Smith leads Harriers to victory spoils

ROB SMITH spearheaded the Oldham and Royton Harriers’ under-13 boys team to an excellent win in the first race of the South-East Lancs Cross-Country League at Heaton Park.

Smith clocked 12 minutes 39 seconds and was closely followed by second-placed Daniel Radcliffe in 13:01.

Bradley Healy finished sixth in 14:10, while the next Harriers home were Joseph Freeman, eighth in 14:23, Luke Brierley, 11th in 14:39, Nathan Hilditch, 13th in 14:47, Nathan Martin, 15th in 15:59, and Connor Colleavey 16th in 16:06.

Jane Augsburger clinched victory in the under-17 girls’ race in 19:36, while Helen Griffiths was fifth in 22:54.

Adam Howard won the under-15 boys’ race in 14:24, and Scott Healy was ninth in 18:37.

Jade Pearlman (14:27) finished a strong third in the under-13 girls’ race to lead the Harriers team to second place.

Lucy Kershaw finished fifth in 15:07, Rachel Emmott seventh in 15:41, Megan Whitworth 10th in 17:06, Amy Hall 11th in 17:22 and Karla Hopkinson 17th in 21:59.

Joseph Kershaw was sixth in the under-11 boys’ race in 6:28, while Max Shepherd was 10th in 6:40 and Alex Taylor 11th in 6:42.

Leah McDonald finished sixth in the under-11 girls’ race in 6:51, with Elle Morrison eighth in 7:06.

At senior level, Pam Hudson finished 48th in 37:56, while Andy Martin had a great run to take fourth in the men’s race in 36:10.

He was followed by David Smith, 39th in 42:28, John Hudson, 49th in 43:34, Brian Schofield, 52nd in 44:02, and Darren Mannings, 68th in 45:32.

The Red Rose Cross-Country League at Witton Park, Blackburn, saw Adam Howard produce another great performance to win the under- 15 boys’ race in 12:56.

Jane Augsburger ran well in the under-17 girls’ race to be third in 24:13, ahead of Andrea Baker, sixth in 27:51, and Emma Monk, ninth in 31:56, enabling Harriers to take the team prize.

There were other good Harriers performance in the under-11s races in which Alex Taylor finished 31st in 7:17.

In the girls’ race, Leah McDonald was 13th in 7:15 and Elle Morrison 19th in 7:24.

Joseph Freeman finished 32nd in the under-13 boys’ race in 16:17, while Kimberley Kirkman was 19th in the under-13 girls’ race in 15:17 and Megan Whitworth 28th in 16:48.

Katie Frost was 37th in the under-15 race in 20:58 and Bradley Szakacs was 22nd in the under-17 boys’ race in 24:12.

In the women’s race, Pam Hudson was 76th in 30:24 with Liz Whitworth 93rd in 34:09.

The men’s event saw Andy Martin finish 13th in 40:05, followed by Brian Schofield, 89th in 48:29, and Darren Mannings, 111th in 50:24.