The annual CAU Inter Counties Cross Country Championship were held at Nottingham’s Wollaton Park on Saturday.
Several Morpeth Harriers were amongst the North East representation at the 13-race event.
The best North East team result came from the very last event of the day, when the Senior Men finished as Bronze medallists, behind winners Yorkshire, and second placed Surrey, and they were to be the only regional team medallists on a day of significant efforts.
Morpeth Harrier Carl Avery emerged as the North East’s leading counter, having come through steadily to finish in an excellent 17th place.
Fellow Morpeth Harrier Ellis Hetherington also came through well to finish in 54th place, and was fourth home from the region.
One success from this event, was the fact that they also emerged as the best squad in the nine to score category, something aside from the main competition.
Next best North East performers were the Senior Women, who managed to finish as fourth team behind winners Surrey, second placed Northern Ireland, and third placed Yorkshire.
No less than three Morpeth Harriers were amongst the scoring counters, with Catriona MacDonald finishing 51st as third scorer, Holly Lawrence finishing 76th as fourth scorer, and Lizzie Rank finishing 86th to close the scoring six.
The North East Under 20 Men finished in seventh team position, Morpeth’s Ollie Tomlinson being just outside the scorers in 88th place.
Morpeth’s North East Under 17 Women’s Champion Molly Roche, finished in 81st place in her event, as second counter for a twentieth placed regional team.
The North East Under 15 Boys finished in twenty first team place, with Mason Gaylor picking himself up after an unfortunate tumble, to finish in 132nd place, as fourth team scorer.
No doubt, had he not fallen, he would have finished further up the field.
The best North East individual performance of the day, undoubtedly was Under 15 Girl Gabriele Pinder, of New Marske Harriers, who added the Inter Counties title to that of the National and North East.
Pinder, after carefully working her way in about third or fourth position on her first of two laps, eventually went to the front to take a handsome victory by a nine second margin over Surrey’s Isabella Buchanan.
The North East Under 15 Girls took great inspiration from Pinder’s leadership, to finish an excellent sixth team.
Other North East Team results were as follows, Under 13 Girls (6th), Under 13 Boys (19th), Under 17 Men (14th), and Under 20 Women (10th).

Running the fastest time of the day on their first leg of the Under 13 Boys 1.65k x 3 Birtley AC Cross Country Relay’s, Morpeth Harrier Joseph Fawcett spearheaded his club to a set of NECAA Silver Team Medals on Sunday morning at Lord Lawson School.
Fawcett led nine other teams home, with his excellent personal time of 5m20s.
Slightly younger brother Will took over on the second leg but found himself passed by the faster Sunderland Harrier Oliver Dugdale, who placed a nine-second margin at a critical stage.
Nevertheless Will’s clocking of 5m52s was still commendable, as he managed to hold off a third-placed Jarrow and Hebburn runner. On the final leg, Luke Thompson maintained second place throughout with his clocking of 5m36s, which proved to be the seventh fastest of the day.
Morpeth also had athletes competing in the Under 11 Girls 3 x 1.25k Relay, where they finished seventh overall, courtesy of Ellie Fea (6m01s), Niamh Balmbra (6m31s), and Ella Rowlinson (6m00s).
This was the age group's first taste of Team Relay competition, and they can all feel immensely proud of their achievements.

The fifth and penultimate round of the NEHL took place at the Pastures in Alnwick on Saturday with a good showing from Morpeth Harriers, some 18 Young Athletes and 23 Seniors making the short journey up the A1.
 
Always the most scenic of venues, with the distant vista of the medieval castle presiding in the distance, once again decent conditions under foot and fine if cloudy weather meaning a generally propitious day for all.
 
Under 11s races at midday got the day’s action under way, with some seven blue and white vests turning out over the one mile, up and down course – actually one of the more difficult ones for the age group across the season.
 
Good to see four U/11 Girls out, with Ellie Feal and Ella Rowlinson neck and neck in 12th and 13th places, Niamh Balmbra 20th and Florence Tyler 43rd.
 
Three Boys ran too, with Mason Ellison again placing well in 3rd, Ben Hodgson continuing to make progress in 18th and Jack Bell having his best race so far in 30th.
 
Once again Izzy Cromar was, sadly, the club’s only representative in the U/13 Girls, however, finishing 20th from Fast Pack.
 
And there were also only two U/13 Boys out this time, with Hector Ford-Hutchinson 26th and Will Fawcett 30th, both from Fast. They remain in 3rd in the Grand Prix, however, only one point behind NSP.
 
By contrast, the Morpeth U/15 Girls had an excellent afternoon, with Heidi Wilkinson running the day’s fastest age group time to come home in 5th from Fast, Faye Heatley 10th from Fast (and 3rd fastest of the day) and Zoe Wilkinson 25th from Slow. They have now moved up to 3rd also in the overall table, having finished in second here.
 
There was also a complete team of U/15 Boys, with Jack Dhawar 14th from Fast, Charlie Taylor 25th and Jacob Thompson 27th, both from Slow. They also are in 3rd overall.
 
Disappointingly, there were no U/17 Boys out in what has always been such a strong category for the club, although Lucie Todd (7th) and Charlotte Marshall (10th) both represented the club well in the matching Girls fixture, although they missed a third counter. The team remain 2nd in a very tight Grand Prix.
 
The Senior and Veteran Women meanwhile made light of the absence of several of their faster runners – taking a deserved break following last week’s National and in advance of the Inter Counties – to finish 1st team on the day (75 points) and continue to move up the team standings.
 
The team were headed home by Catriona Macdonald, who ran the day’s fastest time of the day (27:52) for the two lap course when finishing in 5th overall behind race winner Nicole Burlison of Durham City (28:56 from Slow).
 
Jane Hodgson was 11th from Fast and Anna Wright, in her NEHL debut this season, 24th from Slow, with Jane Briggs, 35th also from Slow, making the four to count score.
 
Sophie Ward was 46th from Medium, Vicky Thompson 54th from Slow, Sarah Henry 193rd  and, in her first run in a Morpeth vest, Kelly Clarke 220th, both from Slow.
 
Equal on points with Jesmond Joggers, the squad are ahead in 2nd having won more fixtures (three to JJ’s two) but most hope for a win in the season’s final fixture and a TBH meltdown, with them now four points ahead.
 
With fifteen finishers in total, Alnwick was far and away the Senior and Veteran Men’s best showing - although they couldn’t quite get the beating of NSP, winners on the day and clearly heading for the Men’s title, having set their stall out to win this one in 2025/26 after years of being a yo-yo club between divisions.
 
They were headed home by Carl Avery, who, choosing to run from Fast, finished in 5th in a time of 34:49, and ran what was the day’s fastest time in an imperious display of cross-country running. Elswick’s Dan Milton was race winner in 37:31 from Slow.
 
Tom Prentice was 16th, also from Fast, O/40 veteran Andy Ball 20th from Slow, James Higgin 31st from Slow, Bobby Hagen 37th (Slow) and Ali Douglass 42nd (Fast) to complete the team count, with the Men now up to 3rd in the table on 18 points overall but only one point behind Gateshead Harriers, with NSP out front on 11.
 
Also running for Morpeth were: Rowan Bennett, doing well on his return in club colours, 51st from Slow; Rob Balmbra, 74th from Fast; Jason Dawson, 77th (Slow); Ian Armstrong, 94th (Medium); Lee Bennett, 125th (Slow); Andriy Volkov, 174th (Slow); Tony Horsley, 236th (Slow); Steve Johnstone, 260th, (Slow) and John Clark, 299th (Slow).
 
A productive and enjoyable day for the club then, and well done all who turned out either to run or support.
 
Full results here: Race Results | North East Harrier League | North East Harrier League
 
With much still to compete for, the season’s final fixture will take place at a new venue, Eltringham Farm in the Tyne Valley near Stocksfield on Saturday 21 March.
Link to venue info here: Eltringham - Race Information | North East Harrier League