competition hots up in harrier league

The second and third rounds of this season’s Harrier League took place at Druridge Bay on Sunday 12 October and at Lambton Castle on Saturday 25th.
 
The Druridge Bay fixture saw a strong turn-out in most age ranges, with some strong individual and team performances, but also some team disappointments.
                                                      
Mason Ellison had a great run in the U/11s to finish in 6th place with Ben Hodgson coming in 23rd. Ellie Feal finished in 14th, with both races seeing well over fifty finishers.
 
The club’s only on the day individual medal came in the U/13 Boys, where Joe Fawcett was a winner and also led the team to 1st, with brother Will 7th, Hector Ford-Hutchinson 16th and Michael Madgwick 20th. Izzy Cromar was sadly the club’s only finisher in the matching U/13 Girls, where she finished in 8th.
 
There were four Morpeth vests showing in the U/15 Boys, with Mason Gaylor 8th, Hector Beere 18th, Jack Dhawar 21st and Jacob Thompson 34th, the team finishing 5th. Heidi Wilkinson was 18th in the Girls race, with Faye Heatley 23rd, with the team missing just the one counter to be complete.
 
In the U/17 Boys Harry Shaw finished in 4th, Daniel Craig in 5th and Ben Moll 28th, with the team coming in 2nd behind Durham City AC. Charlotte Marshall was 10th and Lucie Todd 11th in the Girls, although on this occasion the team also missed a final counter.
 
The club was well represented in the penultimate Senior Women’s race, with Lindsey Quinn in 19th leading the team to a 3rd place behind Jesmond Joggers and TBH. Holly Lawrence was 38th, Sophie Ward 70th, Jane Hodgson 73rd, Lizzie Rank 106th, Jane Kirby 117th, Sarah Henry 240th and Kay Errington 243rd. Over 400 finished.
 
Morpeth’s men had a less successful afternoon however in the day’s final fixture, with the team only managing to finish in 8th place, a real disappointment after the opening victory of the season, and on home turf to boot.
 
Oliver Tomlinson was again first back in 25th , having gained promotion once again, Andrew Hebden made a return to finish 32nd and Ben Heatley was 50th. Lee Bennett was 67th, Ian Armstrong 153rd, Andriy Volkov 204th, Ethan Bond 208th, Richard Glennie 218th and Steve Johnstone 323rd, with over 450 finishing and Gateshead on the day winners.
 
Sadly, however, this looks like the swansong for the venue, with the park authority not really ever getting behind the race (two cancellations last season) and charging the league a hefty fee for the use of the facility. Although the course has never been to everyone’s liking, with the rutted bottom field very easy to turn ankles on (there was actually a breakage this year), it is the closest venue to Morpeth and we will all therefore miss it.
 
A fortnight later action resumed at a bright and breezy Lambton Castle (where, inevitably yet again, those who followed the satnav got taken to the exit) and the challenge of the course is very much to do with some steep ascents and descents from the park to the river.
 
This time Mason Ellison came home in 7th and Ben Hodgson 28th, and there was a promising debut from Ella Rowlinson in the U/11 Girls, where she finished in 16th.
 
There was another winner for the club in the U/13 Boys, with Luke Thompson winning and leading the team to 4th place. Hector Ford-Hutchinson was 17th, Joe Fawcett 21st, Michael Madgwick 30th and Will Fawcett 42nd. After three fixtures, the boys are now up to 3rd place in the team standings.
 
Izzy Cromar was 4th in the U/13 Girls, but again missed team mates.
 
The U/15 Boys were 2nd on the day, led home once again by Mason Gaylor (10th), with Hector Beere 12th, Jack Thompson 35th and Jacob Thompson 38th. They too are in 3rd place overall.
 
Heidi Wilkinson was a sole representative in the U/15 Girls, coming back in 12th.
 
The U/17 Boys were also short of a counter this time, with Harry Shaw 20th and Ben Moll 23rd. They are also in 3rd in their table, however.
 
The club’s young athlete team performance this time came from the U/17 Girls, where Molly Roche in 4th led the team to an on the day victory. Emma Tomlinson returned to competitive action in 5th, with Lucie Todd 6th and Charlotte Marshall 10th.
 
There was a similarly impressive team performance in the Senior Women’s competition, with Cat Macdonald chasing on the day winner Megan Stenhouse (who had also won at Thornley) home for 2nd place. With ever presents Holly Lawrence 25th, Jane Hodgson 30th and Lizzie Rank 53rd, the four to count team were on the day winners and moved up in the table to 5th, with TBH and Jesmond Joggers, who both seem desperate to win this year, slugging it out at the top.
 
There was also a blue and white competitive debut for club coach Vicky Thompson, who finished a very respectable 136th. Sarah Henry was 206th, Kay Errington 210th and Fran Naylor 274th. Some 358 finished.
 
A better performance from the Senior Men this time saw them finish in 5th and improve to 4th in the overall standings, with Gateshead in the overall lead ahead of NSP and surprise package Newcastle University, big winners here.
 
Lee Cuthbertson finished in 4th, Ali Douglas 23rd, Sam Hancox 24th, Andrew Mirfield 53rd, and, in his first outing in blue and white, James Higgins 94th, with Ellis McCoy the sixth counter in 130th. Ian Armstrong was 147th, Andriy Volkov 196th and Anthony Jannetta 204th, with 417th finishing.
 
Still all to play for in the individual and team divisions then, with three of the seven of this year’s fixtures completed.

The next fixture is at Wrekenton at the end of November on Sunday 23rd, when the club will be hoping for a big showing ahead of December’s North Easterns.