BOLTON Harriers began their season in Division One of the Northern League with a sixth-placed finish at Leeds.
The local athletes are anticipating a tough campaign after last year's promotion as they compete against talented opposition such as Leeds and City of Manchester.
The degree of difficulty was made even greater for Bolton when a number of key members withdrew from the team due to illness and injury.
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Their luck got worse during the competition as more Harriers were injured and had to pull out, the situation getting so bad that some supporters had to step up and take up places in some events.
Despite the problems, the team battled on bravely and there were some excellent individual performances.
Brian Hall produced one of them as he dominated the high jump, his victory lifting him to number 19 in the country.
Simon Bissell had an outstanding day as he finished the day with two second places and a third. Simon is currently ranked number 26 in the country in the discus.
John Nicholson won the B discus.
Tony Valentine and Andy Parker continued their good form in the 5000m.
Tess Walker had a superb day, winning the 3000m and coming third in the 1,500m.
The fine team performance, despite the injury problems, augurs well for the season and the club will expect to build on it next month when, hopefully, a fully fit team will head to Blackburn for round two.
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