T&F

English Schools Qualification Success for Juniors

Created on Wednesday, 07 July 2021 21:33

Last Updated on Thursday, 08 July 2021 08:03

Written by Barbara Murray

Many congratulations to the two Macclesfield Harriers junior members competing in the prestigious English Schools Championships this coming weekend at Sportscity Manchester.   Callum Wain (long jump) and Albert Bradshaw (200m) achieved the selection for this competition and will be representing Cheshire and Greater Manchester Schools, respectively – good luck lads!

Congratulations are due also to Hayden Blunn for his excellent bronze medal in the North-West Regional Intermediate Age Group Octathlon Championships at Telford recently.  Representing Cheshire Schools and in his first year in this age group, Hayden registered personal best performances across 6 of the 8 events to post a total score of 4282, and has qualified for the English Schools Combined Events final later in the year. Callum Wain, also in his first year in this age group, finished a creditable 6^th scoring 3786 points.

Back on Track

Created on Thursday, 27 May 2021 20:42

Last Updated on Thursday, 27 May 2021 22:16

Written by Simon Frith

Round 1 - Northern League, Eccles, 22nd May.

The role of team manager is often challenging for various reasons, constant emails and pleas for competitors, often with little response. It must be a rare occurrence when said managers have the unenviable task of having to allocate so few places in each event to so many athletes wanting to participate, such was the appetite for a return to club competition following our enforced sabbatical. 

Rob Finnis found himself having to make some difficult decisions to balance athlete enthusiasm with prospective results. The ladies, under the care of Sue Stockdale, were also very well represented although it would be great to see a few more seniors help fill some of the gaps.

The excitement of a return to track competition was palpable in training before we travelled to Eccles for Round 1 of the Northern Athletics League. Harriers, for the first time in a long time, covered almost every discipline, in some cases we were the only team competing.

For a number of athletes this was their first endeavour into senior competition but they were by no means intimidated by the opposition. First making the step up was 15 year old Albert Bradshaw, showing tremendous ability in both the 100 and 200m sprint races, setting PBs in both and a top 20 and top 10 UKA ranking respectively. 

There were 21 PBs set on the day, apologies for not listing all those who did and, including Albert, an incredible 8 top 10 UKA Power of 10 rankings.

Sam Danson, chasing an England U20 team qualifying jump of 6.90m was a mere 3cm short, securing an English Schools qualification in the process while also setting PBs in both shot putt and the 200m.

The middle distance races added more PBs. Aadi Whitlock and Ray O’Keefe in the 800m, Laurence Manley and Rohan Jenson in the 1500m and a special mention to Sue Stockdale who as well as team managing the senior ladies took on both the 1500m and 3000m setting new PBs in both distances.

Out in the field events, Sprints coach Charlie Bird claimed top 10 UKA rankings in all 3 of her events, long jump, shot putt and hammer, with Ashley Pritchard and Simon Frith also claiming top 10 slots in Hammer and Triple jump. 

To cap off a very successful day after winning both her 400m, another PB and top 10 ranking and her 800m, Rebecca Dilworth, another athlete making her first appearance in senior competition, kept her powder dry for the final leg of the women’s 4x400m relay. Coming in to last changeover the ladies found themselves adrift by about 50m but Rebecca found another gear and chased down East Cheshire to take a well earned victory on the line, it was the most exciting race of the day.

As a reward for all the huge amount of effort and support put in by all the athletes, parents and officials, the results have now been checked and published and Macclesfield came out on top, beating a very strong East Cheshire into 2nd place.

A great start to what promises to be a very exciting and enjoyable return to Track and Field competition for 2021. Our next Northern League fixture is at East Cheshire Harriers in Ashton-under-Lyne on 19th June.

Simon Frith

Match Report - Northern T&F League, Ashton

Created on Thursday, 24 June 2021 12:51

Last Updated on Friday, 25 June 2021 09:21

Written by Simon Frith

Buoyed by our winning team performance in Round 1 of the Northern T&F League in Eccles, we travelled over to Ashton-under-Lyne and the home of East Cheshire Harriers for Round 2. East Cheshire pushed us very hard and would appear to be our strongest opponents in this league.

While we managed to cover most events previously, there were a few disciplines that we didn’t compete in, Pole Vault being a case in point. A serendipitous opportunity arose in training last week when Rod, the pole vault coach, had a lack of athletes turn up to train so we offered the chance to “have a go” to the sprints group. Ever obliging, Nick Blore, a very versatile and accomplished athlete, took to it like the proverbial duck to water and an hour later we were working out how to get a 14 foot pole to Ashton.

An inspiring start to the day’s proceedings, Nick went on to jump a very respectable 2.40m to claim our first points and we’ve every confidence that he will continue to improve in his new found talent. His success continued throughout the day with a seasons best of 11.7 in the 100m and a new PB of 1.80m in the high jump.

A rather humid and blustery day kept things entertaining on both the track and in the field. Despite this, Tom Willshaw set a new 200m PB of 24.0 closely followed by Tobias Pearson making his track debut in a Harriers vest clocking 25.8 in the 200m and 12.4 in the 100m to get his season off to a flying start. Fresh from his dominant performances in the 200m at last weekend’s Greater Manchester Schools Championships where he set a new club record of 22.15  seconds Albert Bradshaw made the step up to the 400m running a very well judged race to post a winning time of 51.9 seconds, at just 16 years old he has a very bright future ahead of him. Not to be outdone by the men, Rebecca Dilworth also improved her own PB over the same distance with 61.0 to take the victory and later went on to win the 800m. Philip Goodfellow also making his senior debut in the league ran a very solid 2.03.3 PB in his 800m race.

In a much anticipated return to track competition, our very own V60 world record holder Hilary West ran everything from the 100m to the 3000m acquitting herself very well in the process, with Laurence Manley running the 5000m in a new PB time of 17.13.3.

On the field, Ashley Pritchard scored highly across his four throwing events, adding heavily to the team tally.  And Liliana Carey also had a great day, breaking the 23m barrier in the Hammer for the first time, as well as putting in solid performances in the discus and shot put.

Following the excitement of the relays in Round 1 the senior men put in a heavy baton changing session in training this week, their improvements and slick changeovers earned them a very impressive win over East Cheshire in the 4 x 100m.

Challenging wind conditions made life very difficult for the horizontal jumpers in the field with Callum Wain fairing best, just 7cm short of his PB of 6.22m.

Finally a special mention to the Stockdale family, mum Sue and daughters Ellie and Ruby are our very own answer to the Borlée brothers, competing across 9 different events between them securing vital points for the team.

Such strong performances and a full compliment of Track and Field officials gave us enough points to once again nudge East Cheshire into second place on the day. A superb result for us on their own track.
Round 3 takes place on Sunday 4th July at Trafford. Please speak to your team manager if you would like to compete.

Simon Frith

Track and Field Saturday coaching session

Created on Friday, 16 April 2021 12:53

Last Updated on Friday, 16 April 2021 12:54

Written by Neil Gunn

MHAC are hosting a Track and Field Athletics Coaching Clinic at Macclesfield Athletics Track on Saturday 24 April 10.00-12.00 

• Skills coaching by fully qualified UK athletics coaches in Long Jump, High Jump, Pole Vault, Hurdles and Sprints for athletes and novices aged 11 and over (PV aged 13 and over) 
• Places are limited - registration in advance is required 
• All abilities welcome - club and non-club members 

There is no charge for this session, but donations to the Macclesfield Athletics Development Fund (Charity registration number 1041755) will be welcome. 

Pease reserve your place by completing the online application form  

Further information from Barbara Murray ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )