21) and Billy Williams in the High
Jump(1.75m). Throws specialist Michael Carmona-Jones in the same age
group took the Discus title with 32.32m to add to a silver in the
Hammer(36.58m). Equally impressive in the Under 17s was Tom Johnson's
double Shot (10.62m) and even better Hammer(40.34m) victory. Ruth Doran
walked away with a gold in the Shot(8.40m) and Under 15 Amy Aitcheson
continued the pattern with Shot(6.41m) and Discus(16.13m) wins. Although
not a victor Senior Charlotte Christian was delighted with her second
place in the Shot(8.45m) but even more so with a third placed Hammer
Throw of 39.02m as she confidently closes in on that elusive 40m
barrier. Danny Nutbrown won the Pole Vault with 2.30m. In contrast the
runners had a relatively quiet afternoon with Senior Paul Milburn
winning the 800m in 2.07.7 and his female counterpart, Kirsty Longley,
taking the two lapper in 2.21.5. Rhea Ellis was also first in the U20
1500m(5.00.00). Of internal interest only Mike Bride(3rd) and Jai
Vernon-McGuigan(4th) clashed again in the U20 1500m with the former
treking the latter until the final sprint(4.18.2 to 4.19.9). This
mini-drama continues.
Merseyside ResultsAt the seaside venue the most notable performance came once again from Amelia McLaughlin who took the U15 High Jump title with 1.56m after a tough battle. Elsewhere 100m sprinters Sarah Woblewski (3rd U13 in 14.20) and Tawanda Lungu (3rd U15 in 13.20) sparkled but eyes were also on U13 Jack Crook whose first venture into serious championship running found him fourth in the 800m in a very encouraging 2.27.60. Sean Kirkbride (U17 800m) grabbed a bronze medal with a personal best of 2.03.80. But once more there were good throwing performances from U17 Lucy Wroblewski (2nd in the Javelin with 24.00m) and a triple medal haul from Vet Dave Brown, second in both the  Shot(10.38m)
and Discus(29.28m) but one suspects an even more satisfying bronze
collecting Javelin cast of 41.05m. Lancashire Results Day 1 Lancashire Results Day 2  Women Liverpool 10K This was won easily by Liverpool Harrier Jenny Clague but Kirsty Longley recovered from her previous days endeavour in the County Championships to comfortably collect the runner up award. In the accompanying 5K run Lisa Gawthorne continued her fine come back series by romping home first in a time of 20.31. Lisa Gawthorne Report Charles Gairns |
|
Metric milers battle it out May
Bank Holiday Weekend A frenetic weekend for Liverpool Pembroke and Sefton athletes. The first of the Senior Northern League(Div 2W) matches was at Ellesmere Port and something of a stirring moment for the club's 1500m runners. Clearly the LPS duo of Mike Bride and Jai Vernon-McGuigan had come to battle it out personally and after a series of mind games Bride took off to finish second in 4.13.6 while McGuigan fought to the line in 4.17.4 but first B runner. A similar encounter took place between the club's Kirsty Longley and Rhea Ellis over the same distance with Longley the victor on this occasion(4.47.8) over the Liverpool University dental student(4.57.0) but both A and B winners. Still a lot to play for. These respective duels will spice up further matches in the series. Other interesting interactions took place elsewhere with Vets Mark Line and Dave Brown interchanging postions in the throws and a comparative trio of Jess Broady, Charlotte Christian and Rachel Hutchinson doing likewise in the female events. There were individual wins, Dean Matthews in the Triple Jump(13.31m) and Billy Williams in the High Jump(1.75m). Others rallied around magnificently especially Adam Thomson second in both the 100m (11.5) and 200m(23.2) before a hamstring injury sidelined him. LPS were fourth on the day but a long way off full strength. Progress, though, is certainly in the offing. Results Amelia soars to new heights The Young Athletes had a shorter trip to Litherland for their first match under the new league structure. By far and away the best performance was the Grade 1 High Jump win of Under 15 Amelia  McLaughlin.
Her leap of 1.57m virtually relegated the rest of the competitors to the
role of interested spectators. At barely 13 years old Amelia is looking
a class act. There were, nevertheless, substantial Grade 3 performances
elsewhere especially the two U17 throwers Tom Johnson(1st Hammer 40.27m)
and Drew Atherton(1st Javelin 43.29m) who similarly left the opposition
spellbound. Tom also added the Shot with a useful 10.93m. Kate Doran
leapt 1.50m in her High Jump and Ruth
Doran pulled out a good graded Shot Putt of 8.25m. Although it was a
particularly good day for throwers and jumpers three other U17 runners
collected Grade 4`s Alice Donnelly(300m in 50.5), Sean Kirkbride(800m in
2.05.7) and Andrew Williams(400m in 53.7) who also quietly slipped in a
Grade 3 200m in 23.5.. There were similar excellent efforts in the other age groups and U15s Tawanda Lungu looked particularly breath taking in her 200m sprint(28.1) as did Holly Lewis in the 100m(13.8). Potential middle distance stars also glittered in the shape of U13 Anna Hulme(1200m in 4.29.9) and U15 James Grundy(1500m in 4.47.4). A good day all round for the club with three relay wins, U17 Women 4 x100m, U15 Girls 4 x 100m and U17 Men 4 x 400m and culminating in a nail biting team points battle with local rivals Southport Waterloo. The Sandgrounders eventually took the result but with the narrowest of margins 530 to 528 points. BUSA Champs Bedford Some results from the BUSA Championships at Bedford. 400m Heats: Wayne Ashall 50.55, Harry Doran 49.99, Danny Higham 50.75, Nathan Hilton 50.84 Semi-Finals: Wayne Ashall 50.60, Harry Doran 50.30 100m/200m Heats: Hannah Roberts 13.97/28.84 200m Heats: Danny Higham 23.19, Nathan Hilton 22.86 |
| Waterloo 15k Kirsty Longley was second in the Waterloo 15K Road Race in 59.26 some 20 seconds behind the winner who still did not trouble her course record of 58.13. Kirsty is running some very controlled races at the moment. Lisa Gawthorne was third female in the accompanying 5K race and also turned out the following evening at the Wavertree Mystery 5K to record a PB of 19.40. Good to see her back in action. Report Charles Gairns Photos Neil McLaughlin |