Harriers women show true grit in final win Undaunted: The winning Bolton Harriers Ladies team BOLTON Harriers Ladies section travelled to Barnsley for the last fixture in their North of England women's league fixtures.

With earlier victories they were virtually assured of winning the league but depleted by holidays, it was going to be a close fight.

But the team were undaunted by their small numbers and were determined to fight for every point.

In all, the 15 athletes won 25 individual events and produced a host of season's best performances.

With opening wins by Debbie Hales and Alison Hall in the hammer, the team no longer set its sights on scraping through but to beat the much larger rivals.

This was made a possibility by Liz Proctor and Lynne Allen. They made a clean sweep of middle distance races with double wins in 800m and 1500m. Lynne then made it a third win in the 3000m.

The team captain, Hazel Carwardine, who had recently been selected as reserve for a Great Britain under 23 international, won her main even, the triple jump and also came 2nd in the Long Jump and 100m.

Emma Thornton won three events. She won her main event, the javelin but went on to win the 100m and Long Jump.

Venessa Hull also had a great day. She won the 100m 'B' as well as the 'A' 200m and 400m in personal bests.

She then partnered Sam Aspen, Liz Proctor and Lynne Allen in a 4x400m relay team that trounced the opposition.

The intermediates also responded to the challenge. Sam Aspen, who was a finalist in the AAA under-17s championships the week before, showed a clean pair of heels to her opposition with wins in the 100m and 300m.

She was partnered by Lindsay Warburton in these events. Lindsay won the 'B' event as well as the 200m 'A' event. Every performance was a personal best.

Partnership

On the Field, the partnership of Jemima Hall and Nicola Boardman was hard to beat. Jemima and Nicola produced personal bests in the discus where they completely overpowered the opposition.

Nicola also won the javelin competition, partnered by Jemima.

The 4x100 relay team, including both Jemima and Nicola, together with Sam and Lindsay, produced one of the most unexpected wins of the afternoon.

The team spirit was so good that they pulled together for an excellent win.

The competition in the under 15s was very hard. Vicky Kay produced the only individual win in the Javelin but also competed in the shot put, discus and relay.

However, all the performances of the younger athletes made the overall victory possible.

Kate Taylor and Lauren Grundy had good runs in the 100m and 75m hurdles. Kate then did the 200m while Lauren produced a season's best in the long jump.

Katie Smith ran a strong 1500m race and also competed in the Long Jump to ensure that the team were given every chance of success. They also combined for 4th position in the relay.

Throughout the afternoon, the position of the teams changed but always with Bolton in close contention.

With a series of late wins, the Harriers started to build a lead and with the last events coming in Bolton, were assured of victory.

So the team of 15 athletes confounded the opposition with the sheer determination and all-round talent of the athletes.

Their victory, along with that of the junior squad in the McDonald's League, demonstrates the resurgence of Bolton Harriers as one of the best teams in Greater Manchester and the North of England.