16-medal haul for morpeth in T&F championships

Twenty-four athletes were in action for Morpeth Harriers & AC at the annual NECAA Track and Field Championships, held at Middlesbrough Sports Village on 14 and 15 May.
Although the club were represented in every age group, apart from some of the older sections, there were sparse turnouts across the board disappointingly.
Nevertheless, Morpeth managed a total return of sixteen championship medals, eight being Gold, with four respectively being Silver and Bronze.
Weather conditions were fine over the two days, however there was an evident headwind factor on day one, which did hinder some sprinters and throwers ambitions.
Apart from the well-achieved medals, a sizeable number of personal best performances were recorded.
One of the most exciting finishes of the weekend on the track, came on Sunday, in the Under 17 Men’s 800m Final, where three Morpeth Harriers were amongst the line-up.
Joseph Close and Will DeVere-Owen each won their respective heats in 2m10.12s, and 2m11.96s, and ran well in the later run, where Will took the Gold Medal in a last-ditch sprint finish with Billingham’s Fraser Allan, to win by a slender margin in a personal best time of 2m02.47s.
Meanwhile Joseph secured the Bronze medal, by just outsprinting Elswick’s Elliot Kelso, who has just joined Morpeth for training purposes, under the guidance of coach Mike Bateman.
Close also ran a new personal best of 2m04.51s, having also ran a personal best of 4m16.76s in the previous days 1500m, where he had just lost out on a Bronze medal behind club colleague Bertie Marr.
Marr secured the Bronze medal in a season’s best performance of 4m13.06s.
Morpeth’s other finalist in the Under 17 Men’s 800m was Elliot Mavir, who secured his place in the Final by placing fourth behind Close in a personal best time of 2m17.92s.
In the Final, Mavir finished seventh of eighth, in 2m19.22s.
Morpeth Harriers other medallist in the Under 17 Men’s age group, who represented the clubs largest entry over the two day’s, was Edward Gardiner, who on this occasion, gave his sole attention to Saturday’s Discus competition, which he won by nearly eight metres from his closest rival Ryan Cook of Gateshead Harriers, when he threw an excellent personal best of 40.44metres, thus adding another metre onto his previous achievement.
All of Morpeth Harriers three competing Senior Men, were rewarded with Championship Medals, two of them Gold, and one of them Bronze.
Alistair Douglass successfully front ran his 800m, to take the Gold Medal by a five second margin from Houghton’s Lee Dover, posting a finishing time of 2m00.17s.
Phil Winkler of Morpeth won the 5000m, posting a time of 15m30.39s, winning by nine seconds from a previous Championship winner Greg Jayasuriya of Middlesbrough and Cleveland.
Morpeth’s Connor Marshall took the Bronze medal in the previous day’s 1500m, posting a marginal personal best of 4m05.37s, behind winner Harry Allan of New Marske Harriers (4m01.47s), and Jayasuriya (4m02.56s).
The clubs sole Senior Woman in action was Veteran Nisha Desai, who excellently achieved a one hundred percent return from her efforts, when she won Gold in her 800m Final on day one in 2m14.83s, and returned to the track on Sunday, to add another Gold Medal in the 400m, posting a time of 59.17s.
Her watching Mother Vina could also take special delight in seeing another of her charges Charlotte Earl of Morpeth, clinch Gold in the Under 20 Women’s Triple Jump, where her best effort was 10.94m.
Maisie French of North Shields Poly took the Silver medal with a best of 9.85m.
Matthew Walton of Morpeth posted a time of 16m00.44s, when taking the Silver Medal in the Under 20 Men’s 5000m, behind Gateshead Harriers Gold Medallist Josh Blevins (15m30.29s).
James Tilley of Morpeth was fourth in 16m24.13s, which was a personal best performance.
Morpeth Under 17 Woman Freya Caygill, produced a season’s best time of 26.69s, when taking the Bronze Medal in Saturday’s 200m Final, behind Hartlepool’s Lily Mae Watson (26.10s), and second placed Lily Bradley of North Shields Poly (26.22s).
Caygill returned to the Track on Sunday to compete in the 100m, where she finished fourth in her heat in 13.21s, however as a result of sustaining a slight injury, was forced to miss her later run Final after gaining qualification.
After winning her 300m Heat in 44.75s, Morpeth’s Under 15 Girl, Amelia Hamlin, produced a marginally better 43.91s, to gain a Silver Medal in the later run Final, only a mere fraction behind Blyth’s Senna Gorvett (43.60s).
Another Morpeth Under 15 Girl Medallist was Alexandria Hodgson, who won Silver in the Hammer with 19.47m.
Hodgson also competed in the following days Javelin, finishing sixth with a personal best throw of 20.57m.
Under 15 Boy Conner Phillips of Morpeth, crowned his first day of activity, by taking an excellent Gold Medal in the 300m, posting a personal best time of 39.88s, winning by over one second from Darlington’s Thomas Hill.
He returned on the Sunday to try to add more Silverware to his tally in the 200m and did exceptionally well to finish second in his heat in a new personal best of 25.42s.
Despite producing a slightly better 24.97s in the later run Final, he was just run out of the medals.
Oliver Tomlinson won the Silver Medal in the Under 15 Boys 1500m, following a superb battle for supremacy with eventual winner Jacob Brown of Middlesbrough AC.
Tomlinson posted a new personal best time of 4m32.67s.
Morpeth Under 20 sprinter Evan Logan finished fourth in his 200m event on Sunday, posting a time of 23.23s.
On Saturday, he got through to the Final of the 100m, when finishing fourth in his heat in 11.47s.
His later run Final was tough, as he finished eighth in 11.52s.
Under 20 Woman sprinter Mia Belton of Morpeth was unlucky not to medal in her 100m and 200m events.
She equalled her personal best of 26.99s in the 200m on Saturday which gave her fifth place.
On Sunday she finished fourth in the 100m Final in 13.17s.
In a closely fought Under 17 Women’s 300m Final, Morpeth’s Victoria Hodgson, older sister of Alexandria, finished fifth in 44.68s, with winner Leoni Pye securing her Gold Medal in 43.41s.
A very strong field took part in the Under 20 Men’s 1500m Final, including Morpeth’s Joe Anderson, who placed ninth of thirteen, posting a time of 4m07.00s.
Morpeth’s Emma Tomlinson, younger sister of Oliver, finished ninth in the Under 13 Girls in 5m57.45s, despite having been unwell in the days leading up to her competition, which her first in a NECAA Track and Field Championships.
Also having first tastes of a NECAA Track and Field Championships were another Morpeth Brother and Sister pairing, Thomas, and Molly Roche.
Thomas finished eighth in the Under 13 Boys 800m Final in 3m03.60s, and Under 15 Girl Molly, was eleventh in 5m37.73s.