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Wow, what an exciting month May's been at the McDonald's Boys, Northern Men's League and the Lancashire Championships at Lancaster.
Firstly, McDonald's Boys at Grimsby on April 30th. We took a good squad of lads and won the match easily with 294 points - 59 more than closest rivals, Stockport. We clocked 23 victories, 8 Seconds and 6 Thirds to record an emphatic victory over teams from Manchester, Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, Longwood and Horwich. Congratulations to everyone who competed and I think they all deserve a mention, so here goes:
Stephen Chilvers 3rd Long Jump and 100m - Martin Wall, 2nd 800m & Long Jump, 3rd 100m - Stuart McGregor, 1st 800m, 4th Shot - Simon Woods, 1st 100m, 2nd 200m, 3rd Long Jump - Simon Wrigley 1st 200m & javelin, 2nd 100m - Chris Whalley, 1st Javelin, 2nd 800m, 5th 400m - Mark Hartley, 2nd 1500m, 3rd High Jump, 4th 800m - Kevin Smith, 1st 3000m & Discus, 2nd 1500m - Tony Townson, 1st 3000 - Chris Roberts, 2nd Long Jump - Simon Bissell, 1st Discus, Hammer & Shot - Colin Bailey, 1st 100m Hurdles, High Jump and Pole Vault - Peter Thompson, 1st 100m Hurdles, Long Jump & Javelin - Owen Woodward, 1st Long Jump, Triple Jump & High Jump - Phil Gledhill, 1st Discus, Javelin & Hammer - Jonathan Clayton, 1st Discus & Hammer, 2nd Shot.
To put the finishing touch to the match, the U15 Boys ran an outstanding relay to win the race, so well done Simon Wrigley, Simon Bissell, Mark Hartley and Simon Woods - keep it up for the rest of the season! Well done also to Simon Bissell for taking the "Athlete of the Match" award for 3 grade 1 performances.
On may 6th, Burnley AC Northern men's Team, not to be outdone by the successes of the young athletes, overcame strong opposition at Leeds in their first League match to win by 9 points. Outstanding commitment and endeavour were shown by Michael Fanshaw, who competed in no less than 5 events and also ran the 100m and 400m relays. Colin Bailey put in another powerfully consistent performance with three firsts in the 400m Hurdles, High Jump and Pole Vault, whilst brother David Bailey took 2nd and 3rd places to gain valuable points. Peter Thompson, another U17 athlete recently joining the Northern Men's team won Javelin and 110m Hurdles and took a 3rd place in Long Jump. Phil Gledhill (U17, also his first time for Northern Men's) took a commendable 2nd place in the Discus. Ever dependable John Linaker picked up two 3rds and two 4ths, also running in the 400m relay at the finish. Middle distance runners and steeple chasers battled through the very hot and tiring afternoon and all gained valuable points to gain this rewarding victory.
Mention must be made to the efforts of the track and field officials travelling with the team, they also get points for the team, and with the match being so tight, it could have been touch and go had it not been for David Goodwin, Joanne Walker and Kirsty, who stepped in to help with field judging at the last minute. Thank you.
Well done to all the team members, including Mike Linaker, John Edwards, Jack Windle, Shaun Windle, John Docker, J Walsh, L Jones, K Smith. If I've missed anyone out I apologise.
And then there were the Lancashire Championships at Lancaster. We only had a handful of athletes taking part but, did they make their mark!! Our 'big lad' Simon Bissell, who, because of lack of entrants at his own age group (U15), had to compete at U17 in both Discus and hammer. He rose to the occasion, demolishing everyone with a series of tremendous throws in Shot, Discus and Hammer to finish with three Gold medals, attaining Championship Best Performances of 46.77m in the U17 Hammer and 13.78m in the U15 Shot Putt. 42.69m in the U17 Discuss was a new PB with the 1.5kg and the 5kg hammer. Colin Bailey, who at last broke that 1.90m barrier in the U17 High Jump and took the Silver medal with a 1.91m PB. Colin followed that with a seemingly effortless 110m Hurdles, finishing with a Championship Best Performance of 15.0 seconds and a Gold medal.
Owen Woodward, another U17, followed Colin in th High Jump with a PB of 1.75m to take the Bronze medal. Owen went on to take the Gold medal in the Triple Jump with a PB of 12.89m. Mark Hartley ran a PB of 4:38.0 to take the Bronze medal. For Mark in his first year at U15, this was a pleasing effort and bodes well for the future. Our veteran John Edwards had a grand day out, something he seems to have been doing for centuries!! He thoroughly enjoyed the company of the Senior men in the Hammer and chased to within 20cm of the eventual winner to take a well earned Bronze medal and a triumphant moment on the rostrum. The last person to mention, but far from least, was our little Danielle Walker. 11 year old Danielle competed in the U13 1500m and ran an outstanding 5:10.0 sec to take the Silver medal and a PB. Altogether a marvellous weekend for Burnley AC, with the knowledge that we could have taken more athletes and competed for even more medals.
Congratulations to Peter and Karen Bissell for passing their Grade 4 Field Official examinations in May. we need more officials, so parents, if you are interested, please get in touch with a committee member and make yourself available to help out at any meetings you attend.
One last word: can athletes and coaches try to make themselves available the week before a meeting for Northern Men's or McDonald's event so that any problems with regard to injuries, transport, who/where competing can be sorted out prior to the event. If you have any queries, give Sue Ingham a ring.
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