Team Isle of Man recently contested the third round of this season’s North of England Track and Field League.

The latest match was held at Ellesmere Port Sports Village, which is the home of West Cheshire Athletics Club.

Having struggled for numbers in the opening two rounds – always an issue in Island Games year – a much stronger team put up a spirited performance to finish in second place in the six-team match, finishing only six points adrift of winners Blackburn Harriers.

This result gives the team a realistic chance of remaining in the Western Premier Division next season, but they will need another strong all-round performance in the final round at Trafford which takes place a week on Sunday, August 31.

Many of the Island Games team were back in action and probably the performance of the day came from Sam Perry. Despite running solo for all but the opening lap, he set a new personal best time of 3min 55.4sec to win the men’s 1,500 metres A race with a quality display.

Zac Woodward also achieved an A victory in the men’s long jump with an effort of 5.90 metres and was second in the pole vault with 3.70 metres.

Both the 4x100 metres relay teams achieved victories. The men’s quartet comprised of Alan Stobart, Finlay Taggart, Ben Sinclair and Daniel Stewart-Clague, and they won by a comfortable margin in a time of 44.2 seconds.

The women’s team of Aimee Christian, Frankie Kennedy, Georgia Price and Carla Teece won equally impressively in 51.3 seconds and, after a disappointment in Orkney, it was wonderful to see a very slick final changeover between Price and Teece sealing the victory.

The men’s 4x400 metres team of Ben Sinclair, Ryan Corrin, Daniel Stewart-Clague and Sam Perry also ran superbly to finish second just behind Sale Harriers in a time of 3:31.10.

Multi-event athletes are always busy in these events, with significant points being collected towards the team score by Daniel Stewart-Clague, Ben Sinclair, Kyle Martin, Lucy Cartwright and several others in a wide variety of disciplines.

Price followed her Island Games triple jump medal with a new personal best in the 200 metres of 26.2 seconds, and many of the younger athletes performed well and gained more valuable experience of senior competition.

Lara Smith and Lucy Cartwright both shone in the pole vault event, and the latter also in the javelin, while Taggart was second in the high jump. Stobart continues to impress in the 100 metres.

Many thanks go to team manager Petra Atchison and to the officials who travelled with the team for their hard work, especially hot on the heels of the Island Games.

The crucial final round of the North of England Track and Field League takes place at Trafford on Sunday, August 31.

DAVID GRIFFITHS

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