Millington leads Harriers to bronze
AFTER the snows finally cleared and the ‘Beast from the East’ retreated, Stockport Harriers came out in force and flashed the yellow vest at events across the country.
The returning Northern Athletics Men’s 12-Stage and Women’s 6-Stage Road Relay championships was hosted by Wallasey Athletics club at Birkenhead Park.
The flat, fast course attracts athletes from all over the country and this year was no exception with 55 mens and 48 women’s teams turning out to battle for the title.
The men’s race, consisting of four legs of 8.5k and eight legs of 4.3k, saw the Harriers off to a strong start with Ross Millington placing first in the initial lap.
This set up the rest of the team, made up of Michael Sawrey, Jack Nixon, Alec Francis, Jack Morris, Steve Vernon, Jack Martin, Andrew Nixon, George Cooke, James Scott-Buccleauch, Philip Burns and Kevin Acton to take overall bronze after leading for five of the stages. Lincoln Wellington Athletics Club managed to secure the gold, while Salford Harriers took hard-earned silver after only placing 31st in the first lap.
Next, the women took on the two stages of 8.5k and four stages of 4.3k with Leeds City Athletics Club reigning in first place from the second lap onwards to see them crowned overall champions. Stockport women claimed 10th place after feisty performances from Louise Rudd, Anna Silvander, Elizabeth Apsley, Imogen Nutter, Ruth Sinclair and Elle Vernon. Elle Vernon showing what a spectacular athlete she is after having competed for England the day before at the Home Countries International Cross Country at Woolaton Park, Nottingham, taking gold in the senior women’s race and leading the senior women’s England team to victory.
Closer to home, the first event of the Stockport Harriers 2018 Race Series, organised by Tony Park, took place under the blue skies of Poynton with 629 runners completing the increasingly popular 10k route. 31 Stockport vests made it to the start line outside the Civic Hall with the course taking a scenic route along Poynton high street, before taking in a circuit of ‘Poynton Pool’ and heading back towards the village centre and then up to Higher Poynton. After half a mile on the Middlewood Way and a final effort ascending steps, negotiating multiple stiles and gates the pack headed back towards the village centre and the finish line thronged with spectators outside the Civic Hall. Notable Stockport performances came from James Barnett taking 2nd place (36m:20s) behind Wilmslow Running Club’s Richard Coen, Nick James in 4th (37m:37s) and Adam Thompson in 6th(37m:59s) with the Stockport Men’s team taking 1st team place overall. Stockport’s Faye Waterhouse was the first female to cross the line in a time of 41m:54s and overall very respectable position of 37 having secured an early lead with Heather Corden closely following to claim 2nd female and 39th overall, also in 41m:54s.
Not content with letting the senior athletes dominate the cross-country scene, Stockport juniors put in some incredible performances at the National Primary Schools cross-country finals for school years 5, 6 and 7, held at Prestwold Hall in Loughborough. Although the athletes may have been small in stature, with the event being livestreamed across the world, there was certainly nothing else diminutive about it. The Year 5 girls, racing over 2500m of undulating terrain, saw Niamh Mackintosh taking 9th place in a time of 7m:38s closely followed by Ella Buckley in 13th in 7m:42s out of a field of 252. The Year 5 boys were next with Josh Garrone taking 19th (7m:14s), Will Bailey 20th (7m:15s) and Matteo Garrone 62nd (7m:40s) out of 266 competitors over a distance of 3000m. In the Year 6 girl’s race, another 252 athletes took on the 3500m course with the ever familiar name of Freya Murdoch placing 13th in 8m:07s and Sophie Ellwood taking 22nd in 8m:24s. In the Year 6 boys race over 3500m, Harry Ahearn took 69th out of 260 in 8m:13s and Jasmine Reed took on the Yr7 girls over a distance of 4000m with a fantastic position of 9th out of 177 in a time of 11m:12s.