Nineteen Morpeth Harriers took part in the sixth and final North East Grand Prix Meeting, held at Jarrow’s Monkton Stadium on Wednesday 16 August.
Seven of those athletes contested the fastest of four 3000m events where, after a tense battle of wits with Birtley AC’s Adrian Bailes, Daniel Dixon eventually surrendered an earlier lead to finish second in 8m30.65s. He was just ahead of club colleague Alistair Douglass, who after running steadily throughout the seven and a half laps, came through to record his best ever time of 8m33.84s, taking around 14 seconds off previous figures. Other Morpeth Harriers performers in the event were Peter Smallcombe (7th) 8m37.93s a personal best, just behind him was Joe Dixon, younger brother of Daniel, who also posted new best figures of 8m38.37s, Liam Roche (11th) 8m51.0s, James Tilley (12th) 8m57.70s, and Bertie Marr (14th) 9m14.79s. In the C Race, Morpeth’s Harry Armstrong finished 12th, posting new figures of 11m09.65s. A super run saw Morpeth’s Ethan Phillips come through to finish second in the fastest 800m event, posting a time of 1m57.77s. Other Morpeth Harriers finishers in this race were, Joseph Close (4th) 1m58.10s, and Mark Banks (6th) 1m59.98s. In the second fastest 800m event, Morpeth’s Oliver Tomlinson posted new figures of 2m07.16. Ewan Line of Morpeth Harriers had an excellent victory in the fifth fastest 800m, posting a personal best time of 2m27.14s. Other Morpeth Harriers in this race were Thomas Roche (5th) 2m32.07s, and Kate Kennedy (6th) 2m32.46s. In the third fastest 800m, Morpeth’s Caitlin Flanagan finished fifth in 2m22.67s, which was a season’s best for the Under 20 athlete. Rounding off the Morpeth 800m performances, in the eighth fastest race, Zoe Tomlinson finished fifth in 2m52.82s, a new personal best, and Charlotte Marshall finished sixth in 2m55.12s. Sprinter Anthony Liddle recorded an excellent win in the third fastest 200m, posting new figures of 25.65s. An exciting finish at the Newcastle Quayside 5k saw Scott Beattie record a fine win and in the process break the existing course record with a sub-14 minute performance.
First run in 2014 and now being managed by RunThrough, the race has quickly established itself as one of the fastest and most popular in the region and beyond, not least for the scenic route under the bridges of the Tyne and finish over the Millenium Bridge to Baltic Square. When the quick course and challenging standard of competition is matched with near perfect conditions - as was the case on Wednesday - then fast times and personal bests are almost guaranteed. Beattie, now resident in the UK once again following study at the University of Tulsa, immediately formed part of a leading group of three made up of himself and Kenyans Martin Mumo Musyoka and Paul Selian who got away from the chasers in the first kilometre, with Musyoka, who had won the previous weekend’s Darlington 10k in a time of 28 minutes 45 seconds ahead of Calum Johnson, looking in particularly fine form. Behind the leaders, Scott’s club companions Carl Avery, Lawrence McCourt and Finn Brodie were tied together in another group of three only a few seconds back. By the 3k mark, however, the lead at the front was down to a straight battle between Scott and Muyoka, the second Kenyan having been dropped and now coming under the challenge of both Carl and Lawrence. With less than 1000 metres to go, Scott put in a series of surges that broke Musyoka to win in a time of 13 minutes 46 seconds, a new course record, with the Kenyan having to settle for 2nd place in 13:54. Carl meanwhile had also got away from the rest of the group and then put daylight between him and Selian, taking 3rd place in 14:14, with Lawrence 4th in 14:29. Selian was 5th with Finn 6th in 14:42, Birtley’s Adrian Bailes 7th, Middlesborough’s Greg Jayasuriya 8th, Leeds City’s Matthew Grieve 9th and Gateshead’s Lewis Liddle 10th. Connor Marshall also made the top twenty, finishing in 15:10, with Tom Prentice next in for the club in 15:37 and Ali Douglas making 30th in 15:53. With some 23 runners in the A race, for which a sub-20 minute qualifying time had been required, the club was certainly very well-represented, with a string of pbs too numerous to mention. After Douglas, Mark Banks was 33rd in 15:58; Andy Lawrence 38th in 16:03; John Butters 61st and 1st Over 45 in 16:37; James Dixon 82nd in 17:02; Lee Bennett 88th and 3rd Over 50 in 17:09; Lee Cuthbertson 108th in 17:33; Jake Parmley 110th in 17:35; Ben Clarke 108th in 17:38 (positions given off gun times); Connor Hall 147th in 18:03; Andriy Volkov 168th in 18:31; Gavin Bayne 213th and 1st Over 65 in 19:22; and Stephen Cessford 235th in 19:51. As it had been last year, the women’s prize was taken by a visiting athlete, although a different one, Heather Townsend winning in 16:22, just three seconds ahead of Elswick’s Sophie Pikett, who had tussled with Townsend at the front, with Gateshead Harriers Elisha Tait 3rd (16:29) and Shona Haston 4th (16:58), Sale Harrier Helen Warburton (once of Gosforth) 5th (17:07) and Ali Dixon 6th, and inevitably first veteran, (17:30). On the flattest course she must have run for many a month, Cat Macdonald was 7th in 17:27 (106th overall) with sisters Lorna 29th (223rd) in 19:29 and Lindsey 31st (225h) also both running, Lindsey clocking 19:33. Robyn Bennett was 35th (234th ) in 19:55. Some 243 finished, with 20:51 the slowest recorded time in the A race. In the B race, where a larger field of 444 finished and the runaway winner (presumably in the wrong race) was Heaton Harrier Jack Shawcross in 17:32, there were only two Morpeth Harriers in action. Tayla Douglas continued the return to full fitness with a clocking of 20:32 (48th and 7th female finisher) while Pam Woodcock was another category winner, first back in the O/75 category in a time of 27:33. Congrats to all who represented the club so well and to Chris Parr and Run Through for a meticulously organised night. Three Championship medals, one of each colour, were won by Morpeth athletes at the Northern Athletics combined Under 13/Under 15/Under 17 Track and Field Championships, held at Middlesbrough Sports Village on the weekend of 12 and 13 August.
On the Sunday, Under 15 athlete Alexandria Hodgson won an excellent Gold Medal in the Hammer competition by throwing 42.19m, which also served her with a new personal best performance. Less than 24 hours before, elder Under 17 Sister Victoria, had won a Bronze medal in the 300m Hurdles, also achieving a new personal best time of 46.01s. Victoria returned to the arena on the Sunday, however, despite running close to her personal best in the 80m Hurdles, with a time of 12.52s, she was eliminated in her heat by finishing seventh of eight competing athletes. In the Under 17 Men’s 3000m on Sunday, Elliot Kelso won a Silver medal, posting a time of 9m07.74s. ………………………………………………….. William Cork posted a season’s best of 14m49.85s, when finishing ninth in the 5000m B Race at the Trafford BMC Grand Prix meeting on Saturday, a meeting which also incorporated a World Athletics Challenge. ………………………………………………….. Under 20 athlete Joe Dixon, posted a new personal best of 4m04.72s, when finishing eighth in the third fastest 1500m event at the Regional BMC event, held in Loughborough, Leicestershire, on the evening of 9 August. The fourth and final fixtures of the 2023 NEYDL were held on Sunday 16 July.
Morpeth Harriers were in action in Division 2 at Shildon, and they ended their busy season on a high by finishing in second place on the day behind division winners, the combined squad of Birtley AC, Jarrow and Hebburn, and Phoenix Flyers. The added fact that Morpeth only finished a mere 16 match points adrift of the league winners, speaks volumes of how well that they performed, despite missing a few key athletes in their line-ups. Twelve A String wins, Nine B String wins, and three relay victories obviously contributed greatly to the club's success, and a genuine superb effort across both genders, brought smiles to the faces of season long hard-working Morpeth Team Managers David Swinburne (Male), and Julie Roche and Judith Nutt (Female). The final match result also saw Morpeth finish fourth cumulatively out of eight teams, but only two league points adrift of equal second and third placed combined forces of Houghton/Derwentside/Tyne Bridge and Blyth/Alnwick. Morpeth also ended the season having scored overall more on-the-day match points than the latter pairing. In the match itself, Morpeth Under 17 Men showed some great strength, especially in the sprints, which saw Harry Scott win the A String 100m (11.6s), and namesake Harrison Scott (no relation) win the B Race in 11.8s, with third member of the sprint trio Connor Phillips finish in 12.23s. Harry Scott very nearly won the 200m A Race, but just got ran out by Tynedale’s Alex Lyons by a fraction of a second as he clocked 23.7s. Harrison Scott took the B Race in 24.2s, and Connor Phillips was fourth fastest overall with 24.93s. Moving up in distance, Oliver Tomlinson won the Under 17 Men’s 1500m in 4m24.47s, and Harry Armstrong was second in the B Race in 5m14.04s. Oliver Tomlinson provided Morpeth’s only Under 17 Men’s challenge in the Field events. He won the Discus by throwing 16.6m and was second in the Javelin with a best throw of 18.7m. Tomlinson, combined forces with Connor Phillips, Harry Scott, and Harrison Scott to gain victory for Morpeth in the Under 17 Men’s 4 x 100m Relay in a time of 48.9s. Morpeth had some excellent results from their Under 17 Women, who achieved four A String and one B String win, along with a relay win. Victoria Hodgson was in fine Hurdling form, winning the 80m event, in 12.5s, in a marginal new personal best of 12.5s, and the 300m event in 49.8s. Amelia Hamlin won the flat 300m A Race in 43.4s, and Anya Kelly was second in the B Race in 48.0s. Freya Caygill finished second in the A Race of the 200m in 27.3s, and Amy Longstaff finished second in the B Race in 27.5s. Longstaff finished second in the A Race of the 100m in 13.2s, and Caygill’s similar clocking saw her take the B Race. Another Morpeth runner in the Under 17 Women’s 100m, was Jasmine Emolaga, who posted a time of 13.85s. Kate Kennedy of Morpeth won the 800m in 2m35.45s. Kennedy also helped in Morpeth Under 17 Women’s Field Event efforts by finishing second in the High Jump with her clearance of 1.30m, and third in the Shot Putt with a best of 6.43m. Anya Kelly finished second in the Long Jump with 4.45m. Victoria Hodgson, Amy Longstaff, Freya Caygill, and Amelia Hamlin combined to bring Morpeth Under 17 Women’s 4 x 100m Relay squad home to win in 52.8s. Morpeth’s small band of six athletes in the Under 15 Boys events did their level best to achieve some good results. Will Hodgson and Thomas Roche enthusiastically shared duties in the sprints. Will finished third in the A Race of the 100m in 12.7s, just missing out for second in a hairsbreadth, but got second place in the 200m A Race in 26.0s. Thomas meanwhile finished second in the B Race of the 100m in 14.1s, and third in the B Race of the 200m in 28.8s Thomas Wilson also ran in the 200m, posting a time of 33m32s. Roche also finished second in the 300m in 47.3s. Ben Moll of Morpeth finished second in the A Race of the Under 15 Boys 800m in 2m19.28s, and Harry Douglass on his debut finished second in the B Race in 2m27.10s. In the 1500m, Daniel Scott finished fourth in the A Race in 5m08.48s, and Thomas Wilson on his debut, finished second in the B Race in 6m40.19s. Daniel Scott was Morpeth’s sole Under 15 Boy Field eventer, finishing 4th in the Long Jump, with a best of 4.03m, and second in the Shot Putt with 5.89m. Morpeth’s Under 15 Boys finished second in their 4 x100m Relay, courtesy of Daniel Scott, Ben Moll, George Moll (Under 13), and Will Hodgson, posting a time of 57.4s. Unfortunately, Morpeth only had four Under 15 Girls in action. On the Track they only had Mya Young, who finished seventh in the 200m (31.6s), and fifth in the 800m in 2m49.40s. Alexandria Hodgson was the best performer in this age group however, winning both the Discus and Hammer events, with respective bests of 18.0m, and 37.1m. Molly Roche added more points to the tally by winning the B String Discus with her best throw of 9.95m. Another Morpeth Discus performer was Emma Tomlinson, who threw a best of 9.25m. Tomlinson and Roche also partnered each other in the Javelin and Shot Putt events. In the Javelin, Tomlinson threw 10.8m for third in the A String, and Roche finished fourth in the B String with 5.96m. Roche finished fourth in the A String Shot Putt with a best of 4.98m, and Tomlinson was second in the B String with 4.83m. The eight athletes competing for Morpeth in the Under 13 Boys section, probably the best turnout for the season, pulled off a series of fairly respectable results on the day, which certainly contributed well to the on the day success. Daniel Vermaas was one who rose to the occasion, by competing in three events, and emerging with one A String win in the High Jump, by clearing 1.25m. The High Jump in the Under 15 Boys was a good event in Morpeth’s perspective, as Evan Laude won the B String, with his clearance of 1.20m. Vermaas and Laude also took part in the Long Jump, where Vermaas finished fourth in the A String, with a best of 3.74m. Laude produced a best jump of 3.43m, which saw him place third in the B String. Morpeth’s additional competitor in the Long Jump was Jack Rothwell, who jumped a best of 3.11m. Jamie Ellis finished fourth in the A String Discus with 11.8m, and William McBryde won the B String by throwing a best of 10.1m. Ellis also finished seventh in the A Race of the 100m in 16.0s. In the 200m, Daniel Vermaas finished fourth in the A Race in 30.8s, and George Moll finished second in the B Race in 31.7s. Jamie Ellis was an additional runner in the 200m, posting a time of 33.48s. There was an excellent result for Morpeth in the Under 13 Boys 1500m, where Jack Rothwell finished third in the A Race in 5m25.97, and Evan Laude took the B Race in 5m38.77s. Three runners from Morpeth lined up in the Under 13 Boys 800m events. Jacob Thompson finished fifth in the A Race in 2m47.53s, and Jack Dhawar was also fifth in the B Race in 3m07.96s. Additional runner William McBryde posted a finishing time of 3m16.46s. Morpeth won the Under 13 Boys 4 x 100m Relay in a time of 61.9s. The six athletes from Morpeth who turned out in the Under 13 Girls events, also managed to pull off a good set of results to add to their clubs’ tally. They included two A String event successes, one on the track, and the other in the Field events. Sophie Pledger won the 100m, posting a winning time of 14.0s. Pledger also finished a good second to Birtley’s double North Eastern Champion Olivia Murphy in the 800m, posting a time of 2m38.11s. Faye Heatley finished second in the B Race of the 800m in 2m49.12s. In the 200m, Abi Potrac finished second in the A Race in 31.3s, and Emily Vermaas finished third in the B Race in 35.3s. Lucy Raper finished fourth in the 1500m A Race in 5m51.97s, and Zoe Tomlinson finished third in the B Race in 6m03.89s. Raper was also Morpeth’s other A String winner in the Under 13 Girls events, producing a best of 17.4m, to win the Discus. Zoe Tomlinson threw 6.31m, to finish third in the B String. Tomlinson also finished third in the Javelin, throwing a best of 9.71m. For Raper, another good result came in the High Jump, where she finished second in the A String with her clearance of 1.10m. Abi Potrac cleared 1.05m to win the B String. Potrac also produced a good result in the Long Jump, finishing as second in the A String with 3.66m. Faye Heatley took the B String with her best jump of 3.53, just beating Isla Coker of Birtley/Jarrow and Hebburn/Phoenix by 1cm. Morpeth’s Under 13 Girls finished fourth in their 4 x 100m Relay, posting a time of 65.6s. MATCH RESULT 1st Birtley/Jarrow and Hebburn/Phoenix F 695pts, 2nd Morpeth Harriers 679pts, 3rd Blyth/Alnwick 589pts, 4th Houghton/Derwentside/Tyne Bridge 568pts, 5th Blaydon/Wallsend/Gosforth 471pts, 6th Chester Le Street/Durham 410pts, 7th Middlesbrough AC 340pts, 8th Tynedale Prudhoe 236pts. FINAL LEAGUE STANDINGS 1st Birtley/Jarrow and Hebburn/Phoenix F 32pts (2860pts), 2nd Houghton/Derwentside/Tyne Bridge 23pts (2318.5pts), 3rd Blyth/Alnwick 23pts (2207.5pts), 4th Morpeth Harriers 21pts (2290pts), 5th Chester Le Street/Durham 18pts (2064pts), 6th Blaydon/Wallsend/Gosforth 15pts (1817pts) 7th Middlesbrough AC 8pts (1410pts), 8th Tynedale/Prudhoe 4pts (1013pts) There were some excellent performances achieved by athletes from Morpeth Harriers AC at the fifth and penultimate North East Grand Prix Meeting, held at Jarrow’s Monkton Stadium on Wednesday 26 July.
These included a number of personal bests, and three event winners, of which two were first-time winners,. Over 50 Veteran Man Jason Dawson, who won the fourth-fastest heat of the 400m, set a new personal best for the distance, posting a winning time of 57.87s. Fourteen-year-old Ben Moll had his first winning performance in the fifth heat of the 1500m and posting a personal best time of 4m54.66s into the bargain. Under 17 Girl sprinter Jasmine Emolaga had her first-ever win in the seventh fastest heat of the 100m, posting a season’s best of 14.0s. The fastest race of the 1500m had seven Morpeth Harriers in a lineup of 16 runners. Adrian Bailes of Birtley AC won the race, after regaining the lead with around 500m remaining of the three and three-quarter lap event, and held on until the finish, posting a season’s best of 3m58.79s, and was the only athlete to get under the four-minute barrier on the night. William Cork of Morpeth Harriers finished third, after just been outsprinted by Gateshead’s Matt Linsley. Cork posted a season’s best of 4m00.67s, with fellow training partner and fellow Morpeth colleague Finn Brodie finishing fourth, also posting a season’s best of 4m01.27s. Other Morpeth finishers in the fastest 1500m were Liam Roche (6th) 4m02.13s, Will Devere-Owen (7th) 4m02.63s, Peter Smallcombe (10th) 4m02.30s, Connor Marshall (12th) 4m03.80s, and Bertie Marr (16th) 4m13.49s, and these were all season’s best times. Fifteen runners lined up in the second fastest 1500m, including four from Morpeth Harriers. Posting a season’s best of 4m05.05s, Mark Banks finished second. Joe Dixon posted a personal best time of 4m07.79s, when finishing in sixth place, one place in front of Under 17 club colleague Elliot Kelso, who clocked a season’s best of 4m08.06s. Fellow Under 17 athlete Ollie Tomlinson finished twelfth in 4m22.15s, also a season’s best for him. In the fourth fastest 1500m, Morpeth Under 20 Woman Caitlin Flanagan finished fourteenth in a season’s best time of 5m15.32s. Morpeth Under 13 Girl Zoe Tomlinson, posted a season’s best of 5m57.80s, when finishing tenth in the seventh fastest race of the 1500m. Back with the sprints, and it was good to see Sean O’Hara back in Grand Prix action. In the fastest 100m, he finished fourth in a season’s best of 11.76s. Morpeth Under 17 Man Connor Phillips finished third in the third fastest 100m, posting a season’s best of 12.50s. In the same heat, Senior Man Anthony Liddle posted a season’s best of 12.91s, finishing eighth. It was also good to see Mia Belton back in Grand Prix action. She finished third in the fourth fastest heat, in a season’s best of 13.26s. In the fifth fastest heat, Morpeth’s Amelia Hamlin also finished third, and in a season’s best time of 13.29s. Fellow Morpeth Harrier Ellie Wickens finished seventh in the same heat, posting a season’s best of 14.04s. Anthony Liddle also competed in the second fastest 400m, finishing sixth, with another season’s best of 56.44s. Ellie Wickens also competed in the Triple Jump, finishing as second Under 20 Woman, with her best jump of 8.97m, without any wind assistance. * Two days after running a new personal best in the 1500m, Joe Dixon was in action again over the distance at the BMC meeting at Scotstoun in Scotland. On this occasion the very much back in form Under 20 athlete took another two seconds off his previous figures, when he finished eighth in the third fastest heat, posting a time of 4m05.02s. |
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