Morpeth Harriers & AC hosted the fourth and final North East Youth Development (NEYDL) Division 1 fixture at the KEVI Track on Saturday 17 July, on what was a bright, sunny, and very warm day.
Although it was the fourth fixture it was only the third in reality, as the first fixture in April at Churchill Playing Fields had been cancelled, mainly due to the more stringent Covid restrictions in operation at the time, rendering the competition licence inoperable. As a result of that, the NEYDL executive committee decided to abandon the usual principle of promotion and relegation for the highest and lowest finishing clubs. Perhaps it was all just as well, because disappointingly, Morpeth Harriers' band of young athletes would have otherwise been relegated for the first time since the league’s inception, having previously on all occasions being either league champions or serious contenders. Harrogate Harriers carried off the Division 1 trophy this time, despite losing out on the day narrowly to North Shields Poly; having won the other two matches, the Yorkshire outfit always looked favourites to triumph. The fact that Morpeth finished fifth was a bitter disappointment to team managers Mark Brown (Boys) and Vina Desai (Girls), who despite their hard work, could only muster 27 athletes between them to the event, which meant inevitably that the club would find it hard to escape their lowly standing. The club had been blighted by a number of issues, the most prevalent being the fact that several of the club’s athletes were being forced to isolate, after being pinged by the NHS Track and Trace system in the week beforehand. Nevertheless, the Morpeth athletes who did participate did their level best to maintain respectability in the end result. There were a number of notable performances from Morpeth, including some personal bests, and four A String wins from Toby Marr (Under 13 Boys), Joseph Close (Under 15 Boys), Amelia Hamlin (Under 15 Girls), and Abi Leiper (Under 17 Women). Marr, won the Under 13 Boys 75m Hurdles in a close race with Harrogate’s Gabriel Roberts, where both were accorded the same time of 16.5s, but Marr was given the nod in the judges room for his excellent win in a new personal best time. Toby was one of only two Morpeth Under 13 Boys in action, the other being Kyle Phillips, whose best on the day performance, was his third place in the 100m, achieving new figures of 15.5s. Phillips and Marr competed together in the Long Jump, where they finished fifth and third respectively in the A and B Strings, with performances of 3.25m and 3.22m. Marr did the Javelin for the first time, finishing fourth in the A String with a best effort of 12.41m, and Phillips competed in the Shot Putt, also for the first time, achieving a best distance of 5.66m, giving him fourth place in the A String. Morpeth’s Joseph Close proved to be a very clear winner of the Under 15 Boys 800m, posting a time of 2m10.60s, which was around one second adrift of his personal best. In the B Race. Morpeth’s Elliot Mavir finished second, just losing out to Darlington/Allerton’s Elwood Kelley, both posting times of 2m20.20s, which for Mavir was a new personal best. Also competing in the 800m for Morpeth was Ollie Calvert, who posted new figures of 2m26.10s. Close set new figures of 43.7s, when finishing third in the A Race of the 300m. Noah Thomas-Harrison finished third in the B Race, posting a finishing time of 55.7s. In the Under 15 Boys 1500m, Oliver Tomlinson, who is gently working his way back following a heel injury, finished third in the A Race in 4m52.90s, and had B Race backing from newcomer Steven Craske, who posted a time of 5m48.90s, when finishing second. Another Morpeth runner competing in the 1500m was Noah Thomas-Harrison, who posted a finishing time of 5m56.10s. The Under 15 Boys sprint specialists also battled hard to add to the Morpeth points score. In the A Races of the 100m and 200m, Conner Phillips recorded respective personal bests of 12.5s and 25.6s, when finishing third and fourth. Morpeth’s Harrison Scott finished third in the both the 100m and 200m B races, in respective times of 13.1s, and 27.5s, the latter being a new personal best. Steven Craske and Elliot Mavir also competed for Morpeth in the 100m and 200m, posting times of 14.8s and 27.9s, the latter being a new personal best performance. Morpeth’s Under 15 Boys were the clubs only age group to be able to field a team in the 4 x 100m Relay events, and they finished fourth in 55.0s. On to the Under 15 Boys Field events, where a number of personal bests were achieved by Morpeth athletes. Harrison Scott set new figures of 4.27m, when finishing third in the A String Long Jump. Good points came Morpeth’s way in the Discus, where Oliver Tomlinson finished second in the A String, producing new figures of 13.66m, and Ollie Calvert threw the 1.25k implement for the first time, producing a performance of 11.18m. Conner Phillips added to his track personal bests, by achieving a personal best in the A String Shot Putt, where he finished second with 6.35m. Oliver Tomlinson also produced a personal best in the B String Shot Putt, where he finished second with 4.74m. Noah Thomas-Harrison and Steven Craske were first timers in the Under 15 Boys Javelin. Noah threw 13.63m for third place in the A String, and Steven won the B String with 11.86m Team Manager Brown experienced a big loss of manpower in his Under 17 Men’s section, with some of his better squad members having to sit the fixture out due to isolation requests. In the end, he only had four athletes to call upon, so a good result would be hard to find. Nevertheless, the quartet did give him the best support they could muster. Cameron Mullarkey very nearly offered him A String wins in both the 400m and 800m, however he was only narrowly beaten in both cases by Harrogate athletes. Mullarkey’s times of 57.7s, and 2m16.10s, were fairly respectable. Backing Mullarkey in the B Races was Adam Howliston. Howliston won the 400m, which he was running for the first time, clocking 62.2s, and he also won the 800m B Race in a new personal best time of 2m23.30s. In the 100m, specialist sprinter Evan Logan produced a personal best time of 11.6s when finishing third, and in the 200m, he equalled his personal best of 24.0s when also finishing third. Logan was Morpeth’s sole Under 17 Man Field Eventer, doing the Triple Jump for the first time ever, finishing second with 12.15m. Morpeth’s only remaining Under 17 Man in action was Ryan Davies, who despite running an attacking race, finished second in the 1500m, posting a time of 4m30.90s, only beaten in the final strides by a strong Harrogate performer. Vina Desai had 13 female athletes to choose from, with the biggest strength in number coming from the Under 13 Girls. However, in performance terms, the best performances came from Amelia Hamlin in the Under 15 Girls, and Abi Leiper in the Under 17 Women. Producing a personal best time of 2m28.30s, Hamlin took the 800m race by scruff of the neck with 200m remaining, to take a handsome victory marginally from Lauren Creaby of Blyth/Alnwick. Hamlin also ran an excellent race in the 300m, finishing second in a personal best time of 45.3s She also gained more points for the squad when finishing fifth in the A String Long Jump, producing a personal best performance of 3.54m. Backing up for Morpeth in the B String competition was Freya Caygill, who placed fifth, also with a personal best performance of 3.51m. Caygill was more at home however in the 100m and 200m, where she finished third and second respectively, with personal best performances of 12.8s and 26.5s. Keira Peck and Tosin Obishai were the Morpeth Harriers representatives in the Under 15 Girls Throws events. In the Javelin, for the first time throwing the 500g implement, Peck finished fourth in the A String with a best of 17.83m, and Obishai finished third in the B String, with a new personal best of 9.96m. In the Discus A String, Peck also used the 1k weight for the first time, throwing 23.65m for fifth place, and Obishai again produced personal best figures of 12.77m for second place in the B String. Obishai also Putted 5.39m for the A String Shot Putt, in which she was competing for the first time. One of Morpeth’s best results of the day came in the Under 17 Women’s 800m, where the club secured a double victory, when Abi Leiper took the A Race in 2m25.80s, and Caitlin Flanagan took the B Race in 2m36.40s. Ellie Wickens finished third in the Under 17 Women's 200m in 28.6s, and she produced a personal best performance of 16.66s, when finishing fourth in the A String Javelin. Backing Wickens up in the B String Javelin for Morpeth was Sadie Charlton, who finished second with a best of 7.62m. Charlton also competed in the A String Discus (9.85m), and Shot Putt (6.15m), where she finished third and fourth, respectively. Desai had five athletes at her disposal in the Under 13 Girls section, and the best points haul here came in the Discus where Emma Tomlinson finished second in the A String (8.24m), and Molly Roche won the B String with 5.69m. These two also did well on the track in the 800m, where Tomlinson finished fourth in the A String in 2m50.8s, and Roche finished third in the B String in 2m55.9s. Roche produced a personal best performance of 16.3s, when finishing fifth in the 70m Hurdles. Charlotte Marshall finished third in the 1500m in 6m51.50s. Hannah Foggon and Esme Thomas-Harrison teamed up for Morpeth, in both the 100m and 200m, and also in the Long Jump. First timer Foggon was sixth in the A Races of both the 100m and 200m, posting respective times of 17.1s and 39.7s. Thomas-Harrison was also sixth in both respective B races, clocking a personal best of 17.7s, and 39.8s In the Long Jump, Foggon finished sixth in the A String (2.52m), and Thomas-Harrison was fourth in the B String with 2.34m. That was the concluding chapter in a disappointing season for Morpeth’s young athletes, and team managers will seek to build up strengths for next season, hopefully restriction free. The Ccub would like to thank all members, parents, and friends who gave their time to help on the day. MATCH SCORE (Subject to Scrutiny ) 1st North Shields Poly 594pts, 2nd Harrogate 579pts, 3rd Gateshead Harriers 535pts, 4th Darlington/Allerton 449pts, 5th Morpeth Harriers 432pts, 6th Blyth/Alnwick 324pts. It was a highly successful day at the Scottish National Masters Championships for Scotland-based Morpeth Master Claire Reid on Saturday. Competing in the event at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow, Claire was a winner in both the Over 45 Shot and Discus events (full results not yet posted). A stalwart of Morpeth Harriers and AC Track and Field teams for many years now, Claire has embraced competition enthusiastically since restrictions lifted (competing in all four throws at the North East Masters Championships a few weeks ago, for example) and will hopefully once again make the journey over the border for the club’s final Track and Field fixture at Morpeth next month. By contrast, it was a traumatic evening for Rory Leonard at the European Under 23 Championships at Tallinn, Estonia at the weekend where he was one of three Team GB athletics selected for the 5000m.
In a race eventually won by Germany’s Mohumed Mohamed in 13:38:69 with GB’s Tom Mortimer just missing out on the medals in 4th, Rory struggled through gamely till 3k when he was forced to drop out with back spasms, with TV footage showing him in considerable discomfort. Later sedated and in a wheelchair, he was described by father and coach Tony as ‘dosed up to the eyeballs and uncomfortable, but much better.’ Clearly this will keep him off running for a while. Best wishes from all at the club for a speedy diagnosis and recovery, and the hope that he can put this behind him soon. Anna Wright and Louise Burt both took part in the Alnwick 10k trail race on Sunday, organised by Wild Deer Events. Anna finished in 46 minutes 31 seconds and was 7th female finisher and 4th Over 40, with Louise 22nd woman home and 8th O/40 in 54m 5s. Fastest female time of the day was Gateshead’s Kim Simpson, 5th overall, in 40:05 and the race was won by Tony Banks of Tynedale in 36: 54. Morpeth Harriers Senior Track and Field squad finished a disappointing fifth of six competing teams in their third round Northern Athletics Premier North East match held at Churchill Playing Fields on Sunday 4 July.
It was always going to prove a big mountain to climb for the Northumbrians on the day as, despite Women’s Team Manager Vina Desai’s determination in putting out a section that was going to be able to cover the majority of their events, Men’s Team Manager David Swinburne was only able to get six athletes to respond to his call on the day, which included two Under 17’s and one Under 20 athlete, these also limited as to how many events they could cover. Covid isolation problems robbed Swinburne of any sprinting capacity at all, and not one Field Event duty could be filled; by the end of the day, no 4 x 100m or 4 x 400m options were possible. This was meant the event was probably the worst Men’s turnout by the club in all of the 30 years or so that your correspondent can ever remember. On to the match itself, and we firstly reflect on some of the best performances by Morpeth, which undoubtedly came from the Women’s section who more than contributed to the result achieved, as they covered every event, apart from Sprint Hurdles and the cancelled Pole Vault. Women’s Team Manager Vina Desai (herself competing in two B String events) had also mustered a willing band of eleven additional club members, which made for a fairly competitive squad in comparison. The Morpeth Women enjoyed four A String victories, also adding three B String wins. Two of those victories amounted to double wins, in both the 3000m and 400m Hurdles. Catriona MacDonald managed a three second margin victory in the 3000m A Race in 10m42.9s, and a double points victory for Morpeth, when Hannah Rank, who hadn’t made a Northern League appearance for her club since 2014 when she was an Under 23 athlete, won the B Race comfortably in 11m04.7s, which was fourth fastest overall of the six athletes who faced Starter Alan Bell. Bell was making a return to his original club and roots at North Shields Poly, the day’s hosts, where he once competed as a very competent High Jumper, and indeed a County Champion. Now retired as a Starter at the Olympics, Bell is well known for his numerous encounters with 100m World Champion Usain Bolt, also of course now retired, but he still communicates with him occasionally at his West Indies home. Morpeth’s other double win on the day came in the 400m Hurdles, where Nisha Desai enjoyed her first of two A String victories, posting a finishing time of 63.6s. Kay Errington came up trumps in the B Race, winning in a personal best time of 77.3s, taking one second off her previous figures. Nisha’s other A String victory came in the 400m, where she managed to outsprint North Shields Poly’s talented Under 17 athlete Holly Waugh. Desai posted a finishing time of 59.5s, being the only athlete in the event to dip under sixty seconds. Morpeth’s B String athlete Laura Kincaid was second in her heat, posting a time of 68.4s. There were excellent points scored by the Morpeth 100m and 200m sprinters. Only Gateshead’s Under 20 athlete Susan Folorunso stood between Jessica Young-Rogers and a sprint double. In the 100m, Young-Rogers finished second to Folorunso, posting a time of 12.6s, to the Gateshead girl’s 12.4s. Young-Rogers did taste victory in the 200m A String however, posting a time of 25.8s, just out-sprinting North Shields Poly’s Stella Perrett. In the 100m and 200m B String events, Morpeth’s Under 20 athlete Abbie Ross finished as third B in the 100m in 14.0s, and Under 17 athlete Olivia Gent finished fifth in the B 200m in 29.5s. Morpeth’s Hannah Rank finished second in the A Race of the 800m in 2m30.4s, and it was good to see Under 20 athlete Kirsty Duffin back in action in the B Race, where she also finished second, posting a time of 2m43.8s. It was also encouraging to see the continued steady progress by Under 20 athlete Kate Gaffing of Morpeth, currently working under the guidance of Mike Bateman, who achieved a personal best time of 5m16.6s, taking four and a half seconds off her previous figures, when finishing a good second in the A String 1500m. Giving sound B String backing was Kay Errington, who also finished second in her section in 5m52.7s. The Morpeth Women’s squad, also provided the club with a fairly healthy set of results, spread amongst a solid mixture of young, experienced, and veteran athletes, ready to lend weight to the cause. Dedicated Veteran Claire Reid was an example to all once again, making the journey from her native home across the Border to take part in no less than four field events, all of them in the throws section. Her best results were achieved in the A String Shot and Discus events, where she putted 9.93m and threw 28.36m, to achieve third place on both counts. Backing her up in B String events were Nisha and Vina Desai. Nisha Putted 6.54m for third in the B String Shot Putt, and Team Manager Vina, managed a new personal best of 13.75m in the Discus, adding 74cm to her previous figures, to achieve points for a sixth placing. Vina also achieved points for her fifth placing in the B String Hammer, where she hurled 15.12m, backing up Reid’s A String effort of 25.00m, which gave her fifth placing. Reid also backed up Kay Errington in the Javelin, finishing as fourth B String with 11.79m, whilst Errington, competing in the Javelin for the very first time, managed 17.23m, which gave her fourth A String placing. Morpeth’s Under 20 Athlete Abbie Ross made herself master of the clubs A String Jumps, finishing third in the Long Jump (4.49m), fourth in the High Jump (1.25m), and third in the Long Jump (9.18m). In the B String Long Jump, Jessica Young-Rogers made the result even sweeter for her club, when she won with a best of 4.26m. There was another B String victory in the Triple Jump, achieved by Under 17 athlete Olivia Gent, produced a marginal personal best of 8.89m into the bargain. Nisha Desai provided the B String support in the High Jump, clearing 1.25m for third place. To round off a very solid day of effort and work, the Morpeth Women’s squad managed to finish third in their 4 x 100m Relay in 55.1s, behind winners North Shields Poly, courtesy of Nisha Desai, Olivia Gent, Abbie Ross, and Jess Young-Rogers. In the 4 x 400m Relay, Kirsty Duffin, Laura Kincaid, Nisha Desai, and Kay Errington, combined forces to finish second to North Shields Poly in 4m38.7s. On to the Men’s events, where the best result they could achieve was a double win in the 5000m, courtesy of Matthew Briggs who, running the distance on the track for the first time, took victory in 16m13.8s. The previous day Matthew had finished second in the tough Chevy Chase Fell Run in Wooler – again, another fine example of an athlete committed to the club. Liam Roarty won the 5000m B Race in 16m40.6s, but his best result was the 3000m Steeplechase, which he won in 11m04.2s, and he finished third in the 400m Hurdles in 77.5s. He also gave a sound B String backing to Connor Marshall’s fourth place in the A String 1500m, where Marshall posted a personal best time of 4m12.2s. Morpeth’s Track and Field ever-present, the tireless Mark Snowball, won the B String 1500m in 4m56.0s, to round off a very satisfactory day’s work personally. Morpeth’s Liam Roache finished third in the 800m A Race in 2m06.8s, and Ryan Davies finished second in the B String, posting a personal best time of 2m08.9s, taking four seconds off his previous figures. It is hoped that Morpeth may be able to mount a better challenge in the final round Northern League match at home on Sunday 1 August. With no promotion or relegation matters being adopted this season, the club needs to embark on a rebuilding plan for 2022, which will involve not only the already heavily burdened Team Managers but also a great deal of input and advice coming from coaches – but mostly of course from the athletes themselves who will need to consider a sounder commitment to the Summer fixtures. There is no direct blame to be attached here, except a message to all those out there: your club needs you to consider some priority issues if it is ever going to be a successful Track and Field squad as it has been in the past. As we have said before: it’s not just about pbs. The club now has some of the best facilities it has had ever had, and they need to be used to the club’s advantage. The 64th Chevy Chase Fell Run took place on Saturday with over 170 competitors in action, many keen to take up places held over from 2020’s understandably cancelled fixture. The 20-mile circuit of some of the finest Northumbrian countryside, described as ‘rewarding and demanding’ by promoters Wooler Running Club, includes ascents of both Cheviot and Hedgehope and requires all participants to carry a full range of equipment following Fell Running Association standards. With a start and finish at Wooler Youth Hostel, there is a six-hour cut-off time for all taking part, although those running are more likely to be put out of action by falls and turned ankles. Saturday’s weather was both close and muggy, with the odd gratefully received shower, but also overcast, with the twin summits of both peaks either side of the Harthope Valley shrouded in low cloud. Won by William Robson, representing Northumberland Fell Running Association, in a time of 2 hours 52 minutes and 9 seconds (only 12 minutes off the longstanding course record of 2h 40 m), fellow NFRA member Matty Briggs was second in 2:59:34. The Lancaster University student was keen to get out on the fells of his native county, but set a fine example to all club members when he quite remarkably turned out for his club in the Senior Track and Field League fixture at Churchill Playing Fields less than 24 hours later, winning the 5000m track race. Four other Morpeth members and NFRA members all finished also, with Gary Mason next home in 4:29:44 in 65th place. Good to see Gary back in action over the fells after a wretched spell with injury. Gwenda Cavill had an excellent run to pick up a category prize as 1st Over 50 (76th in 4:31:01) with Jane Briggs 2nd in the same category in 102st place, having run in the company of Mike Steven round the course (4:56:28). Spare a thought for poor Claire Calverley, however, who turned an ankle badly on the slopes of Cheviot and was forced to hobble down the mountain side and back to where she could be taken back to the finish. On Sunday, local resident Bertie Marr was a comprehensive winner of the Coquet Valley 5k in a time of 17 minutes 16 seconds, over four minutes ahead of the next finisher. In the accompanying half-marathon, won by Gateshead Harrier Ali Bailey in a time of 1 hour 16 minutes 47 seconds with South Shields Harrier Emma White 1st female athlete (8th overall in 1.40:42), Shaun Land came 4th in 1. 31:14 with Andy Leeson next home in 5th place but 1st Over 45 athlete (1.36:54). The latest event in the 2021 NECAA Grand Prix series produced an excellent night of North East athletics action at Monkton Stadium on 30 June.
Despite the challenges of running events due to Covid, the region has successfully managed to host all of this season's tabled events to date. And the quality of the action was a fitting tribute to the sport's regional President Bill McGuirk, who celebrated his 80th birthday by officiating on the action. In the final 3,000 metres race of the evening, Morpeth Harrier Alex Brown proved he is very much a man in form, as he took a handsome victory, after leading almost from the gun. It was a lead that was only surrendered momentarily at the bell to Tyne Bridge Harrier Carl Smith, before Brown eventually regained the lead with 200 metres of the seven-and-a-half lap event remaining. He won in a new personal best time of 8m21.11s, just over one second over Smith, and taking 3.5 seconds off his previous figures. It was an exciting race at the front end, with seven athletes, led by Brown, figuring very prominently throughout the first half, also amongst them Morpeth Harrier Daniel Dixon, recently returned from Austria, and his European Triathlon silver medal triumph. Dixon, always remained prominent, battling alongside Tyne Bridge pair Finn Brodie and Kieran Reay, and Leeds City’s Nick Hooker, and eventually only Brodie overtook him, to finish third. Dixon dug in to finish fourth, ahead of Reay, whilst such was the lightning pace, Hooker pulled out with one lap remaining. Under 20 athlete Daniel, will undoubtedly be delighted that he also posted a new personal best time for the distance of 8m28.58s, taking a whole 35 seconds off his previous figures, recorded at the same venue in 2018, when he was still an Under 17 athlete. Other Morpeth Harriers further down the field in the fastest 3000m were Thomas Straughan, and Under 17 athlete Ryan Davies, who finished eleventh and thirteenth, posting respective times of 9m00.29s, and 9m09.84s. For Davies, it represented new figures by one second. Competing in the second fastest 3000m was Joe Dixon, younger brother of Daniel. Under 17 athlete Joe, also produced a new personal best time of 9m21.84s, as he finished third, taking two seconds off the figures he had achieved two weeks previously in the Northumberland/Durham Schools Trials Meeting at Gateshead. In the opening 3000m, Morpeth Harrier Kate Gaffing, in her first outing over the distance, finished eighth, posting a time of 11m34.39s. Gaffing ran very confidently early on, only fading a little over the final couple of laps. In addition to the longer 3000m events, there was also a splendid set of 800m events. The second fastest of these had four Morpeth Harriers facing the starter. As the nine strong field went through the break-line after 100m, it was clearly Morpeth’s Joe Anderson out in front, a lead he held onto until 150m remaining, when he was passed by Gosforth’s Reece Slater. Anderson bravely still gave chase and was only a mere second adrift of Slater at the finish line, finishing second in a new personal best of 2m04.61s, taking around one second off his previous figures. Just under two seconds adrift of Anderson in fourth place, was his Morpeth club colleague Bertie Marr, who also posted new figures of 2m06.02s, taking about four seconds off his previous figures. Only a fraction behind Bertie in fifth place was Morpeth’s Liam Roche, who equalled his best figures with 2m06.31s. Finishing in sixth place was Under 15 Morpeth Harrier Joseph Close, who bettered his previous figures by three seconds, with his excellent clocking of 2m09.44s. Morpeth Under 17 Woman Caitlin Flanagan was also an excellent performer on the night, finishing fourth in one of the earlier events, taking a second off her previous figures, with her clocking of 2m27.46s. Behind Caitlin in eighth place was her Morpeth senior colleague Lizzie Rank, who improved on her previous figures by eight seconds with her clocking of 2m32.68s. Lizzie’s previous 800m run, had been in 2013, when she was an Under 15 athlete, in that years North Eastern Championships at Gateshead. In the opening 800m of the evening, Morpeth Under 13 athlete Molly Roche, younger sister of Liam, finished in sixth place, producing a new personal best time of 2m53.04s, taking two seconds off her previous figures. Fellow Under 13 Girl and Morpeth club colleague Emma Tomlinson, finished seventh in the following race, posting a time of 2m50.72s. Disappointingly there were no Morpeth Harrier athletes flexing their muscles in sprint events, or in field events, something the coaching fraternity at the club need to address. |
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