Bethany sets personal best to rival England’s finest runners (From Leigh Journal)

Bethany sets personal best to rival England’s finest runners

2:12pm Thursday 18th June 2009

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BETHANY Jones was the star of the show at the Greater Manchester Schools’ Track and Field Championships on Saturday.

The Leigh Harriers teenager, a pupil at St Mary’s High school, won the Junior Girls 1,500m final in an English Schools’ qualification time of 4:47.7.

The 14-year-old, already Greater Manchester champion, needed to knock two seconds off her personal best time to win selection for the national championships at Sheffield later this summer.

Showing great judgment and determination, she demolished her previous best time by six seconds.

Clubmate Shannon Johnson came second in the race with a time of 4:54.6, winning selection to represent Greater Manchester in the Mason Trophy at Birmingham this weekend.

Laura Riches, a pupil of Fred Longworth, was also in outstanding form in the Inter Girls 1,500m .

She ran a personal best time of 4:38.7 to win the silver medal, well inside the qualification time for her third trip to the English Schools’ finals.

Georgina Leck was just outside the medals in the Junior Girls 800m, recording a personal best time of 2:27.7 to earn fourth spot in the final.

Adam Jamson, competing in the Junior Boys 800m, ran 2:19.3 to place seventh.

Elizabeth Lee won silver in the Inter Girls 3,000m, clocking 11:49.9, to earn selection for Greater Manchester in the Mason Trophy.

Other good performances came from Ryan More in the Junior Boys 1,500m, running a personal best time of 4:40.1 to cross the line sixth.

Liam More also ran a personal best to finish 10th in the same race.

Debutant Georgina Proven, running as a Year Seven student against older girls, finished sixth in her 100m heat in 14.1s.

Lauren O’Malley was fourth in her heat of the Inter Girls 200m in a time of 29.7s.

And Harriers’ endurance squad enjoyed an excellent day at the Greater Manchester Track and Field Championships the previous week.

Jones won the U15s Girls’ 1,500m title in 4:53.0, trailed home once more by Johnson some three seconds further back.

Daniel Shields won gold in the U11s Boys’ 75m in 11.41s.

Other highlights included Riches winning a silver medal in the U17s Girls’ 1,500m and Abigail Howarth claiming bronze in the same race.

Proven won silver medals in both the U13s Girls’ 75m and 150m sprint finals.

In the Girls’ 800m, Leck ran a personal best time of 2:29 to win silver, the same colour as Jack Jones, while Carley Hailwood returned home with bronze.

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