Morpeth Harriers Ady Whitwam and Chris Smith
were both counters for an England Over 35 Men’s squad, who finished second to the Republic of Ireland at the British and Irish Masters Home International Cross Country Championships, held at a very muddy Santry Demense in Dublin on Saturday 14th November 2015. Whitwam finished second in his age group, only a mere twelve seconds adrift of the winner Michael Harty of the host nation, and led the England charge. Smith, running in his very first International did not disgrace, finishing in eighth place, and was third home for England. In addition to Whitwam and Smith, two more Morpeth Harriers were also in competitive in Dublin. Scottish Internationals Bob Marshall and Archie Jenkins took part in the Over 65 event, and Open Race respectively. Marshall finished eleventh in the Men’s Over 65 event, and was second home for a third placed Scottish squad. Meanwhile Jenkins was fourth Over 60 Man home in the very competitive Open event. Another North East athlete, Kevin Jeffress of Sunderland Harriers finished 26th, and was sixth home for England. Posting a finishing time of 31m26s, Lewis Timmins was the clubs leading Senior athlete in the feature 10k event, at the annual Heaton Memorial Road Races, held on Newcastle’s Town Moor, on Sunday 8th November 2015. He finished second to Tipton Harrier Ryan McLeod, who was enjoying his second victory within the space of 24 hours, and who broke the Men’s course record by some 20 seconds in 29m32s. In addition to Lewis Timmins, Morpeth Harriers had another six athletes in action in the Senior 10k event. The clubs second finisher Mark Snowball finished 34th, clocking a time of 36m37s. Another prominent Morpeth finisher was Tim Miley, who was 58th in 37m55s, and was 2nd Over 50 Man. Other Morpeth finishers were Steve Haswell (119th) (8th O/45) 40m36s, Kevin Bray (159th) (8th O/55) 42m02s, Kate Chapman (220th) (29th Woman) 44m07s, and Jacinta Wake (406th) (99th Woman) (14th O/50 Woman) 52m19s. However it was the performances of Morpeth’s younger age group athletes that very much caught the eye, where the club had no less than four team and two individual victories. Scott Beattie led an excellent Under 17/Under 20 Men’s performance, when he won in a time of 15m49s for the 5k course, a new personal best, just outpacing brand new club-mate Joe Armstrong, recently transferred from Gateshead Harriers, who also clocked a very impressive 15m53s, which was around twenty seconds adrift of his personal best. Beattie was first Under 17 Man, and Armstrong was first Under 20 Man. Not far behind Armstrong in the Under 20 Men’s stakes was Morpeth’s Elliot Kelly, who superbly finished fourth overall in 16m44s, and was third Under 20 Man. The combination of Beattie, Armstrong and Kelly confirmed a resounding Morpeth team victory. Other Morpeth Harriers competing in the Under 17/Under 20 Men’s event were James Young, Jacob Hopkins, and Jamie Duguid, who finished ninth, tenth, and twelfth in respective times of 18m21s, 18m24s, and 19m43s. Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys produced a superb team result in their 3k event when they had the first three home. It was made even more special with Connor Marshall achieving his very first ever individual victory in a time of 10m25s, winning by a margin of six seconds from club colleague Joe Dowd. Dowd himself had managed to unshackle himself from the close attentions of fellow Morpeth Harrier Rory Leonard, who finished a superb third in 10m35s. This closed the Morpeth team count for an outstanding victory. Other excellent Morpeth Harrier performances in the Under 15 Boys event came from Daniel Melling (6th) 11m07s, Matthew Waterfield (7th) 11m08s, and Alex Cunningham (9th) 11m22s. The Under 13 age group event saw Morpeth Harriers achieve team titles in both genders. Holly Peck led the clubs Under 13 Girls home in 11m16s over the 3k course, her first attempt at the distance on the roads. Further excellent team support came from Lily Heaton (2nd) 11m32s, and Lauren Cummings (7th) 12m23s. The winning Morpeth Under 13 Boys team were excellently led home by Thomas Cunningham, who finished third in 10m48s. Equally excellent supporting runs came from Ben Walker (5th) 11m10s, and Bobby Stone (10th) 11m59s. Other Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys performers were Jack Barrett (16th) 12m53s, and Reece Garrett (21st) 14m16s. Alison Brown of Morpeth Harriers was second Under 20 Woman in the combined Under 17/Under 20 event, posting a finishing time of 20m38s for the 5k course. Club colleague Abby Sheldon was sixth Under 17 Woman in 22m00s. In the Under 15 Girls 3k event, Morpeth Harrier Gracie Hufton finished 8th in 12m19s. Morpeth Harriers had five athletes competing in the non scoring Under 11 Boys and Girls 1k event. There were two in the Boys event and three faced the starter in the Girls event. Callum Rowell finished fourth in the Boys race in 3m40s, and James Tilley clocked 3m54s, when finishing sixth. In the Girls race Laura Melling was the first home from the club, finishing 14th in 4m29s. Second home from the club was Sonia Cunningham, who was 19th in 4m39s, just holding off 20th placed club colleague Keira Peck, who was recorded with an identical time. Many thanks to all organisers at Heaton Harriers, for once again putting on an enjoyable event. Athletes with their awards at Heaton Memorial Races
A top quality front end of the field assembled for the first in the series of UK Cross Challenge events in Milton Keynes on Saturday 7th November 2015, which also incorporated the Chiltern League events. The main attraction was the Senior Men’s event, which saw Morpeth Harrier Jonny Taylor finish a close second to Reading’s Jonathan Davies. Only eleven seconds divided the pair at the finish line, with Taylor posting a superb 30m00s on the tough muddy course. Third place went to Swansea’s Welsh Champion Dewi Griffiths, who clocked 30m11s. King Edward School of Morpeth finished as fourth team in the Intermediate Boys section in the Regional Final of the English Schools Cross Country Cup, held at Stockton’s Preston Park on Saturday 7th November 2015. They were led home by Morpeth Harrier Rory Leonard, who finished an excellent fifth. Rory was supported in the team challenge by fellow Harriers Ross Charlton, Joe Dowd, and Matthew Waterfield, who were 7th, 19th and 35th respectively. Two other Morpeth Harriers competing in the same event were Daniel Melling and Jordan Hedgecock. Melling was competing for Dame Allan’s Senior School of Newcastle, and he was their fourth counter in a squad which finished second, and he also ran well to finish 14th. Morpeth Harrier Ryan Stephenson showed that he is getting back into better form, when he finished sixth in the annual Cheshire 10k on Saturday 7th November in a time of 32m46s. The event was won by Ryan’s former training partner Ryan McLeod, formerly Elswick Harriers, now with Midlands club Tipton Harriers, who clocked 29m47s. |
Archives
April 2024
|