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Bury are top in first tie of North of England League
In what can only be described as a huge team effort, Bury held off the host team, East Cheshire Harriers, by just three-and-a-half points (335 versus 331.5), much to the delight of team manager Byron Edwards.
Young Nicole Palmer was the top points scorer for the women, taking third in the A 100m hurdles (18.5), fifth in the B 100m (14.0), third in the A long jump (4.43) and third in the A triple jump (9.45) before anchoring the sprint relay team to third place.
Michael Hunter was top points scorer for the men, taking sixth in the B 200m (27.5), third in the B 400m hurdles (69.9), first in the B 110m hurdles (21.7) and then taking a leg with the fourth-placed sprint relay team. Matt Elkin also competed for the club again, scoring vital points in the sprints and hurdles. Meanwhile, Beverley McAuley and Michael Arain were brilliant servants for the club, taking on a number of events that kept the points coming in.
Standout performance of the day for the women came from 16-year-old Anna Gisbourne in the 400m. She dominated the race from gun to tape, crossing the line in a new personal best of 56.8secs – a time that sets up the young star for a promising season over 800m.
For the men’s team, youngster Peter Gardner delivered a brilliant performance over 400m hurdles, winning by a significant margin in 60.6. He currently ranks seventh in the UK for the event in his age group.
Abigail Warburton and Alia Braithwaite both made winning debuts for the club taking firsts in the A and B 1500m respectively with 5:09.3 and 5:12.0. Other victories went to Sarah Thomas in the B 3,000m (12:00.1), Ella Watson in the B triple jump (8.26), Ben Coop in the B 800m (2:02.2), Martin Clark in the A 5,000m (16:01.0), Rob Fowler in the B 5,000m (17:12.0) and Paul Johnston in the B steeplechase (12:33.9).
Special mention should also be made of Roger Morley’s fourth place in the B triple jump (8.13) in his 50th year of competing for Bury – an amazing achievement.
Sterling performances also came from Akshay Malhotra, Conor Wilkinson, Matthew Collister, Patrick Babb, Mae Gardner, Nicola Ryan, Rachel Marshall and Susan Wheeldon-Gorst.
With officials also scoring points for the club, the superb team of volunteer officials including John Simpson, Alan Bent, Jeremy Gold, Lewis Major, Claire Devine and Dianne Gardner, secured vital points that made the victory possible. The next league fixture will be hosted by Bury on Sunday, June 18.
It was a busy weekend for Bury’s Ethan Statham. On Saturday the under-11 won the Horwich Jubilee Primary School race in 6.31 and the following day he took second place in the Great Manchester Junior Run in 8.40.
