Morpeth Harriers road squads were at their most dominant, as their Men and Women both
triumphed in their respective events at the annual Wallsend Harriers Gordon Smith Road Relays, held at Cobalt Business Park on the evening of Wednesday 9th May. Rain had reached the region by the time the 3 x 2 Mile events got underway, which was a refreshing relief for all who took part. Respective fastest times were also set by Morpeth athletes, with George Lowry clocking the joint fastest time of 9m32s on an explosive first Men’s first leg, where he led the Morpeth Men’s B team home in first place, six seconds ahead of his club colleague Sam Hancox, who was running the first leg for the Morpeth Men’s A team. Positions were reversed on the second leg however, as Ian Hudspith got into the driving seat, and took the Morpeth A team team into a nineteen second lead by clocking 9m49s, with John Butters just managing to hold off a chasing Tyne Bridge as he clocked 10m14s. The Morpeth B team were deposed however on the third leg, as Tyne Bridge’s James Furse clocked the equal fastest time to Lowry, to put them within striking distance of the Morpeth A team, who had newcomer Mark Long, the recent North East 10,000metre track champion on the final leg. Long, making his road debut for Morpeth, managed to hold his ground however, and came home with eight seconds to spare, as he clocked 9m45s. Meanwhile the Morpeth Men’s B team held onto third place from the fourth placed Morpeth Men’s C team, courtesy of Chris Smith’s 9m46s. The fourth placed Morpeth Men’s C team were represented by Thomas Straughan (9m51s), Fergus Bates (10m52s), and Jordan Scott (10m10s). Morpeth Harriers also had Men’s teams, which finished in seventh and sixteenth places. The Morpeth D team included Tom Innes (10m34s), Lee Bennett (10m53s), making his club debut following his transfer from Elswick, and Karl Taylor (10m25s). Ryan Stephenson (11m15s), Phil Walker (11m49s), and Dean Lonsdale (10m48s), all competed for the Morpeth Men’s E team. Not to be outdone, the Morpeth Women’s team also proved to be too good for the opposition, winning by nearly ninety seconds from Gosforth Harriers, with North Shields Poly a further eleven seconds adrift in third place. Gemma Floyd (11m45s), gave the Morpeth Women’s A team an eighteen seconds lead on the first leg, as she clocked what was to emerge as the third fastest time of the competition. Carla Maley, running for North Shields Poly, ate into that lead on the second leg, to pass Morpeth’s Helen King (12m32s), just before change-over, before Morpeth’s Jane Hodgson re-established the lead to win comfortably, by clocking the fastest time of the night of 11m15s, managing to hold off second fastest Kate Mellor of Gosforth Harriers. Morpeth also had Women’s squads that finished 36th and 39th respectively. They were represented by Susan Smith (14m57s), Pam Woodcock (15m57s), and Jane Kirby (14m37s), Alison Brown (12m48s), Claire Hiscock (17m06s), and Francis Naylor (16m03s). Posting a second fastest overall time of 1m52.86s, which was a new personal best,
Morpeth Harrier James Young qualified for the Semi Final of the Men’s 800m at the BUCS Track and Field Championships, held over three days of competition. (Saturday to Monday 5th, 6th and 7th May) at Bedford. Unfortunately, his Semi Final proved to be a race too many as the competition hotted up, as he clocked a very respectable 1m53.17s, it was only good enough for sixth place in his particular race, which saw him eliminated. Sterling teamwork by those who turned out on a warm day at Gateshead Stadium, saw Morpeth Harriers & AC Men’s and Women’s Track and Field squad, finish an excellent second to hosts Gateshead Harriers, in their opening Northern Athletics League Division 2E fixture, only losing out by approximately twenty points on the day. In that light, their Men’s section felt very let down by the late withdrawal of their original selected 5000m specialists, an area where the club is usually strong, which resulted in a brave Mark Snowball rallying to his clubs call, by filling in as the clubs A runner in the event, after earlier tackling the rigours of the 400 Hurdles and 3000m Steeplechase events, for which Men’s Team Manager David Swinburne vocally praised afterwards, saying that if the originally selected athletes had turned out as expected, the final result may well have proved different. Both Swinburne and Vina Desai (Women’s Team Manager), heaped praise on those who turned out to produce a better than expected early season performance, especially the younger members who took part, and made a much-valued contribution. Within those on the day performances, Morpeth managed a total of seven A string, and six B string wins, four of the A string coming from the Men, and three from their Women. The B string wins were shared as two from the Men, and four from the Women, which certainly reflects a balanced overall performance. Seven new personal bests were also achieved by Morpeth athletes, despite rising temperatures, plus a drifting stiff breeze. One of those personal bests belonged to Under 20 Man Rory Leonard, who was making his Northern League debut. He literally ran the legs off Gateshead Harrier Matthew Linsley, before going away at the bell, to record a fine 800m win in 1m56.93s, taking just over three seconds off his previous figures. Morpeth’s Jordan Scott finished second in a closely fought B race, posting a time of 2m09.92s. Another Morpeth Under 20 Man winner, was 2017 North Eastern Under 17 400m Champion Matthew Waterfield, who just pipped Gateshead’s Justin Cooper in a photo finish, posting 50.25s over the single lap event. Dean Lonsdale of Morpeth finished third in the B race, posting a new personal best of 53.64s. Mark Snowball won the 3000m Steeplechase in 10m49.30s, and Jake Masterman took second place in the B race in 11m59.13s. Snowball and Masterman teamed up again in the 400m Hurdles, where the former finished third in the A race in 71.97s, whilst the latter was second in the B race in 74.00s. It was no surprise that an exhausted Snowball could only manage fifth in the A race of the 5000m in 18m07.60s, following his earlier exploits. Another Under 20 Northern League debutant on the day for Morpeth was Taylor Glover, who very much looked to be heading for victory in the Men’s 1500m, had he not been caught by Wallsend/Blyth’s Sam Charlton with around 150m remaining. Glover finished second in 4m09.57s, whilst Morpeth’s B string athlete Tom Innes finished second, posting a new personal best of 4m17.97s. In the Men’s 100m, Morpeth’s Phil Pitt finished second in the A race in 11.87s, just being outsprinted by Middlesbrough AC’s Alex Nixon. Morpeth did have success in the B race however, courtesy of Sean O’Hara’s victory in 11.98s. In the later run 200m, the A race was dominated by Gateshead’s William Curtis, however O’Hara just lost out for second place, to the aforementioned Nixon, posting a time of 23.50s. Morpeth’s Kenny Harrison finished third in the B race in 24.36s. In the 4 x 100m and 400m Relays, Morpeth finished second on both occasions, with respective times of 46.23s, and 3m36.54s, to Tynedale, and Gateshead. On his Northern League debut, Morpeth’s Ethan Stephenson certainly proved to be their star Field Event performer. He produced two new personal bests of 12.87m, and 1.85m, when finishing first and second respectively in the Triple Jump and High Jump, and he was just adrift of his best in the Long Jump, when he finished second with an on the day best of 5.76m. Jake Masterman showed much versatility when finishing second in the B string Triple Jump, with an on the day best of 10.29m, and he cleared 1.60m to finish first equal in the B string High Jump. Another Morpeth Northern League debutant in the Field Events was Ruaridh Lang, who finished a very close third behind Middlesbrough’s David Dowson in the Discus, with his best throw of 37.45m. A big Morpeth bonus in this event, was seeing Steven Appleby take the B string with 32.07m, which was better than two of the competitions A string athletes. Appleby got through a tough afternoon’s work by also finishing fourth in the A string Hammer (20.09m), sixth in the A string Javelin (20.11m), and third in the B string Shot Putt, with 8.54m. Phil Pitt managed 5cm more, to take sixth place in the A string Shot Putt. On to the Women’s event, where Morpeth enjoyed their sole double victory of the day. It came courtesy of Under 20 athlete Robyn Bennett, making her track debut for her new club following her recent transfer from Elswick, who took the 3000m A race in 10m38.08s. Three weeks ago, Lorna MacDonald was pounding the streets of London in the Marathon, on Saturday, she took to the track to win the B race in 11m15.69s, which was just five seconds adrift of her lifetime best for the seven and a half lap event. Another Northern League debutant was Holly Peck, who just missed out on victory in the 800m A race, posting a time of 2m27.80s. Running her first ever track 800m, Morpeth Veteran Woman Helen King did well to take the B race in 2m37.96s. Later in the afternoon, King produced a new personal best of 69.81s, when finishing fourth in the 400m A race. Sue Smith finished second in the B race, running the distance for the first time, posting a time of 82.73s. Another young Northern League debutant for Morpeth was Under 17 athlete Lauren Cummings, who finished fourth in the 1500m A race in 5m30.23s, which was a personal best for the distance. Backing up Lauren’s efforts in the B race was Jill Bennett, mother of Robyn, who was also making her track debut for Morpeth following her transfer from Elswick. She finished second, posting a finishing time of 6m07.90s. Jessica Young-Rogers showed excellent early season sprinting form when winning the A race of the 100m in 12.86s, getting the verdict in a photo finish with Middlesbrough AC’s Emily Hulyer. In the B race it was a Morpeth/Middlesbrough AC reversal, as Lynsey Cunningham finished second in 14.78s. The 200m saw Young-Rogers finish third in the A race in 26.73s, whilst her Morpeth club colleague Lauren Smith triumphed in the B race, posting brand new figures of 27.43s. Morpeth finished second to Middlesbrough AC in the Women’s 4 x 100m and 400m Relays, in respective times of 54.52s and 4m39.18s. The Morpeth Women’s Field Events brought one A and one B string victory, and both executed by Under 20 Woman Bobbie Griffiths. She won her favoured Javelin A string by fractionally over 3metres from Middlesbrough AC’s Saada Juma, with her on the day best of 38.00m, and 24.90m, saw her take the Discus B string. Seasoned Morpeth Veteran Claire Reid goth through her usual large workload, by finishing third in the A string Hammer (27.56m), second in the A string Discus (29.38m), second in the B string Javelin (17.29m), and third in the A string Shot Putt (9.90m). Morpeth’s other thrower was Women’s Team Manager Vina Desai, who donned her Morpeth vest after many years of absence, to finish third in the B string Hammer (16.52m), and sixth in the B string Shot Putt (4.08m). In the Jumps, Jessica Young-Rogers finished fourth in the A string Long Jump (4.40m), being well backed up by Under 17 debutant Kayleigh Wenn, who finished as second B string with her best jump of 4.20m. Wenn also finished fourth in the A string Triple Jump, with her on the day best of 8.50m. MATCH RESULT (After Scrutiny) 1st Gateshead Harriers 382pts, 2nd Morpeth Harriers 370pts, 3rd Wallsend/Blyth RC 322pts, 4th Tynedale Harriers 290pts, 5th Middlesbrough AC 254pts, 6th Richmond & Zetland 221pts. PHOTOS FROM THE NORTHERN LEAGUE DIV 2E MATCH 1 (Courtesy of Dave Thomas) Morpeth Harrier Scott Beattie, currently studying in Tulsa USA,
produced a brand new personal best of 3m50.62s, when finishing second in a 1500m event in the Arkansas Twilight meeting, held in Fayetteville on Friday 4th May 2018. Seven athletes from Morpeth Harriers & AC were in action at the BMC Regional Meeting,
held at Leeds Becket University Athletics Track, on the evening of Monday 30th April 2018. Pick of the bunch were Rory Leonard, Kieran Hedley, and Tom Innes, who all achieved new personal bests in their respective performances. Leonard and Hedley competed in the same 3000m A race, the former clocking a new personal best time of 8m24.62s, which now takes him up to second place in the UK rankings, and No 1 regionally for Under 20 Men. Leonard’s time improvement was a mammoth nineteen seconds, which clearly shows that the North Eastern, Northern, Inter Counties Cross Country Champion, and World Schools International, has clearly transferred his superb winter form to the track, and barring injury problems, will certainly be a force to be reckoned with this summer. He finished second to a Senior athlete Linton Taylor of Newark AC, who clocked 8m17.94s, and is currently ranked in the top fifty at that level. North Eastern Cross-Country Champion Hedley ran well in a strong mixed field, to finish twelfth, posting a new personal best time of 8m41.77s, which saw him take around thirty seconds off his previous best for the distance, which he had set in 2015. This new best now sees him ranked as thirteenth Under 20 Man in the UK, and third in the region behind Leonard, and Middlesbrough Mandale’s Josh Cowperthwaite, who had run in the same event, finishing fifth. Tom Innes finished second to his club colleague Dean Lonsdale in the 800m C Race, where Lonsdale clocked 2m06.54s, to Innes’s 2m07.57s, which saw him take nearly two seconds off his previous figures. Other Morpeth 800m runners in action were Phillip Winkler, who was fourth in the B race in 1m59.94s, and Under 15 Girl Rhiannon Hedley, younger sister of Kieran, who finished sixth in the all-female F race, posting a time of 2m25.55s, which made her sixth fastest in her age group on the night. Morpeth’s Thomas Straughan finished fourth in the 3000m B race in 8m55.16s. |
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