Links to results and further photographs can be found HERE.
Many thanks to Eileen Ingham for the podium photos at the bottom of the page!
Northern Athletics Joe Galvin Road Relay Championships
Thanks to the efforts of Margaret Galvin and the hard working Leigh team, Northern Athletics were once again able to host their 6&4 Stage and Young Athletes Road Relays at Leigh Sports Village.
Unusually for Leigh, the weather forecast was not good. By lunchtime, the rain was setting in, turning into monsoon conditions for the last men’s and women’s legs.
First away promptly were the U13 Boys, where we had 50 finishing teams.
Even before the athletes had departed the track, the red vest of North Shields Poly had pulled away into the lead, with just Bury in close pursuit. Little change by the finish, with North Shields Poly’s Noah Penfold first to cross the line in 9.48, quickly followed by Bury’s Ethan Statham and Warriors Pentathlon in 3rd.
In much the similar fashion to their senior colleagues, Leeds City hit the front by the conclusion of leg 2, with Roman Morriss recording a time of 10.41 and North Shields Poly dropping to 2nd, with Warriors holding onto 3rd place.
The last leg saw no change in leaders, with Leeds City coming home in 31.28 overall. 2nd place, after moving up from 5th at the end of Leg 2 were Liverpool Harriers, with Robert Worrall producing the fastest overall time on leg 3. Warriors Pentathlon finished 3rd.
In the U13 Girls race, on leg 1 Pontefract were first back in the fastest time of the race in 10.30. 2nd were Hallamshire and 3rd Bingley. By the end of leg 2, Bingley had moved into the lead, a position they were not to relinquish. 2nd place overall was Warrington Pentathlon in 33.57, some 43 seconds behind Bingley, with the ever consistent Hallamshire 3rd in a time of 34.05. Liverpool Harriers were 4th.
U15 Boys: Once again, 50 teams finished. First team back on leg 1 was Wakefield and District in a time of 9.23. 2nd were Border Harriers and 3rd Darlington. On leg 2, Wakefield moved down to 6th. Preston Harriers moved up 13 places to take the lead, Sale Harriers moving into 2nd place. Lots of changes of the final leg saw Liverpool Harriers move into 1st place, Preston 2nd and Darlington 3rd.
U15 Girls: 47 teams finished and Warriors Pentathlon were first in each of the 3 legs, with an overall time of 31.17. 2nd on leg 1 was Segbergh’s Lucy O’Connell, with Blackburn Harriers 3rd. Preston Harriers were 2nd at the end of leg 2, with Lincoln Wellington 3rd. At the end of the race, Hallamshire came 2nd, with Liverpool Harriers 3rd.
U17 Men: 42 teams finished, with the black kit of Rotherham Harriers the first to enter the stadium at the end of leg 1, closely followed by Derby and Border. Leg 2 saw Trafford pull back 13 places into 2nd with Rotherham dropping to 3rd with new leaders Leeds City. Trafford moved into the lead on leg 3. Rotherham moved up one place into 2nd, with Southport Waterloo moving up 3 places to clinch 3rd spot.
U17 Women: Unsurprisingly, the first athlete back on leg 1 was Holly Cross, wearing the yellow vest of Liverpool Harriers, closely followed by Lincoln Wellington and Wakefield. 2nd leg saw Liverpool drop 4 places to 5th, Wakefield retained 3rd, Rotherham were 2nd with Lincoln Wellington moving into 3rd. Leg 3 saw the first 2 positions remaining unchanged, with Liverpool Harriers pulling back 2 places to claim 3rd podium spot.
82 Senior Women’s teams finished, with Leeds City winning by almost 3 minutes. It was only on leg 1 where Leeds were not at the front of the field, with Heather Townsend ind 2nd place. Leg 1 winner was Warriors E Haggardkearney. 3rd on leg 1 was Sale Harriors Lucy Armitage.
Leg 2 saw Liverpool Harriers move into 2nd, with the red vest of Salford up 6 places into 3rd. On leg 3 Liverpool and Salford retained their 2nd and 3rd places, with City of York moving into 4th. The final leg saw Liverpool Harriers dropping to 7th, Salford Harriers moving into 2nd and City of York claiming 3rd spot.
115 Senior Men’s teams finished. Keighley and Craven were 1st on leg 1, quickly followed by Trafford then City of York. Leg 2 had the ultimate winners, Salford Harriers, move into 2nd place, just behind Keighley and Craven, with Leeds City 3rd. Leg 3 saw the first 2 teams settle into their routine, with Salford first, Leeds 2nd through to the finish.
Keighley and Craven moved down to 3rd on leg 4, with Leeds B team in 4th. Leg 5 top 4 teams remained the same. On leg 6 there was a Morpeth surge moving from 7th to 3rd, with Liverpool Harriers up one place into 4th.
Despite the best efforts of the monsoon conditions, along with the flooding of the Leeds tent, there were still plenty of smiles at presentation, led by Salford’s Harry Wakefield!
