Here are the results from week 1 of the Newfield Isle of Man Track & Field League held at the NSC on 3 April 2019.
Thanks to everyone involved.
Newfield Isle of Man Track & Field League – Week 1 – Results
Isle of Man Cross Country League 2018/19 – Round 4 – Isle of Man Championships – Results & Report
Ollie Lockley wrote his name into local athletics history at Crossags in Ramsey last Sunday by joining the illustrious list of athletes to have won the senior men’s Isle of Man Cross Country Championship. 38 years ago Ollie’s father Dave Lockley achieved the same feat when winning the 1981 championship at Port-e-Chee in Douglas, and this is the first instance of a father and son both winning this title.
Rachael Franklin won the senior women’s championship for the sixth time in seven years, having missed the 2016 event through injury. She is now just one short of the record seven titles won by Christine Prescott (nee Kissack) between 1977 and 1989. The 2019 senior cross country champions are also the reigning Easter Festival champions.
The event also formed the fourth and final round of the Law Trust sponsored league, with final positions to be confirmed. Just as at the other three rounds, the weather was fine and the course dry – it must be unprecedented to go through a cross country season with virtually no mud or rain! There was an extra hazard for competitors to negotiate this year however, with a fallen tree in the uphill wooded section of the course needing careful negotiation, but this didn’t cause any undue problems.
Alan Corlett had won the previous four men’s titles, beating Lockley last year in a mudbath at the Nunnery. The reigning champion had been suffering a chest infection during the week but with typical determination he lined up to have a go at winning a record fifth successive title. It was not to be however, as after matching strides with his friend and rival during the first of four laps of the testing and hilly terrain he was forced to pull up.
This left the way clear for Lockley to dominate the race, which he did in superb style to become a worthy champion. He resisted the temptation to ease off and continued to push himself hard throughout to take victory by almost three minutes.
Ben Corkill produced a fine run to take second place as he did in 2015, while Matthew Christian completed a most impressive first season of cross country racing to finish in the bronze medal position. Paul Sykes, Jamie Beaman and Gianni Epifani completed the top six, and first junior was Luke Phair in seventh overall.
Rachael Franklin was as dominant as ever in the three-lap women’s race, winning by more than two and a half minutes. She ran in close company with fourth-place finisher in the men’s race Paul Sykes for much of her race and looked in great form ahead of a series of championship races in the UK.
Gail Griffiths produced a typically determined run to finish runner-up for the sixth time, proving she is still a force to be reckoned with. Carly Craig ran a strong last lap to pull clear of the challenge of Caroline Mayers to take third spot. Helen Taylor and first junior Laura Dickinson rounded out the top six.
Racing had begun with the usual frenetic action on the bottom field in the under-nine and u11 age groups, and there were some exciting finishes. Liam Blake took the u9 boys title by a two-second margin from Harry Stennett who in turn was just a couple of strides ahead of Zac Woodward. Abi Sinclair was the u9 girls champion by a 13-second margin from Scarlett Callister, who finished just one second clear of Emilie Katkjaer.
There were tight finishes to both the u11 races, with Samuel Corkill winning the boys’ race by one second from Charlie Arculus with Alec Sorby in third. Only four seconds separated the three medallists in the girls’ race, Lucy Ormsby taking victory by two seconds from Penny Webster who had the same advantage over Abi Clayton.
The u13 competitors competed over one small lap and one full lap of the course, and were the first to test the fallen tree obstacle on the climb through the woods. Cian Howard was an impressive winner of the boys’ race after a good battle with Sam Perry, stretching his advantage to 11 seconds. Ivan Sorby was 10 seconds further back in third. Macy Hiller showed excellent form in the girls’ race, matching strides with some of the leading boys as she took victory by a convincing margin from Madison McMullen who has run well this season. Lola Bass took third spot.
Competitors in the u15 and u17 categories started alongside the senior athletes although running fewer laps. Jake Richmond is another who has progressed well this winter and he took a fine win 36 seconds clear of Ryan Corrin with TJ Phair in third place. The usual names were to the fore in the girls’ race with Ella Crowe once more looking classy and assured to take the win ahead of Catherine Perry and Mia Dunwell who both showed good strength over a testing course.
The u17 men ran the same distance as the senior women, and the first two finishers Corrin Leeming and Ieuan Owen finished either side of Rachael Franklin. Leeming is a multi-talented sportsman and added another title to his collection with a fine run. Middle distance specialist Phoebe Coates ran strongly to take victory in the u17 women’s category from Holly Burgess.
The short course races were not part of the championship but counted towards the league as usual, and the winners were David Cain and Ashleigh Lachenicht – the latter completing a clean sweep for the season.
Here are the full results.
Many thanks go to Northern AC, all the officials and the landowner at Crossags for a splendid afternoon of cross country action to complete the domestic season.
The prize presentation for both the championships and the league will take place at the Claremont Hotel in Douglas on Friday 22 March – more details to follow.
David Griffiths
22 January 2019
Isle of Man Cross Country League 2018/19 – Round 3 – Results
Here are the results from the 3rd round of the Isle of Man Cross Country League sponsored by Law Trust.
Isle of Man Cross Country League 2018/19 – Round 1 – Results & Report
The cross country season, under the new sponsorship of Law Trust, burst into life last Sunday on a glorious autumn afternoon. Despite torrential rain the previous day the course at Castle Rushen High School, largely flat and extended since last year with the use of an extra field, remained firm underfoot throughout. A total of 256 competitors across all age groups – including a former Olympic athlete! – enjoyed a top-class afternoon of racing in the Manx Harriers organised event.
Last season’s senior champions Alan Corlett and Rachael Franklin wasted no time in demonstrating their intentions for the coming months, and both recorded convincing victories with classy performances.
Corlett, a week after running a 70-minute Half Marathon in Cardiff, led from the start of the three-lap men’s race and stretched his lead over his pursuers from the off. He made the race look deceptively easy as he took the honours by a margin of one minute 37 seconds over the 8.5 kilometre race distance. Andy Barron likewise enjoyed a big lead over the following athletes, and ran smoothly throughout to take second place. Perhaps the performance of the day came from newcomer Matthew Christian in third place in his first cross country outing. He judged the pace extremely well and looks to be a very promising distance runner.
Rachael Franklin opened her winter season with a strong run to follow an outstanding summer on the track. She shared the pace with some of the higher-placed senior men on the first lap before upping the pace on her second and final circuit. 46 seconds in arrears over the 5.5 kilometre distance was over-50 veteran athlete Gail Griffiths, who is running as well as ever and looked in top form again. There was a good battle for third place which went the way of Carly Craig with a well-judged run.
The younger age group races were as fast and furious as ever, and a few of the under-nine athletes took tumbles in the long grass on the finishing straight. The most exciting finish was in the under-nine boys’ race, with Liam Blake taking victory from Zac Woodward by just one second. Zoe Osborne was the leading girl in the youngest age group, with the u11 honours going to Samuel Corkill and Lucy Ormsby.
It was a good day for the Owen family, with Gethin taking an impressive win in the u13 boys’ race and his elder brother Ieuan winning the u17 class. Lola Bass is another very promising athlete and won the u13 girls race very impressively. She had to work hard to stay clear of Madison McMullen who also ran very well.
Jake Richmond was the star of the u15 boys’ race with a fine run, and there was a good battle in the u15 girls race with Ella Crowe having to fight all the way after a fast start to stay clear of Northern AC club mate Catherine Perry. Lorna Spiers produced her usual smooth performance to win the u17 women’s race.
The short course races were graced by a former Olympic athlete. Mary Purcell (nee Tracey) represented Ireland in the 800 metres in 1972 and the 1500 metres in 1976, and has pb times for the distances of 2.02 and 4.08 respectively. Now aged 69, she showed that she still remains very fit by placing fifth in the women’s race. The races were won by David Cain and sprint star Ashleigh Lachenicht respectively.
Many thanks go to Andy Fox and his team of helpers for a superbly organised event, and also to Castle Rushen HS and the landowner.
Round Two of the series takes place on Sunday 4 November and will be hosted by Western AC at QE2 School in Peel.
Here are the results.
David Griffiths
Isle of Man Track & Field Championships 2018 – Results
Saturday the 14th and Sunday 15th July saw the annual Isle of Man Athletics Association Track & Field Championships sponsored by Zurich take place at the NSC. Conditions were conducive for standout performances and the 185 athletes taking part didn’t disappoint.
The day started with the blue ribbon event the 100m many of the races rekindled old and new rivalries. Pb’s galore seemed to be the order of the day as in nearly every race many athletes bettered their existing times. The stand out race though was the men’s 100m which pitted Thomas Riley against Brandon Atchison for the second time in 2 weeks with Brandon having the upper hand in that race. The gun went and Tom blasted from the blocks leaving Brandon trailing, as the race progressed Brandon began to reel Tom in, but approaching the line Tom held on to his lead and managed to out dip Brandon to take the title in a time of 11.0 secs.
The competition raged on in the field with long jump, high jump, hammer, shot putt, discuss and Javelin. Not only were there pb’s and Island Games standards but there were Manx records being broken. The first fell to Sienna Dunn in the U15 girls Javelin where Sienna took control from the off and threw a massive 25:67m. The second record fell to Abi Sinclair in the U9 girls 600m, a race which she controlled from start to finish with a time of 2:05.
The race of the day without any shadow of a doubt was the men’s 1500m. It pitted Joe Reid our 800m Commonwealth Games representative against Ollie Lockley the Islands top 5/10k runner giving them a middle ground for battle. From the off the lead changed hands on numerous occasions. Coming into the last lap there was nothing to separate them so it became a straight 400m race, as they approached 200 to go Joe pushed on and opened a small gap, but Ollie wasn’t giving up easily and as they approached the line they were neck and neck neither willing to budge. On the line it was too close to call and the result was a dead heat in 3:57. Everyone is hoping for a rematch next year.
Day 2 started with the Hurdles, Long Jump and Pole Vault again the athletes started at breakneck pace. The pole vault again pitched twins Craig and Kyle Martin into battle, Craig managed to come out on top with a vault of 3:10m an Island games development standard. The plaudits must go to Aimee Christian who 2 weeks ago set an u15 girls Manx record. With all eyes on her to see if she could do it again Aimee didn’t disappoint. She vaulted to a height of 2:15m to increase her record by a further 5cm and achieve an Island Games Development Standard.
The rest of the day saw many, many fantastic performances and pb’s in the 200, 800 and 75m races., the triple, long and high jump, shot,discuss, javelin and hammer.
There really were too many quality performances to mention everyone individually.
Two further awards are presented over the course of the weekend
The David Teece Trophy of Excellence.
This award is given by the late David Teece’s family to an athlete who has shown extraordinary commitment, improvement and desire to succeed within the sport of athletics. The award for 2018 went to worthy winner Rachael Franklin, who this year has won many top races in the UK, broken Manx records and made the final of the 1500m at the British Championships. Rachael wasn’t there to receive her award so it was presented to her proud dad and stalwart official Alan.
The Spirit of Zurich Award
This award is presented by our sponsors Zurich, who select an athlete who has proven to be an inspiration to others, over come adversity and performed consistently well at the highest level. The award for 2018 went to the Manx queen of race walking Erika Kelly. Erika is a fantastic ambassador for the sport who has competed and won numerous races in the UK and this year represented the Isle of Man at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. I think everyone within the sport of athletics would agree with their choice.
To finish the two day event the awarding of the Victor and Vitrix Ludorum Shields for the age group overall champions for the weekend, they were:
U9 boy Donovan Skillicorn
U11 boy Sonny Finch
U13 boy Regan Corrin
U15 boy Harry Thompson
U17 men Kyle Martin/Keoghan Taylor
U9 girl Christina Angelakis
U11 girl Lucy Ormsby
U13 girl Macy Hillier
U15 girl Katie Crook
U17 woman Megan Lockwood
The IOMAA would like to thank sponsors Zurich for their ongoing commitment to this event, all the track and field officials and volunteers, Tracey Bell, Petra Atchison, Kelly Hillier, Tonya Corrin, the NSC staff and most of all all the athletes because without them the Championships wouldn’t happen.
Simon Sinclair