A total of thirty-five athletes from the ranks of Morpeth Harriers took part in the annual Northumberland Schools Track and Field Championships, held at the Tynedale Athletics Track at Wentworth Leisure Centre in Hexham,
on Saturday 9th June 2018. Out of those athletes, a total fourteen wins, ten second places, and four third places were achieved, along with nine new personal bests, that also included three brand new championship bests, one of them being inaugural. A most notable championship best, was the one achieved by Senior Girl Bobbie Griffiths, whose best throw of 38.46m, broke the previous figures by slightly over two metres. It also saw Griffiths achieve the remarkable feat of having produced championship bests in all of her age groups in schools’ competitions. Griffiths was also Morpeth’s only Senior Girl in action at the event. Morpeth’s two other Championship bests came from their Junior Girls section. In the sports heaviest event, i.e. the Hammer, Jessica Gardiner threw a new personal best of 35.94m, which was not only a new personal best for the 3kg weight, it also beat the old best by a massive eleven metres. Another Morpeth athlete alongside Gardiner in the event was Hurdles specialist Amy Lott, whose modest effort of 20.19m gave her third place. Gardiner also won the 1kg Discus, with a best of 25.94m. In what was a new inaugural event, Morpeth’s Mia Belton snatched victory from North Tyneside’s Alicia Beverley in the Junior Girls 300m, setting a new personal and championship best of 43.9s. Gardiner and Belton were two of Morpeth’s four winners from the Junior Girls events, with the other two coming from Hurdler Amy Lott, and Javelin specialist Alice Geoghegan. After achieving a new personal best of 11.5s in her earlier run heat of the 75m Hurdles, Lott produced 11.7s to win her final from Tynedale’s Kate Smith, with third place going to her Morpeth club colleague Geoghegan in 12.4s, having achieved third place in her earlier heat, by producing a lifetime best of 12.2s. Geoghegan had her moment of glory in the Field however, by winning the Javelin, by producing a personal best effort of 25.66m, winning by a clear two metres from another club colleague Rosie Winter (23.81m). Winter also finished second in the Junior Girls 200m in 27.4s, after earlier finishing second in her heat, when posting a new personal best of 27.3s. Another Morpeth second placing, came in the 800m, when Rhiannon Hedley posted a time of 2m23.6s, which was around a couple of seconds adrift of her lifetime best. Another Morpeth Junior Girl in action was Rebecca Bradley, who finished fourth in the 1500m, posting a new personal best time of 5m13.4s. An equal number of Morpeth winners came in the Senior Boys events, courtesy of Matthew Waterfield (400m) in 50.8s, Rory Leonard (800m) 1m55.0s, a new personal best, Kieran Hedley (1500m), a seasons best of 3m57.6s, and Ruaridh Lang (1.75kg Discus) 40.52m. Taylor Glover finished second to Hedley in the 1500m in 4m03.1s. The biggest Morpeth participation on the day, came from the Junior Boys, where no less than ten athletes from the club were in competitive action. They managed two firsts, two seconds, and one third, with no less than five new personal bests being produced. The two wins came from Ben Waterfield in the 800m, and Daniel Dowd in the Javelin. North Eastern Under 15 Boys Champion Waterfield, took the 800m title in 2m10.9s, winning by just under two seconds from Tynedale athlete Charlie Daley. Other Morpeth athletes competing in the 800m were Dylan Gooding, who finished fourth, posting a new personal best time of 2m17.9s, and Bobby Stone, who was ninth in a seasons best 2m24.7s. Meanwhile Dowd won the Javelin with a best throw of 36.08m, winning by just under nine metres from North Tyneside’s Jay Harvey. Ben Waterfield just lost out on countback in the High Jump to Tynedale’s Rhys Findlay, with a clearance of 1.55m. Bobby Stone finished sixth in the competition, with a new personal best clearance of 1.40m. Euan Duffin posted new figures of 4m27.0s, when finishing an excellent second to North Shields Poly athlete Josh Blevins of North Tyneside in the 1500m. Other Morpeth Harriers competing in the Junior Boys 1500m were Ben Walker (7th) 4m51.7s, and Dylan Davies (8th) 4m54.7s. Max Marr produced new figures of 5.28m, when finishing third in the Long Jump. On the track, Marr finished second in his heat of the 100m, posting a new personal best of 12.5s, however in the later run final, he could only clock 12.9s, which saw him finish fifth. Morpeth’s Josh Adams posted new figures of 25.4s, when finishing third in his heat of the 200m, but despite improving even more to 25.3s in the later run final, it was only good enough for fifth. In the 300m, Morpeth’s Charlie Lane qualified for the final by finishing third in his heat with 41.7s, however in the later run final, he finished fifth in 42.4s. The Intermediate Boys events saw the Morpeth contingent produce two wins, two seconds, and two thirds, and no less than five personal bests. Rowan Bennett won the 1500m final in 4m13.5s, winning by almost three seconds from club colleague Tom Balsdon, who posted brand new figures of 4m16.2s. Other Morpeth Harriers in action in the 1500m were Ross Charlton, who finished fourth in 4m30.7s, and Andrew Hudspith, who finished ninth, in a new personal best of 4m49.1s. The other Morpeth Intermediate Boy winner was Ethan Stephenson, who despite a slight injury produced 12.70m in the Triple Jump. Matthew Heslop produced excellent new figures of 11.78m, when finishing third. The 3000m, saw Newcastle athlete Sam Charlton, who runs for Wallsend Harriers, produce a new championship best of 8m58.4s, as Morpeth’s Daniel Melling finished second in 9m36.3s. David Sanderson of Morpeth finished third in the 1.5kg Discus, producing a best effort of 27.89m. Despite running two seasons bests of 12.1s and 24.9s respectively in the Intermediate Boys 100m and 200m Heats, Morpeth’s Robbie Anderson finished fifth and fourth in the respective later run finals, where he posted times of 12.2s and 25.7s. Holly Peck’s win in the 1500m (5m02.8s), and Lily Heaton’s second in the 800m (2m27.6s), were the best Morpeth track performances to come from the Intermediate Girls events. Heaton had also run a personal best of 45.4s, when finishing fourth in a tough 300m final, having clocked 45.6s in her earlier run heat. In the Intermediate Girls Field Events, Morpeth’s Elena Saunders finished second in the 3kg Shot, with a personal best effort of 10.10m. She also produced a personal best effort when finishing sixth in the 500g Javelin, with 16.85m. Around 120 enthusiastic youngsters, a new record, took part in the annual Morpeth Fair Day Fun Run on Sunday 10th June 2018, organised by Morpeth Harriers, on behalf of the Morpeth Chamber of Trade, who organise the event. The race was started by the new Morpeth Mayor Jack Gebhard, and runners headed down Bridge Street, turned into Carlisle Park, passing along the Riverside, eventually returning to the finish line in Oldgate, just behind the Clock Tower. First home to the finish line was Chantry Year 8 pupil Sam Tate, who is also a member of the Harriers, who posted a time of 4m53s, winning by a margin of fourteen seconds from Benet Biscop Year 7 pupil Ryan Davies, who is also a Harrier, Newminster Year 8 pupil Matthew Walton coming home third in 5m13s. First girl home was Chantry Year 5 pupil Keira Peck, who was fourteenth overall in 6m08s, just outpacing Year 6 pupil and fellow Morpeth Harrier Freya Caygill, who was fifteenth with the same finishing time. Third place in the Girls event went to Pegswood Year 6 pupil Libby Fyfe, also a Harriers member, who finished twenty first overall in 6m15s, just outpacing Rothbury Middle Year 6 pupil Molly Baker. All finishers received goody bags that had been given to the event by the Chamber of Trade, and Morpeth Harriers would like to thank all their members and friends who helped on the day with the event. Thankfully the weather played its part, with beautiful warm sunshine being enjoyed by all. Please note that there may be one or two discrepancies with the published results,
this was largely due to congestion in the finish area, and some numbers not being clearly shown to the finish judges as requested, if anyone has a query on their result, please contact by email on morpethharriers @aol.com, quoting your race number, and an approx. time that you think that you may have taken. Over 4,300 finishers, including 29 determined athletes from Morpeth Harriers, some looking more resplendent than ever in their brand new badged and named club vests, took part in the 38th Blaydon Race, sponsored by local recycling company J & J Stanley, which set off from Newcastle’s Collingwood Street, shortly after 3.15pm on Saturday 9th June 2018, following a delayed start due to traffic problems on the route to the finish line at Shibdon Pond in Blaydon.
The race itself, started by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, was eventually won by pre-race favourite John Beattie of Newham and Essex Beagles, who posted a finishing time of 26m39s, finishing just a mere three seconds ahead of Morpeth Harrier Carl Avery, who had managed to pass long term leader Chris Parr in the home straight to claim the much prized first Geordie tag, that presented a most lucrative reward, after the Gateshead Harriers’ legs unfortunately buckled in the chase to the finish line. Whilst Parr managed to hold on for third place, he was very nearly caught by club colleague Callum Johnson, who just managed to hold off young Sam Hancox of Morpeth, who ran the race of his life to finish fifth in 27m08s. Other leading Morpeth Harriers finishers in the Men’s race were Nick Swinburn (7th) 27m41s, Lewis Timmins (8th) 27m59s, Ian Hudspith (11th) 28m08s, Ian Harding (12th) 28m14s, Thomas Straughan (13th) 28m21s, and Karl Taylor (19th) 28m50s, and John Butters (28th) 29m54s, who was fourth Veteran Man. Hudspith meanwhile once again earned the tag of first Gadgie, otherwise known as first Veteran Man The Women’s race was won by Wallsend Harrier Danielle Hodgkinson, who finished 37th overall in 30m47s. Second place in the Women’s event went to Stockport Harrier Elle Baker, who was 56th in 31m33s, with third place following a superb run, going to Morpeth Veteran Jane Hodgson, who finished 71st overall, posting a time of 32m09s. Other Morpeth Harriers finishers were as follows Mark Snowball (49th) 31m24s, Rob Hancox (81st) (2nd O/50 Man) 32m34s, Fergus Bates (95th) (23rd O/40 Man) 33m05s, Tony Lewis (124th) 33m51s, Neil Gunstone (195th) 35m24s, Gemma Floyd (245th) (19th Woman) (7th Vet Woman) 36m05s, Helen King (262nd) (21st Woman) (8th Vet Woman) 36m18s, Robert Morris (315th) 36m47s, Paul Banks (335th) (97th O/40 Man) 37m04s, Richard Kirby (454th) (136th O/40 Man) 38m22s, Mark Crosby (536th) (53rd O/50 Man) 39m11s, Gary Mason (544th) (165th O/40 Man) 39m14s, Eric Adams (556th) (168th O/40 Man) 39m19s, Peter Scaife (773rd) (85th O/50 Man) 41m08s, Mike Steven (898th) (21st O/60 Man) 42m05s, Norman Clark (928th) (23rd O/60 Man) 42m18s, Jane Kirby (1,099th) (68th Vet Woman) 43m23s, Lesley Chapman (1,311th) (10th O/55 Woman) 44m36s, and Jacinta Wake (3,433rd) (329th O45 Woman) 58m03s. This year’s official charity was Cash for Kids, and Lynn Craig and her tremendous squad of helpers at Blaydon Harriers, are once again to be commended for their organisational skills, which included a superb after race buffet, and Presentation, where several race awards were presented by the Mayor of Gateshead, Councillor Jill Green. Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman posted a seasons best time of 4m02.90s, when finishing ninth in a very tough Women’s 1500m, at the sixth Diamond League Meeting, held in Stockholm, Sweden on Sunday 10th June 2018.
The three and three-quarter lap event was won by Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay in 3m57.64s, with Britain’s Laura Muir a close second in 3m58.53s. James Young of Morpeth Harriers won a well-deserved gold medal in the Senior Men’s 800m
at the Northern Athletics Senior and Under 20 Track and Field Championships, held at Sports City, Manchester over Saturday, and Sunday 9th and 10th June 2018. After finishing second in his earlier run heat, where he posted a time of 1m56.43s, he won his final in 1m54.33s, winning by a fraction of a second from Matthew Wigglesworth of Preston Harriers. Fellow Morpeth Harrier Alistair Douglass was unlucky to go out in the heats, despite clocking an excellent 1m55.77s. |
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