Harriers Hit the Ground Running in Premier League Opener

Upper YDL Match 1 - April 2026

YDL season started again recently with our Upper team opening this year’s Premier League campaign in Blackburn.  This will be our third consecutive year in the Premier League, and we are going all out to stay there!

Some fantastic results for the opening match that we hope to build on during the next two fixtures.

Here is a round-up of the results:

U20 Men

Sprints and hurdles

New, second-claim member Joel Watson ran 12.7s for 6th in the 100m, whilst Owen Baron took on the sprint hurdles equalling his PB for 2nd (17.3s) in the 110m race and finishing in 2nd place in the 400mh (61.4s).

 Distance

Second-claim member Alfie Blizzard stepped up to the U20 age group to come 4th in the 800m in a time of 2:10.6.

 Jumps

Joel took on all of the jumps - long (5.63m - 2nd place), high (1.60m - 1st place B) and triple jump (11.18m - 3rd place) - whilst Owen jumped 1.65m for 2nd place as the A high jumper.

 Throws

Carrying an injury (but taking one for the team), multi eventer Corey Middleton came 3rd in shot (9.18m - PB) and 2nd in discus (25.28m), whilst Owen won the B discus competition with 18.99m (PB).  Second-claim athlete Fred Savage threw an impressive 46.27m to place 2nd in the javelin.

 Relay:

4x100m - Thomas Darbyshire, Joshua Roberts, Corey Middleton, Alfie Walsh - 2nd (46.8s)

 Third place overall for our U20 men.

 U20 Women

Sprints

Holly Capstick and Grace Winrow took on the short sprints. Holly ran 12.5s for 2nd in the 100m A race and Grace ran 13.1s (PB) for 4th as the B.  Holly then came 3rd in the 200m (25.9s) with Grace 4th as the B runner (27.9s).  Multi-eventer Gracie Scott finished 3rd in the 400m (63.2s) with Isobel Dyson winning the B race (64.4s).

Distance

U18 Holly Nicholls stepped up to the U20 800m race, finishing 3rd in a time of 02:34.2 (PB).

 Jumps

Amy Hewitt dominated in the jumps, finishing in 1st place high (1.54m) and triple (10.38m) and 2nd place in long (5.31m), whilst Claudia Berry won the pole vault (3.05m).

 Throws

A clear win for Yasmin Baker clearly in the shot competition with a 13.10m putt, also finishing 4th in the discus (25.70m).  Amy Hewitt won the B discus with her only throw of 20.52m - whilst multi-tasking with the high jump. In the javelin, Gracie Scott threw a 31.77m PB for 2nd.

 Relay

4x100m - Isobel Dyson, Grace Winrow, Amy Hewitt, Holly Capstick - 2nd (51.5s).

The U20 women's relay managed to provide the entertainment for the day.  Whilst a great race by all four runners, the final change-over was priceless.  Amy (not realising how fast she was moving (apparently)) steamed into Holly with little warning, managed the change-over whilst impressively diving (and rolling) in a true Independence Day style, out of the way of impeding the other teams and avoiding disqualification - but also doing this directly in front of the Wigan supporters providing fantastic entertainment.  I have a feeling that this video may re-surface later in the year 😉.

Well done girls on finishing first in your category!

U18 Boys

Sprints and Hurdles

Second claim sprinter Ethan Harvey finished 4th in the 100m with an 11.4s PB, whilst Alfie Walsh won the B race (11.9s).  In the 400m it was second claim athlete Thomas Darbyshire finishing in 4th with 53.3s.  Josh Roberts finished 2nd in the 400m hurdles with 68.7s.

 Distance

Will Ashcroft and Dylan Gough ran the 800m finishing in 02:06.6 (7th A) and 02:04.7 (3rd B) respectively. Second claim Jack Broadhurst finished 7th in the 1500m (04:34.5).

Jumps

Alfie Walsh took 3rd place in both long and triple jump (5.87m and 10.19m), with Josh Roberts 3rd B in the long jump (4.19m).  Will Ashcroft took on the high jump to help the team and finished 5th (1.45m).

 Throws

Thomas Darbyshire came 6th in the javelin (26.20m) whilst running between that and the U20 relay.

 Relay

4x400m - Dylan Gough, Will Ashcroft, Jack Broadhurst, Alfie Blizzard - 6th (03:47.2)

 7th place overall for our U18 boys.

 U18 Girls

Sprints

It was great to see our-Emma (Pimblett) back with Team Wigan taking on the sprints alongside Kady Hall.  Both girls finished in 2nd place in the 100m (Emma, 12.3s, A - Kady, 13.0s B).  They also both finished 2nd in the 200m (Emma, 25.4s, Kady 27.0s).  Well done girls!

 Ellie Barker dipped under 60s in the 400m for 2nd (59.7s) with Olivia Berry (returning from injury) 4th in the B race (64.8s). Great runs from both.

 Distance

Second claimer Sarah Ashcroft came 3rd in the 800m (02:37.1), with Esme Harris 4th B (02:44.9).  Then huge PB's in the 1500m for second claimer Elizabeth Lees (04:59.7 - 2nd) and Katie Bonner (05:26.0 - 3rd B) - fantastic results!

 Jumps

It was 2nd place in the long jump for second claim athlete Thia Grice-Chiula (5.20m), whilst Lauren Hewitt won the triple jump (10.09m).  In the high jump Kady Hall and Lauren both cleared 1.40m for 3rd and 1st B respectively.

 Emily Wilson vaulted 2.90m for 2nd place in the pole vault, with Holly Nicholls winning the B (2.00m).

 Throws

A huge PB for Thia Grice-Chiula in the shot (11.57m) for 3rd, with Lauren Hewitt 2nd as the B (9.24m).  Ellie Barker PB'd in hammer for 4th place (26.77m), whilst also taking 4th place in the javelin (18.90m).

 Relays

4x100m - Sarah Ashcroft, Kady Hall, Lauren Hewitt, Emma Pimblett - 2nd (52.6s)

4x400m - Sarah Ashcroft, Katie Bonner, Ellie Barker, Holly Nicholls - 2nd (04:25.6)

 2nd place overall for our U18 girls - well done!

And finally………

Further entertainment came at the end of the day when Claire Hewitt and Sarah Scott attempted to pack up the pop-up tent.  Shouts of "kebab it.  You need to kebab it…." had our parents in fits of laughter.  Never a dull moment with Team Wigan.

 We are extremely pleased to report that after the first fixture; Wigan finished in 3rd place - keeping our Premier League campaign well and truly alive.  This is all down to you the athletes, your parents for supporting you and getting you to the fixtures and those helping out on the day (coaches, officials and helpers).  Thank you all.

 Two more fixtures to go - let's do all we can to keep Wigan at the top.

John Hewitt - Team Manager YDL