HOLMFIRTH Harriers are putting up a fight for survival in this season’s Northern Track and Field League.

They are looking to retain their Division II status, but need a top three finish and they travelled to the latest meeting in Bury in fifth place.

While they didn’t change their league standing by the end of the meeting, they had closed the gap significantly and now trail second placed Bury by just two points with two fixtures remaining.

They started strongly on the track in the 400m hurdles with Naomi Harvey-Franklin second in the ‘A’ race in 70.8 seconds and Aideen Farrell third ‘B’ in 81.1sec.

Harvey-Franklin was also in action in the 100m hurdles finishing second in the ‘B’ race setting a new personal best 18.7.

Teammate Lauren Storr kept her unbeaten record this season going with a fine win in the ‘A’ event in 15.8.

Jake Richardson was joined in the hurdles events by Robert Hinchliffe, making his debut in the Senior League.

Richardson recorded 73.7 in the ‘A’, while Hinchliffe’s time of 70.3 takes him top of this season’s club rankings.

Richardson showed determination in completing the 110m hurdles after falling heavily 40 metres from the finishing line – Hinchliffe’s 24.8 in the ‘B’ race was another fine debut performance.

The distance athletes were in sparkling form amassing 97 points.

Margaret Sykes and Claire Leaver both had splendid runs to finish second ‘A’ and first ‘B’ in the 3000m with times of 10.53.00 and 11.03.50, respectively.

Sophie Spencer and Ruby Sykes were both second in their respective 800m races, Spencer clocked 2.26.7sec and Sykes 2.26.1 – which was a personal best.

Spencer then teamed up with Leaver in the 1500m, both crossing the line third in their events.

Richard Smith and Phil Hewitt were winners in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ 3000m steeplechase in 10.12.7 and 11.02.5 respectively – Hewitt’s time lopping 30 seconds off his previous best.

Thomas Traviss-Pollard dominated the 1500m finishing six seconds ahead of his nearest rival, while Dave Watson won the ‘B’ event in 4.25.3.

Matthew Pierson and Dave Turnbull finished second ‘A’ and first ’B’ in the 5000m, while Simon Findlay was third ‘A’ in the 800m (2.04.6) and Steven Eastwood was second ‘B’ (2.05.9).

The throwers had a 79-point haul with Katie Zientek and Katie Franklin taking maximum points in the javelin with throws of 26.37m and 24.74m, respectively.

In the Shot Franklin was second ‘A’ with 8.48m and Zientek took first ‘B’ with 7.14m.

Zientek was joined by Adrienne Dewhirst in the hammer and both were fourth to gain points.

Andy Storr and Adrian Smith teamed up in the shot with both setting new personal bests of 8.80m and 8.79m, respectively.

In the hammer Storr was fourth ‘A’ with 21.32m and Smith was third ‘B’ with 18.04m, and Watson launched a 38.80m javelin throw to improve his personal best by six metres, while Smith claimed third place in the ‘B’ event.

In the sprints, Lauren Storr competed in the ‘A’ 100m recording 13.3, while Harvey-Franklin took second in the ‘B’ event with a new best of 13.5.

Harriet Roberts picked up points in the 200m with a season’s best time of 27.8 and a second ‘A’ with 63.6 in the 400m, while Cara Penfold set a personal best with 66.3 in the 400m ‘B’.

Will Lander, returning from injury, ran the ‘A’ 100m in 12.4, while Steven Eastwood ran a fine 25.4 in the 200m.

Adrian Smith set new best times of 12.9 and 26.4 in the 100m and 200m.

In the relays Holmfirth’s women were fourth in the 4x100m and fifth in the 4x400m, and the men were fifth in the 4x100m and third in the 4x400m.