Wigan Harriers enter the Upper YDL Premier League and make their mark!

Wavertree was the setting for Wigan’s step up into the Premier League (a decade after last competing in the top division), and what better time to debut our new flag (we’ve gone big).

Wigan Harriers entered the competition like they meant business and this resulted in a 4th place finish of 6 teams.  Not a bad start!

Here is a full breakdown of performances:

U20 Men

Sprints and hurdles

Stand out performances went to Corey Middleton who has recently made the move over to join Wigan.  Corey secured the English School’s standard in the 400m hurdles (56.52), plus the standard for the 110m hurdles (chipping away at his PB) 15.32.  Owen Baron won the 400mh B race in 59.04 and took third place in the 400m sprint in 52.27.

It was sixth place for Phoenix Oliver in the 100m (12.55) PB and fifth place for Josh Roberts (U17) in the B race in the same time.  Higher claim athlete Ethan Harvey (U17) took fifth in the 200m (23.58) with Phoenix finishing sixth as the B runner (26.13)

Distance

Our only distance runner on the day was U17 Sami Manir Jolley who came third in the 1500m, just outside of his PB (04.11).

Jumps

It was third place finishes for our jumpers, with Owen jumping 1.60m in the high jump and Corey vaulting 3m in the pole vault.

Throws

Higher claim athlete Jake Sands secured some valuable points in the throws finishing second in the shot (8.39m), third in the discus (24.17m) and second in hammer (25.94m).  Phoenix also tried his hand at discus, winning the B competition with 17.54m.  Multi eventer Corey threw a 31.94m javelin for fifth.

Relay

4x400m Mixed – Owen Baron, Ethan Harvey, Amy Hewitt, Isobel Dyson – 3rd (03:57)

U20 Women

It was welcome to Millie Turner who has recently joined us from Blackpool, and what an entrance she made.  Carrying an injury, but still keen to help the team Millie tried her hand at hammer.  I was fully assured that she had done some training for this in the past.  Unfortunately Millie seemed to forget all technique and quickly realised that hammer wasn’t for her.  Later in the day she also proceeded to fall off a chair down the embankment and trip over the flag!  Welcome Millie!!!!

Standout performances in the U20 women were for higher claim athlete Imogen Wharton who broke the club record for the 1500m steeplechase (05:28), just outside of her PB, and Holly Capstick jumping a huge PB in the long jump (5.26m).  Respect also to Amy Hewitt who, following a frustratingly long return from injury, maxed herself out in events and gave her all for the team (although still returning to full fitness). 

  Sprints and hurdles

  It was second place for Holly Capstick in the 100m (12.92), and also for Grace Winrow in the B race (13.57), whilst Holly won the 200m (26.89), with Grace finishing in third (28.47).  Isobel Dyson ran 64.27 for sixth in the 400m.

Aimee Glenn debuted in the 100m and 400m hurdles, finishing third (19.94) and fourth (84.24) respectively. 

Distance

Higher claim athlete Hannah Hull ran 02:22 to finish fourth in the 800m, whilst fellow higher claim athlete Imogen Wharton finished second in the 1500m s/c (05:28).

Jumps

Multi eventer Amy Hewitt won the long jump in 5.46m, with Holly Capstick winning the B competition (5.26m).  Amy also came second in the high jump with 1.45m, but had to withdraw early to compete in the javelin competition.  Halle Walsh came fourth in the triple jump competition (which also clashed with the relays) jumping 9.64m, and pole- vaulter Claudia Berry vaulted 3.20m to win her competition.

Throws

Our star shot putter Yasmin Baker won her competition with a season’s best of 12.54m, with Millie Turner coming second in the B competition with 7.48m.  Amy Hewitt came second in her new favourite event the discus with a PB throw of 24.85m with Yas winning the B competition with 23.08m.

Amy won the javelin with a 28.35m throw, before retiring early to run in the relay.  Yas won the B competition with 26.99m.  Yas also came third in the hammer with 20.77m.

Relay

4x100m – Grace Winrow, Halle Walsh, Aimee Glenn, Holly Capstick – 1st place (51.20)

U17 Men

Standout performance for the U17 men was the 4x100m relay team breaking the club record that was previously set in 2017, finishing in first place with 46.49.  Huge well done to Joshua Roberts, Thomas Darbyshire (higher claim), Matthew Hayton and Ethan Harvey (higher claim)!!!

Sprints

It was Thomas Darbyshire and Matthew Hayton taking on the 100 and 200m races.  Thomas came fourth in the 100m (12.10) with Matthew third in the B race (12.02), then Matthew placed sixth in the 200m (25.27) with Thomas second as the B runner (24.60).

Ethan Harvey ran a PB of 52.83 for third in the 400m, with Josh Roberts placing fifth in the B race 56.46 (also a PB).

Distance

It was PBs in the 800m for Will Ashcroft and Alexander Glenn (Will 02:07 for third and Alexander 02:09 for third as the B).  Dylan Gough made his 1500m steeplechase debut running 05:03 for second place.

Jumps

Josh Roberts jumped a fantastic PB in the long jump for third place (5.47m), with Will Ashcroft also jumping a PB for fourth in the B competition (4.16m).  In the high jump it was third for Thomas Darbyshire (1.55m) and fourth for Will (1.45m) as the B.  Fairly new to the triple jump, Matthew Hayton came fourth with 9.58m (PB).

Throws

Isaac Wright was our thrower for the day, placing third in the shot (11.10m), third in the discus (34.90m) and sixth in the javelin (19.10m).

Relay

4x100m – Joshua Roberts, Thomas Darbyshire, Matthew Hayton, Ethan Harvey – 1st (46.49).

U17 Girls

Performances of the day came from Holly Nicholls who broke the 1500m steeplechase club record that was set last year by 0.5 second (06:32:06)!  Also, our hurdle queen Lauren Hewitt knocked half a second off her 80m hurdles PB after only her second time over the distance and against some very tough competition.  Plus, Emma Pimblett won both of her sprint races (we can always rely on Emma)!

Sprints and hurdles

In the 100m sprint, Emma Pimblett won the A race (12.50) with Kady Hall finishing her race like a warrior despite suffering an injury part way into the race (fourth place, 15.00).  Get well soon Kady!  Emma also won the 200m (25.89), with Emily Wilson stepping in to cover injury as the B runner (great team spirit Emily) and finishing sixth in 30.24.

Great runs by our two higher claim athletes Ellie Barker and Tallie Sze in the 300m with Ellie finishing third (42.08) and Tallie second (B) in 43.20 (PB).

In the 80m hurdles, Lauren came third to two top five UK ranked athletes, knocking half a second off her previous PB (12.66) and still getting used to the new distance.  Lucy Stretton took on the 300m hurdles and finished fifth with 60.11.

Distance

Higher claim athlete Sarah Ashcroft ran just outside of her PB in the 800m for a great third place finish (02:24), whilst Nour Kholeif finished fourth in the B race (02:45).  Emily Kinsey (higher claim) finished fourth in the 1500m (also just outside of her PB) in 05:04:25, whilst Katie Bonner was also fourth in the B race (05:31:70).  Holly Nicholls debuted in the 1500m steeplechase and broke the club record, finishing in second place with 06:32:06!  Well done Holly.

Jumps

Tallie Sze placed second in the long jump with a 5m jump, whilst multi eventer Lauren Hewitt finished second in the high jump (1.45m) before retiring early to run her relay.  Emily Wilson again stepped in as the B jumper finishing second with 1.30m.  In the triple jump, Emma Pimblett came second with 10.72m, with Nour also in second (B) with 8.14m.  Finally pole vaulter Emily Wilson finished second with a vault of 2.75m, and unfortunately Holly Nicholls failed to secure a height (B) with the starting height equalling her PB (it was literally a tall challenge)!

Throws

Lauren Hewitt came third in the shot with 10.41m (meeting the standard for a further three throws but facing yet another event clash), whilst thrower Ava Wareing picked up points across the discus (fifth place, 12.87m), hammer (fifth place, 18.78m) and javelin (fifth place, 20.87m).

Relays

4x100m – Lucy Stretton, Lauren Hewitt, Emily Wilson, Emma Pimblett – 4th (53:94)

4x300m – Nour Kholeif, Katie Bonner, Tallie Sze, Ellie Barker – 5th (03:04:09).

Finally

Amazing results everyone!  Wigan have arrived in the Premier league, and we plan to stay there!!!! 

Huge thanks to our fantastic officials (including our friends at Warrington) for a world record breaking triple jump competition (over two hours)!  Also, thanks to parents for your support.

On a final note – the “best sunburn” competition went to Amy Hewitt (ouch).  I need to have a word with her about SPF!

John Hewitt – Team Manager