Superb efforts from a much-weakened squad saw Morpeth Harriers' Senior Men and Women’s Track and Field team, bravely battle their way through to finish fourth in their second round Northern Athletics North East Premier League Match at Shildon 2000 Stadium, on Sunday 18 June.
Both the Men’s and Women’s squads were missing key athletes, however those that did rise to their respective calls from Team Managers Vina Desai (Women), and Tom Innes, Mark Snowball, and George Patterson (Men), were more than willing to step up to the plate throughout the day. Some even stepped into unfamiliar events in the relentless pursuit of vital points, also many thanks go to the band of members who helped with official duties on the day, including juniors Alexandria and William Hodgson, twin siblings of their competing older sister Victoria, and Father, Trevor. Competitively, Nisha Desai and Mark Banks put in a hard shift, by tackling as many events as possible. For the Women’s Team, despite carrying a sometimes-discomforting injury, Desai managed to complete no fewer than seven events, including both relays, and for the Men’s team Mark Banks did likewise. There was also good input from the club's Under 20 contingents, namely Charlie Lane, Ethan Phillips, and James Tilley for the Men, and Ellie Wickens, Olivia Gent, and U17 Victoria Hodgson for the Women. Even Team Managers Innes and Snowball joined the party in competition, along with Club Coach Neil McAnany, who competed in the final 4 x 400m Relay. On to the match itself, and Morpeth had a winner in the very first event, courtesy of Hodgson, who was running a Senior 400m Hurdles for the very first time. She won the A race quite comfortably in 70.15s. With Nisha Desai carrying an injury, unfortunately she was unable to take part in one of her favoured events as B Race support. Mark Banks had two B Race wins in the 800m (2m12.21s), and 1500m (4m19.80s), as well as finishing second in the A String High Jump (1.65m). He also finished fourth in the B String 200m 29.47s, where Charlie Lane finished third in the A Race in 24.21s. Lane also finished a good second in the B Race of the 400m in 53.16s, in support to Ethan Phillips finishing third I the A Race in 53.77s. Earlier, Phillips had finished second in the A Race of the 800m, posting a time of 1m57.76s, which was a performance boosting personal best for the Under 20 athlete. Another good Under 20 performer on the track was James Tilley, who was second in the 1500m in 4m14.37s, being very ably supported by Banks taking the B Race. The hardworking Banks also took on the longest race of the day in the 5000m, finishing as fourth in the B event (20m34.17s), as good support to Mark Snowball’s fifth in the A Race in 18m50.69s. Snowball had earlier finished fourth in the 400m Hurdles in 74.38s, one of seven events that he tackled in all. Unfortunately, injury had reduced Morpeth Men to only one recognised short sprinter, but Over 50 Veteran Trevor Hodgson competed well on his promotion to the 100m A Race by finishing third in 11.83s, having run at the previous day's Masters Championships. Hodgson also stepped up to compete in the Shot Putt, and finished fifth in the A String, Putting a best of 7.81m. Team Manager Innes putted 5.65m for sixth in the B String. Innes certainly played a significant role in the Morpeth Field event challenge, by also taking part in the Long Jump, Triple Jump, Discus, and Javelin events, along with the 4 x 400m Relay, which meant that he competed in no less than six events on the day. In the B String Long Jump, he finished fourth with 3.81m, and Mark Snowball produced 4.16m for sixth in the A String. Innes finished fifth in the A String of the Triple Jump with 7.34m, with again Snowball partnering him, finishing fourth in the B String with 7.15m. The pair met up again in the Discus, where Innes finished sixth in the A String (14.83m), with Snowball getting sixth in the B String with a best of 12.72m. Innes and Snowball continued their quest for points in the Javelin, finishing fifth and fourth respectively in the A and B competitions, with bests of 22.20m and 16.43m. In the Men’s 4 x 100m Relay, Morpeth finished third, courtesy of Charlie Lane, Trevor Hodgson, Mark Banks, and Mark Snowball, who combined to post a time of 49.40s. Mark Banks, Neil McAnany, Charlie Lane, and Tom Innes combined to bring Morpeth Men home in fourth place in 4m14.34s. Victoria Hodgson followed up her 400m Hurdles win with a second place in the 100m A Race in 13.37s, and Ellie Wickens finished second in the B Race in 14.06s. Wickens also finished second in the 200m A Race in 28.49s, being well backed up by Nisha Desai in the B Race finishing second in 27.59s. Tayla Douglass and Desai also combined well in the Women’s 400m and 800m events. Douglass finished third in the A Race of the 400m in 77.95s, and fourth in the A Race of the 800m in 2m49.62s. Desai won both B Races in respective times of 63.0s, and 2m35.57s. Lizzie Rank finished second in the 1500m in 5m18.45s. Julie Vermaas finished fourth in the 3000m in 12m31.05s. Morpeth Under 20 Woman Olivia Gent, who began her career at the club under the guidance of her Coach and Team Manager Vina Desai, worked her socks off in the Field events. She competed in no less than four of them, one of them alongside Vina. Her best result came in the Javelin B String, which she won, supporting Nisha Desai, who finished fourth in the A String. Desai threw 19.19m, and Gent won with a best of 16.94m. Gent finished fourth in the A String Long Jump with a best of 4.17m, and second in the B String Triple Jump with 9.11m. Ellie Wickens placed third in the A String with a slightly better 9.13m. Gent also finished fifth in the A String Shot Putt with 5.76m, and Vina Desai was sixth in the B String with 4.68m. Vina Desai was fifth in the B String Discus with 11.77m, supporting Ellie Wickens fifth place in the A String with 16.15m. It was a Desai family effort in the Hammer, with Vina finishing sixth in the A String with a best throw of 15.03m, and daughter Nisha weighed in with 13.86m for fourth in the B String. Morpeth finished second in the Women’s 4 x 100m in 53.76s, courtesy of Nisha Desai, Ellie Wickens, Olivia Gent, and Victoria Hodgson. Taylor Douglass, Victoria Hodgson, Julie Vermaas, and Nisha Desai brought the Morpeth Women’s 4 x 400m squad home in third place, posting a combined time of 5m00.11s. At the end of a hard day’s work, the Morpeth team can feel well pleased that their combined efforts gave them fourth team place, only a mere ten points adrift of third placed New Marske, but well adrift of first and second placed Gateshead Harriers, and Darlington. The combined squad of Chester Le Street/Durham City, and North Shields Poly were fifth and sixth. It is hoped that the Morpeth squad will be stronger for the third and penultimate fixture at Middlesbrough on Sunday 9 July. FINAL MATCH RESULT 1st Gateshead Harriers 418pts, 2nd Darlington Harriers 400pts, 3rd New Marske Harriers 292pts, 4th Morpeth Harriers 282pts, 5th Chester Le Street/Durham City 242pts, 6th North Shields Poly 186pts. CURRENT LEAGUE POSITIONS AFTER TWO MATCHES 1st Gateshead Harriers (770.5pts) 12pts, 2nd Darlington Harriers (725pts) 10pts, 3rd New Marske Harriers (610pts) 7pts, 4th Morpeth Harriers (607pts) 7pts, 5th Chester Le Street/Durham City (546.5pts) 4pts, 6th North Shields Poly (399pts) 2pts. Seven medals were won by athletes from Morpeth Harriers at the North East Masters Track and Field Championships, held at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow on Saturday 17 June.
Phil Pitt won two Gold medals in the Over 40 Men’s 100m and 200m, posting respective times of 12.11s, and 24.98s. Over 50 sprinter Trevor Hodgson continued his current run of excellent form in the 100m, winning in 11.73s. Gavin Bayne took Gold in the Over 65 5000m Final, posting a time of 19m32.32s, and Silver in the 800m in 2m51.39s. Archie Jenkins won the Over 70 Men’s 800m title in 4m10.36s. Jason Dawson won a Silver Medal in the Over 50 Men’s 800m, posting a time of 2m16.62s. In the Open Mile event, Morpeth’s Pam Woodcock posted a time of 8m01.97s. Several Morpeth Harriers were in action at the Northern Schools Inter Counties Track and Field Championships, held at Gateshead Stadium on Saturday 17 June.
The competition is the final steppingstone for the English Schools Championships, which this year will be held in Birmingham over the weekend of 30 June and 1 July. Specialist throwers Edward Gardiner and Alexandria Hodgson, both of them coached by Neil Ellerby, are known to have secured their places in the finals. Gardiner eventually won his selection for Birmingham on Saturday, with his final throw in the Senior Boys Discus competition, in pretty arduous conditions, being forced to go through an hour's delay in starting on the back field. He threw an excellent 41.30m, his best ever effort with the 1.75k discus to gain the entry standard. Hodgson finished second to Cumbria’s Millie McQueen in the Junior Girls Hammer competition, but had done enough in the previous week's County Championships to earn her place at the National Finals. Hodgson threw 34.45m, to McQueen’s winning throw of 35.22m, both girls being well adrift of their best performances. She also competed in the Discus, finishing fourth with a best of 21.02m. Running as a Senior Boy, Liam Roche won the Intermediate Boys 1500m in 4m09.30s from Gosforth Harrier Ethan Bond (4m13.1s), with Morpeth club colleague Bertie Marr finishing third in 4m14.5s. Oliver Tomlinson finished tenth in 4m31.1s. Also running as a Senior Boy, Joe Dixon repeated his County Schools performance from the previous week, when winning the Intermediate Boys 3000m in 9m03.2s, albeit a little slower this time round. Morpeth Intermediate Boy Elliot Kelso finished third in 9m13.6s. Morpeth's Amelia Hamlin won the Intermediate Girls 300m in 43.5s, and another Intermediate Girl winner from the club was Victoria Hodgson, elder sister of Alexandria, who secured victory in the 300m Hurdles in 47.3s. Hodgson also finished second in the 80m Hurdles in 12.8s. In the Intermediate Boys 800m, Joseph Close finished a very close second to Cumbrian Senior Boy James Bowen. Close posted a time of 2m01.1s, which was equal to the winner’s time. In the Intermediate Boys 400m Hurdles, Morpeth’s Ben Hope finished third in 63.1s. Morpeth’s Amy Longstaff finished fourth in the Intermediate Girls 100m second heat of three, and her time of 13.5s was eleventh fastest overall. Having her first taste of Schools Inter County competition, Junior Girl Abigail Kahn finished eighth in the Long Jump, with a best of 4.12m. In the overall competition, Northumberland finished second behind North Yorkshire, only losing out by nine points. Fourteen members of Morpeth Harriers competed at the third North East Grand Prix Track and Field meeting, held at Jarrow’s Monkton Stadium, on the evening of Wednesday 14 June.
Under 17 Man Daniel Burrow enjoyed two race victories on the night, firstly in the sixth heat of the 100m, where he posted a time of 13.44s. This was Daniel’s first outing in the sprint event. Later in the evening, he took three seconds off is previous best, in the sixth and final heat of the 400m, posting a time of 60.57s. Another Morpeth Harrier in action in the 100m was Under 20 Woman Ellie Wickens, who took a fraction off her best time, when she finished second in Heat 4 in 13.67s. The main event of the evening was the Stan Long Mile, held in honour of the legendary Gateshead Harriers Coach, who had guided Brendan Foster during his illustrious career. Four athletes from Morpeth Harriers took part in the fastest of seven miles. The race was won by Tynedale’s Thomas Joyce, who crossed the finish line in 4m16.17s. First to finish from Morpeth Harriers was William Cork, who was tackling the four-lap distance for the first time, and he finished fourth in 4m23.72s. One place behind William was his Under 17 Club Colleague Joseph Close, who took a massive eighteen seconds off his previous figures with his time of 4m24.07s. Not far behind him was another Morpeth Harrier, Under 20 Man Will Devere-Owen who clocked 4m24.50s, which for him, presented a season’s best. Another Morpeth finisher in the fastest event was Bertie Marr, who was eleventh in 4m29.52s, taking four seconds off his previous figures. In the second fastest Mile event, Morpeth’s Oliver Tomlinson, and Elliot Mavir, both of them Under 17 Men, finished eleventh and thirteenth in 4m47.45s, and 4m55.88s respectively, both of these being new personal bests by nine and 37 seconds. In the fifth fastest Mile, Morpeth Under 20 Woman Caitlin Flanagan produced a superb run to finish third in 5m19.85s, taking 17 seconds off her previous figures for the distance. Another Morpeth Harrier in this race was Under 15 Girl Emma Tomlinson, who improved her time by nine seconds, when finishing fifteenth in 5m48.58s. Brother and sister Thomas and Molly Roche, both of them Under 15 athletes, finished sixth and thirteenth respectively in the sixth fastest Mile. Thomas produced a first-time effort of 5m45.87s, and Molly clocked a season’s best of 5m59.73s. Zoe Tomlinson, younger sister of Ollie and Emma, finished tenth in the seventh Mile, in 6m20.98s, this being the Under 13 Girls first attempt at the distance. Another Morpeth first-timer in the event was Under 15 Girl Charlotte Marshall, who finished fourteenth in 6m57.58s. Discus thrower Ed Gardiner had a big result at the weekend, throwing a big new personal best and in the process achieving the demanding qualification standard for the English Schools Championships in two weeks time.
Having won the Northumberland Schools County Championships already, action moved this weekend to the Northern Schools Inter Counties Championships at Gateshead Stadium. Difficulties caused by delays to the start and a rising headwind were further added to by all throwers being told they would only get a maximum of three and not the usual four attempts. Despite this, practice throws by Ed still looked good, and after two promising early efforts, the first of which saw him go straight into the lead, his final throw really flew, with the small but knowledgeable crowd already applauding. Ed achieved a distance of 41.30 metres, his first over 40m throw and a pb by nearly three metres. The throw also saw him reach the qualification standard for the English Schools Championships at Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games stadium on 29 June, where he will be ranked 11th. The late qualification meant some further anxiety for Ed and father Alan until his selection was confirmed, but this finally arrived at the start of the week. The achievement comes after a very difficult winter, badly disrupted due to injuries which all meant little if any training could be done, as well as Ed moving up to the heavier 1.75 kg weight for the first time. A real tribute to Ed and all the team around him and a lesson in the importance of persistence and hard work to us all. |
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