Blaydon Road Race winner Peter Newton of Morpeth Harriers, certainly maintained his current run of excellent form, when he won the annual Sunderland 5k Road Race, held at the Silksworth Complex, on the evening of Thursday 13th July 2017. The event, which also incorporated respective North-Eastern Counties, and North of England Championships, attracted a total of 326 finishers in the three events, for Senior Men, Senior and Veteran Women, and Over50 age group Veteran Men, and included fourteen from the ranks of Morpeth Harriers. Led by Newton, who won in 14m43s, (twenty seconds adrift of Martin Scaife’s course record time, set in 2004), Morpeth Harriers Senior Men easily lifted not only the regional title, but also the Northern title, with further excellent supporting runs coming from previous winner Nick Swinburn, who finished third behind New Marske’s Dominic Shaw (14m49s), posting a time of 14m53s, and Carl Avery, who finished fourth in 14m59s. For Newton and Swinburn, it gave them Gold and Bronze medals individually in both the Regional and Northern Championships, and along with Avery, additional Team Gold in both Championships for their club. Other Morpeth Harriers in action in the Senior Men’s event were Thomas Straughan (8th) 15m16s, James Young (25th) 15m56s, Andrew Lawrence (29th) 16m04s, and Steve Patterson (81st) 17m50s. There were 182 finishers in the Senior Men’s event. The Senior Women’s event, which was combined with the Over 50 Veteran Men’s event, saw Morpeth Harrier Emma Holt, add to her clubs’ medal tally for the night, when she finished second to Birchfield’s former Wallsend Harrier Danielle Hodgkinson. Hodgkinson posted a winning time, with Holt producing another excellent run in 17m20s, just holding off Border Harrier Rhiannon Silson, who finished third in 17m31s. Whilst Hodgkinson took the North-East Championship Gold Medal ahead of Holt, Holt could rejoice in the fact that although she had to settle for Silver in the regional championship, she had taken Northern Gold, because Hodgkinson was competing for a Midlands Club. Jarrow and Hebburn’s Georgia Campbell, who finished fourth overall led her team to the Women’s Gold Medal in both the Regional and Northern team race. Other Morpeth Harriers competing in the Women’s race were Gemma Floyd (9th) 18m33s, who was first Veteran Woman, and Francesca Wilson (76th) 25m25s. The Women’s event had 97 finishers. Three Morpeth Harriers were amongst the 47 finishers in the Over 50 Veteran Men’s event.
Leading them home was Paul Waterston, who finished fifth in 18m03s. David Nicholson finished tenth overall in 19m12s, and was first Over 60 Veteran Man. Paul Bellingham finished in 23rd place in 20m37s, and was eighteenth in his Over 50 age group. Nine new personal best performances were achieved from fifteen Morpeth Harrier athletes, who competed in the fourth North East Grand Prix, held at Jarrow’s Monkton Stadium on the evening of Wednesday 12th July 2017. No fewer than five of those personal bests, came from the Graded 800m events. Fastest of the Morpeth contingent in these events was Joe Armstrong, who finished second in the A race in 1m55.2s. Another Morpeth Harrier competing in the A race was North East Under 17 400m Champion
Matthew Waterfield, who improved his best by all of three seconds, when posting a time of 2m01.4s, which was the fourth fastest of the night in his age group. In the B race, Morpeth Harriers had four athletes in the line-up, who all achieved new personal best performances. Posting a best of 1m57.9s, bettering his previous by two seconds, Alistair Douglass won the event, and was the fifth fastest Senior Man in action. Third place in the B race, went to fellow Morpeth Harrier Taylor Glover, who posted a new personal best time of 2m00.2s. Jordan Scott, produced a new personal best time of 2m00.5s, when finishing in fifth place. Under 17 athlete Joe Dowd, also produced a new personal best of 2m01.3s, when finishing seventh, and was third fastest in his age group. In the C race, Thomas Innes of Morpeth finished fifth in his maiden 800m, posting a finishing time of 2m10.3s, and in the E race, Neil McAnaney finished second, posting a finishing time of 2m20.5s. Jonny Kidd and Dylan Davies of Morpeth were both in action in the Under 15 Boys 800m events. Kidd finished seventh in the A race in 2m24.8s, which was a new personal best by three seconds. Davies finished third in the B race, posting a time of 2m33.3s. In the 3000m, Thomas Innes of Morpeth, posted a finishing time of 10m21.1s. Gracie Hufton also competed in the 3000m, and the Under17 athlete posted new figures of 11m29.2s for the seven and a half lap event. Two Morpeth Harriers were in action in the younger age group 200m events. In the Under 13 Girls race, Olivia Gent finished fifth, posting a new personal best time of 31.5s. Charlie Lane was seventh fastest Under 15 Boy, posting a brand new personal best of 26.6s. Making his first appearance in a Morpeth vest, Billy Handyside performed well to finish fourth in the Graded 100m A race, posting a finishing time of 12.2s, which also proved to be the third fastest Under 17 Men’s time. Morpeth Harriers only Field event athlete in action on the night was Charlotte Pickering-Pruvot, who Putted 12.4m in the Shot Putt, proving to be the best in the competition. Despite nursing respective injuries, Emma Holt and Bobbie Griffiths provided Morpeth Harriers & AC with their sole A string victories, at their penultimate Northern Athletics Track and Field League Division 2 fixture, held at the Morpeth Athletics Track at KEVI School, on Sunday 9th July 2017. Holt proved to be a clear runaway winner of the Women’s 3000m, posting a finishing time of 10m30.4s. The event also provided the host club with one of their only two double victories on the day, as Gracie Hufton took the B race in 11m50.10s. Morpeth’s other double victory on the day, came in the Women’s Javelin, where Griffiths, still in pain from a troublesome back injury, which seriously affected her performance at the previous days English Schools finals, threw an on the day best of 35.23m, winning by nearly eleven metres from her closest rival Hollie Smith of Leeds City. Proving her worth her weight in Gold to Morpeth yet again, was Claire Reid, who travels all the way down from Ayrshire for her matches. Reid won the Javelin B string, throwing 17.72m, beating her closest rival Jenna Murdoch of Leeds by 1.70m. The pair also teamed up to produce excellent results in the Hammer and Discus. Whilst Reid finished third in the A String Hammer (28.29m), and second in the Discus (32.36m), Griffiths weighed in superbly by taking both B string competitions, with respective on the day bests of 26.56m, and 25.77m. Reid also found time to finish third in the A String Shot Putt with 10.44m, and Naomi Arkle, who was prevented by illness to take much of her regular sprinting roles on the day, provided good B string support by finishing third, producing an on the day best of 7.29m. The match itself saw Morpeth finish third on the day, subject to further scrutiny, which now sees them elevated from sixth to fifth cumulatively in the league standings after three matches. This firmly means that Division 2 survival is all to play for at the final fixture, which will take place at Middlesbrough in early August. There were some good performances amongst the Morpeth Men’s track specialists, which included no less than four B String victories. The best of these came in the longer and middle-distance events. In the 1500m, James Young finished an excellent second in the A String, posting a time of 4m04.2s, with Thomas Straughan winning the B String in 4m10.0s. The 3000m Steeplechase, saw Mark Snowball finish second in the A String in 10m22s, and Jake Masterman take the B String in 11m02.20s. Making his maiden Morpeth Northern League appearance, Andrew Lawrence finished second in the A String 5000m in 16m00.5s, and Karl Taylor stepped up to the plate by taking the B String in 16m21.0s. Birthday boy Jordan Scott, finished third in the A String 800m in 2m03.2s, and Under 17 athlete Joe Dowd, took the B String in 2m04.9s. Fellow Under 17 athlete Matthew Waterfield, who had competed at the English Schools, finished third in the A String 400m, posting a time of 50.6s, again just a fraction outside his personal best. Under 20 athlete Jacob Hopkins, making a competitive comeback after injury, finished fifth in the B String in 58.2s. In the Men’s sprints, Morpeth Harriers had Phil Pitt and Kenny Harrison in A and B Strings in the 100m and 200m. Pitt finished fourth in the A String 100m (11.7s), and fifth in the A String 200m (24.1s). Harrison meanwhile was second in both the B String 100m and 200m, with respective clockings of 11.7s, and 23.8s. Craig Charlton, and the Appleby brothers, Steven, and Paul, were the mainstays of the Morpeth Men’s Throws results. Charlton produced the best on the day individual performance, finishing second in the A String Shot Putt, producing a best of 13.92m. Steven Appleby finished as third B string with 8.52m. Charlton finished a close third in a competitive A String Hammer tussle, with Skyrac’s Robert Russell, producing an on the day best of 33.25m. Making his first appearance of the season, Paul Appleby produced a best of 25.69m, to finish as third in the B String. Paul also did well in the Javelin, finishing as third A String, with a best throw of 30.83m. He also linked up with brother Steven in the Discus. Steven finished fifth in the A String, producing an on the day best of 31.23m, whilst Paul’s 29.34m in the B String, gave him third place. David Thomas was Morpeth Men’s A String competitor in the Long Jump, Triple Jump, and High Jump events. He finished fourth in both the Long Jump (5.56m), and Triple Jump (11.87m), and his clearance of 1.50m, saw him finish fifth in the High Jump. In B String action for Morpeth in the Long Jump and Triple Jump, were Mitchell Cryer and Owen Priest. Cryer finished sixth in the Long Jump with 4.50m, and Priest, making his Northern League debut, finished fourth, with 10.78m. In the Men’s 4 x 400m Relay, Morpeth finished third in 3m35.1s, courtesy of Jacob Hopkins, James Young, Owen Priest, and Matthew Waterfield. Earlier in this report, we gave mention to the Morpeth Women’s track efforts.
In addition to those mentioned, Gemma Floyd competed well to produce two excellent second A String places in both the 800m and 1500m events, posting respective times of 2m24.1s, and 4m57.3s. Backing Floyd up with good respective B String performances for Morpeth, were Kirsty Duffin, who finished third in the 800m on her Northern League debut in 2m43.0s, and seasoned Veteran Jane Hodgson, who finished second in 5m01.2s. Also, earlier we gave mention to the ill Naomi Arkle, who was unable to take part in the Women’s sprints. It led to younger sister Nadine, currently still an Under 17, being promoted to A String runner in both the 100m and 200m events. She finished third in both cases, posting respective times of 13.6s, and 27.8s. Backing Nadine up well in the B races for Morpeth, was Lynsey Cunningham, who was third in the 100m in 14.2s, and second in the 200m in 30.5s. Both Arkle and Cunningham joined forces with Naomi Arkle and Katie Stafford to finish fourth for Morpeth in the Women’s 4 x100m Relay, posting a time of 55.3s, just being fractionally edged out of third spot. Match Result (Subject to scrutiny) 1st Middlesbrough AC 350pts, 2nd Gateshead Harriers 345pts, 3rd Morpeth Harriers 341pts, 4th Tynedale Harriers 326pts, 5th Skyrac 308pts, 6th Leeds City 303pts. Many thanks to all Morpeth Harrier members and friends who helped out on the day to ensure smooth running of the event. Morpeths Ruaridh Lang and Jason Nicholson of Gateshead Harriers, were Northumberland’s sole individual medal winners at the annual All England Schools Track and Field Championships, which were held at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium, over Friday and Saturday 7th & 8th July 2017. Lang won a well-deserved Silver Medal in the Intermediate Boys Discus, throwing 47.91m, his second best ever distance, having thrown 48.21m in the Schools Inter Counties at Hexham, a fortnight earlier. Lang agonisingly missed out on Gold by just over 1.50m, to Surrey’s Philip Bartlett, who before the competition was ninth in the UK Rankings, two places adrift of Lang. Both Lang and Bartlett should renew rivalries at the Schools International Match, scheduled to be held in Dublin on the 15th July. Also expected to take part is Buckinghamshire’s Alfred Mawdsley, who produced an on the day best of 46.68m, to finish third in the competition. Other Morpeth Harriers throws specialists in action at the championships were Andrew Knight, and Bobbie Griffiths. Knight never quite matched up to his best, when Putting 13.73m, to finish fifth in the Intermediate Boys Shot Putt. Had he thrown at his best on the day, he would have gotten Silver. Despite complaining of a sore back, Griffiths threw an on the day best of 40.41m, to finish ninth in the Intermediate Girls Javelin. Closest Morpeth athlete on the Track to a medal, was Intermediate Boy Taylor Glover. After finishing eighth in his Friday heat of the 1500m, in 4m05.06s, Glover ran an almost equal time in his Saturday final, finishing ninth. In the Senior Boys 1500m Final, Morpeth’s Scott Beattie finished eleventh in 4m13.39s, however his Friday heat, where he finished a qualifying fourth in 3m59.78s, had been more impressive. Another Morpeth Harrier competing in that heat was Kieran Hedley, who finished tenth in 4m10.67s. In the Intermediate Boys 3000m, Rory Leonard of Morpeth finished eleventh in 8m54.09s,
which was around eleven seconds adrift of his best, negotiating a crowded field of twenty-six competitors, may be to answer for this, however to his favour, he was in the top half of the field for the entire seven and a half laps. Other Morpeth Harriers in action at the championships were Matthew Waterfield and Holly Peck, who both went out in the heats of their respective events on the Friday. Despite not being far adrift of his personal best, when posting 50.97s in the Intermediate Boys 400m, North East Champion Waterfield could progress no further, when finishing fifth in his heat. Although agonisingly just a fraction outside her best, Peck could only finish ninth in her heat of the Junior Girls 1500m, posting a time of 4m49.90s. Continuing her final preparations before the forthcoming World Athletics Championships next month,
Laura Weightman of Morpeth Harriers ran a superb first time best of 4m20.8s, when finishing sixth in a talent filled Senior Women’s Mile event, in the televised Muller sponsored Anniversary Games, held in London’s Olympic Park, the venue for the Championships, on Sunday 9th July 2017. The event was won by Kenya’s Hellen Obiri in 4m16.56s, finishing just ahead of Weightman’s British rival Laura Muir, who posted a time of 4m18.03s Further preparation for Weightman will come in the IAAF Diamond League Meeting in Rabat, Morocco, where she competes over the slightly shorter favoured 1500m distance, hoping to get even closer to the elusive four-minute mark. In the form that Weightman is showing, it certainly won’t be for want of trying. |
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