It was certainly a good day for the North East at the annual UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships, which were held for the first time ever, at Prestwold Hall, near Loughborough, Leicestershire on Saturday 11th March 2017. This event, not only marked what was effectively the end of the domestic Cross Country season, it also served as the final stepping stone for athletes with burgeoning ambitions for selection to the UK teams, which will be representing the country at the forthcoming World Cross Country Championships, scheduled to be held in Uganda at the end of March, also it served as the culmination of the prestigious UK Cross Challenge Series, with certain leading athletes set to reap rich rewards for their respective age group performances. One such athlete who will definitely be on that plane to Uganda will be Morpeth Harrier Scott Beattie, who on Saturday ran superbly to finish a very close second to Yorkshire’s Jonathan Shields, who is also a close friend, in the opening event of the day, the Under 20 Men’s 8k, run over two testing circuits of the new course. Beattie sat in the first seven or eight of 160 plus strong field over the first circuit, and it was on the second circuit that he and Shields visibly began to draw clear of the rest, along with Avon and Somerset’s Luke Prior and local hope Sam Stevens. Thankfully the finish line came quickly enough for Beattie to take the Silver medal, two seconds behind a much-relieved winner Shields, with Prior just holding off Stevens for the Bronze medal. Ironically only Shields, Beattie and Prior are guaranteed places on that plane to Uganda, however Stevens may get a discretionary place, should he wish to take up the option. Whilst Beattie was joyous in his individual performance, the region narrowly missed out on Bronze team medals, finishing fourth behind Scotland East, Yorkshire, and Kent. Another Morpeth Harrier in action in this event alongside Beattie was Jake Masterman, who was fifth home for the region in 105th place. A superb team performance saw the regions Senior Men take the six-man title in their 12k event for the seventh time in succession, and the thirteenth time in all since the competition’s inception in 1926. There was certainly dominance attached to the North-East performance, when it was also revealed that they had won the nine to score award in addition. Leading the squad home was Jonny Taylor of Morpeth Harriers, who was well up with the race leaders on the first of three circuits, that were now well churned up following the previous nine events. Taylor for his part finished ninth, a placing which also gave him second place in the UK Challenge listings, behind race winner Andy Vernon of Aldershot, and representing Hampshire, who finished in fourth team place, behind the North East, second placed Surrey and third placed Middlesex. Second home for the North East was Taylor’s Morpeth Harriers club colleague Carl Avery, who ran superbly to finish tenth and only three seconds adrift. Nick Swinburn made it a Morpeth Harriers 1,2, 3 at the helm of North East team affairs when finishing in 22nd place, just six seconds and one place ahead of the regions fourth counter Phil Wylie of Cheltenham. Other Morpeth Harriers competing in the Senior Men’s event were Robert Balmbra and Ady Whitwam. Balmbra, who had been called into the squad as a late replacement, ran well to finish in 75th place, and was eighth home for the region. Whitwam was eleven seconds adrift of Balmbra in 82nd place, and was fourth counter in a fifth placed Yorkshire squad. Another superb winning performance on the day came from the regions Under 20 Women’s squad in their two lap 6k event. Although well adrift of the scoring four, Morpeth Harrier Abby Sheldon, who was drafted in as a late replacement, could feel well pleased with her overall placing of 140th in the 180 plus strong field. The region won by fifty points from Greater Manchester, with Yorkshire close behind in third place, in what was a North dominated affair. North East Under 15 Boys champion Daniel Dixon was second counter for the region in their third placed two lap 4.5k event. Dixon certainly put a disappointing run in the English National Cross Country Championships in Nottingham two weeks previously in nearby Nottingham firmly behind him, as he finished an excellent eighteenth place in one of the biggest fields of the day (294 finishers). The North East were only a mere four points adrift of Silver team medallists Yorkshire, however Kent certainly were a dominant force in team affairs. Another big field assembled for the one lap Under 13 Boys 3k event, which was the second event of the day. The field included Morpeth Harriers Ben Walker and Dylan Davies, who were outside the scoring counts for a fifth placed team in 116th and 122nd place respectively. They were fifth and sixth home for the region. No fewer than four Morpeth Harriers lined up in the Under 17 Men’s two lap 6k event, which was the eighth of ten events on the programme. First of the Morpeth contingent was Rory Leonard, who had missed the National Championships in Nottingham due to illness. Leonard very bravely rose to the challenge, and was well up with the leaders in the early exchanges, who included North East Champion Josh Cowperthwaite of Middlesbrough, who eventually led the North-East squad home to sixth team place, by finishing sixth overall. Meanwhile Leonard drifted back to 45th place, but however remained as second counter, perhaps feeling still a little under strength following his illness. The other Morpeth Harriers performances in the North-East squad came from Taylor Glover (81st), Liam Marsh (101st), and Matthew Waterfield (156th). 263 finishers took part in the Under 17 Men’s event. Unfortunately, a late injury sustained in warm up, plus a heavy cold ruled Morpeth Harrier Emma Holt out of the Senior Women’s two lap 8k event. Nevertheless, the North-East squad rallied to finish an excellent fourth, being led home by former Morpeth Harrier Ashley Gibson, now running for Tonbridge, who finished 18th in the 261-strong finishing field. The scoring count was completed by Jane Hodgson, who had been called in as a late replacement for her club colleague Josie Cram, who had pulled out earlier in the week with a knee injury. Hodgson finished in 80th place. Ahead of the North East in the Senior Women’s team race were winners Surrey, followed by runners up Scotland East, with Bronze going to Hampshire. Senior Women’s individual winner was Jessica Judd, the English National Champion, who was running in the colours of Essex, who was thirteen seconds ahead of Yorkshire Champion Claire Duck, with Leicester favourite Gemma Steel, taking the Bronze, after completing the event shoe less. Morpeth Harrier Holly Peck finished 49th in the Under 15 Girls one lap 4k Championship,
and was third counter in a North-East squad which finished as ninth team. There were no Morpeth Harriers included in the included in the one lap Under 13 Girls 3k event and the one lap Under 17 Women’s 5k event. The North East did well in the former event by taking Bronze team medals, and in the latter event they were tenth. On the day, in the overall standings over ten programmed events, the region finished as third team, which is a tribute to the very hard work put in by respective Team Managers Stewy Bell (Men), and Lynn Cooper (Women), and all of their supporting selectors and officials. Morpeth Harrier James Young finished eleventh in the combined
Senior and Under 20 Men’s event at the Mid Lancs Cross Country Meeting, held at Leigh Sports Village on Saturday 4th March 2017. Young was second counter for Lancaster University, and was the second Under 20 finisher, behind Barlick Fell Runner, Thomas Corrigan, who won in 36m32s, whilst Young clocked 39m07s. A total of 806 finishers took part in the prestigious Trafford 10k Road Race on Sunday 5th March 2017 in Manchester, including four athletes from Morpeth Harriers. Northern Cross Country Bronze medallist Peter Newton was the first home from the club, finishing 19th overall, and posting a finishing time of 30m22s, which beats his previous best on the road by two seconds, which he clocked back in 2011, in London in the Bupa 10k. Not far behind him in 31st place was his club colleague Carl Avery, who posted a time of 30m47s, which was also a new personal best on the road, by all of twenty one seconds, his previous best having been set in the 2015 North Tyneside 10k. Morpeth’s Robert Balmbra finished in 126th place overall, posting a finishing time of 32m50s, which also represented a new personal best on the road, his previous best having been set as far back as 2006, when he clocked 34m00s in the Les Allcorn 10k in Alnwick. Last but certainly not least, Morpeth’s Emma Holt was sixth in the Women’s event, and she posted a finishing time of 34m52s, which was also a personal best on the road by thirteen seconds, her previous best having been in November’s Leeds Abbey Dash. These performances were truly excellent, considering they were achieved in very wet and freezing conditions being experienced in Greater Manchester on Sunday. The ESAA National Cross Country Championship is the most eagerly
anticipated event of the winter for young athletes. Organised entirely by volunteer teachers, we bring together the best athletes in each of the 45 Counties in England to compete for the honour of being the best in the Country. Entry to the event is by virtue of athletes being selected by County Team Managers to represent their County. County Championships are normally held in late January or early February and a preliminary County Team is then selected. One or two weeks later, County Teams may compete between other neighbouring Counties in an Inter-County match, after which the team to represent the County at the National Championship is finally selected. Teams comprise a maximum of 12 athletes, of which only 8 are allowed to compete. The first 6 finishers in each team count towards the team competition - finishing positions are added up, and the team with the lowest score wins. If teams are tied, the team with the highest 6th finisher takes precedence. Final selections show that seventeen Morpeth Harriers have been named in the six Northumberland squads for the forthcoming English Schools Cross Country Championships, scheduled to be held in Norwich on Saturday 18th March 2017. Northern Under 20 Men’s Cross Country Champion Scott Beattie is named in the Senior Boys squad, along with club colleagues Kieran Hedley and Jake Masterman. The Intermediate Boys squad includes no fewer than six from the club, with Rory Leonard heading a list along with Daniel Dixon, Matthew Waterfield, Taylor Glover, Liam Marsh, and Daniel Melling. Named in the Junior Boys squad are Thomas Cunningham, Ben Walker, and Andrew Hudspith. The Senior and Intermediate Girls squads named, include Abby Sheldon and Gracie Hufton respectively. Three Morpeth Harriers are named in the Junior Girls squad, they are Holly Peck, Rhiannon Hedley, and Lily Heaton. Eight athletes will be finally selected in each squad to actually run on the day, so some of these names may be in a standby situation. |
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