Carmel enjoyed three consecutive days of athletic excellence when they enjoyed success in three separate athletic competitions. Firstly, in the Darlington Schools Championships they won 17 cups and shields out of a possible 20 including the George Clarke Cup as overall winners for the 15th consecutive year. They also won the boys and girls team, the year 7, 8, 9 and 10 shields, eight relays and the individual 100m cup through Jonathan Vinton. Phillip Collins, aged 14, once again brought the arena to a stand still when he broke the championship record in the high jump by an amazing 27cm's to the old mark finishing with 1.92m. This means he is currently ranked the number one high jumper in the UK for his age and ranked tenth on the all time list.

The girls' then beat off very stiff competition in the county U14 mult-events championships. Each athlete competes in a pentathlon, which includes the hurdles, shot putt, lomng jump, high jump and the 8000m. The girls team both finished first and the boys fourth.

On Saturday in the National Schools Cup final held at Gateshead International Stadium they came a very creditable 11th in the intermediate boys and 12th in the intermediate girls. Just under 3,000 schools entered the competition with Carmel qualifying for the final by winning the Durham round and then beating off the competition in the North-East final. This weekend three Carmel athletes compete in the English Schools' Championship. They are Daniel Ghundoo in the 80m hurdles, Joshua Hardy in the shot putt and Phillip Collins in the high jump.

Prince Bishops Triathlon

Tom Doughty of the Sun City Tri club of Sunderland produced the fastest run of the day to win the Prince Bishops Triathlon, the second leg of the Durham Dales challenge.

Doughty's run power also took him to victory in the half distance Weardale Triathlon on June 6.

The Prince Bishops event is over the full Olympic distance, starting with a 1500 metre swim in Derwent Reservoir. Conditions dictated a start in the water, slightly reducing the 1500 metre distance, but Scott Holmes of TFN defied the waves to record the fastest swim time of 15 minutes exactly, giving him a 45-second lead over Tony Weed (Hartlepool Tri) and 73 seconds over Doughty. The 40km cycle leg saw Doughty overtake Weed and close the gap on Holmes as Geoff Ayers came into contention with the fastest bike time of 1hr 10min 45sec. Doughty was quickest on the concluding 10k run in 34min 28sec, bringing him home first in 2hr 3min 45sec. Ayers, second fastest on the run, was also second overall in 2-05-27.

Holmes again had to settle for third place in 2-06-19, with a consistent Mike Vickers (Independent) in fourth. Weed faded to finish twelfth overall.

Jen Milsom (Cleveland Biketraks) was the first woman home in 2-31-52, with clubmate Kath Blakey third in 2-36-57 behind fellow vet Jo Short (Durham Tri) in 2-36-04.

Eighty-two competitors finished the event, eleven others starting but failing to complete.

Results, men: 1. Thomas Doughty (Sun City Tri) 2hr 3min 45sec., 2. Geoff Ayers (Tri Lakeland) 2-05-27, 3. Scott Holmes (TFN) 2-06-19; 40+ yrs., 1. Doughty, 2. Ayers, 3. Mike Vickers (Independent) 2-06-54, 50+ yrs., 1. Jim Colledge (East Coast Tri) 2-27-43, 2. Eric Blakie (Ryton Tri) 2-30-07, 3. Clive Newsom (Leeds & Bradford) 2-47-20, 60+ yrs., 1. Frank Appleton (NYP Tri) 3-02-00. Junior: 1. Chris Philpott (East Coast Tri) 2-40-15.

Women, 1. Jen Milsom (Cleveland Biketraks) 2-31-52, 2. Jo Short (Durham Tri) 2-36-04, 3. Kath Blakey (Cleveland Biketraks) 2-36-57, 40+ yrs., 1. Short, 2. Blakey, 3. Jenny Holland (Unattached) 2-49-56, 60+ yrs., 1. Erika Enisz (Cleveland Biketraks) 3-19-50.

Durham City Harrier

Durham City Harrier Stephen Marshall had a very good run in the annual Blaydon Race over 5.7 miles.

Stephen, who has been a very consistent runner over the years for the Harriers, started off steady and used his experience to move through the vast field of over 3,500 athletes to finish a very creditable 80th in a time of 34.00 and was fifth (over 45) veterans.

Other Harriers to finish were: Elwyn Baldwin 135th in 35.31 was was fifth (over 55) veteran. Ian Marshall (V40) 149th in 35.49; Louise Trainor 181st in 36.23; Ian Hesler 189th in 36.32; Malcolm Heslop (V55) 236th in 37.27; Graeme Armstrong (V40) 245th in 37.37; Peter Clark 266th in 37.51 Robert Hewitson (V45) 280th in 38.06; Andy Thompson (V40) 783rd in 43.22; Brian Brown (V55 976th in 44.55; Joe Harker (V65) 1047th in 45.24; Bill McNeil (second over 70) 1092nd in 45.48 and Paul Donaghy 1211th in 46.31.

Durham Fell Runners

Ken and Ray Maynard completed the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon, based at Coniston last weekend. They competed in the Saunders equivalent of the elite pairs class and were fifth overall and second veteran team on Saturday evening, after spending more than eight hours running through mist and heavy rain for much of the day. On Sunday they had another good day making up more time and finishing fourth overall and first veterans.

The club holds weekly training sessions in Hamsterly Forest on Thursday evenings, meeting between 6-45 and 7-00 at the visitor centre. These sessions are developed in conjunction with the only fell running coach in the north east. The sessions are suitable for all abilities.

Thirsk and Sowerby Harriers

The village of Rainton once more proved to be a popular venue with Harriers for the annual 10k Road Race there, 20 of them taking part out of 275 finishers. The conditions were generally good over a course slightly altered from previous years. Rickie Wilson of Scarborough, a name familiar to regular racers, was the winner in 32.58 minutes, and the consistent Gary Dunn finished in 5th place in 34.21. Walter Busuttil continues his comeback into the racing fitness and was 36th in 40.09. Bill Frith was 68th in 42.29, Alan Somers 71st in 42.43, Alasdair Thorpe 76th in 43.29, Paul Goacher 85th in 44.09, Andrew Whiteley 88th in 44.24, neck and neck with David Shorrocks, 89th in 44.25, Graham Banks 121st in 46.32, the ever improving Sarah Somers 164th in 49.10, Nicola Thorpe 178th in 49.57, Ken Evitt 183rd in 50.34, Ian Codling 185th in 50.44, Kaye Mechie 203rd in 52.17, Cath Lumb 206th in 52.44, Jo Fambely 223rd in 55.10, Nik Sutton-Haigh 242nd in 59.16, Marian Codling 245th and 1st F60, in 59.45, Lydia Evitt 255th in 61.41, and Pamela Sherlock 257th in 62.22. The previous day was very wet for the inaugural running of the Wheldrake 10k. Mike Burrett of Leeds City AC won the event in 31.39, and the winning lady was Samantha Harris of Valley Striders in 37.40. Phil Utley finished 20th in 39.31 and Yvonne Wood 125th in 57.45.

Richmond and Zetland Harriers

Athletes from Richmond and Zetland Harriers, young and not-so-young, have had a busy week. The Seniors took part in the first round of the Northern Inter-Clubs Knock-out Plate at Eastbourne Sports Complex, Darlington. The Plate ran alongside the Cup competition, for Clubs from higher Divisions, which was a blessing as the expected competition from Hartlepool and North Shields didn't materialise. Although the result was never in doubt, the Club enjoyed a good match against Durham, Morpeth, Mandale and Border Harriers, four Clubs from Divisions 1 and 2, with new boy Simon Raseru managing both sprints and both horizontal jumps before anchoring the 4 X 100m relay team. RZH now have another date in the diary, against the best of the rest from the North, in the Knock-out Plate Final at Cudworth on Sunday 29th August.

RZH results: Men - Dan Brooks hammer 17m64, discus 16m65 & shot 6m68; Mike Brooks 10,000m 37:53.2; Ken Harker 1500m 4:23.9; Jon Orange 5,000m 15:39.7; Chris Peacock 400m hurdles 75.9 & javelin 22m34; Simon Raseru 100m 12.4, 200m 25.1, long jump 5m36 & triple jump 10m24; Edd Richards 400m 55.5; Taff Rogers 3,000m steeplechase 11:56.3; Scott Wardman 800m 2:05.3; 4 x 100m relay 53.9 & 4 x 400m relay 3:47.5: Women - Louise Jackson 800m 2:26.6, discus 12m12 & javelin 18m94.

On the same day, John Wild journeyed south to the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, to compete in the BMAF T&F Championships. Although disappointed not to get into the medals as he has on previous occasions, both home and abroad, he was nonetheless pleased with two fourth places, a sixth and a seventh in his four events against the best of British Veteran throwers.

Results: Shot Putt 10m75, Discus 39m55, Hammer 38m35 & Weight 13m81.

And a coach-load of Juniors with their parents and Club Officials also journeyed south, but only as far as Thornes Park Athletic Stadium, Wakefield, for their third YAL fixture. Numbers were up on previous fixtures and the team included seven Under 15 Girls, who missed winning their gender age group by just a single point, plus six Under 17 Boys who all-but-matched the opposition from Wakefield, Harrogate and Cleethorpes. Unfortunately another defeat was inevitable, with just eight more athletes across the remaining four gender age group, but there were winning performances from several Harriers - most notably Lindsey Johnson, Yorkshire Schools Champion, who won all her three events, the shot, javelin and high jump, bettered her old javelin mark by a single centimetre, a Grade 2 performance, and was named "Athlete of the Match". There was an A and B-string double for Ruth Hill and Alice Morrison in the 70m hurdles; Rory Wadsworth took 2 seconds off his PB in the 200m; Katie Roberts and Jane Thornton had A and B-string wins in the 1500m and sisters Jo and Rosie Adams did likewise in the discus; Jessie Roberts was a clear winner in her 1500m; Simon Robson and Chris Archer were also A and B-string winners in their 1500m races and sprinter Sean Osborn added nearly a metre to his PB in the shot.

RZH results: Under 13 Girls - Ruth Hill 75m 10.9, 150m 22.1 & 70m hurdles 14.0; Alice Morrison 75m 11.9, 70m hurdles 14.0 & long jump 3m52: Under 13 Boys - Tom Osborn 100m 16.4 & 200m 32.9; Rory Wadsworth 100m 15.1, 200m 30.6 & 800m 2:47.1: Under 15 Girls - Jo Adams 800m 2:33.3, discus 24m01 & javelin 13m44; Rosie Adams 800m 2:42.6 & discus 16m75; Sophie Broadway 100m 13.4 & 200m 27.1; Lindsey Johnson shot 8m79, javelin 28m97 & high jump 1m48; Katie Roberts 75m hurdles 15.3, 1500m 5:41.5 & shot 5m73; Leanne Shaw 100m 14.0, 200m 28.6 & long jump 4m08; Jane Thornton 75m hurdles 16.0, 1500m 5:41.5 & long jump 3m63; 4 x 100m relay 53.9: Under 15 Boys - Shane Darby 200m 25.6, long jump 5m01 & high jump 1m45; Nick Outhwaite pole-vault 2m15, discus 12m65 & shot 5m19; Doug Roberts 400m 65.5, discus 18m91 & javelin 10m42: Under 17 Girls - Jessie Roberts 300m 48.0, 1500m 5:14.1 & javelin 11m38: Under 17 Boys - Chris Andrade javelin 22m30; Chris Archer 400m 63.2, 800m 2:24.2 & 1500m 4:54.4; Marcus Clarke 100m 12.5, 200m26.2 & triple jump 10m85; Philip Fitzpatrick 1500m steeplechase 5:09.3, discus 17m83 & long jump 4m80; Sean Osborn 100m 12.5, discus 18m31 & shot 8m16; Simon Robson 1500m 4:39.9, 1500m steeplechase 5:15.9 & long jump 4m44; 4 x 100m relay 52.0 & 4 x 400m relay 4:08.5:

The Rainton 10K was the fourth race in this year's Black Sheep Brewery Road Race Series and took place on the same Sunday. Two Harriers took part with Paul Scott finishing 60th in 41:57 and Sarah Gregory 134th in 47:24 from 275 finishers

Neil Piper was the lone Harrier in the Otley 10 mile Road Race. This weekend there are two major Championships, both starting Friday; the English Schools T&F Championships over two days at Gateshead International Stadium and AAA Senior T&F Championships incorporating the Trials for the Olympic Games over three days until Sunday at Sport City, Manchester. The Yorkshire Vets hold their Road Relays on a traffic-free course around Esholt Reservoir, near Bradford, starting at 11 am and there is the Kilburn 7 mile Road Race starting from the Forresters Arms Hotel, Kilburn at 11.30 am. Next Wednesday 14th, Darlington H&AC hold their Pit Stop Races at Croft Circuit; the 2K Fun Run starting at 6.45, the Wheelchair Race at 7.15 and the main 10K at 7.30 pm with entries taken on the night.