Fighting Right To The Very End

The 2023 season has been a tightly contested affair for the Senior League team as we started the final match on the tails of Leeds AC in the race for promotion.

The fourth and final fixture of the 2023 season saw the team travel down to Barnsley, with the day being kicked off with a victory on the track as Molly Waring conquered the 400m Hurdles for her third first place in the event of the season. It was also a victory in the 100m Hurdles for Molly even after picking a fight with one of the Hurdles. It was also a first place in the B 400m race and a third place in the High Jump.

Joining Molly in the 400m Hurdles was Soraya Crodden, who claimed a victory in the B race in a Seasons Best Time. A second place finish in the 200m and a second place in the B 100m followed for Soraya, topped with performances in the field picking up a second in the B discus and a third in the B Long Jump.

Estelle Williams continued her busy season with a victory in the B Hurdles to claim the clean sweep for the season, backed up with a victory in the B 200m race and the High Jump with an equal Personal Best.

Natalie Groves re-joined the team on her return from University and was straight to action claiming first place in the 100m before going on to run a Seasons Best time in the 400m finishing in first place, completed with a third place in the B Javelin.
Also in the Javelin Emily Sharp as she threw to a third place finish, it was then a Seasons Best in the Shot Putt with a third place finish in the B and a third place finish in the 800m B in her second quickest time of the year.

Ellie Holden joined Emily in the 800m and also ran her second quickest time of the season to claim fourth place in the A race. It was a gutsy run in the Steeple Chase for Ellie as she moved up to the 3,000m distance for the first time but her determination saw her round before finishing her day off with a Personal best distance in the Long Jump.

In the throws it was a return for Megan Ascough who meant business picking up first place in the Hammer with a Seasons Best, a victory in the Shot Putt with another Seasons Best distance and finished with a second place in the Discus.

Onto the men’s side where Glenn Aspindle battled with the wind to vault into first place in the Pole Vault. It was another first place finish in the Javelin and the 110m Hurdles with his second quickest time of the season. A second place in an equal Seasons Best jump in the High Jump, second place in the Long Jump and accompanied with a Seasons Best time in the 200m.

Kieran O’Brien was back in the team earning a second place in the B Discus and accumulated points with strong runs in the 200 metres, 400 metres, and 800 metres to help build on the teams point tally for the day.

Ian Wilson re-joined the team and ran a Personal Best time in the 800m finishing second in the B race and set a fast PB time in the 1500m.

Kevin Ogden continued his time outside of retirement once again and continued his trend of running the 5K with a determined run to get increase the teams point tally.

James Bell turned his hand to the Hammer Throw for this fixture and claimed first place in the B string, his second furthest throw in the Shot Putt, a third place in the Javelin B and even managing to fit in a well-run 100m.

Jake Darby started the day on a high with a victory in the Hammer Throw and a Personal Best distance, it was then a second in the Shot Putt and a fourth in the Discus and Triple Jump before going on to claim victories in both the High Jump and 110m Hurdles B races and finishing off a clean sweep in the Hurdles for the season.

We had all four relays out this time, the men’s 4x100 team of O’Brien, Wilson, Bell and Darby navigated the baton round successfully. The men’s 4x400m team of O’Brien, Wilson, Aspindle and Ogden also successfully navigated the baton around the track.

The women’s 4x100 team finished their clean sweep of the season with yet another first place finish for the team of Crodden, Waring, Williams and Groves. The 4x400m was a more dramatic race for the team but the team of Sharp, Groves, Waring and Crodden kept their cool and claimed the victory.

After a tightly contested season at the top of the table, the final result were not quite enough for us and we ended the season in second place narrowly missing out on promotion. But even though there was disappoint in missing out, by no means can this overshadow the incredible efforts throughout the season and the determination to push the fantastic results all the way to the last event of the season.

As always a massive thank you to all the officials that make sure these fixtures go ahead with their hard work throughout the season.

Scores on the Doors:
Leeds City AC - 392.0
Spenborough & District AC - 355.0
Pontefract AC - 345.0
Holmfirth Harriers AC - 340.0
Harrogate Harriers & AC - 284.0
Skyrac AC - 215.0

Final League Standings:
Leeds City AC - 23 (1,474.5)
Spenborough & District AC - 21 (1,396)
Pontefract AC - 10 (1,087.5)
Holmfirth Harriers AC - 10 (1,008)
Harrogate Harriers & AC - 10 (1,008)
Skyrac AC - 10 (959)