It’s been a busy old week for many of the Harriers, whether young or old, who like to compete and continue to see if they can improve. We have had great performances in all the athletic disciplines in local, regional and national competitions as usual. Whilst the 'Young' brothers are clearing up the awards on the local running scene, a couple of the juniors, Emily & Sam, have been getting towards the very top of the national rankings.
Multi-terrain races
On Sunday (June 8th) the Harriers had a clean sweep of the significant positions and prizes amongst the men at the Ninesprings 9k race. In a field of 159 runners tackling the two lap multi-terrain circuit taking in some great parkland terrain close to Yeovil, Nathan Young blasted away to record a victory in 32.32, followed in by one of the Harrier’s top veteran runners Jon James in 2nd place, 1st V40, in 35.12, and with Kieran Young 3rd in 35.43. Damien Pick finished ahead of 1st V50 man Graham Goldsmid in 13th and 14th positions, 39.33 and 40.10, with Justin Thomas next man in for the Harriers in 22nd, 41.32, and Paul Chadwick 28th in 44.17. Simon Carr came home in 42nd place, 47.17, with Pete Wright 55th in 49.17, and Cath Goldsmid for the Harrier women in 74th place, 52.19. The race was also the 8th race in the year-long Somerset Race Series sponsored by M5 Glass.
In the accompanying 2km race, Connie Little was first home for the girls in 8.10, 3rd overall, with William Carr 5th overall in 8.21, Georgia Rogers 8th in 8.48, Piran Little 9th in 8.57 and Amy Barlow 10th in 9.10. James Carr was 17th in 9.46.
The preceding Wednesday, June 4th, saw 126 runners contest the 7th race in the Somerset Series at Tintinhull. On a multi-terrain circuit around the village in wet conditions, Kieran Young ran away from the chasing pack within the first mile to be first home in 36.36 for the Tin Tin ten over 10km. Philip Bridge was 2nd in 38.10, and then Graham Goldsmid 12th in 42.39. Justin Thomas was 15th in 43.13, with Paul Chadwick 28th in 45.39. Carol Buckland was 64th in 52.44, just ahead of Cath Goldsmid 65th in 52.44. Those who raced at both the Tin Tin ten and the Ninesprings events this week will have done their Series standings a big boost. More details about the Series at http://www.somersetseries.co.uk/
Track & Field round up
On Saturday (June 7th) at the British League Division 4 match a number of the Harrier trained athletes again bolstered the joint Yeovil and Wells team when it competed at Mile End track in London. The team was 2nd overall on the day behind Bournemouth AC, and retain their 1st place in the League with two more fixtures to go. Notable performances by Harriers include Sam Harding in the 400m and 5000m in 52.86 and 19.11 respectively and Harry Lane’s win in the 1500m B race in 4.08. There was also some excellent point-scoring by Simon Prior in the 3000m steeplechase, and in the Hammer.
Meanwhile, in search of fast times and personal bests, a squad of Harriers went to the BMC (British Milers Club) meeting at Milton Keynes on the same day. U20 Emily Smith ran a new pb of 5.04 for the 1500m steeplechase and goes to 4th on the current national rankings; whilst u17 Sam Sommerville, from our partner Club at Yeovil, ran a new pb of 4.24 for the same event and goes to 2nd on the national rankings. This augurs well for a potential podium place for both at the English Schools Championships next month.
U20 Matt Dickinson achieved a personal best when winning the 3000m in 8.44. Oliver Fox ran 9.13; and Luke Prior ran a 9.16 pb in the same race. Max Travers ran a 4.10pb in the 1500m and it was another pb for Ollie Thorner over the same distance in 4.52. Finally, Elise Thorner won her 800m race in 2.22, also a pb.
On Wednesday June 4th, Somerset Schools held their Championships for the Year 7 and Year 8 pupils and there was some great performances by junior Harriers. Elena Sidman ran 5.02 to win the 1500 race for Year 7s and broke the Championship record. Luke Macpherson won the boys 800m race in 2.27, with Ben Hoskings in 6th place in 2.43. Ben also jumped 3.41m in the long jump.
In the older year group, Year 8 Elise Thorner dead-heated for 1st place in the 800m with a 2.31 clocking, and was 3rd in the High jump with a 1.30m clearance. New member Sophie Hamilton also broke the Championship record for the girl's Year 8 1500m race with her 4.48, whilst Flora Hartz was 6th in 5.59. For the boys Ollie Thorner won the 800m in 2.24 with Kieran Ensor 3rd in 2.32. Dylan Dukes won the 1500m in 4.56 with Kieran Reeves 2nd in 5.01and Will Pate 7th in 5.34. Ollie Thorner was 3rd in the High Jump with 1.46m whilst Will Pate was also 7th in the Long Jump with 3.57m, and Dylan Dukes was 7th in the javelin with 21.14m.
Good luck to all the Harrier trained juniors (& others) who are taking part this coming Saturday at the Somerset Schools Track and field Championships for Year 9s and above at Yeovil Arena.
Have we missed any performances this week? The Harriers need a volunteer to take on the co-ordination of reporting of events/ matches and individual performances on a weekly basis for both the website and the local newspaper. For a copy of the job description(!) contact Paul. We also need a number of contributors of words and photos to that individual - if you don't tell her/him then your performance won't get reported.