Morpeth’s Laura Weightman, who is scheduled to compete in the forthcoming European Athletics Championships in Berlin next month, competed in her third race in fourteen days, when she took part in the BMC Gold Standards Meeting, held at Watford, on the evening of Wednesday 11th July 2018.
She won a hotly contested Women’s 800m A Race, just holding off Birchfield’s Under 23 athlete Mari Smith, posting a winning time of 2m02.41s, which was only a fraction adrift of her seasons best, which she had posted at Chester Le Street on 18th June, and her third fastest ever over two laps. News has reached us that our friend and club colleague Bob Appleby (Vice Chairman) has had his required operation, and after spending Tuesday Evening in Intensive Care at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, is now making a good recovery on Ward 30 at the hospital. We are sure that many will wish to pass good wishes on to Bob, as he continues his recovery process, and hope that it will not be long before he is back amongst us, and we also pass on best wishes to his wife Anne, and sons Paul and Steven, who also compete us, for whom it has been a very worrying and concerning period. Five of the eight Morpeth Harriers who competed at the fourth and final BMC North East Regional Meeting
at Chester Le Street on the evening of Monday 9th July 2018, managed to set brand new personal best figures for the 1500m distance. Daniel Melling and Ben Walker, who ran in the fourth and seventh fastest of the nine races taking twelve and eleven seconds off their previous bests with times of 4m19.43s, and 4m46.34s respectively, were the athletes from the club with biggest margins of improvement. Melling finished fifth in his particular heat, and he was the eighth fastest Under 17 Man overall. Walker was third in his heat, and he was seventh fastest Under 15 Boy. Tom Balsdon of Morpeth Harriers finished sixth in the third fastest race, posting a finishing time of 4m14.82s, which gave him a two second improvement on his previous figures, and he was fifth fastest Under 17 Man. Dylan Gooding improved on his previous best by two seconds, when finishing fifth in the sixth fastest race, posting a time of 4m36.46s, making him fourth fastest Under 15 Boy. The fifth and final new personal best for Morpeth athletes, went to Under 17 Woman Holly Peck, who actually finished just adrift of Ben Walker in 4m49.07s, taking a fraction off her previous figures, making her fastest Under 17 Woman on the night. Other Morpeth performances on the night came from James Young, who won the fastest race in 3m51.36s, one second outside his personal best, Taylor Glover who was seventh in the second fastest race of the night, posting a time of 4m03.65s, also a second adrift of his lifetime best, and Dylan Davies, who finished behind Walker and Peck in 4m52.87s, three seconds adrift of his lifetime best. Subject to further results scrutiny, Morpeth Harriers Senior Men and Women’s Track and Field squad, secured a narrow on the day team victory over host club Tynedale Harriers in their third and penultimate Northern Athletics League Division 2E Match, held at Hexham on Sunday 8th July 2018.
The club had a total of eight A string, and six B string victories, and their Women’s squad won both their 4 x100m and 4 x 400m Relay events. Half of the clubs A string victories came from their Men’s section, courtesy of Matthew Waterfield (400m) 50.3s, Alistair Douglass (800m) 1m58.1s, Sam Hancox (1500m) 4m06.6s, and Ian Harding (5000m) 15m48.3s. The other half coming from their Women’s section, including a sprint double by Jess Young -Rogers (100m) 12.7s, and 200m 26.4s. Gracie Hufton (300m) 11m19.4s, and Claire Reid (Discus) 28.60m were the remaining A string winners. Jordan Scott provided the club with two well-earned B string victories in the Men’s 800m (2m06.2s), and 1500m (4m18.2s). Andrew Lawrence ran an excellent race in the Men’s 5000m, to take the B race in 16m57.3s. The other three B string wins came from the Women’s events, courtesy of Helen King (400m) 68.9s, Lorna MacDonald (3000m) 11m39.0s, and Kirsty Lang (400m Hurdles) 78.2s. Morpeth won the Women’s 4 x 100m Relay in 53.4s, courtesy of Jess Young – Rogers, Lauren Smith, Lynsey Cunningham, and Kirsty Lang. The superb Relay double victory was achieved courtesy of Lily Heaton, Helen King, Holly Peck and Lauren Smith, who completed the 4 x400m in a time of 4m31.8s. There were also some good Morpeth second places on the day, notably Sean O’Hara and David Storey in the A & B 100m in 11.7s and 12.0s, Alistair Douglass in the 400m B race in 52.9s, Mark Snowball in the Steeplechase in 10m52.9s, their Men’s 4 x100m and 4 x 400m Relay squads in 45.7s and 3m43.3s, Holly Peck in the Women’s 400m A Race in 64.7s, Lily Heaton in the 1500m A Race in 5m25.5s, and also in the 400m Hurdles A Race (73.1s), Kirsty Lang in the B String Discus (19.35m), Claire Reid and Lynsey Cunningham I n the A and B Shot Putt (10.59m and 6.25m), and Kayleigh Wenn in the B String Triple Jump (8.51m). With one match remaining at Darlington in August, Morpeth are now currently in second place cumulatively, one league point behind leaders Gateshead Harriers, who have a seventy-five-match point lead. MATCH RESULT (Subject to further scrutiny) 1st Morpeth Harriers 358pts, 2nd Tynedale Harriers 341pts, 3rd Gateshead Harriers 325pts, 4th Wallsend/Blyth 319pts, 5th Middlesbrough AC 309pts, 6th Richmond & Zetland 247pts. Four athletes from Morpeth Harriers represented the North East Counties at the annual
Northern Athletics Inter Counties Track and Field competition, held at Leigh Sports Village in the North West, on Saturday 7th July 2018. The region finished in third team place, seventy-eight points adrift of winners Yorkshire, with second placed Lancashire, only twenty-six points ahead. Following some very encouraging throws, one which exceeded 32 metres, which clearly pointed the way towards a possible new personal best performance, Jessica Gardiner ended her days Under 15 Girls Discus competition, winning with a best of 29.87m, which was only a mere 56cm better than her North East team colleague Grace McDonald of Middlesbrough AC, who finished a superb second, making it a tremendous result for the region. Both girls had encouraged each other throughout the various stages of the competition, such was their team spirit. Another Morpeth winner was Andrew Knight, who in his first competitive appearance for a few weeks following injury, had a clear victory in the Under 17 Men’s Shot Putt, with his best effort of 16.57m. This proved to be another excellent result for the North East, as Gateshead’s Luke Allen won the B String, with 12.75m, finishing third overall. Knight, who will represent Northumberland Schools at this weekend’s English Schools competition, received superb encouragement throughout the competition from club colleague Jessica Gardiner, from the stands, with him repaying the compliment throughout her competition. Other Morpeth Harriers in action at the event, were hurdler Amy Lott, and 800m runner Ben Waterfield. Lott won the Under 15 Girls 75m Hurdles B String event in 11.44s, with Yorkshire’s Elle Hinchcliffe claiming the A String in 11.40s. The North East A String athlete Charlotte Rutter finished fourth in 11.68m. Waterfield meanwhile, finished fourth in the A String 800m in 2m09.95s. |
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