There was an excellent turn out of athletes from across the region at Tuesday evening’s NYSD meeting. Darlington Harriers had plenty of juniors competing, from Under 11 to Under 20, all well supported by their families which made for a great atmosphere!
The Under 13’s are a smiley, happy bunch! They’ve become a close knit group of friends since competing together throughout the cross country season as Under 11’s. They’re as keen as mustard and really supportive of each other and it’s great to see them trying out differentevents and enjoying their athletics. Long may it last!
All four boys (Louis Brett, Elwood Kelley, Ashton Harrison and Josh Scott) entered the 1500m tonight and, considering they’re still in their first year at U13’s, they showed real potential. Elwood was the best of the bunch this time finishing in 5th place, in a time of 5:17.92, a new PB! Louis and Josh also achieved PB’s and Ashton was less than a second from beating his! Elwood and Ashton had a busy night as they also took on the 100m and Long Jump. They were in separate heats in the 100m but their times were very close; Elwood finished 3rd in 15.48 and Ashton was 5th in 15.62. In the long jump, again, not much between them; Aston’s best on the night was 3.43m and Elwood 3.31m. Well done to all the boys, a great effort tonight!

Although Libby Hammond is now part of the Under 13 team, she is one of the youngest in her year group, and incredibly is still only 10! You wouldn’t think it though, she takes it all in her stride and tonight knocked a fantastic 20 seconds off her PB, finishing 5th in 5:43.42. Some great sprinting and jumping too, finishing 4th in her 100m race in 15.78 and 10th in the long jump with 3.25m. Well done, Libby.

In the older section of the Under 13’s, we saw Kate Williams, Olivia Bell and Lily Large in action. All three took part in both the 100m and the long jump. Some great performances from the girls with Kate being the first of them to finish the 100m in 14.06s; Olivia not far behind in 14.79s with Lily coming in at 15.24s. In the long jump it was Olivia who came out on top jumping 4.05m, then Kate with 3.85m and Lily’s best on the night was 3.25. Great stuff girls, well done!

Under 15 sprinter, Niamh Bishop, tried her hand at the 300m tonight as well. It was a strong run, eventually just being beaten into 5th place in a time of 49.17s. Great effort, Niamh, well done!
There were a couple more 100m runs to tell you about. Under 15, Logan Fawcett, back from her success at the Durham Championships, crossed the line in 5th place against some tough competition, with a time of 14.08s…..and Andrea Greaves in the Graded Under 20 race. Andrea crossed the line in 8th place in a time of 14.45s
By the time the sprints came round the light was fading and the camera was struggling so no photos of these, sorry!
The resident throwing experts were in action again, both of them in fine form! Lily Thompson took 1st place in the Under 13 shot with an excellent 8.56m. Big sister Rosie Thompson entered two events tonight; the hammer and the shot. In the hammer she finished in 3rd place with a best of 31.25 and in the shot, she was the 2nd Under 17 girl with 8.66m. Impressive as ever girls, well done!
A great effort from all our Junior Harriers tonight, and a great night of athletics. Well done to all #UTH

For the full results click here
For more photos of the night’s action click here