At the Scottish Championships at Grangemouth
on Saturday 26th August 2017. Morpeths English Schools silver medallist Ruaridh Lang won the gold medal in the Under 17 Discus, with a throw of 44.74m. While finishing just outside the first three places, Morpeth’s men were however winners of the first team prize in the 4th running of the Gateshead Quayside 5k run last Wednesday evening. (23rd August)
Now established as one of the flattest, fastest – and, of course, most scenic - 5k races in the North East, this year’s event saw a sold-out field of some 400 runners, the largest in its short history to date. The course route run takes athletes west along the North bank of the Tyne from the Millenium Bridge and under the iconic bridges, returning by the same route to finish on Baltic Square. Running into a headwind for the first mile, times were slightly down on last year but the winning time was still an impressive 14 minutes 49 seconds, posted by Lewis Moses of host club Gateshead Harriers, with Dominic Shaw of New Marske second (14m 47s) and Saltwell’s Ethiopian athlete Abraham Tewelde third (15m 5s). Having won the Morpeth 10k earlier in the month, evergreen Morpeth veteran Ian Hudspith, showed that he continues to have lost none of his appetite for competition with athletes in some cases twenty years younger than him was when posting a time of 15m 9s for 4th place. Hudspith, the winner of the inaugural run in 2014, won a fierce battle with club colleague Ian Harding in a sprint finish and both athletes were credited with the same time. A resurgent Harding had in fact determinedly taken the race on its opening stages and was first over 35 male home, with Hudspith first over 45. Behind them new dad Chris Smith finished in 12th place (15m 33s) and was third over 35, while Tom Straughan, battling back after an enforced spell of absence from illness, posted 15m 41s in 17th. Ross Floyd was next (20th in 15m 52s) with Tom Innes, in one of his first competitive 5k outings, 63rd in 17m 50s. Innes was 2nd under 20. In a women’s race won by nearly 30 seconds by Lydia Turner of Birtley in 16m 59s from Tracy Millmore (17m 21s) and Rebecca Robinson (17m 25s), Jess Swindells was first home for Morpeth in 22m 49s with Sue Smith 7th over 50 in 23m 44s. Report by Peter Scaife Four Morpeth Harriers were in action at the annual Northern Athletics
combined Under 13/Under15/Under17 Track and Field Championships, held on Saturday and Sunday, (19th & 20th August 2017) at Leigh Sports Village in Greater Manchester. Two came away with Championship medals, most notably Under 17 Woman throws specialist Bobbie Griffiths, who won Gold in the Javelin, thus retaining the Northern title that she had won twelve months previously at Middlesbrough. Griffiths managed to throw a best of 39.75m, winning by a margin of 1.73m, over her closest rival Harriet Cannell of Kingston Upon Hull. On Saturday, Griffiths also came very close to a Bronze Medal in the Discus, where she finished fourth, hurling a best of 30.21m, losing out by a mere 39cm. She also competed in the Hammer, where she was thirteenth, throwing a best of 35.20m, and the Shot Putt, finishing eleventh, with a best of 9.85m. Morpeth’s second medallist in the Championships was Under 15 Boy Ethan Stephenson, who won a Bronze in the Triple Jump, producing a new personal best performance of 12.03m. Stephenson also just missed a second Bronze Medal in the Long Jump, again producing a new personal best of 5.69m, just losing out by a mere 15cm. Another Morpeth athlete just missing a medal was Under 13 Girl Ellie Longstaff, who finished fourth in the final of the 100m, posting a time of 13.45s, after finishing second in her heat in 13.69m. Although she finished third in her heat of the Under 15 Girls 75m Hurdles in 12.36m, Morpeth Harrier Amy Lott made no further progress. In her first competitive outing since her excellent run in the World Championship Women’s 1500m Final,
Morpeth’s Laura Weightman was left feeling somewhat disappointed by her run in the IAAF Diamond League Meeting, held at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium on Sunday 20th August 2017, where she finished a distant eighth, posting a finishing time of 4m05.81s, which was a good four and a half seconds adrift of event winner Dawit Seyaum of Ethiopia. To be fair, Weightman’s World Championship involved three races in the space of four days, which may well have taken toll on her general race fitness. The early pace, set by Sale’s Jenny Meadows, was a lively 63 seconds. Under 17 Morpeth Harrier Rory Leonard set new figures of 4m00.17s,
when finishing fourth in the fifth fastest Men’s 1500m event, at the BMC Trafford Grand Prix meeting, held at Stretford on Saturday night.(19th August) It was Leonard’s seventh attempt at the distance this year, including one indoor appearance back in January, that has seen his performances decrease from 4m13.82s to this latest achievement. Certainly, an excellent year of achievement on the track, and there looks to be more to come from this emerging talent. |
Archives
April 2024
|