Many congratulations to Morpeth Harrier Sam Tate who has been selected to compete for Great Britain at the forthcoming Under 17/Under 19 World Modern Pentathlon Championships, scheduled to be held between the fourth and eleventh of September in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. Good luck Sam!
Morpeth Harriers Senior Men and Women’s Track and Field squad brought a good season to its end when they finished a close third in their final Northern League Premier Division match, held at Middlesbrough Sports Village, on Saturday.
Just 63 points divided the first three clubs, with Gateshead Harriers winning the match to take the overall title, with the days hosts New Marske getting second place, only twenty-seven points adrift. The end result sees Gateshead as league champions, New Marske second, and Morpeth third, with Wallsend/Blyth and North Shields Poly tying in the match with the same number of points in fourth place. Middlesbrough AC (Mandale) are relegated after many years in top-flight competition. Morpeth Harriers Men’s squad were dealt a heavy blow before the action got underway, when their only recognised sprinter Evan Logan felt a muscle twinge at the top of his leg in warming up, and was forced to withdraw as a precaution - frustrating for both him and his club, having made the journey down the A19, following a short family holiday. Added to that, the club’s only recognised Male thrower Hayden Richards, competed in restricted fashion in the Hammer, Discus, and Javelin events, because of a slight injury affecting his action. The Women’s squad were also missing leading thrower Claire Reid, because of holiday commitments. Nevertheless, they did have the services of Masters medallist Nisha Desai who once again competed in no less than seven events on the day, including the 4 x 400m Relay, all to the cause of her club, winning four events in all, three A String, and one B String individually. Her A String victories came in the 400m (61.2s), 400m Hurdles (61.6s), and 100m Hurdles (15.7s), her B String victory being the Triple Jump (10.29m), supporting Charlotte Earl’s excellent A String victory with 10.88m. In the Women’s 400m, Nisha’s winning efforts were well supported by Laura Kincaid’s second in the B Race in 74.1s. Desai’s 400m Hurdle win was extremely well supported by Kay Errington’s B String victory in 78.6s. In addition to her excellent Triple Jump A String victory, Charlotte Earl also won the A String Long Jump, producing a best of 5.13m, which was a new personal best, an improvement of 20cm. Olivia Gent finished third in the B String for Morpeth, with 3.64m. In addition to her individual victories, Nisha Desai also finished third in the A String 800m in 2m33.5s, third in the B String Javelin (19.11m) and was very instrumental in helping Morpeth Women’s 4 x 400m squad finish second in 4m50.2s, along with Sarah Routledge, Laura Kincaid, and Kay Errington. Morpeth Women’s 4 x 100m squad finished second in 54.0s, courtesy of Ellie Wickens, Olivia Gent, Charlotte Earl, and Victoria Hodgson. Earlier Hodgson enjoyed her first taste of Northern League 100m competition, when she finished third in the A String in 13.4s. Fellow Under 17n athlete Ellie Wickens finished second in the B String in 13.9s. In the later run 200m, Under 20 athlete Mia Belton was second in the A String in 27.1s, and Victoria Hodgson won the B String in 27.2s, another excellent result to cheer Team Manager Vina Desai, who more than played her own part supporting the club’s Field Events. Vina’s best result was undoubtedly the B String Discus, where she finished third, with a best of 11.89m, as support to A String athlete Olivia Gent, who finished fourth with a best of 15.23m. Gent and Desai also lined up in the Women’s Shot Putt, finishing fifth in the A String (5.72m), and fifth B String (4.36m) respectively. Vina also found time to finish fifth in the A String Hammer (14.27m), whilst also once again doing some of the share of the club’s officiating duties. On to the Men’s events, where Morpeth, already somewhat reeling from the early withdrawal of their only recognised sprinter Logan, and the injury restricted throwing abilities of thrower Richards, also were forced to reckon without 400m and 800m specialist Alistair Douglass, and Hurdler and Steeplechaser Mark Snowball, which meant some reshuffling of duties for Team Managers Tom Innes and George Patterson, who are most grateful to those athletes who tackled, in some cases, unfamiliar events. There were some bright spots however, and the club achieved two excellent double victories on the track, plus an additional A String victory. That A String victory came for Adam Pratt, where the former North East, Northern, and National 3000m Steeplechase Champion very clearly dominated the seven and a half lap barrier event from the gun, and came home to win, posting a finishing time of 9m49.1s. As an individual, Pratt certainly gave his all in the search for vital points, when he finished third in the 200m B String in 26.6s, supporting Connor Marshall’s sixth in the A String in 27.3s, also supporting Marshall in the 400m B Race (58.1s), where Marshall finished third in the A String (57.7s). He also finished second in the B String Triple Jump (9.02m), with Ryan Davies finishing fifth in the A String (9.16m). Pratt also competed in both the Men’s 4 x 100m, and 4 x 400m Relays where Morpeth finished fourth and third respectively, posting times of 58.4s and 3m57.0s. In the 4 x 100m Morpeth had Pratt, Matthew Briggs, Connor Marshall, and Andrew Lawrence in their line up, and in the 4 x 400m, Pratt was joined by Matthew Briggs, Joe Anderson, and Connor Marshall. Morpeth’s two double victories on the track, came in the 1500m and 5000m events. In the 1500m event, Joe Anderson and Ryan Davies formed the perfect front running partnership, with the former taking the A String in 4m13.3s, and the latter taking the B String in 4m16.2s Matthew Briggs won the 5000m A String easily in 15m43.6s, and Andrew Lawrence,, on the way back from injury, likewise easily enjoyed a win in the B String in 16m50.0s. Connor Marshall was another who showed a real zest for hard work, when he finished second in the A String 800m in 2m01.7s, and Under 20 athlete James Tilley finished second in the B String in 2m09.8s. Despite carrying a slight injury, Morpeth throws specialist Hayden Richards threw 39.01m, to be just edged out for victory in the A String Javelin by Wallsend/Blyth’s Matthew Fairhurst, who threw 39.20m. Team Manager Tom Innes gave good support in the Javelin B String, finishing third with 21.86m. In the Hammer, the first throws event of the day, Richards threw 31.33m for third place in the A String. Richards threw a low key 23.36m for fifth place in the A String Discus. David Marshall finished fifth in the B String with 16.25m. Marshall finished fifth in the A String Shot Putt, producing a best of 5.92m. He was backed up by son Connor in the B String, who finished fifth with 4.90m. The Morpeth Team Managers Tom Innes, Mark Snowball, George Patterson (Men), and Vina Desai (Women), would want to thank all athletes who contributed over the four matches this season: to finish third is a fine achievement, however if more from the club had shown competitive commitment, the end result could very easily have been better. If we could only bottle the commitment of those who have regularly turned out and competed way beyond the level of what might have been expected, we’d be flying very high. Also, of course, thanks to officials who turned out for the club throughout the season. MATCH RESULT (Subject to further scrutiny) 1st Gateshead Harriers 398pts, 2nd New Marske 371pts, 3rd Morpeth Harriers 335pts, 4th = Wallsend/Blyth 265pts, 4th = North Shields Poly 265pts, 6th Middlesbrough AC (Mandale) 83pts. OVERALL, LEAGUE RESULT (Subject to Final Scrutiny) 1st Gateshead Harriers 21pts (1,350pts), 2nd New Marske 18pts (1,276pts), 3rd Morpeth Harriers 17pts (1,302pts), 4th North Shields Poly 14.5pts (1,199pts), 5th Wallsend/Blyth 9.5pts (1,108pts), 6th Middlesbrough AC (Mandale) 4pts (223pts). Our club is run entirely by volunteers - we have no paid staff and the governing bodies can inadvertently create as much administrative bureaucracy as they give practical assistance. For us to progress we need more volunteer assistance from parents or former athletes.
Help is very welcome in the following areas: COACHING - Either in the various track & field disciplines or in distance running (road and/or cross country). We can arrange practical guidance on how to carry this out (from our own members or invited specialists from outside). If you're keen to take things further we will finance you in gaining formal qualifications. TECHNICAL OFFICIALS - The track and field leagues that we compete in require us to provide both qualified and unqualified field judges, track judges and timekeepers at each league meeting. This is not an onerous job, and may simply involve holding a measuring tape, raking a sand pit or recording competitors' numbers, but we can also assist volunteers both practically and financially in becoming formally qualified. EVENT ORGANISATION - Road and cross country events need a host of helpers e.g. in
JULIE ROCHE 07533 047818 or TREVOR HODGSON (particularly re. Coaching) 07496 749320 John Butters and Mike Steven took part in the gruelling Lakeland 50/100 mile at the weekend.
The 100 mile ‘ Ultra Tour of the Lake District’ describes itself as ‘the most spectacular long distance trail race which has ever taken place in the UK’ and covers a circular route that takes in 6300m of ascent in the Lakeland Fells over bridleways and footpaths. The Lakeland 50 is run over the 2nd half of the 100-mile course, but is scarcely any sort of an easy option, with 3100m of ascent on rough terrain. Starting and finishing in Coniston, the 100 route takes in popular dales such as Dunnerdale, Eskdale and Wasdale and towns including Keswick and Ambleside while avoiding the major summits. With a 6pm start on Friday and a cut-off of 10am on Sunday, the event is certainly not one for the faint-hearted or the unprepared, with the organisers noting: ‘The drop out rate for this event is a warning signal for anyone contemplating entry…consider the preparation, consider the hours, and consider what it takes to complete the Lakeland 100. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be an achievement. There are few things in life for which you will have to work so hard.’ John had a fine run to finish in 36th place overall in a fantastic time of 27 hours 15 minutes and 16 seconds, coming in just as it was starting to get dark at 9.15pm on Saturday. He later commented on the lousy weather, with drizzle and rain for most of the race, and finding, like many, adverse conditions affecting the feet badly. The event was won by fellow North Easterner Ali Bailey of Gateshead Harriers in a time of 20 hours 46 minutes with Emma Stuart 1st female home in 23 hours 5 minutes. Meanwhile club colleague Mike Steven took on the 50 once again and came home in a time of 13 hours 46 minutes – a 2 hour pb at the ripe old age of 65, proving that, like a fine wine, he is only getting better with age! Full results: 100 results https://results.opentracking.co.uk/event/22lakeland100 50 results https://results.opentracking.co.uk/event/22lakeland50 The opening day of the 2022 Commonwealth Games saw Dan Dixon join a small but illustrious group of Morpeth Harriers, including Mark Hudspith, Laura Weightman and club president Jim Alder MBE, who have represented their country at a major championships – the difference this time being of course that Dan was competing in the Men’s Sprint Triathlon.
Held in the hilly grounds of Sutton Park, a few miles North of Birmingham, a venue familiar to many who have competed in relay action there, there were huge numbers out on the course to support, and Team England saw immediate success with a thrilling win for Olympic Silver medallist Alex Yee in an overall time of 50 minutes 34 seconds. Yee’s win was hard fought, and one Dan significantly helped contributed to. A fine swim by him saw him 4th out of the water and in contention with the lead group that included New Zealander Hayden Wilde, who led the competition for all the but the last kilometre of the run but incurred a 10 second time penalty to frustrate any chance of holding off Yee. Dan meanwhile focussed his efforts, along with fellow Team England triathlete Sam Dickinson, on supporting Yee on the bike and limiting time losses to the leading group. Taking the lead several times at the front of the chasing group, his efforts meant Yee went into the T2 transition to the run still in contention. Thereafter, Dan was able to focus on his own 5k run, which he completed in a time of 15 minutes 54 seconds, finishing overall just outside the top ten in 12th place in 52 minutes 2 seconds as second placed English triathlete, ahead of Dickinson in 19th. Yee was later hugely grateful to both Dan and Sam for their efforts on the bike, saying:, ‘They were immense. Those guys worked super hard for me.’ Dan himself later commented: ‘The main thing is we came here for a medal as a team and we got it. That was absolutely the key goal. The aim was to bring Alex towards the front as much as possible. We did a cracking job in the end. It was great.’ Dan was unfortunate to miss out on selection for Sunday’s Mixed Team Relay, that saw a further Gold medal, with Dickinson given the nod. But his day will surely come. |
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