ATHLETICS: Despite gaining their best points tally of the season in their latest outing, Macclesfield Harriers were unable to pull themselves out of the relegation zone in their penultimate YAL match of the season.

They were up against Leeds, Hull and West Cheshire in another difficult match.

At the halfway stage, the Harriers were in second place behind Leeds and hopes were high for a better placing than in the two previous matches.

However, a resurgent Hull performance, coupled with a strong West Cheshire relay display, saw Macclesfield slip back to fourth place, gaining a point.

West Cheshire came third and Hull were second, with the strong Leeds City team taking maximum points.

Macclesfield still have some hope for survival as, in their final match they are up against two fellow strugglers, Chesterfield and Rotherham.

If Macclesfield finish 30 points clear of Chesterfield and take three points, they will be relying on Wirral and Cleethorpes to finish last in their respective matches, which is not an unlikely scenario.

There were lots of personal bests from many of the young athletes, despite the terrible weather conditions.

The most notable performances came from Rob Blake, who ran the Under-17 100m in 11.6sec, and Jo Mott, who shaved 20 seconds off her 3,000m to take first place in the Under-17 competition.

Ceri Williams raced from a county school event in Stoke to compete in and win the triple jump with a PB of 9.91m, while Ed Williams ran a grade three 3,000m, followed by a 1,500m steeplechase victory.

He was well supported by Andrew Mothershaw who also secured maximum points by winning the 1,500m steeplechase 'B' race.

Alex Ranshaw secured valuable points in the long jump and triple jump, recording 5.82m and 11.73m respectively.

The star performer was once again Under-15 runner Lloyd Hilton, who won his 400m and 800m races with grade one performances.

Hilton must be considered very unlucky not to be chosen as athlete of the match.

He was well supported by Daniel Bunce who gained a first and second spot in the 'B' races. Hatty Ravenscroft threw a graded PB of 23.95m in the javelin as did Rebecca Devine in the shot putt.

Lucy Bunce ran a fine grade three PB of 2.28.0 in the 800m.

Grace Ifere sped to a grade two finish of 21.2 in the Under-13 150m, and she is sure to reduce this by improving her starting.

There was another fantastic performance by Danielle Wallis, who clocked 4.03.4 min for the Under-13 1,200m - another grade one and another Macclesfield contender for athlete of the match.

She was ably assisted by Louise Heron (U13) who also won the 'B' race in a grade three time of 4.12.2. The ever improving Clara Boothby won the Under-13 long jump with 4.17m and Martha Williams' 'B' event win made it a Macc double.

All these athletes were well supported by a host of others who continue to improve and develop their competition performances and gain valuable points for the club, often in events they are not experienced in.

If you would like to get involved, contact Macclesfield Harriers' secretary Julian Brown on 01663 733252.