ATHLETICS: MID Cheshire athletes ran, jumped and threw their way to success at the Cheshire Schools Athletic Association Track and Field Championships at Macclesfield on Saturday.
And a few put themselves in line for an English Schools Championships call next month with stunning performances.
They included Lee Davenport from the Verdin High School in Winsford who set a new Cheshire record in the junior 800m, crossing the line in 2:03.70, five seconds inside the English Schools qualifying time. Tom Heaword of Weaverham High School finished a creditable fourth in the same race in 2:15.80.
Another who made the qualifying time was Northwich's Morgan Brown, who continued her meteoric rise with first place in the 200m junior girls race, coming home in 55.70.
And there was success, too, for Winsford's Laura Lambert, a pupil at Hartford High School who crossed the line in the intermediate 800m in a qualifying time of 2:17.10.
Elsewhere, there were excellent performances from a number of Vale Royal Athletics Club athletes representing Mid Cheshire, including Joe Banfi of Norley, a pupil at The Grange who finished fourth in the junior high jump with 1.55m, and Winsford youth Warren Bolas who came fifth in the junior triple jump, clearing 10.87m.
Weaverham High pupil Eddie Bridle came second in the junior discus with 29.64m, while out on the track, Andrew Kil-cross of Weaverham won the 100m inter-boys race in a time of 12.10, just ahead of teammate Andrew Oultram of Hartford who crossed the line in 12.30.
In the 800m, Rudheath's James Griffiths took the honours in 2:00.50, just half a second outside the English Schools qualifying mark, while Steven Mitchell of The Grange came home in third in the 1,500m in 4:24.90. Tom Stringer won the inter-boys 400m hurdles in a champion-ship best performance of 58.30.
In the seniors, Andy Ellis came second in the 1,500m in a time of 4:19.20, while Mark Mitchell of The Grange came home first in the 3,000m in 9:52.20. Winsford's Geoffrey Leech, a student at Sir John Deane's College, came second in the senior shot with 12.28m and second in the discus with 39.55m.
Katie Balfour of Winsford scored fourth place in the final of the 100m junior girls race, coming home in 13.80, while Eleanor Moorhouse of Hartford finished fifth in the final of the 200m in 29.00.
Hannah Weedall of Woodford Lodge High School won the junior 1,500m in 5:09.20, while in 75m hurdles, fellow Winsford resident Chloe Bennett took third in 12.80. In the junior long jump, Hannah Hewittson leapt to glory with a jump of 4.75m.
In the inter-girls 200m, Weaverham's Michaela Penney came second in 28.50, while in the 800m, Emma Coxon of Weaverham scored fifth in 2:30.40. Lucy Knight was second in the 1,500m in 5:29.10 and there was double success in the 3,000m with Hartford's Gemma Lievesley and Katherine Baren of The Grange taking first and second in 11:51.50 and 13:08.10 respectively. Virginia Moorhouse won the 80m hurdles in 12.50.
In the field, Emily Jurgis of Hartford came second in the high jump with 1.35m, matched by Liz Chambers who is from Sandiway. Kirsty Duncan jumped to victory in the long jump with 4.37m, while Gemma Wainwright came fourth in the triple jump with 9.19m. Charlie Halford of The Grange threw 29.74m to come third in the javelin.
Among the seniors, Kate Lievesley of Weaverham ran 400m in 62.30 to take the tape for Sir John Deane's College, which saw triple success in the 3,000m, Nicky Archer, Caroline Winder and Kate Spilsbury coming first, second and third in 11:13.90, 11:30.60 and 13:17.80 respectively. Finally, in the triple jump there was fourth place for Natalie Abrams who jumped 10.16m.
Vale Royal Athletics Club coach Shaun McGrath said he was proud of his members' efforts and added: 'The English Schools squad will be announced in the next couple of weeks and some of our runners and athletes deserve to be in it.'
