Morpeth Harrier Ross Charlton, who is currently enjoying one of his best spells in the sport of athletics, was amongst those honoured at the 43rd annual dinner, hosted by Sport Newcastle at the Civic Centre,
on the evening of Thursday 5th March 2020. Accompanied by his Mother Naomi, Charlton attended to receive an award from celebrated Guest Presenter Jonathan Edwards, the former World, Olympic, and European Triple Jump Champion, who currently still holds the World Record of 18.29m, an equivalent of 60 foot in old money. Charlton received his honour in respect of his superb achievements in Modern Pentathlon, both at European and World level in 2019, a discipline that has also aided his current athletic performances for his hometown club. Ross is pictured in the Back Row, extreme right, along with other celebrities, such as current Newcastle United young stars and siblings, Shaun and Matty Longstaff, former Newcastle Goalkeeper Steve Harper, fellow athlete and Gateshead Harrier Jazmine Moss, with other notables alongside Edwards, who were all in attendance to celebrate the Rising Young Stars of the region. WELL DONE ROSS! Two teams of Morpeth juniors took part in the 4th Birtley Relays
on Sunday morning (9th March) at Lord Lawson School The team of Sam Tate, Euan Duffin and Dylan Davies (two of whom are U/17 and one U/15) were 2nd in the U15/ U/17/ U/20 combined race, behind Houghton Harriers, with Davies running the 3rd fastest time of the day. The team of Will Devere Owen, Bertie Marr and Liam Roche – all U/15 – were 4th. James Tilley ran last leg for a combined Low Fell/ Morpeth team. Running earlier in the matching girls race in an incomplete team was Caitlin Flanagan. No less than twelve athletes from the ranks of Morpeth Harriers had the distinction of representing
the North East Counties at the UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships held at Loughborough on Saturday March 7th 2020. While the weather on the day was relatively mild, the course itself was as heavy and sticky as might be expected after weeks of rain, with competitors speaking later of the attritional and strength-sapping conditions. On a successful day for the North East that saw their Senior Men win the team race and their Senior Women place third, Cat Macdonald was the club’s sole medallist, placing as 3rd counter in 41st place in the Senior Women’s team that was headed by Philippa Williams (ex of Elswick Harriers) 3rd overall, and Kate Avery, 5th. The Senior Men’s race saw Gateshead’s Callum Johnson lead the North East team home to a tremendous overall victory, finishing individually 5th. With Morpeth’s Carl Avery’s eyes set on the Prague half marathon in two weeks time, he chose not to run and so unfortunately missed out on the team gold. Also missing out was young Alex Brown, still not quite back to his pre-Christmas best, and finishing in 122nd place and out of the team counters. Earlier in the day, athletes from the club had figured in six of the Junior races, with two of the North East teams coming home in 4th place overall. Ryan Davies was 29th and 2nd counter for the Under 15 boys, where Joe Dixon was 59th, the team narrowly missing out on a medal. It was a similar story in the Under 20 men, where three athletes from the club all figured. Ross Charlton was 2nd counter behind Middlesborough’s Joss Cowperthwaite (2nd overall) in 17th place, with Dan Melling 31st and 3rd counter, and Dan Dixon 38th and 4th counter. Rowan Bennett (66th overall) and Dylan Gooding (91st) ran in the U/17 boys, the team finishing 7th. Finally, there were also representatives from the club in the U/13 boys, the U/15 girls and the U/20 women. Oliver Tomlinson ran in the U/13 boys, finishing 163rd and 5th in the team count. Abi Leiper was 79th and 5th in the team count in the U/15 girls, and Kirsty Duffin 120th and 7th in the team count for the U/20 women The latest named storm of a dreadful Winter period, Storm Jorge was however thankfully unable to do what its two immediate predecessors had successfully managed and force the cancellation of the latest North East Harrier League fixture, so round three of the now five fixture cross country programme took place at Alnwick Pastures on a bright but breezy, chilly Saturday afternoon. Held once again within sight of Alnwick Castle, the course was essentially that used for the North East Championships in December, with the Senior Men completing three laps and the Senior Women two over a variety of challenging – but thankfully largely dry – terrain. With the fixture only a short drive up the A1, a strong Morpeth turn out saw the club winning no less than four of the eight team fixtures with one individual first place performance. This belonged to Under 17 boy Dylan Gooding, running out of Slow Pack in his first Harrier League outing of the season, who won by well over a minute from his nearest rival. The supporting runs of Dylan Davies and Euan Duffin, 5th and 18th, also meant the team finished in 1st place ahead of Houghton Harriers, who have been their keenest rivals throughout the season in both the Northern and National Championships. The U/17 victory was the third in a row for the club on a successful afternoon, especially for the teenage boys. Earlier, the U/13s had finished a comprehensive 1st, this time ahead of Gateshead Harriers, with Sam Livingstone their first counter in 3rd place, Oliver Tomlinson 7th and Luke Robson 8th They were followed by an even more dominant group of the club’s U/15s, with Dylan’s brother Ryan first home this time in 4th and supporting runs by Sam Tate in 6th and James Tilley 7th. However, with Liam Roche 12th, Bertie Marr 13th and Matthew Walton 17th, the club actually had six in the first twenty finishers, proving once again what a strong age group this is for the club. In the matching girls’ races, Abi Leiper showed she had got last week’s challenging National Championships out of her legs when finishing 5th in the U/15, one place behind training partner and Alnwick Harrier Mille Breese. Zara Naughton was 22nd and new recruit Caitlin Flanagan 25th, although she was sadly not yet eligible for the team count. Despite missing leading light Robyn Bennett - who had competed with distinction midweek in the Police Service UK Championships - the club’s U/17 girls and U/ 20 women also gave a good account of themselves, finishing in 3rd place behind Blaydon and Elswick Harriers. Sophie Coaker came home in 3rd place, with Ella Duffield 6th and Kate Gaffing completing the scoring count in 17th. Earlier, the day had got off to a bright start with a storming run by Under 11 boy Rob Walton, who was only pipped on the run-in by his Gateshead rival but credited with the same time. Harry Shaw also ran for the club, finishing in 54th. In the corresponding girls race, Emma Tomlinson ran well to come home in 18th. Penultimate event of the day was the two lap Senior Women’s race, and a first-rate turn-out of no less than thirteen athletes from the club helped ensure a comprehensive 1st team place. Led home once again by the tireless Jane Hodgson, 5th from fast pack and, at the age of 36, still posting the 2nd fastest time of the day behind Heaton’s Danielle Smythe, Morpeth’s scoring count was completed by sisters Lorna Macdonald and Lindsey Quinn, 8th and 29th respectively from medium pack, with Julie Vermaas in 37th from slow. Behind them, there were a host of decent runs: Gwenda Cavill was 43rd from slow; Jane Briggs, 69th from medium; Sue Smith 112th from slow; Sarah Lawson 115th from medium; Sarah Routledge 131st from slow; Michelle Thompson 137th from fast pack; Laura Shaw 164th from slow; Fran Naylor 213th and Margaret Macdonald 237th. The victory moved the club’s women to the top of the Grand Prix standings, tied on places with Tyne Bridge Harriers but well ahead of third place South Shields. Equally strong performances in the final two fixtures – the last of which is close to homeat Druridge Bay – should see the club regain the title they won in 2018 but lost last year. Final event of the day was the Senior Men’s race and, after the dismal turn-out at Aykley Heads in December, it was cheering to see no less than sixteen runners heeding the call and a much improved team performance. In a race won by over and a minute from medium pack by Wallsend’s young Sam Charlton, Adam Pratt had another good run to finish in 7th from medium pack. He was supported by the ever-improving Ricky Stafford, 42nd from slow, Alistair Macdonald, 69th also from slow, Gary Jones, 84th from fast, and Lee Bennett, 89th from medium. Final counter was evergreen Over 65 Dave Nicholson, 104th from slow. Mention should especially be made of Jones, who is having a fine season over the country and has now moved up to 2nd in the Veterans Grand Prix. Morpeth’s other finishers were: Eric Adams, 113th from slow; Andy Hebden, 134th from fast;
Jamie Johnson, 142nd from medium; Richard Kirby, 154th from slow; Jason Dawson, 161st from medium; Will Clark, 218th from medium; Paul Brown, 220th from slow; Steve Johnstone, 229th from slow; Bill Tilley, 231st from slow; and Andrew Dippie, 255th from slow. The Senior Men finished in 5th on the day and moved up one place in the team divisions also to 5th. With Sunderland Harriers having clear daylight ahead of the chasing group, it looks like the title is now gone but strong performances in the last two fixtures might still secure a 3rd place finish. Morpeths Ross Floyd competed in London at the Vitality half marathon on Sunday 1st March 2020.
The race itself saw Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele break Mo Farah's course record with a time of one hour and 22 seconds. Floyd clocked a personal best time for the distance in 1 hour 9 minutes 18 seconds for 49th place. |
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