Morpeth Harriers presented their fourth Reeves the Pensions Specialist Athlete of the Month award,
at their clubhouse on Mitford Road, on the evening of Monday 18th February 2019. The award for excellent performances during January 2019, went to Under 17 Man Ross Charlton, whose particular highlight was leading his club home to team Gold Medals at the Northern Athletics Cross Country Championships at Pontefract, where he finished in fourteenth place, and was third home from the region overall, and he also won a Bronze medal at the annual Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships at Temple Park, South Shields. Both of these performances also gave him further honours, in that he won selection to run for the region at the forthcoming Inter Counties Cross Country Championships at Loughborough, and a place in Northumberland’s squad for the annual English Schools Championships, being held in Leeds. These events are held within a week of each other in March, giving Ross a fairly busy end to his Cross-Country season. Ross is pictured above receiving his Certificate of Achievement from Club Chairman David Swinburne. With little significant competition on offer in the region over the weekend, Morpeth Harriers distance specialist Andrew Hebden headed for Yorkshire, and competed in the BHF Harewood House Half Marathon,
on Sunday 17th February 2019, six days ahead of him returning to the venue to compete in this weekends English National Cross Country, which is being held on the land surrounding the historic mansion. On Sunday, Andrew finished ninth, posting a finishing time of 85m38s, which proved to be over four minutes adrift of race winner Ciaran Forde of local club Leeds City. Sunday saw Andrew tackling the undulating pathways within the estate, this Saturday however it will be the rolling grassland, a different prospect altogether, and possibly the odd bit of lovely Yorkshire Mud. Posting a time of 15m28s, Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman finished second to the Netherlands Sifan Hassan
in the high-profile IAAF event the Herculis 5k in Monaco on Sunday 17th February 2019.. Whilst Hassan broke the World Women’s 5k record, Weightman was agonisingly three seconds adrift of her best time for the distance, set last year in Barrowford in March. Disappointingly the annual NECAA Signals Road Relay Championships, which were scheduled to be held on its usual Hetton Lyons Country Park course on Saturday 16th February, for the ninth successive year, were cancelled due to lack of an agreement between the hirer and Sunderland City Council over the events licence issue method.
Despite the hirer, the North Eastern Counties Athletics Association holding an insurance liability policy from UK Athletics, that is well in tune with the Councils expectations, the Council still demanded that an individual from the hirer signed a form, in line with their policy, to take unlimited personal liability for the event and its participants. This presented a difficult and unworkable situation for the hirer, as it placed them in a very vulnerable situation individually, therefore there was a refusal to sign on that basis, which meant there was a position of impasse, rendering the event in a position of being unable to proceed under such circumstances. No agreement had been reached between either party in time for the event to go ahead on Saturday, however it is hoped that the event will go ahead soon, either with a suitable agreement between current respective parties, or that a new venue be sought with a different authority. The only major athletics competition taking place in the region over the weekend,
was the annual NECAA Indoor Track & Field Championships being held over two days at Gateshead College. Saturday was designated for Field Events, with Track Events being held on Sunday. Morpeth Harriers had five athletes in action here over the two days, with two competing on the Saturday, and three on the Sunday. The club showed a handsome return of five medals in all, with three on the Saturday, and two being won on the Sunday. The three won on Saturday were two Golds and one Silver, with a Silver and a Bronze being won on the Sunday. Saturday’s two Golds went to one athlete, Ethan Stephenson, who retained his Under 17 Men’s Triple Jump title, achieving 12.37m, which although was still some way short of his best, was enough to give him a title by just over a metre margin from his closest rival. Stephenson was also pleased to take a second Gold in the High Jump, where he cleared 1.75m, which was around 10cm short of his lifetime best which he performed outdoors. He was forced to sit out the High Jump competition in 2018, after winning the Under 15 title a year previous. Saturday’s other medallist was Craig Charlton, who faced very stiff opposition from Thames Valley’s former Gateshead Harrier Craig Sturrock in the Senior Shot Putt. Charlton had to be content with Silver, when putting 14.19m, behind Sturrock’s 15.28m. The Morpeth man is still No 1 regionally however from a residential club. Hurdling siblings Hannah and Amy Lott each won respective Silver and Bronze medals in Sunday’s Under 13 Girls and Under 17 Women’s 60m Hurdle competitions. Amy had to compete firstly in a heat, which she won in 9.13s, which was just outside her lifetime personal best. However, in her hotly contested later run final, she did improve her figures to 9.08s, which now sees her ranked nineteenth equal in the UK, but still third in the North East. She was just outsprinted by Darlington’s Charlotte Rutter, and had to settle for Bronze, behind Gateshead’s Phillipa Ellis. In a straight run final, which she fully expected to win, Hannah Lott was pipped somewhat surprisingly by Blyth’s Hannah Wilson in the Under 13 Girls event. Morpeth Harriers third athlete in action on Sunday was Mia Belton, competed in the Under 15 Girls 60m sprints. She finished second in her heat in 8.51s, which was enough to take into the later run A Final, where she finished fifth, despite clocking her best 2019 time of 8.36s, which was agonisingly just short of her lifetime best. |
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