Wakefield Harriers in title winning form in county league championships

Lily Keeler won the U11 girls shot with a throw of 7.73m for a new Championships record.

The youngster also won medals in the long jump and 75m.

In the U11 boys age group Ethan Ford was also in great form, winning the 75m in 11.2s and the long jump with a leap of 4.11m, which is not too far off the club record.

Cole McAndrew continued his superb form in the U15 boys age group, winning a close race in the 800m in a fast 2:03.2, as well as winning the high jump with 1.50m.

James Stead was also impressive, winning the long jump with 4.81m and finishing second in both the 100m and 200m in 12.2 and 25.4 respectively.

The best results from the U15 girls were from Rosie Thistlewood, winning the 1500m in 4:58.9, ahead of Jessica Watson in 5:11.7 and from Hannah Smith who had a good high jump victory with a leap of 1.46m.

In the U17 age group Ben Smith was victorious in both the men’s 100m and 200m, in 12.0 and 24.4 respectively, while Ella Bickerdyke won both sprints in 13.1 and 26.4.

In the senior age groups Lucy Holmes recorded a grade 2 throw of 11.37m in winning the shot and was also the winner of the 100m, 200m, long jump and discus, while Jennifer Ibbitson was the winner of the hammer.

The Championships also provided the opportunity to present the medals to those who finished in the first three in their age group in the West Yorkshire League.

Ethan Ford was a clear winner of the U11 boys title, with twice the points of his nearest rival. Cole McAndrew won the U15 boys title on countback, after a tie on points as he had more individual wins than his Halifax rival, and Alexander Bostwick won the U20 men's title.

Silver medals were also won by U11 Lily Keeler, U17s Millie Powell and Ben Smith and a bronze by U20 Elliott Prentice.

Wakefield Harriers youngsters retain YADAL crown

Amy Eloise Markovc produced an impressive performance on her half marathon debut, finishing sixth overall and second Briton in the Great North Run, from Newcastle upon Tyne to South Shields.

The Olympian ran a new club half marathon record of 71:12, breaking the previous record held by Julie Briscoe since 2011.

The Harriers men's team won the Leeds Country Way Relay, a six-stage long distance off-road relay, where each leg of the relay is run as a pair and with the legs ranging from 9.4 miles to 11.7 miles.

The team won the last edition of the event in 2019 and most of the runners from that team returned to retain the trophy after dominating the event from the start.

The winning men's team was made up of Leg 1: Ben Butler & Danny Franks, Leg 2: Adam Peers & Stewart Knowles, Leg 3: Chris Hunter & Paul Marchant, Leg 4: Ashley Crow & Steve Tilford, Leg 5: Chris Ward & Craig Davidson, Leg 6: Matthew Hill & Mark Bostock.

On the first and second legs Harriers took the prize for the fastest leg, to give the team a big lead, which they held throughout.

A second 'open' team also did well to finish 14th out of the 57 competing teams, with Helen Beck & Shaun Mollart on leg 4, and Charlotte Knowles & Phil Ambler on leg 5 winning the prize for the fastest mixed pair on their respective legs.