The Harriers are enjoying the revised format of the NYSD T&F League and, after three fixtures, are heading the overall table with 66 League points, ahead of M&C and Billingham with 59 and 56 points respectively.

League points are awarded, from twelve down to one, to each of the twelve affiliated Clubs based on Match points won at each fixture. Any number of athletes from each Club can take part in each age/gender category of those events contested. The leading athlete from each Club scores Match points from eight downwards (dependant on the number of contestants) for their fastest, furthest, highest or longest mark.

The third fixture was hosted by Darlington Harriers at Eastbourne Track on Tuesday 17th June; a fine, sunny evening, perfect for track and field. The Club had 31 athletes in competition; in the 200m and 1500m on the track plus the jumps and the discus in the field. Top marks on the night went to Leanne Shaw, Georgina Zissler and Tigere Kushamba in the 200m, and to Jessie Roberts and Louise Jackson in the 1500m.

RZH results: Under 13 Girls - Rosie Adams 2nd 1500m 5:36.7, Leanne Shaw 1st 200m 29.4 and 12th Jane Thornton 32.9; Under 13 Boys - Tim Bray 11th 200m 35.4, 16th 1500m 6:42.9 & 7th long jump 3m46, Charley Purkiss-McEndoo 13th 200m 37.7, 14th 1500m 6:30.3 & 11th long jump 3m10, Tom Osborn 9th 34.0, 6th 1500m 5:51.2 & 9th long jump 3m41 and Tom Rennison 7th 1500m 5:43.3 & 6th long jump 3m53; Under 15 Girls - Jo Adams 2nd 200m 29.5 & 3rd discus 18m50, Jessica Gray 4th 1500m 5:26.2, Scarlett Gray 5th 1500m 5:31.5, Becky Rennison 4th 200m 29.7, 2nd high jump 1m30 & 5th discus 15m29, Katie Roberts 2nd discus 19m45 and Jessie Roberts 1st 1500m 5:06.2 & 6th discus 14m74; Under 15 Boy - Jason Flannery 4th 1500m 4:48.5; Under 17 Girls - Becka Ayre 5th 1500m 5:48.0, Leah Jackson 4th 1500m 5:33.9, Sadie Potter 6th 1500m 5:58.1 and Georgina Zissler 1st 200m 27.0; Under 17 Boys - Sam Stanislaus 5th 200m 25.7 & 2nd long jump 5m44 and Nick Zissler 2nd 1500m 4:30.4; Junior/Senior/Veteran Ladies - Kim Bartram (J) 3rd 200m 27.3, Louise Jackson 2nd 1500m 4:49.4 and Emma Metcalfe (J) 2nd triple jump 8m32; Junior/Senior/Veteran Men - Mike Brooks (V55) 20th 5:05.4, Mark Flannery 15th 1500m 4:57.6, Tigere Kushamba 2nd 200m 22.6, Mark Mullin 16th 1500m 5:02.3, Jon Orange (V40) 3rd 1500m 4:17.6, Chris Peacock (V40) 8th 1500m 4:32.3, Shaun Purkiss-McEndoo 14th 1500m 4:53.5 and John Wild (V50) 1st non-scoring 1.5kg discus 39m50.

The younger Club members had an even busier week as there were School Sports Days on the Thursday followed by Schools Inter-Counties competition on the Saturday. North Yorkshire competed against Humberside and Nottinghamshire at Nottingham whilst County Durham competed against Northumberland and Cumbria at Jarrow, with all the athletes who had placed in the top two in their Schools County Championships the previous weekend selected and many looking to improve their times/distances to meet the qualification standards for the English Schools T&F Championships. There were nine Harriers in the North Yorkshire team: Kim Bartram SG 2nd 200m 27.1 & 1st long jump 4m63, Amy Poulter IG 6th shot 7m14, Sophie Broadway JG 7th 200m 28.5, Jo Adams JG 4th 800m 2:27.9, Jessie Roberts JG 2nd 1500m 5:02.6, Sam Stanislaus IB 4th triple jump 12m02 & 6th shot 10m20, Carl Outhwaite 7th hammer 37m90, James Bell JB 3rd 80m hurdles 12.6 and Jason Flannery 4th 1500m 4:36.1. Three Harriers made the County Durham team: Georgina Zissler was 3rd in the IG 300m, Matt Prosser was 2nd in the SB 100m in a season's best 12.1 into a headwind and Emma Metcalfe cleared 2m20 in the SG pole vault.

On the same Saturday 21st, Andrea Woodvine was the lone Harrier who travelled to Longford Park Stadium, Manchester, to compete for the first time in the NoEAA Senior T&F Championships. She finished 9th in final of the 1500m in 4:43.44, her fastest time for two years and is now intent on getting below the 4:40 barrier to improve her PB.

*www.rzh.org.uk