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News reports - May 2024

27th May 2024: Club Records set at Northern Inter Counties and Stretford

Its an irritating feature of the Northern Athletics Inter Counties match that counties are not required to submit a team sheet in advance of the meeting. It should follow a day or so afterwards but, as I write, results are still unavailable for the Inter Counties match on 27th May at the Stanley Park Arena, Blackpool. It is also annoying that Northern Athletics cannot publish interim results showing the names they have and not delay the whole process because, one week on, two counties have still to inform their athletes. So I'm not able to fully report how the Southport Waterloo athletes selected to represent Merseyside fared in this highly competitive Northern Track & Field match. What I can report, however, is that Caleb Still ran in the Under 15 Boys' 800m. He finished 3rd in the race, the first two running a stunning 1:57, but Caleb too ran a great time of 1:59.17; his first sub 2 minute time and a new U15B club record. Moreover, I think  it raises Caleb from about 11th to 4th in the UK rankings so far this year.  Will Rothwell was also at Blackpool, running in the 400m where the Merseyside runner recorded 55.64.  Sydney Monahan Clarkson ran the 3000m in her county vest, I think in 11:37.12, and was Lily Zajitschek there too, competing in the Under 15 Girls' shot, possibly with a best of 7m 62.  Again, I think Luke ward was there running in the Under 17 Men's 800m in 2:01.  I do know he was at Stretford the following evening and ran 1:57.76 at the Trafford AC Grand Prix meeting.  That's within touching distance of the current club record! Also at Stretford - but on the same Bank Holiday Monday as the Northern Inter Counties event - was Will Delamere and he too was rewarded with a new club record time of 4:14.92 winning his 1500m race, a good  six seconds clear of Blackburn Harrier rival Jack Baranowski.  So why wasn't Will selected for the Blackpool Inter Counties?  Simply because the Inter Counties is a limited event competition, only for Under 15s and Under 17s and with some events alternating year on year.  For example, this year 1500m was only available for Under 17s. So we had two new middle distance club records set on the same day at different venues. Also at Stretford on the Monday, Phoebe Mangan ran 14.01 for 100m and 29.30 for 200m; Millie Milligan ran a PB 14.16 for 100m,  49.6 for 300m and her 3m 63 long jump was a new PB; Jake Edwards ran a PB 43.48 for 300m; and Lucy Delamere ran 4:08.67 for 1200m.  Later, from Inter Counties results, Jack Nelson competed for Merseyside in Blackpool in the long jump clearing 5m 03 and Matthew Nuttall, competing for Lancashire, put the shot 9m 50. Thanks to Graham Boreham for the photo reproduced here.

25th May 2024: Southport Waterloo wins M55 Masters' Road Relays for 2nd year running

Our MV55s continued their success story with another fine win at Mallory Park in Leicestershire in the British Masters' Road Relay championships. 62 Clubs entered 116 teams made up of 418 athletes for this year's championships. Readers will recall that the club won this event last year with Francois Rafferty, David Hamilton and Rob McGrath; and the same trio did it again on Saturday 25th May! On the famous motor racing circuit, Francois ran the first leg in 16:40 giving his team a commanding lead in reportedly windy conditions. David ran the 2nd leg in 16:43 and Rob brought the team home with a run of 17:53 for a total time of 51:26. They finished nearly a minute ahead of 2nd placed Aldershot Farnham & District, with Bristol and West 3rd. Aldershot's Mark Syme ran the fastest leg of 16:13. Francois' 16:40 was the 2nd fastest and David's 16:43 the 3rd fastest! An excellent club result and all three runners earn another mention in our Roll of Honour. Results have been delayed as names were not provided but will appear on RunBritainRankings in due course.

19th May 2024: Close finish for YDL (Lower) team at Leigh; New joint 150m club record

Round 2 of the YDL (Lower) for Under 13s and Under 15s was held at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday on probably the nicest day of the year so far; warm, sunny, no wind and by mid afternoon not a cloud in the sky. Perfect weather for track & field athletics. Round 1 wasn't a resounding success with a last place finish for Southport Waterloo but the team was optimistic of better things to come. Sale Harriers and Team Isle of Man - who brought about 40 athletes to Leigh - were again untouchable but elsewhere the competition was tighter. With officials points yet to be added, the scores were Sale 536 points, Isle of Man 457, Leigh 356.5, SWAC 356, Blackburn 353 and Wigan 319.5. So provisionally a good 4th place finish, 5th for the season so far, but we could drop a place when officials points are added. Remarkably, two U13 Boys - Lewis McIlroy and James McGrory - set a new 150m club record, previously held by Caleb Still, both recording the same time, one in today's 'A' race and one in the 'B'! We had I think 5 more athletes at this 2nd round fixture than at Trafford in April but we were still short of Under 13 Boys. Elsewhere, the team sheet looked good with a lot of competition for places amongst the squad of 13 Under 15 Girls! I counted no fewer than 36 equal or improved PBs on the day and 6 event wins by Lucy Delamere, Will Delamere, James McGrory, Liam Yates, Calib Still and our boys' 4 x 300m relay team. Our Under 13 Girls were Sophie Burns, Lucy Delamere, Alice Dobson, Eliza Dobson, Minnie McNally and Lauren Sinha. 5 of the 6 left with at least one new PB. Lucy was the most impressive, winning her 1200m race in 4:06.6 and running a PB 22.3 for 200m. Minnie ran 11.7 for 75m, a PB 23.2 for 200m and her best long jump of 2m 73 was another PB. Sophie's run of 11.5 for 75m gave her a PB and she ran her first 800m in 2:55.9, comfortably under 3 minutes. Finally, on the track, Alice was our sole hurdler running a Season's Best 12.7 for the 70m. In the Field events, Alice cleared 1m 20 for 2nd place in the high jump, a new PB, and another PB in the shot with a best put of 7m 74. Both Alice and sister Eliza impressed in this shot competition, with Eliza's best 6m 61; that's a 69 cm improvement for Alice and 86 cm improvement for Eliza who also recorded a new PB with a 12m 01 javelin throw. Finally, Lauren high jumped 1m 05 and long jumped 3m 12. Our Under 13 Boys were James McGrory, Lewis McIlroy, Stanley Stewart and Caden Walker. As reported above, both James and Lewis ran 20.1 in their 150m races, recording a new joint club record. Lewis was 2nd in the 'A' race and James won the 'B' race. James was again the run-away winner in the 1200m, clocking 3:40.1.and he put the shot 5m 12. Lewis also competed in three events, recording a PB in each of them. He was 2nd in the 800m in 2:29.7 and 3rd in the 75m in 10.5 to go with his 150m run. Caden won the 'B' 800m race in 4:12.3, taking 33 seconds off his previous best time. Stanley was competing for the club for the first time and produced good solid performances in three events. He ran 11.5 for 75m, 2:55.7 for 800m and was our only long jumper in this age group, with a best clearance of 3m 76. With 4 boys in the team we just managed a 4x100m relay team where the boys got the baton around safely in a very respectable 58.5 secs. Historically, our Under 15 Girls have regularly been our largest squad and with 13 it certainly was again today. They were Jessica Burns, Sienna Fortune, Olivia Johnson, Indie Latham, Phoebe Mangan, Millie Milligan, Lily Ryan, Amelia Tyrer, Charlotte Tyrer, Grace Veevers, Eve Willetts, Daisy Wong and Lilly Zajitschek. Virtually every sprint performance was a PB but no event wins as this young team develops athletically. Phoebe ran 14.0 and 27.9 for the short sprints, both PBs, Indie ran the 'B' 100m in a PB 14.4 with Eve the 'B' 200m runner in a PB 30.8 as well as running a non-scoring 100m in 15.8. Jessica equalled her PB of 47.7 finishing 4th in the 300m and Grace ran a PB 46.7 for her 'B' 300m race. Both girls earlier ran in their 800m races, Grace 3rd in the 'A' race in 2:26.9 and Jessica 2nd 'B' in 2:42.3. Both Daisy and Millie took advantage of a non-scoring 800m race, Daisy running a PB 2:43.0, an 8 secs improvement from last year, and Millie 2:55.9. More PBs were to follow in the 1500m and the Field events. Sienna took 3rd place in the 1500m in a PB 5:08.1 and Olivia was 3rd 'B' in 5:59.6. Over the hurdles Lilly ran 13.3 and Amelia 14.2, both times PBs. Amelia also high jumped a PB 1m 30 and long jumped 4m 25. Lilly also put the shot to a PB 7m 25 and threw the javelin another PB 20m 75. I watched Lilly in the javelin, achieving good distance with such an effortless style. With real competition for places in this team it speaks to their quality that Lilly and Amelia were given three events; 4 for Lilly including the relay! Elsewhere in the Field, Gabriella equalled her previous best, clearing 1m 30 in the high jump, Charlotte long jumped 4m 03, Lily put the shot 7m 65 and Grace Ryan threw the javelin 8 metres. Sienna and Olivia covered the discus event with bests of 10m 24 and 9m 82. Finally, Lily, Lilly, Indie and Phoebe ran the 4x100m relay in 55.8 and Jessica, Mille, Lily and Grace V were our 4x300m relay team covering the 1200m in 3:13.8. Our Under 15 Boys were William Delamere, Jake Edwards, Ruben Galiano, Harry Lavery, Jack Nelson, Charlie Stewart, and Caleb Still. There is a lot of quality in this squad and it showed in 4 event wins and many more fine performances. William won the 1500m race in 4:20.8, won the 'B' hammer with a PB 14m 81 throw and he threw the javelin 15m 05. Liam won the 300m race in a PB 39.4, was our best 200m runner in another PB time of 25.3 and he also ran 2:21.4 for 800m A great afternoon's work! Caleb, sticking to Field events today, won the shot competition with a PB 7m 35. He was also 2nd in the hammer with 15m 81 and 3rd in the discus with 15m 35 making a significant contribution to the team score. In the sprints, Jake ran a PB 13.3 with Ruben running a faster time of 12.8 in the 'B' race, Ruben's 26.0 for 2nd place in the 'B' 200m race was a PB and he won the 'B' high jump with a 1m 50 clearance. Jake also ran 16.1 for 2nd 'B' in the hurdles. Jack was 3rd in the hurdles running a PB 13.4 and 3rd again in the high jump clearing the same height as Ruben, 1m 50. He also long jumped 4m 95. Charlie ran 47.0 for 300m, a PB 2:42.2 for 800m and long jumped to a PB 3m 78. And Harry put the shot 4m 09, threw the discus 10m 36 and the javelin 14m 04. Finally Liam, Jake, Charlie and Will won the 4x300m relay in a good tight race with Wigan Harriers. Jack, Harry, Jake and Ruben were our 4x1090m relay team finishing 3rd in 53.2, also in a tight race with and beating Wigan Harriers. It was a very enjoyable day's athletics with great team spirit and support on display. Thanks to the athletes for working so hard for their team; to our team managers Barrie Hughes and Graham Boreham; and to our officials Lesley Scott, Steve Boreham and several other helpers. Results for Southport Waterloo | Full Results

 

18th May 2024: Senior T&F athletes debut in Northern Premier League

The reward for winning promotion last summer was entry into the West Premier Division of the Northern T&F League this season and a first match at Witton Park in Blackburn against some big, successful clubs. Clearly, the West Premier Division is a step up in competition and, whilst that higher standard benefits, inspires and develops our own athletes some would have reservations about our ability to stay up. But first impressions were that this division was not as daunting as I had feared. Bigger clubs have more athletes to fill the team sheets but in many areas our own athletes stood out and, with several key athletes missing for this fixture but expected for future matches, we can be confidence in our ability to stay up.

Host club Blackburn Harriers won the match, a home fixture helping them to a win over Sale Harriers, Manchester. Blackburn scored 401 and Sale 398 with West Cheshire 3rd on 349 points. Wirral scored 347, Southport Waterloo 312 and Bury, also promoted from West 1N last year, 239 points. On current form, Wirral and West Cheshire are the teams to beat to keep us up in this Division; and that seems an achievable target! But they were both superior to Southport Waterloo in Field events where we will need to score higher.

Out team sheet had few gaps and we benefitted from the inclusion of some quality Under 17 and Under 20 athletes. Some Under 17s had the opportunity to test themselves against senior competitors for the first time and were clearly not intimidated by the prospect. Renee Adams, for example, was an event winner in the 100m and the Women won both their 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

Our Women's team comprised Scarlett Adderley, Renee Adams, Katy Coupland, Emily Dean, Isla Gray, Sierra Jalloh, Amber Hughes, Jessica Keenan, Sydney Monaham Clarkson, and Olivia Morgan. Under 17 Renee unfortunately missed out on the Merseyside T&F Champs last weekend so was keen to get back to running and won the 100m in 12.4, well inside the Merseyside winning time, a new PB and equalling Leah Caddick's club record from 2001. She is almost certain to replace it this year. She was also 2nd in the 200m in a Season's Best 25.8 and off to a great start in senior competition. Sierra won the 'B' 100m in 12.8 and the 'B' 200m in 26.1, both Season's Best times. In the 400m, Olivia was 3rd in a PB 62.1 and Amber ran 62.8 for 2nd place in the 'B' race. With Scarlett and Emily joining them, the girls went on to win both relays, in 49.5 and 4:11.2, the latter a new club record for a senior 4 x 400m. Unaccustomed as she is to 400m running, Sierra ran the fastest 400m leg in 62.2 and Scarlett impressed with a 62.3 leg!

In the first track event of the day, 1500m runners Emily Dean and Isla Gray stepped up to take on their first 400m hurdles race. Both looked very competent and confident hurdlers off only a few training sessions, Emily finishing 2nd in 71.2 in the 'A' race and Isla winning the 'B' race in 77.9. We look forward to seeing more from these girls. Both went on to run 1500m in less than ideal, warm condition, Emily running 5:12.2 and Isla 5:27.6. Less fortunate, on the track, was Sydney who was competing in her 4th 3000m of the season but felt unwell and was forced to retire.

Katy, Amber, Jessica and Scarlett covered the Field events with Senior Woman Katy throwing the hammer 16m 25, the discus to a Season's Best 26m 66 and she high jumped 1m 10. Amber put the shot 9m 49, just 5 cms off her Season's Best at the Lancashire county championships. Her javelin throw of 27m 63 was a Season's Best and she long jumped 4mn 71. Jessica put the shot 5m 68, threw the discusa 9m 42 and the javelin 8m 56 picking up valuable 'B' points. Scarlett cleared 1m 40 in the high jump and long jumped 4m 70

We had noticeably more in the Men's team with Jake Anders, Graham Boreham, Chris Burgess, Adam Byrne, John Byrne, Reuben Donnelly, David Hamilton, George Ingram, Jonathon Pilkington, Oliver Storey, Josh Tan, Ben Turner-Bone, Andy Veevers and Steve Wilkinson. Competition may have been stiffer for the men with no 1st or 2nd place wins but six 3rd places, the team benefitting from several younger athletes making their debut in this senior league.

Josh impressed in the sprints, 3rd over 100m but no time (as the electronic starting system failed) and running a PB 23.4 for 200m, the same time as given to Ben in the 'A' race. Over 400m, Ben ran 52.0, a PB for him and his second 3rd place finish. Chris was our other sprinter, running 12.5 for 100m before putting the shot 7m 86 and throwing the discus 16m 30 in the Field events. Graham did the 400m / 800m double in 54.1 and 2:05.5, a Season's Best, and Luke ran 1:58.2 as our 'A' 800m runner, virtually the same of 1:58.22 he ran at Stretford on Tuesday night, consolidating I suspect before taking off to faster times later in the season. Reuben and George covered the 1500m, in 4:21.9 and 4:27.8, both PBs. George is a newcomer to the senior team but be has competed for the club before - as a teenager, 10 years or more ago. Welcome back to athletics!

Steve came along for the high hurdles, in 23.4, and Jonathon and Oliver ran the 400m hurdles. Jonathon ran 64.2, over a second faster than at the Lancs champs, and Oliver 69.4. Andy ran a great 3000m steeplechase in 11:26.5, a full 30 seconds faster than his previous best. He went on to run the 5000m with David Hamilton but suffered an awkward fall and retired with a suspected broken collar bone. We wish him a steady recovery. David went on to run 17:32.6 for the 12 1/2 lapper.

There were several more PBs in the Field with John Byrne covering 5 events, a very welcome addition to the team. His 16m 88 hammer throw and his 8m 74 shot put were PBs. Elsewhere he cleared 1m 40 in the high jump, threw the javelin 27m 16 and the discus 16m 99. Son Adam did 4 events, perhaps his best a Season's Best javelin throw of 34m 49. He also cleared 1m 40 in the high jump, 2m 90 in the pole vault and triple jumped 11m 68. Adam is a strong all-rounder competing in numerous events but I don't think he has competed in Triple jump before!

Another registering a new PB today was Jake Anders with a best of 4m 81 in the long jump. He also triple jumped 9m 04. Elsewhere, Oliver competed in the long jump with a best clearance of 4m 58, and Graham threw the hammer 14m 79.

Finally, Josh, Chris, Jake and Adam were 3rd in the 4x100m relay; and Graham, Oliver, Reuben and Ben were 5th in the 4x400m, Ben running the fastest split of 52.5.

Thanks to stand-in team manager Barrie Hughes and our officials, including Lesley Scott, Steve Boreham, Barrie Hughes and several other helpers.

Round 2 is a home fixtuire at Litherland on Saturday 15th June.

Results for Southport Waterloo | Full Results (when available)

13th May 2024: Over 400 School Mile runners in Southport's Victoria Park

After warm and sunny weather for the county T&F championships on Sunday, it was back to normal English weather on Monday for Southport Waterloo's 1 Mile Races for Schools in Victoria Park, Southport. Occasional showers made for damp conditions but the wind was light and it was seasonally warm and so nothing much to affect good competitive mile running. There were 408 finishers over school years 3 to 11, including a short course for some special educational needs children but, once again, there was little support from local high schools.

Norwood Primary were out in force and took medals in all bar one of the Primary year races, winning 6 of them. So it was no surprise that they were the overall Primary School winners. There was a tie for the Overall High School winners, Range and Formby sharing honours as the only schools to finish teams.  Freshfield took the Fair Play award.

There were good numbers of Southport Waterloo runners but I'll leave readers to spot them in the results. I count 19 of the medallists as Southport Waterloo but there are a few more.

In the Year 3 Girls race we had 31 finishers led home by Scarlett Larkin and Sophie Lloyd, both from Norwood, in 7:25 and 7.33, then Erin Honess representing St Nicholas was 3rd in 7:38. Norwood took team honours ahead of Larkfield and Marshside

A good field of 49 runners turned out for the Year 3 Boys race.  Harrison Miles from St John's Crossens won this one in 6:43 but it was a close finish with Ben Worthington from Freshfield;  just 2 seconds behind in 6:45. Norwood's Oskar Janosi was 3rd in 6:55. Norwood again took team honours ahead of St Luke's and Freshfield.

There were almost as many Year 4 Girls in their race, 45 completing the Mile. Amelie Roberts from Norwood was the winner in 7:06, well clear of the 2nd placed runner Emma Brighton (3rd Yr 3 last year) from Freshfield in 7:21. Larkfield's Caleigh Jones (last year's Yr 3 winner) was 3rd in 7:25. Norwood picked up their 3rd consecutive team award ahead of Freshfield and Larkfield.

Sam Coughlan (3rd Yr 3 last year) was Norwood's 3rd race winner in the Year 4 Boys' race running the Mile in 6:17 ahead of St Nicholas' Thomas Delamere (2nd Yr 3 last year)in 6:18 and St Jeromes' Adam Watson completing in 6:20; just 3 seconds separating the three medallists. With three runners in the top 5 finishers Norwood were again team winners with St Jeromes 2nd and St Philips 3rd.

Moving on to Year 5 Girls we had the biggest field of the day with 58 girls completing over a mile. First home was Orlaith McCourt (3rd Yr 4 last year) from Great Crosby in a time of 6:23. Norwood's Jessica Thornley (last year's Yr 4 winner) was 2nd in 6:40 and Millie Drinkwater from St Luke's, Formby, was 3rd in 7:03. Freshfield had their first team win of the day in this age group with St Philip's 2nd and Norwood relegated to Bronze medallists.

56 Year 5 Boys were next up and another individual and team win for Norwood. Marcus Larkin (last year's Yr 4 winner) was first home in 6:09. Holy Trinity's Mattew Ndjambula was 2nd in 6:18 and Tommy Collins (4th Yr 4 last year) was 3rd in 6:20. Again, it was a close run race for 2nd and 3rd.  Norwood took team honours ahead of Larkfield and Farnborough Rd.

Year 6 Girls were next and another big field of 53 ran around the paths of Victoria Park and around the caravans and motorhomes stationed there this year. Rhea Berry (last year's Yr 5 winner) from Farnborough Rd was 1st home in 6:55 followed by Alexis Dagger from St Patrick's in 6:57 and Olivia Maszkowska, St John's Crossens, 3rd in 6:58. So another very tight finish with just 3 seconds separating the medallists. Norwood were once again team winners with Farnborough Rd 2nd and Marshside 3rd.

In the final Primary school race of the evening, 32 Year 6 Boys completed their mile race led home by Caden Walker (last year's Yr 5 winner), St Luke's, finishing in 6:08 ahead of George Hawthorn, St Philips, in 6:17 and Will Simpson, Larkfield, in 6:23. Larkfield were team winners in this age group with Farnborough Rd 2nd and Great Crosby 3rd

For the first time at this event we then had some SEN youngsters running a short course. Dominic Alden was quickly through to the finish with Will Edmunds just behind and then Dan Mageer. For the girls, Nel Rooney was 1st home then Ella McDonough and Bethany Taylor.

High school participation was patchy and Year 7 Boys and Girls were run together and then 8/9 and 10/11 run together but with awards for the normal year groups. Lucy Delamere (last year's Yr 6 winner) from Merchant Taylors was 1st Year 7 Girl home, in 5:51, followed by Lola McCluskie from Range High in 6:39 and then Gabby Otty, Sacred Heart, in 6:45. For the Year 7 Boys, Lucas Lewis, Formby High, ran the fastest time of 6.35. Douglas Jones, Range High, ran 6:47 and Alfie Williams, also Range, finished in 7:51.

Grace Veevers, St Mary's, won the Year 8/9 Girls race in 5:32 with Sienna Fortine (2nd Yr 7 last year) , Range High, 2nd in 5:33 and Maddie Vernon, Formby High, 3rd in 6:15. We did manage a team result here, the only one for High Schools with honours shared between Range and Formby Highs. Will Delamere (2nd last year), Merchant Taylors, won the Year 8/9 Boys race in 4:56 the fastest time of the day and the only sub 5 minute mile. Evan Thomas, Range High was 2nd in 5:51 and Jacob Hagan, Formby High, was 3rd in 5:58. The Year 10/11 Girls winner was Sydney Monahan Clarkson (last year's Yr 8/9 winner) from Formby High in 5:46 ahead of Isla Gray(3rd Yr 8/9 last year), also Formby High in 5.57. For the Year 10/11 Boys, Liam McCormick, Chesterfield High, was 1st home in 5:09 with Harvey Thompson, Birkdale High, finishing in 5:19.

Thanks to Race Director Gill Gillison and all her helpers / volunteers for providing a very worthwhile event in the Sefton schools sporting calendar.

Results

13th May 2024: Sam completes his Sophomore year in Missouri with a number of new club records            (by Lee Coupland)

Sam Coupland returned to Lindenwood University in Missouri in August, with the first semester focussed on academics and athletic development. In early December Sam was dealt a considerable blow when the University declared it was cutting 10 teams, including Men’s Track and Field, after joining the Ohio Valley Conference and moving to NCAA Division 1 in 2022 and the following Semester would be the last for the Men’s team.

Sam returned to the USA after being home for Christmas in early January, ready to take on the Indoor Season. Competing most weeks, Sam travelled across Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Kentucky before competing in the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Finals in Alabama where he set a new club record for the Heptathlon on 4,651 pts in February.

After a couple of weeks rest the outdoors season commenced, with Sam again travelling throughout the central belt of the country, and he had notable success in his first Decathlon at South East Missouri University, where he finished 3rd with 6,363pts (just 18pts off the club record) and during this competition setting club records for the Long Jump (7.05m) and Pole Vault (4.20m). Sam finished his Lindenwood University competition career at the Outdoor Conference Finals in Illinois entered not only in the Decathlon, but also the individual Long Jump and now established as a member of the 4x400m relay team. In the decathlon he set a number of personal bests on the way to the final event; the 1,500m. Sam calculated he needed to run 4:40 to set a new club record and also become No1 on the University all time list, he ran a stunning 4:38.18 setting a new club record of 6,389pts and replacing our old record from 35 years ago. The final event of the finals, and with a decathlon in his legs, Sam and his team ran 3:14.72 for the 4x400m with Sam running a sub 50 second 3rd leg for a team bronze medal. A very successful and emotional end to Sam’s time at Lindenwood University.

Currently, Sam is deciding where his Junior and Senior University will be. In the interim, he’s back home to help his team and have a well earned rest. However, first action for Sam is in Europe in Basle, Switzerland, having accepted an invitation to the World Athletics Continental Tour meeting as a Long Jumper on Monday 20th May.

12th May 2024: 38 medals and 2 Club Records at M'side County T&F Champs  

A warm, sunny Wavertree Athletics Centre was the venue for the Merseyside County T&F champs on Sunday. Most county championships are held over two days but its a busy one-day for Merseyside. A good entry meant that it was even busier than normal and a shortage of officials made it difficult to fit everything in. But that was achieved and athletes, coaches, parents and officials were treated to some inspiring athletics.

As a club, we had 38 athletes taking part. That would be a good turnout in any year but what was unusual was that the majority were male. 23 male athletes with just 15 females. Could the male / female balance be changing? The increasing number of boys must be good news for our prospects in the YDL.

There were many club highlights during the day. 38 medals was impressive enough but 25 PBs was also significant. And we had two changes to the list of club records. Very early in the track programme, Will Delamere ran his first 3000m race, winning his age group and replacing Steve Wilkinson's 1988 club record. So for less than an hour Will held 5 club records but then another up-and-coming middle distance runner, James McGrory, beat Will's 1200m mark for his 2nd club record. I suspect James might now be looking to add to that initial tally! Its all good news for middle distance running in the club.

Although not a championships, there are events at this meeting for Under 11s and we had a few competing. Under 11 Girl Emily Hardeley ran a 27.07 150m, Under 11 Boy Sam Coughlan registered a PB in his 75m running 11.92 and, although running further in XC, Sam also ran 3:53 for 1000m. Jack Mainey also ran 1000m, in 3:49, and Tom Delamere registered a PB with a 2:04.84 time for 600m.

Tom's sister Lucy ran a good Under 13 Girls 1200m race in a PB time of 4:04.02 and, in her first competitive club race, Lauren Sinha ran 25.41 for 150m and cleared 1m 15 in the high jump.

Then we start to see more male athletes with 4 of our Under 13 Boys competing; and our youngest winner in James McGrory, 3:38.28 for 1200m, replacing a club record that has stood for 36 years!  Its wasn't an easy race for him, running head-to-head with a young Liverpool Harrier ranked UK 2 prior to these championships. Winning by just over a tenth of a second, These are the fastest two times recorded so far this year! Also in this 1200m race was Roman Cantelajo, running a PB 4:14.10. Roman also ran a 150m race in 23.72.

Henry summer ran 11.42 for 75m - 2nd in his heat - and 22.34 for 150m and long jumped 4m 01. Caden Walker also ran both sprints, in 12.39 and 23.68, and in the 800m race ran 2:47.63.

Our Under 15 Girls covered no less than 8 events between them, taking a number of medals and recording 6 PBs. Firstly, in the Field, Lilly Zajitschek took medals in shot, long jump and javelin. She was 2nd in the shot with a best of 7m 02, and third in both the long jump, a PB 4m 56, and the javelin, with another PB of 20m 01. Amelia also recorded a PB in the long jump clearing 4m 32 and ran 14.21 for 75m hurdles.

Phoebe Mangan and Millie Milligan covered the sprints , Phoebe recording two PBs;, 14.27 for 100m and 28.70 for 200m where she was 3rd in her heat. And Grace Veevers took a 3rd place medal in the 800m; just pipped for silver but 2:25.04 was a satisfying new PB.

Under 15 Boys were William Delamere, Harry Lavery, Jack Nelson, Charlie Stewart and Caleb Still. We had two event winners in William and Caleb, Will winning the 3000m race in the impressive club record time of 9:11.7 and Caleb winning the 800m in 2:04.83. Jack was another medallist taking a bronze in the 200m in a PB 25.99, another bronze in the 80m hurdles in 14.02, and a silver with a PB long jump of 5m 40! Charlie ran 45.45 for 300m and 2:46.56, a new PB, in the 800m. And Harry competed in javelin with a best of 17m 26 on the day.

Four of our Under 17 Women were competing in these championships, three taking medals home with them. The first to show was Sydney Monahan Clarkson who tested herself in the 3000m at Blackburn last weekend and recorded an even better time of 11:16.65 to win the U17W class at Wavertree. Scarlett Adderley was the most prolific medallist in our group taking one of each colour. She won the high jump with a best of 1m 35, was 2nd in the long jump with a best of 4m 73 - a new PB - and she was 3rd in the 80m hurdles crossing the line in 13.72. Esme McNally took two medals, a bronze in the straight final of the 200m and another bronze in the long jump with a 4m 11 clearance. She also competed in the 100m where she recorded a Season's Best 31.02.

There were lots more medals and PBs achieved by our Under 17 Men including three event wins. Ben Turner-Bone bone won both the 200m, in 23.16, and the 400m in a PB 53.18; And Luke Ward won the 800m in 2:01.28. Josh Tan took the silver behind Ben in the 200m, in a PB 23.51, and a 3rd place medal in the 100m in another PB time of 11.55. Will Rothwell was 2nd in the 400m, in a PB 55.59, and his 800m time of 2:19.18 was another PB. Oliver Storey was our final medallist with a 3rd place in the long jump with a PB 5m 19. And Finally, Jake Anders' 4m 80 long jump was a PB and he ran 25.19 for 200m. I must say its been a long time since I've seen such dominance by Southport Waterloo in Under 17 Men sprints.

Sierra Jalloh, Lauren Byrne and Emily Dean were our Junior Women at Wavertree. Sierra took medals in both 100m and 200m sprints running a Season's Best 12.92 and 26.37. Emily Dean is developing some real form in the 1500m. After running a PB 5:11 at Blackburn in Mid Lancs, she was 2nd here in an even better time of 5:07.93. An injury prevented Lauren Byrne from competing in her usual wide range of events but she entered the shot competition and emerged the winner there with a best of 9m 45.

Reuben Donnelly and Adam Byrne were our Junior Men. Adam was in the first track event of the day, the 400m hurdles which he hadn't run before but finished in 65.50 taking the silver medal. The very next race saw Reuben in action in the 3000m where he was 3rd in his age group in a PB 9:41.9. Adam went on to win both the shot, with 11m 07, and the high jump, with 1m 70.

Katy Coupland was our only Senior Woman, competing in her favoured discus event. She took the bronze medal with 24m 78.

And finally, our Senior Men with some surprising results. In the very first race, Lee Coupland took the Senior 400m hurdles title with 97.87. He went on to take the Senior high jump title clearing 1m 35, took silver in the shot with a Season's Best 7m 25 and took a bronze in the Javelin throwing 26m 11. Not to be outdone, John Byrne went one better in the shot and javelin winning the shot competition with a PB 8m 42 and taking the javelin silver with a nother PB, 29m 45. John Delamere was also competing, joining son William and Reuben in the mixed male 3000m race, taking the Senior silver medal in a new PB time of 10:30.4.

Several Southport Waterloo officials help to make today possible.  And a final 'well done' to our Under 15 / Under 17 event winners - and others -  who can expect a call-up to the Merseyside squad at the Northern Inter Counties in a couple of weeks at Blackpool.

And apologies for any errors that may have creapt into this long report!

Full Results | Results for Southport Waterloo

4th May 2024: T&F season moves up a gear with busy Mid Lancs meeting at Blackburn  

With county champs just a week away, many T&F athletes were keen to test their current fitness and level of performance after months of winter training and so the 2nd Mid Lancs fixture at Witton Park Blackburn was one of the busiest I can recall. 41 under 15 Girls running 200m and results running to 16 pages gives an indication of how busy the meeting was and we ran out of time to run any relays. 

30 Southport Waterloo athletes took part, with more male than female and, unusually, more Under 17s than any other age group. Although a development league, Southport Waterloo is in League Div'n 1 for both male and female, and strong performances by our male athletes placed us 2nd on the day in our division with 185 points, just 9 points behind host club Blackburn Harriers. The girls were 6th in their division with just 69 points. Despite an overcast and occasionally showery day, conditions were good for competing giving us many highlights, numerous athlete PBs - and unfortunately a couple of Start disqualifications best forgotten.

Lucy Delamere, our only U13 Girl, achieved two PBs from two events. She won her 1500m race in 5:16.7 knocking 15 seconds off her previous best, and just missed out winning her 200m heat, both girls given 31.9.

There were four U13 Boys competing at Blackburn, covering 9 events between them. Lewis McIlroy ran a PB 800m in 2:35, ran 14.8 for 100m and 28.3 for 200m. Joseph Sarbutts' winning put of 7m 95 improved his shot PB by a metre and he threw the javelin 15m 06. James McGrory was the stand-out winner in the 1500m race, finishing in 4:52.3 - 12 secs clear of the 2nd placed runner. This was his first club 1500m race so expect a significant reduction in times as he gains experience. Henry Summers was the 4th Under 13 Boy running 14.8 for 100m and long jumping 4m 07. 

We normally have a large squad of U15 Girls and had 5 at Blackburn; Andrea Castineira Mosquera, Phoebe Mangan, Grace Ryan, Lily Ryan and Lauren Silcox. Phoebe achieved two PBs in the sprints running 14.6 and 29.8. Lauren also achieved a PB running 2:35.8 for 800m. Andrea was busy with three events long jumping 3m 22, high jumping 1m 10 and rounding off her day with a 33.8 run in the 200m. Lily ran 48.5 for 300m - just 2 tenths off her PB from last year. And Grace threw the javelin 12m 83, her first competition with the 500g implement.

Will Delamere was our only U15 Boy. He made a real impression, however, with two PBs; in the 800m and then the 200m. And his 800m race was a real battle with a good young runner from Rossendale Harriers who had never run a competitive 800m before.  Will led at the bell but at the finish, he had to settle for 2nd place. However, 2:06.9 was a two second improvement on his previous best time. These are the close races that test you and drive you to ever better times. He put in a good effort in his 200m race too, to win that in 27.2.

Our four girls in the Under 17 Women age range were Scarlett Adderley, Isla Gray, Charlotte Hughes and Sydney Monahan Clarkson. Isla ran a good 1500m to improve her best time to 5:25.6 while Sydney ran her 2nd 3000m race, improving her PB to 11:25.5. Scarlett cleared a best of 1m 40 in the high jump, leapt 3m 98 in the long jump and finished with a 29.4 200m run. Charlotte cleared 1m 35 in the high jump and 3m 89 in the long jump, all good solid performances.

Our Under 17 Men were not only the largest age group squad but also the best in terms of PBs with 9 achieved from 14 performance with several event wins along the way. Josh Tan and Jake Anders ran the 100m in 11.6 and 12.2, both PBs. Josh's 11.6 was the fastest time of 12 boys today. Josh also ran the 200m along with Ben Turner-Bone and Jake Anders, Ben winning with the fastest time of 23.1, followed by Josh finishing in a PB 23.6 and Jake 25.8. The wins continued in the 400m with Luke Ward taking top spot, fastest of 15 runners in a PB 52.3 with Ben the 3rd fastest on the day in 53.2, another PB! Liam McCormick was the only distance runner in this group, choosing the energy-sapping 3000m which he ran just outside 10 minutes; in 10:00.5.

In the Field events, Kieran Edmunds won the long jump competition with a best of 4m 81, ahead of Jake Anders clearing 4m 55, both jumps PBs. Kieran also cleared 1m 40 in the high jump and recorded another PB in the shot with a best of 7m 47. Joshua Sarbutts also put the shot, his 8m 89 a new PB and Joshua also threw the javelin 28m 02.

Emily Dean, Amber Hughes and Sierra Jalloh were our Under 20 Women. Sierra ran a 13.0 100m and 26.3 200m, Amber also ran a 200m giving us once again the pleasure of watching these two fine sprinters go head-to-head. On this occasion, Amber ran 26.8 just behind Sierra but these two, competing as Seniors in this league, were the fastest of 10 senior women runners. Amber also competed in long jump where her best on the day was 4m 49. Finally, Emily Dean won the Senior Women's 1500m race with a convincing front-running performance in a new PB time of 5:11.4, over 30 secs ahead of the 2nd placed runner

Adam Byrne our only Under 20 Man, again competing with the senior men in this league. He won both the long jump and the 200m setting new PBs of 5m 94 and 24.9. He also threw the 1.75 kg discus 30m 72, a first time with the Under 20 weight.

Katy Coupland competed in the Senior Women's discus with a best of 23m 34 on the day, for 4th place.

And the final group was our Senior Men. Marc Singer edged closer to his 800m PB with a 2:18.2 run at Blackburn. Graham Boreham ran 54.7 for 400m and then 25.4 for 200m. Chris Burgess also ran a 400, getting around in 59.7. John Delamere was in the mood for distance and ran both the 1500,  in 4:57.6, before going on to run the 3000m shortly afterwards in 10:39.4, earning him a rare Senior PB! In the Field events, Lee Coupland and John Byrne were getting some competition practice in in advance of the opening Northern League match at Blackburn on 18th May. John put the shot 7m 73, threw the discus a PB 17m 87 and threw the javelin 22m 61. Lee put the shot 7m 09, threw the discus 19m 68 and the javelin a Season's Best 24m 21.

Thanks to team manager Lee Coupland and to our officials Lesley Scott, Lee Coupland, Barrie Hughes, Su Hughes.Katy Coupland and John Byrne.

Full Results | Results for Southport Waterloo