Horwich youngsters showed the future is bright for the club with impressive performances at the English Schools’ Athletics Association National Track and Field Championships in Birmingham.

In the Intermediate Boys’ 1500m steeplechase, Harrison Stokes proved the apple does not fall far from the tree with a spectacular win in 4mins 19secs, with Ben Topham clocking 4:42.58 in the same race. In the Senior Boys’ 2,000m steeplechase, Benjamin Hall showed his class by finishing second in 6:08.94. Joel Ige stopped the clock at 11.46 in the Junior Boys’ 100m heats, while Chidera Ajet was an agonising 6cm from the podium in the Junior Boys’ long jump. Alistair Shorrock ran 22.90 in the Intermediate Boys’ 200m and Amelie Smethurst proved she will be a fine addition to the red and black ranks, making it to the 3,000m final.

Elsewhere, in the latest round of the Northern Track and Field League in Leigh, success abounded. Rick Cordwell had a busy schedule, leaping to 4.84m in the long jump, throwing the hammer 16.72m and launching the shot 7.84m - good enough for second. Lucas James was third in the 100m (11.9s), with Luke Ashworth clocking 12.5s. They followed up with 24.7s and 26.6s in the 200m, respectively.

Noah Burrell (2:02.8) and Max Winstanley (2:09.4) both placed second in their 800m races, while Phil Ryan achieved third place with 4:44.5 in the 1500m. Rob Walsh doubled up with silver medals in the 1500m (4:46.2) and 5,000m (17:57.9), and Felix Taylor dominated in the throwing events with second in the jJavelin (34.68m) and victorious in the shot putt (12.40m) and discus (31.36m). Omotoysi Osijonwo was second in the triple jump, with a distance of 12.06m, while Shannon Knott and Courtney Iredale were inseparable in the 100m, both crossing the line in 14.1 seconds. Iredale then matched Emma Bradley’s 200m time of 29.1s as the duo took third and first in their respective races. Bradley followed up with 64.3s and a silver medal in the 400m, with Tia Harris also bagging a second place in her own race (73.2). Harris won her 800m race in 2:55.7, matching Bethany Reid’s (2:22.6) victory in the A race. Reid was dominant in the 3,000m, winning by nearly a minute (11:22.4).

In the field events, Blythe Cordwell was second in the A long jump competition (4.23m) and Iredale (3.45m) joint victor in the B comp. Cordwell went on to secure third in the hammer (28.34m).

The English fell running championships continued in the Lake District with arguably the hardest fell race on the calendar, Wasdale. This 21-mile (9,022 feet) behemoth takes in some of the most arduous terrain in the sport’s spiritual home.

Luke Foley was comfortably in the top 20 through the first few checkpoints before hitting the proverbial wall two hours in during the traverse of the formidable peaks of Pillar, Great Gable and Scafell Pike, battling home in 63rd (4:52:11).

Nick Leigh showed experience by setting off conservatively and warming up into the effort, picking off competitors to finish 38th overall and fourth M45, in 4:33:50. Julian Goudge finished seventh M50 (5:08:08).

On the same week he was selected to represent England at the Mid Cheshire 5k in August, Gareth Webb clocked 40:42 at the Wilmslow Summer 10k, winning the MV65 category at a canter. Colin Rigby raced his first 10k in years, breaking 40 minutes (39:33) to finish fourth MV55, while Chris Fielding split the gap between his team-mates, finishing in 40:11.