Athletics: Champion Forrester to take on the world

Mar 20 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

DAVID FORRESTER (St Helens-Sutton) won the Inter-Counties Under-20 title leading Merseyside team-mates Danny Griffiths (St Helens-Sutton), Craig Gunderson (Liverpool) and Tom Madden (Wirral) to the bronze medals in the team race.

Forrester, who was prominently featured on Sky TV, raced away from the field up the hill at the halfway point, cruising to victory by eleven seconds from Simon Horsfield (East Cheshire).

The 18-year-old Winstanley College student now bids to become the leading European finisher at the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh in 10 days’ time where he will supported by a coachload of fans from the St Helens-Sutton club.

The Merseyside women’s teams had mixed fortunes, arriving without Amanda Crook and Rebbeca Hannah but Charlotte O’Connell (Wirral), Sarah Jackson (Liverpool), Kirsty Longley (LPS) and Saints’ captain Julia Eccleston steered the seniors into 25th place.

The Merseyside senior men’s team were down to seven athletes following late withdrawals while Rob Berry failed to finished. However, superb packing from Simon Mills (54), John McCole (56), Ben Jones (58), Johnny Mellor (61), Hwyl Care (68) laid the foundation for an excellent eighth place.

Cheshire, including three Warrington athletes, Danny Cliffe (17), Steve Broadhurst (26) and Matt Jackson (32) grabbed the silver medals in the under-17s contest while Heather Timmins was a disappointing ninth in the junior women’s race.

Elsewhere LPS’s Bernie Murphy finished 11th in the Bath Half Marathon in a time of 61.29 while clubmate Sammy Rashid took 11th place in the Sheffield Mayor’s 10k in 34.51. Simon McEvitt (55.55) and Steve Freeman (57.17), both Liverpool Harriers, finished fourth and sixth in the Ultrafit 10-miler at Lytham St Annes.

Michael Panes (SouthportWaterloo) set a new club under-13s 1,200m record when he recorded 3.57.7 at the Blackpool Winter Meeting held at Stanley Park.

At the British Universities Indoor Athletics Championships at Sheffield Helen Asher (Liverpool Hope) took third place in the 60metres sprint.

Tomorrow SouthportWaterloo stage their annual Good Friday races at Victoria Park.

On Saturday Merseyside AA stage their annual Fell Running Championships in conjunction with the Rivington Pike race. In a record county field of 20 athletes St Helens-Sutton defend their men and women’s team titles against strong challenges from Wirral and SouthportWaterloo.

Sunday sees the Halton Bridge Race from Runcorn to Hale while there is an open track meeting at Trafford on Easter Monday.