|
by Peter Scaife April’s easing of lockdown saw Senior and Masters athletes back into some eagerly-awaited competitive action at the NECAA Championship Relays held at Thornley Farm, Peterlee on Saturday. Giving a respectable account of themselves, Morpeth medalled in three out of the five competitions, with bronzes in both the Senior Men’s and Women’s events and an outstanding gold for the male Under 20s, although the most noticeable feature of the day were the smiles worn by so many athletes just happy to be back in business. Meticulously organised by Archie Jenkins and the NECAA team under EA Covid-secure guidance, spectators were kept at a distance although there was still a decent view of the opening and finishing straights, with bright sunshine for much of the day and even the sight of the first swallow of spring. The course itself was a 3k loop for all with an ascent after the first kilometre, although the biggest challenge many runners reported was the tussocky and uneven ground which had dried out completely over the last month making the choice of shoe difficult. First up was the Masters Women race, won by NSP in a time of 38:32 with Elvet Striders in second and Elswick Harriers in third. Alison Dargie of Tyne Bridge ran the day’s fastest leg of 12:14.
Morpeth’s team was headed by Claire Calverley with a leg of 14:02, with credit to Jill Bennett (16:29) and Shuna Rank (15:30) for stepping into the breach at short notice to make sure the club had a full team out. Sunderland Harriers headed the Masters Men with a finishing time of 31:33, Michael Barker running the fastest leg of the day with 10:09, with Darlington Harriers in second and Elvet Striders again third. Morpeth’s A was led out by Andrew Hebden in 10:58, with Will Clark running the team’s fastest time of 10:50 and a not fully fit Lee Bennett not quite able to get into a medal position (11:04). The team finished a decent fifth. The B team of 0/65 Dave Nicholson (12:30), Eric Adams (12:09) and Ed Hillier (11:54) came in in 20th position overall out of some 37 teams but also enjoyed the chance to stretch their legs again. The club’s first medal came in the day’s third event, the Senior Women’s race with the three Macdonald sisters, Lorna, Lindsey and Cat, representing the club’s A team. Fighting off raging toothache and turning an ankle no less than four times, Lorna gamely made it back at a hobble on leg 1 in 12: 53. Lindsey got the club back into contention quickly on the next leg, coming home in fourth place (12: 36) but it was down to youngest sister Cat (12:06) to move the club into a medal position. Early leaders Elswick Harriers, for whom a flying Amy Fuller clocked the day’s fastest leg of 10:55 on leg 1, and second place Gateshead were by then too far ahead sadly to make further headway. A strong Women’s B team was hit by Robyn Bennett’s adverse reaction to vaccination late on Friday, but credit to Lizzie Rank and Tayla Murdy for still turning out. In her first race in a Morpeth vest for over six years and her first ever as a Senior, Lizzie showed herself in no way overawed on the first leg, coming back in eighth place with a time of 12:36, with Tayla clocking 13:42. Had Robyn not been struck down, the team would certainly have made top ten, something which bodes well for Senior Women’s outfits in the future. The four-stage Senior Men’s Relay turned out to be a battle between Gateshead and Sunderland Harriers, with the intervention of National Cross Country Champion Calum Johnson (who had also run in the men’s race in Wigan) on leg 3 proving decisive in Gateshead’s final victory. Johnson was the only athlete running under nine minutes in fact on the day (8:54), with Gateshead’s overall time of 38:40 some fifteen seconds ahead of Sunderland. Jordan Scott (9:54) ran Morpeth’s fastest time of the day on leg 1 to put the club into fourth position behind Gateshead, Sunderland and Tyne Bridge, a place maintained by second leg runner Andy Lawrence (10:20). It was Adam Pratt (10.03) who got ahead of Tyne Bridge to move the club into third, with Ali Douglas on leg 4 (9:56) comfortably keeping them there for a final time of 40:13. It was a good outing also by a B team of Mark Snowball (11:01), Shaun Land (11:30), Ricky Stafford (11:28) and Liam Roarty (10:04), with Land and Stafford getting their first taste of Senior Relays. The team finished in a strong sixth place. Highlight of the day for the club was perhaps the form shown by Matthew Briggs, Rowan Bennett and Ross Charlton in winning the Under 20 Men’s race. Lancaster University student Briggs was already out of sight after leg 1 with a tremendous clocking of 9 minutes 47 seconds and after Rowan Bennett had maintained the lead (10:36), Bath University pentathlete Ross Charlton brought the team home with a very impressive 9:38 for the last leg. Charlton’s time was actually the third fastest clocked over the distance by any athlete all afternoon and shows the excellent progress he continues to make, with Briggs running the day’s eighth fastest overall also. Congratulations are also due to Connor Marshall, running in an incomplete B team, who also had a very strong run with a first leg clocking of 10:16. A great day out by all then, but perhaps the sport itself was the overall winner, with huge thanks going out to the organisers and all the officials and marshals, who included our own Kevin Bray and Gavin Bayne. Onwards and upwards.
0 Comments
 Rory Leonard takes third place at the Comeback 5k at Belgrave The return to competitive action saw two of Morpeth's brightest prospects start their 2021 track seasons in top form with PB performances over 5,000 and 10,000m.
Loughborough student Rory Leonard clocked 13:50 to finish 3rd over 5,000m at the Comeback 5k at Belgrave last week. The time sliced over 20 seconds off his previous track PB and means he has already qualified for the European U23 championships. Over in the USA, Scott Beattie also produced a top class performance, running 28:41 for 10,000m. Competing for Tulsa University, Beattie finished 6th in the Hayward Premiere at Eugene in a race won by Wesley Kiptoo in 27:58. Meanwhile on Easter Monday Laura Weightman picked up where she had left off in 2020 with an imperious victory at the Fast 5k run on the Three Sisters Road Circuit in Wigan. Battling some very cold and gusty conditions, Laura ran the first part of the race with Leeds-based training partner Mary Ngugi with Jip Vastenburg battling to keep up before Laura broke away with some ease to finish in a time of 15 minutes 30 seconds. Fellow North Easterner Kate Waugh ran a PB of 16:15 in 4th with Wallsend's Danielle Hodgkinson, now an Over 35 Vet, clocking 16:45 in 6th. In the Men's A race, won by Aldershot's Richard Allen in 14:05, Morpeth's George Lowry paid the price for leading the second group for much of the race, finishing in 16th place with a time of 15:10. National Cross Country Champion Calum Johnson of Gateshead finished 4th in 14:21. With missing most of last summer plus much of the winter and the departure of several athletes, we need to rebuild our young athletes teams for our NEYDL Young Athletes 2021 Track & Field Season.
We need to find out more about the abilities of our athletes (especially in the Under 13 age groups), so that we have a good turnout for our forthcoming 2021 NEYDL fixtures. Please come to our trials event on Saturday 24 April which will have the following events: Start time of first event at 10am. Track: 100 metres: Under 13 Girls (Years 6 & 7) Under 15 Girls (Years 8 & 9) Under 17 Women (Years 10 & 11) Under 13 Boys (Years 6 & 7) Under 15 Boys (Years 8 & 9) Under 17 Men (Years 10 & 11) 800 metres: All age groups as above 300 metres: Under 17 Women 400 metres: Under 15 Boys Under 17 Men Field events: Shot (10am): Under 13 Girls, followed by: Under 15 Girls, U17 Women, U13 Boys, U15 Boys, U17 Men Long Jump (10am): Under 13 Boys followed by: U15 Boys, U17 Boys, U13 Girls, U15 Girls, U17 Women BRING SAFETY PINS FOR YOUR NUMBERS Please keep the following dates clear for NEYDL fixtures: Sunday 16 May: Middlesbrough Sunday 20 June: Middlesbrough Saturday 17 July: Morpeth |
Archives
April 2021
|
