THE fourth and final fixture of the Youth Development League Lower (under-13s and u15s) took place at Ashton-under-Lyne, with Bolton’s NW2 divisional status on the line.

In wet and gloomy conditions, BUH&AC's juniors put their all into the competition, with some entering unfamiliar disciplines.

In the u13 girls, great effort was put in by the whole group amassing a big total of 131 points, well above any other team in the category.

Impressive results included Julia Winogrodzka and her clean sweep of a maximum 30 points, winning all her A string events (20.5secs for 150m, 11.6 for 70m hurdles and 5.07m in the long jump) and Porscha Johnson winning her B hurdles race with a time of 12.3, subsequently finishing second in the B 150m (21.9) and another second place in the A high jump (1.25m).

Also noteworthy was Abigail Steele-Lesh’s 3.80m in winning the B long jump (new personal best) and 1.25m in the B high jump for Ruby Erzan-Essien, securing first place and a new PB.

By throwing the 2.72kg shot to a distance of 6.18m, Lucy Gettinby claimed a new PB and third place in the A string, while Elizabeth Williamson's 5.78m was enough to win the B group. It was all topped up by a win in the 4x100m relay with a time of 57.2 – the team made up of Steele-Lesh, Williamson, Johnson and Winogrodzka.

For the u13 boys, sprinting duo Jack Kingdon and Jake Harwood managed a double-second place in the 100m A and B races with 13.9 and 14.2 respectively – an achievement repeated in the 200m with times of 28.7 and 29.9.

In the shot put, Luke Greenhalgh got a new PB with his 7.87m throw – missing out on a win by 9cm.

The heavily-depleted u15 girls’ team – just four athletes – put in all they had to get as many points as possible.

Ciara Gettinby and Beryl Maffo Nghogeh both got new PBs in the 100m sprint with times of 13.6 and 14.0 respectively – enough for fourth and second place in A and B strings.

Ciara also finished second in the A 75m hurdles race in a time of 12.3, while Natasha Robinson finished second in the A shot put (8.59m) and a PB of 20.22m in the A discus was enough for fourth place. Heather Cade won the B discus with a throw of 15.57m.

In the u15 boys’ category, similar to the younger male team, it was the sprinters that led the way.

Benjamin To and Eniola Adedotun together put in a quadruple win by winning A and B races in both 100m and 200m – 11.7 and 24.2 for Ben in the A races and 12.2 and 25.7 for Eniola in the B heats.

Ben also added a silver in the A discus (25.15m, new PB) and Eniola was third in the A 80m hurdles race (13.6).

Hakeem Oguneye won the B hurdles with 14.2 whilst Jack Horrocks' 18.20m in the B discus got him second place. Unsurprisingly with having such great sprinters, the 4x100m relay team (Ruairi Behan, Adedotun, Horrocks, To) finished first with a time of 51.0.

Unfortunately Bolton finished sixth on the day, which meant a tie with Macclesfield in league points on 11 each.

However, a difference of 24 match points (1,755 for BUHAC and 1,779 for Macclesfield) means relegation to the lower league alongside East Cheshire Harriers.

The team was: u13 girls – Phoebe Alston-Forrester, Ruby Erzan-Essien, Lucy Gettinby, Porscha Johnson, Amy Rossington, Abigail Steele-Lesh, Elizabeth Williamson, Julia Winogrodzka; u13 boys – Oisin Behan, Joshua Bentley-Hughes, Luke Greenhalgh, Jake Harwood, James Horrocks, Jack Kingdon, Jason Scaife, Ethan Wallace; u15 girls – Heather Cade, Ciara Gettinby, Beryl Maffo Nghogeh, Natasha Robinson; u15 boys – Eniola Adedotun, Logan Alston-Forrester, Ruairi Behan, Jack Horrocks, Hakeem Ogunneye, Ben Pickford, Benjamin To.