Two team silvers and one team gold were the prizes for Morpeth’s combined men’s and women’s veteran squads at the annual North East Masters Open Road Relays held in the traditional venue at Bedewell Park,
Jarrow on Wednesday May 2nd 2018. As ever, the event is contested by teams of three over a two mile, two lap circuit of the park in ten year categories with the women’s competition preceding the men’s. Sunderland Harriers took an early lead in the women’s race courtesy of Nikki Woodward (11 minutes 31 seconds) with Morpeth’s Vicky Gibbs (12m 18s) clocking the 4th fastest time for the leg and keeping the club in contention. Despite having run a half-marathon at Blackpool the preceding weekend, Helen King produced the usual gutsy run (12m 30s) to give last leg runner Gemma Floyd a fighting chance of a medal and this she achieved in fine style with the 2nd fastest clocking of the night (11m 27s, only one second behind Sunderland’s Alice Smith, fastest women’s run of the night) to overhaul both North Shields Poly and Birtley in front of her and move the club into a silver medal position (36m 15s). Sunderland Harriers (35m 2s) were the fastest team on the night. Morpeth’s B team of Jane Kirby (14m 7s), Pam Woodcock (15m 43s) and Sue Smith (14m 26s) finished in a combined time of 44m 16s in 18th place, although it should be noted that both Smith and Woodcock had commendably stepped down to the Over 35s race to make the team up. In the later men’s competition Morpeth fielded teams in the Over 35s, Over 45s and Over 55s and gave relay debuts to Stevens Major and Johnstone. In the Over 35s competition it was as you were for the women, with the club up against a very strong and determined Sunderland Harrriers, perhaps benefiting from not having to brave the horrendous traffic North of the Tyne to get there. Returning to competitive action after a long period out, Tony Lewis (10m 53s) was plunged straight into the thick of things on a battliing first leg but was up against decent clockings from Sunderland (Rob Walker, 9m 54s), Blackhill (Gary Wallace, 9m58s) and Darren Purvis (10m 2s). John Butters began to claw back runners in front of him on leg 2 with what proved to be the third fastest time of the night (9m 53s) and moved the club up to a medal position. Chris Smith ran what proved to be the fastest time of the night (9m 36s), but Sunderland ran out again overall winners by some 45 seconds (29m 37s) in what was a tough competition. The Over 45s were most unfortunate that, after Alistair Macdonald had got them off to a very solid start (11m 26s), Graeme Thorpe suffered the misery of a pulled hamstring on his 2nd lap and had to grit his teeth to get round at all – indeed, after finishing in 12m 5s, he collapsed over the line into the waiting arms of the St Johns ambulance. Fergus Bates on last leg ran a very respectable 10m 40s (the 5th fastest Over 45 time of the night) but was just unable to reel in Elswick B in front of him. Had Thorpe not suffered injury, it is likely that this team would also have medalled, probably with a silver. The Over 45s B finished in 13th place. Paul Brown, who had loyally returned home to the NE from a training course in Leeds in order to take part, getting the club off on leg 1 in 11m 52s and followed by relay debutants Steven Major (12m 52s) and Steven Johnstone (12m 34s), both of whom confessed later that they had very much enjoyed the event and looked forward to similar competitions. It was left to the club’s Over 55s to bring off what had seemed days before a most unlikely gold, what with several of the club’s leading Over 55 vets out injured and Gavin Bayne only drafted in at quite short notice. In his first race back since sustaining a skiing injury over the Winter, Bayne showed all his experience in running a well-measured and purposeful 12m 24s on leg 1 to bring the club home in 3rd place behind Heaton (Ian Norman, 11m 16s, fastest leg of the night) and Wallsend (Graham Armstrong, 12m 2s). All things changed, however, when Neil McAnany ran on leg 2, his 11m 54s the 2nd fastest time of the night moving the club up into first place. It was left to Paul Bellingham (none dog assisted, I hasten to add) to stay ahead of Heaton’s hirsutely grizzled veteran John James and this he did with a very composed and sensible run (12m 25s) for a combined team clocking of 36m 43s, some 8 seconds ahead of Heaton Harriers in 2nd place. All in all, a very decent night’s work and a credit to all who took part. As indefatigable race umpire and Morpeth Harrier Archie Jenkins reminded everyone at the presentation, next year’s race will once again be the first Wednesday in May, so put it in your diaries now! Report by Peter Scaife The annual North Eastern Counties Track and Field Championships, sponsored by Start Fitness, and held over Saturday12th and Sunday 13th May 2018, for the first time at Middlesbrough Sports Village, saw athletes from Morpeth Harriers achieve a total of twenty-four medals, which included nine Gold, eleven Silver, and four Bronze. Field eventers Andrew Knight and Bobbie Griffiths were also among several Championship best performances over the two days of competition, and James Young, was also a double Gold medal winner on the track. It was an excellent first day of competition for the club, where sixteen of those twenty-four medals were won, nine on the track, and seven from the field. The Field eventers contributed greatly, with four of the medals being Gold, headed by Knight and Griffiths, who produced Championship bests of 16.91m and 37.69m respectively in the Under 17 Men’s Shot Putt and Under 20 Women’s Javelin. Andrew Knight broke the existing championship best of 15-28m in the U17 Mens Shot with all 6 of his putts throwing a series of 16-73, 16-91, 16-78, 16-56,16-58, 16-76. A huge increase. Another Morpeth thrower to take a Gold Medal on Saturday, was Jessica Gardner, who produced a new personal best of 28.64m, to take the Under 15 Girls Discus title. Rounding off the clubs first day Gold Medal haul from the Field was Ethan Stephenson, who won the Under 17 Men’s Triple Jump, with a best effort of 12.17m. Ruaridh Lang produced an excellent personal best performance of 42.40m to take a Silver Medal in the Under 20 Men’s Discus. Silver and Bronze medals respectively were won by Alice Geoghegan and Rosie Winter in the Under 15 Girls Javelin, with bests of 25.23m and 24.29m, the former representing a brand-new lifetime best. Although a non-medallist, Olivia Gent gained great experience from finishing fifth in the Under 13 Girls Long Jump, with a best of 3.61m. The first day Track events saw Morpeth athletes gain three Gold’s, five Silver, and one Bronze medal. In the Senior Men’s 1500m, James Young took the first of what were to be two Gold Medals over the weekend. He won by two seconds from Birtley’s Adrian Bailes, when he posted a time of 4m02.81s. Another Morpeth 1500m Gold medallist was Kieran Hedley, who took the Under 20 Men’s title in4m03.51s. Just over four seconds adrift of him in 4m07.93s was club colleague Taylor Glover, who added a Silver to the clubs’ tally. The clubs third track Gold went to Under 17 Woman Holly Peck, who won the 800m in 2m23.27s, closely followed in by club colleague Lily Heaton, who produced a superb last gasp effort, to take the Silver medal in a time of 2m24.13s. Under 20 Men’s 400m specialist Matthew Waterfield, who was the 2017 Under 17 Men’s Champion, took the Silver medal this time round, as he posted a time of 50.86s. Morpeth’s Amy Lott produced a personal best performance of 11.62s, as she took Silver in the Under 15 Girls 75m Hurdles. The Scottish Indoor 60m Hurdle Champion may well have taken the Gold, had she not hit the final Hurdle, as she hurtled towards the finish. Just missing Bronze was club colleague Alice Geoghegan, who finished fourth in 12.49s. In the Under 20 Women’s 100m Hurdles, Harriet Priest took the Silver medal in 17.09s. Morpeth’s single Bronze track medal on the day, was won by Dean Lonsdale, who posted a time of 54.18s in the Senior Men’s 400m. Certainly not far away from a Bronze medal was Morpeth’s Mia Belton, who finished fourth in the Under 15 Girls 200m Final, posting a brand new personal best of 28.11s. Club colleagues Rosie Winter and Ellie Longstaff finished sixth and seventh, with respective times of 28.79s, and 28.80s. Having his first run ever in a Championship, Morpeth’s Ryan Davies did well, when posting a brand new personal best of 5m08.01s in the Under 13 Boys 1500m Final, where he finished fifth. In the Under 15 Girls 800m Final, Morpeth’s Rhiannon Hedley, younger sister of Kieran, finished fifth in 2m26.61s, after winning her earlier heat in 2m27.51s. Morpeth’s Under 13 Girl newcomer Kaitlyn Waddell gained great championship experience, as she managed two lifetime personal bests of 32.76s, and 13.40s respectively in the 200m and 70m Hurdle events, the latter being a Final, where she finished seventh. Another Morpeth athlete competing in the Under 13 Girls 200m, was Olivia Gent, who finished sixth in Heat 2 in 32.27s. Morpeth athletes Rowan Bennett and Tom Balsdon finished ninth and eleventh in the Final of the Under 17 Men’s 1500m, posting respective new personal bests of 4m21.8s and 4m24.7s. Dylan Davies, older brother of Ryan, finished tenth in the Final of the Under 15 Boys 1500m in 4m58.78s. The eight medals that were won by Morpeth athletes in Sunday’s second day of competition, were produced mainly courtesy of their track performers. Twenty-four hours after managing 1500m Gold, Morpeth’s James Young collected his second title of the weekend, as he triumphed in the Senior Men’s 800m in 1m54.08s, winning again from Birtley’s Adrian Bailes, although only by a fraction of a second on this occasion. One of Morpeth’s finest performances of the weekend however, came in the Under 15 Boy’s 800m Final, where Ben Waterfield, younger brother of Matthew, won the Gold Medal in a brand new personal best of 2m10.06s, having also established new figures of 2m12.77s, as he finished second in his earlier run heat. The bragging conversations in the Waterfield household would certainly prove interesting over the weekend no doubt, however Matthew would be genuinely quite pleased for him, as he does have a hand in the coaching of his younger sibling. Staying with Morpeth’s Under 15 Boys, Dylan Davies put his previous days 1500m frustrations behind him, to return to take a well-earned Silver medal in the longer 3000m event, which he ran for the first time, posting a time of 10m17.92s. Silver Medals were also won by Robyn Bennett in the Under 20 Women’s 1500m, posting a new personal best of 4m46.09s, and Harriet Priest, who achieved her second medal of the weekend in the 400m Hurdles (73.03s). In the Senior Men’s 5000m, Morpeth’s Thomas Straughan held off the close attentions of new club colleague Mark Long, to take his first ever North East track medal, a Bronze, in 15m33.00s. Long, who recently won the North East 10,000metre Championship, and had hoped to medal, was running the 5000m track event for the first first time, where he posted a time of 15m36.61s. Holly Peck added Bronze to her first day 800m Gold, when finishing third in the Under 17 Women’s 1500m, just a mere second outside her lifetime best with 4m50.87s. Agonisingly just missing out for a medal again, was Morpeth’s Mia Belton, who finished fourth in the Under 15 Girls 300m Final in 45.15s, having earlier posted a new personal best of 44.67s, when placing second in her heat.
Rowan Bennett, younger brother of Robyn, who had competed in the Under 17 Men’s 1500m on the Saturday, returned to finish fifth in the 3000m, again posting a brand new personal best of 9m40.09s. Another personal best was that of Alice Geoghegan, who finished sixth in her heat of the Under 15 Girls 100m. Sibling Brother Oliver did gain a medal however in the Under 15 Boys Javelin, when he threw 22.15m for Silver. Competing in the Under 15 Girls Hammer, Morpeth hurdling specialist Amy Lott will have gained great experience as she threw 20.70m for fourth place, just losing out for Bronze by around two and a half metres. Lott also produced a new personal best performance of 7.68m in the Shot Putt competition. All in all a very satisfactory result for the club, and much credit to the athletes who competed, and to their respective coaches who prepared them for their respective events ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF DAVE THOMAS Sunday’s second day of competition at the annual Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Counties Athletics Association Championships, saw athletes from Morpeth Harriers & AC add eight more medals to the sixteen that had been achieved on Saturday’s first day at Middlesbrough Sports Village.
On this occasion seven medals came from the track, with one coming from the Field Events. Most notable on the track were the two Golds, won by James Young (Senior Men’s 800m), posting a time of 1m54.08s, and Ben Waterfield, younger brother of Matthew, who won the Under 15 Boys 800m final, posting an excellent, 2m10.06s. A more fuller detailed report, covering the two days of competition, will follow on this website. Northern Cross-Country champions Rory Leonard and Carl Avery of Morpeth Harriers,
travelled to Sports City in Manchester on Saturday night (12th May 2018), to compete in the BMC Grand Prix meeting, where they both achieved new respective personal best performances. In Leonard’s case, he finished an excellent second in the 1500m E race, posting a time of 3m53.63s, which saw him shave eight seconds off his previous figures, making him just over a second adrift of winner Dan Wilde of Taunton, who is a fellow Under 20 athlete. Meanwhile Avery finished fourth in the 5000m A race in 14m08.83s, taking nearly thirty-seven seconds off his previous figures. A total of sixteen individual medals, pointed to a very satisfactory days achievements for Morpeth Harriers & AC, at the annual North Eastern Counties Track and Field Championships, sponsored by Start Fitness,
and held for the very first time at Middlesbrough Sports Village on Saturday 12th May 2018. Amongst the medal haul were Seven Gold, Seven Silver, and two Bronze, with nine coming from the track, and seven being achieved in the Field Events. There were also two new Championship records set by Morpeth athletes, both from the Field Events. They were achieved by Andrew Knight, who Putted 16.91m in the Under 17 Men’s Shot, agonisingly only a mere 5cm off his own lifetime best, and Bobbie Griffiths in the Under 20 Women’s Javelin, where she threw an on the day best of 37.69m, shaving 41cm off the previous figures, which had been set by West Suffolk’s Sarah Dunkley in 2006. A fuller more detailed of all the clubs’ achievements, following Sunday’s second day of competition will follow on this website. |
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