ATHLETICS round up - november 8-12

Jane with her England teammates in Glasgow

In her second call up for to represent England at the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country, Over 40 Veteran Woman Jane Hodgson of Morpeth Harriers, finished 19th overall in the Women’s 6k event at Glasgow’s Tollcross Park on Saturday, and was ninth in her category, and just missed out on being a scorer for England by one place, and two seconds, to Scunthorpe athlete Nicola Curtis, but still received a medal for her team participation along with others.
Jane posted a finishing time of 22m04s, which was just over a minute adrift of race winner Teresa Doherty of Northern Ireland.
The England Team finished in second place.

In his first official UK Cross Challenge race for three years, Morpeth Harrier Joe Dixon, now competing as a first year Under 20 athlete, finished 32nd in the Junior Men’s 6.4k event in Cardiff on Saturday, posting a finishing time of 21m38s, almost two minutes adrift of winner Sam Hodgson of Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow in a field of 61 finishers.

Morpeth Harrier Will DeVere-Owen piloted King Edward VI Senior Boys to the English Schools Cross Country Cup final, by winning the regional final by a comfortable margin at Middlesbrough’s Stewart Park on Thursday 9 November.
He was very ably supported in the event by fellow Morpeth Harriers Ethan Phillips (6th), Bertie Marr (8th), and Liam Roche (9th).
Behind King Edward in second place was Ermysted Grammar School of North Yorkshire, who were a good 20 points adrift.
Another Morpeth Harrier competing in the Senior Boys event was Ryan Davies, who finished in 35th place, in a total field of 80 finishers.
King Edward Intermediate Boys were not as successful however, finishing ninth behind Durham Johnston School, being led home by Morpeth Harrier Ben Moll, who was 22nd.
Fellow Morpeth Harriers George Mavir and Thomas Roche were also amongst the scoring counts in 29th and 47th places, respectively.

Morpeth Harriers Sophie Pledger (Under 15 Girls), and Harrison Scott (Under 17 Men), both made successful competitive debuts on the boards at the opening meeting of the Gateshead Harriers Winter Series, held at Gateshead College on the evening of Wednesday 8 November.
Both competed in the 60m sprints, where Pledger in her preliminary heat, won in a time of 8.63s, which was eventually to become the fourth fastest time of the night in her age group, behind Sunderland Harrier Celine Obina Allo, who produced a best of 7.81s.
Having qualified to run in a later final, Pledger finished second to her Sunderland rival, albeit in a slightly slower 8.66s.
Meanwhile, Scott won his preliminary heat in 7.73s, which was seventh fastest behind Blyth’s Luke Pichler 7.34s, and went on to finish third in his later run final in 7.57s, which made him fourth fastest on the night in his age group, well done to both athletes in turning out in new territory for themselves, and both of these talents emerge holding great promise over the forthcoming winter months, and no doubt their respective club coaches have objectives mapped out for them as the season progresses.