There were a number of fine performances by HHS athletes at the Cardiff half marathon despite the poor weather conditions. The senior men continued their fine form from the cross country season with three men in the top twenty.

Steve Bayton, using the race as preparation for the Manchester marathon, was 15th with a new pb of 1:08:27. Andy Challenger improved his pb to 1:08:35 in 18th. Rob Little improved his pb by a minute to finish 19th in 1:08:45.

Dave Archer was 44th in 1:12:06 with Ben Beattie 46th in 1:12:40 and Zak Mellard 82nd in 1:14:24.

Nicola Squires had a strong race despite the hard conditions and was 6th in the women’s race and 210th overall in 1:19:10.

Saturday 30 January 2016

The Northern Cross Country Championships at Witton Park, Blackburn was another memorable day for Hallamshire. The demanding course was made even more challenging by clawing mud, driving sleet, snow, hail and strong winds. It proved to be a real test of running ability, character and courage.

The Senior Women provided one of the performances of the day to regain the Northern title. Hatti Archer led the team brilliantly on her return with a fine 6th place in 31:24. Lizzie Adams, also making a welcome return after a long lay off, battled her way to 18th in 32:57. Zanthe Wray made another set forward to finish a fine 20th in 33:08 with Hannah Fletcher also having her best ever run at the Northerns finishing 26th in 33:36. Hannah Whitelam continued her improvement taking 74th in 37:29 with Rachel Poole battling through to 184th in 42:44.

The Senior Men also produced a fine performance to claim the bronze medal in the team competition and within 4 points of denying Leeds the silver medal. Steve Bayton followed his fine run at the Yorkshires with an excellent 9th place in 45:02. Bertie Houghton worked his way through the field for a fine 17th in 45:33. Rob Little looked very strong in taking 19th in 45:38 with Dave Archer showing great strength to finish 28th in 46:32. Andy Challenger overcame his dislike of cross country to make a crucial contribution in 45th in 47:54 and Pete Hodges continued his fine form to take 65th in 49:05 to clinch the bronze medal. Nic Barber and Neil Northrop used their felling running experience to finish 87th (50:21) and 93rd (50:31) respectively. Ben Beattie was 104th in 50:53 with Mike Sprot 203rd in 55:21 and Paul Faulkner 373rd in 1:02:01.

Connor Milnes, despite a cold and with the testing conditions ran well in the U20M race to finish 14th in 28:47 with Josh Walton also running well to take 42nd in 31:12.

In the U20W race, Charlotte Slack had her best run ever in the Northerns to finish 17th in 24:44 with Ellie Crownshaw using her fell running strength to take 27th in 26:22.

Cameron Bell produced one of the outstanding individual performances in the U17M race to claim the bronze medal. In a breakaway group of 3 on the opening lap, Cameron held on well to take 3rd in 19:42. Jack Crownshaw ran well to finish 55th in 22:34 and Jack Wells had his best run of the winter in 64th in 23:00.

In the U17W race, Mary McCarthy ran very well to take 7th in 19:29. Imani Wilson continued her return to fitness with a good run to finish 25th in 20:30. Caitlin Tevendale, despite being unwell, dealt well with the difficult conditions to finish 58th in 22:07.

David Lewis produced a strong run to lead home the HHS athletes in finishing 76th in 16:40. Victor Baycroft battled through finishing 89th in 16:53.

In the U15G race, Eve Crownshaw showed her strength on the fells to finish 15th in 17:53. Saskia Huxham and Laura Trask both ran very well to finish 21st (18:07) and 23rd (18:09) respectively.

Jodie Hill produced another outstanding performance to claim the individual bronze medal and lead the team home to gold and the Northern Athletics title. Jodie was 2nd coming off the top of the hill only to be caught in the thick mud on the run in, finishing 3rd in 13:51. Zena Hartley had another impressive run to finish 17th in 14:36. Maggie Naylor came 40th in 15:08 and May Quinn continued her fine form finishing 47th in 15:20, all helping the team to Gold. Holly Booker had an excellent run taking 49th in 15:21. Mo Martin had a strong run to finish 56th in 15:27 and Katie Adams was 71st in a time of 15:41. Tati Wilson, despite difficultly breathing in the difficult conditions, battled through to 73rd in 15:44 with Lois Blake showing great courage to finish 95th in 16:07. Lauren Chambers finished 152nd in her first ever Northern Championships in 17:09 and Jenna Hazard came 174th in 17:58.

In a high quality U13B race, Taylor Hill produced another of the outstanding individual performances of the day to finish 4th in 12:49, narrowly failing to close the gap on 2nd and 3rd on the final run in. Tom Atkinson gained valuable experience in his first Northern championships and showed great character to finish 188th in 16:34.

Many thanks to Tina Wilson, Hannah Whitelam and Dave Archer for their work as team managers to get out so many athletes and help produce such a memorable day.

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Hallamshire again had a great turn out in the Sheffield Indoor Festival of Athletics, across all the events in each age group.

In the 60m, Joseph Jefferies (SenM) came first in his race with a time of 8:08. For the Under 20 Women, Jessica Smith won her race in 8:37, Helena Felle came 3rd in her race in a time of 8:96 and Charlotte Mather finished 4th in her race in a time of 8:99. For the Under 20 Men, Keenan Smith again had a good run finishing 2nd, being the youngest in his race and only just missing out on first place in a time of 7:47.

For the Under 17 Women, Gabby Craft finished 6th in her race in 8:30, Alicia Littlejohn came 5th in her race running a seasons best in 8:71. Millie Glossop also ran a personal best finishing 6th in a time of 9:51. The Under 17 Men also kept up the great performances, with Morgan Francis-Lewis winning his race with a personal best of 7:56, Ben Kelly finished 3rd in the same race as Morgan in a time of 7:68. Ryan Selman also produced a personal best finishing 6th in 8:46.

In the Under 15 Girls, Acacia Williams-Hewitt got them off to a good start by winning her race and getting a personal best with 8:30. Lucy Revitt came 2nd behind Acacia with a seasons best on 8:39. Freya Sedgewick came 5th in her race in 8:96 and Lauren Foletti finished 3rd in her race in 9:08.

In the Under 13s, Aimee Asaba finished 5th in 9:41 and Isobel Tupholme came 6th in 9:75. For the Boys, Nathanial Dyas came 1st in his race in a time of 9:18, Sam Kelly came 2nd in 9:48 and Luke Baxter came 4th in 9:70.

In the 200m, Charlotte Mather finished 2nd in her race with a seasons best of 30:39 and Helena Felle came 4th also with a seasons best of 31:43. For the Under 20 men, Keenen Smith came 5th in his race with a time of 24:25. Harriet Simpson got the Under 17s off to a good start, finishing 1st with a personal best of 27:62. Ayman El-Amrani finished 2nd also with a personal best of 24:49 and Morgan Francis-Lewis came 6th in his race with a seasons best of 24:65. Ryan Selman finished 3rd in 27:55 which is also another personal best. In the Under 15 girls, Acacia Williams-Hewitt got a personal best coming 1st in 26:43. Lucy Revitt finished 4th with a seasons best of 27:02, Elle Koziupa also got a personal best coming 2nd with a time of 28:30 and Freya Sedgewick finished 3rd in 30:04. Some good performances from the Under 13s aswell, with Erin Lobley coming 2nd with a personal best of 28:55, Aimee Asaba finished 5th in 30:69 and Isobel Tupholme came 3rd with a personal best of 32:04. Nathaniel Dyas came 2nd in 29:79, Dulcie Bristow (U11G) came 1st in 32:02 and Cosmo Johnson (U11B) finished 1st in 31:44, both running personal bests.

In the 400m, Stephan Fleming finished 3rd with a personal best of 62:67.

In the 800m, Joseph Hutchesson finished 6th in 2:06:78, Tilly Simpson came 1st in 2:08:68 and Leo Cossham finished 1st with a personal best of 2:13:67.  Stephan Fleming finished 4th also with a personal best of 2:29:91. Alex Durant came 2nd in 2:26:44. Ruby Simpson finished 2nd in her race with a personal best of 2:29:46, Emma Shipley and Claudia Turnell also ran a personal bests coming 3rd and 4th in 2:33:91 and 2:40:96. Summer Ludlam finished 5th with a seasons best of 2:45:13, Megan Weaver came 6th with a personal best of 2:49:89. Luke Baxter came 4th in his race also with PB of 2:49:59, Kiera Eales-Smith finished 2nd with a seasons best of 2:46:49. Bobbie Waugh came 5th in 3:02:15, Maddie Cundy finished 6th with a PB of 3:03:87 and Cosmo Johnson came 1st with a PB of 2:41:22.

In the 1500m, Tom Bains ran a seasons best finishing 3rd in 4:03:78 and Morgan Grayson (U13B) finished 2nd with a PB of 5:44:98.

Oscar Bryce (U20M) had a seasons best in the Long Jump coming 3rd with 5.36m. Ryan Selman (U17M) came 2nd with a PB of 4.63m, Lucy Revitt (U15G) came 2nd with 4.54m and Nicole Hague came 5th with a PB of 4.48m. Erin Lobley came 3rd with a jump of 4.21m, Aimee Asaba came 7th with a PB of 3.97m and Isobel Tupholme came 17th with 3.25m. Cosmo Johnson came 1st with a jump of 3.35m.

In the High Jump, Thomas Hughes (U20M) jumped 1.85m, Ayman El-Amrani (U17M) came 2nd with a seasons best of 1.80m and Jack Holland (U17M) came 3rd with a PB of 1.65m. Leo Cossham (U17M) came 4th also with a PB with a Jump of 1.55m and Erin Lobley came 3rd with a PB of 1.30m.

Thomas Hughes came 3rd in the Shot Putt with a PB of 8.35m. Alicia Littlejohn (U17W) came 7th with a seasons best of 7.41m, Harriet Simpson came 8th with a PB of 6.39m and Millie Glossop came 9th also with a seasons best of 5.75m. Acacia Williams-Hewitt came 3rd with a throw of 8.36m and Nicole Hague came 8th with 7.37m.

A good turn out of U17 and U20 Hallamshires over a range of events at the weekend. In the Under 17 Men, Reece Allen finished 6th in the 1500m final in a time of 4:40:10. Ryan Selman was in Heat 1 of the 200m and finished 5th in 28:03. In the Under 17 Men’s 60m race, Ben Kelly finished 3rd in Heat 3 in a time of 7.70, qualifying for the semi-finals, where he finished 8th in a time of 7.68. Ryan Selman finished 6th in Heat 1 of the 60m in 8.59. In the U17 men High Jump, Jack Holland came 6th jumping 1.60m. In the Long Jump, Ryan Selman finished 9th with a jump of 4.19m.

In the Under 17 Woman, Amelia Finn finished 8th in her heat in 9.53. Harriot Simpson finished 6th in her heat in a time of 8.67 and Gabby Craft finished 3rd in her heat in 8.24, qualifying for the semi-final where she finished 5th in 8.31. In the 60m Hurdles, Gabby Craft made the final after finishing 3rd in Heat 2 in 9.61 and she finished 9th in the final in a time of 9.63. In the U17 Women’s 800m, Tilly Simpson finished 1st in Heat 1 in a time of 2.13.90. In the final, Tilly had a great race to finish 1st with a Championship Record of 2.06.67. In the Under 17 women Shot Putt, Mollie Crump finished 7th with a throw of 9.91.

In the Under 20 Men 200m, Keenen Smith finished 4th in 24.08, qualifying for the semi-finals where he finished 5th in Heat 1 in 24.37. In the 60m, Keenen Smith finished 6th in heat 5 in a time of 7.51. In the High Jump, James Lee finished 4th jumping 1.85m and Thomas Hughes finished 6th also with a jump pf 1.85m. In the Long Jump, Thomas Hughes finished 4th with a jump of 6.04m. Oscar Bryce finished 4th in the U20 Men’s Shot Putt throwing a distance of 11.54m.