Bingley Harriers had a fantastic presence at the prestigious Northern Athletics Indoor event on Saturday 16 November. Twelve athletes and parents made the trip down on the club bus, meeting up with several others who had made the trip under their own steam. But with support, the team took over a whole corner of the arena grandstand and certainly made themselves heard.
The team was made up of a wide range of athletes, ranging from Ben Southern and Jack Muir at their very first events, right up to a host of senior athletes including David Carpenter competing in the V40 age group.
With the 60m sprint up first, Bingley had a great start with lots of personal bests being recorded. Aidan Leach was the first to make his mark as he stopped the clock under 7.5 seconds for the first time. Among others, Hollie Postlethwaite, Joanna Lawler-Rhodes Jacob Gill and Edward Chafer also recorded fast times.
This was followed with the longer track events with George Muir and Edward Chafer battling against each other after being drawn in the same 150m race, before Aidan Leach again smashed his best with 17.56 seconds.
It wasn’t just the track that saw some excellent Bingley efforts; Alfie Warriner and George Muir both set a new marks of around eight metres after moving up to the U17, 5kg Shot Put and Aidan Leach pushed his triple jump best out to 12.08m. Katie Ogden also stepped into the Shot Circle for the first time and set a respectable 6.18m.
Overall, a great day out – but with a strong purpose. These mid-winter events are very useful in identifying weaknesses that can be worked on during the colder, pre-season months, and improved before the regular season starts in the Spring. So the team would like to express their gratitude to the Club for arranging a bus, and providing this opportunity that many could not have taken without transport.
The full Bingley team on the day was: Natalie Morris, Jacob Gill, Alfie Warriner, Ben Southern, Edward Chafer, George Muir, Katie Ogden, Jack Muir, Hollie Postlethwaite, David Carpenter, Joanna Lawler-Rhodes, Lucy Oldroyd, Aidan Leach, Ben Halliwell, Tom Aveyard and Abigail Lampkin.
The next event is December 14, and with all of the athletes expressing their desire to make the trip again – we’re hoping to up the numbers and make an even bigger noise when Ian Eaton takes to the track!
