disappointment again for young athletes

Despite the stringent efforts of the team managers and all the athletes who turned out, Morpeth Harriers' young athletes could only once again finish fifth of six competing teams in their second round NEYDL Division 1 match at Middlesbrough Sports Village, on Sunday 22 May.
A stronger turnout compared to the first match had been expected, however, extremely late withdrawals, especially in the female squad, where only one Under 17 woman showed up, left the squad very weakened for the on the day challenge.
By comparison, the men were a little stronger than previous, however, if the club are to survive in Division 1, where they have been resident since the league formation around seven or eight years ago, a stronger team must be mustered.
On to the on the day performances, and Morpeth’s sole event winners were Joseph Close in the Under 17 Men’s 800m, and Under 17 Woman Victoria Hodgson, who had an excellent win in the 300m.
Close was a convincing winner in the 800m in 2m09.82s, and he also was a close second to Gateshead’s Luca Shaw in the later run 1500m, posting a time of 4m25.08s.
The Morpeth Under 17 Men sprinters Jack Dinning and Owen Omoigui were also in fine form.
Dinning produced a personal best of 24.19s, when finishing fourth in the A Race of the 200m, and Omoigui, produced new figures of 25.1s, when finishing second in the B race.
Omoigui certainly got the best out of himself, as he produced personal bests of 11.95s, and 5.4m, in the 100m and Long Jump, placing third and second respectively.
Dinning also produced a personal best of 22.01m in the Discus, when finishing third.
Disappointingly, Close, Dinning, and Omoigui were the only three Under 17 Men that Morpeth could muster on the day, so there was no 4 x 100m Relay for Morpeth to compete in.
Nor was there any for the Under 17 Women, with Hodgson being the sole competitor.
Her win in the 300m, saw her post a time of 44.53s, and earlier she finished fourth in the 100m in 13.17s.
Hodgson did not contest any Field Events.
Morpeth Harriers had six athletes in action in the Under 15 Boys events.
Conner Phillips produced new figures of 12.27s when finishing fourth in the 100m A race, and James Harrison on his debut, finished fifth in the B race in 13.41s.
Harrison finished fifth in the 200m A race in 27.31s, and Steven Craske finished fourth in the B race in 29.07s.
Phillips finished third in the 300m A race in 41.52s
Harry Armstrong doubled up in the 800m and 1500m A races.
He finished fourth in the 800m in 2m35.27s, and second in the 1500m in 5m21.42s
Steven Craske and Daniel Scott produced respective personal best performances in the supporting B races.
Craske finished second in the 800m in 2m41.37s, and Scott was second in the 1500m, posting a time of 5m37.86s.
A personal best was also achieved by Craske in the Long Jump with his best of 3.89m in the A String, which gave him sixth place.
James Harrison did the B String performance for the first time, finishing fourth with 3.49m.
Ollie Tomlinson, taking a self-enforced break from Track activity did well when finishing second in the Discus with a new personal best of 16.66m, bettering his previous by three metres, and for the first time, threw a Javelin 17.06m for the first occasion, which gave him fourth place.
Morpeth’s Under 15 Girls had six athletes competing for them on the day.
Specialist sprinter Amy Longstaff finished fourth and fifth in the A races of the 100m and 200m, posting respective times of 13.45s and 28.15s.
Abigail Kahn gave B race support in the 100m, finishing sixth in 14.49s.
Kahn also finished sixth in the A race of the 300m, where debutant Isobel Saunders finished fifth in the B race in 55.88s.
Distance specialist Megan Potrac finished fourth in the 800m, producing a new personal best of 2m42.25s.
In the 1500m Team Managers Daughter Molly Roche finished fifth in 5m42.57s.
The Under 15 Girls 4 x 100m squad finished fifth in 62.85s.
On to the Under 15 Girls Field Events, and Abigail Kahn finished sixth in the A String Long Jump, achieving a best of 3.44m, on her first ever attempt at the event.
Meanwhile Megan Potrac improved on her personal best by 6cm, when jumping 3.33m in the B String.
Potrac also produced 5.69m, to finish sixth in the Shot Putt.
In the Javelin, Alexandria Hodgson, younger sister of Victoria, threw 20.3m for third place in the A String
Molly Roche finished fourth in the B String with 4.20m.
Hodgson bettered her personal best by 2.20m, when throwing 23.05m in the Hammer, to finish third.
Morpeth Harriers small band of Under 13 Boy and Girl athletes, most of them enjoying Track and Field competition tried to give support to their clubs’ cause but were certainly up against stern opposition.
Best result in the Boys section came in the 1500m, where Ewan Line finished third in the A race in 5m21.33s, and Evan Laude finished third in the B race in 5m41.35s.
Line also tackled the 200m, finishing fifth in the A race in 31.4s, and James Ellis backed him up well in the B race, finishing second in 33.28s.
Ellis also finished fifth in the A race of the 100m in 15.27s, and Girls Team Managers Son Thomas Roche finished fourth in the B race in 15.46s.
Roche produced a new personal best of 2m55.61s when finishing fifth in the 800m A race and was well backed up in the B race by William Hawkins, finished fourth in 3m13.01s.
Also competing in the 800m for Morpeth was William McBryde, who posted a time of 3m19.33s.
McBryde also tackled the Discus for the first time, finishing fifth, with a best throw of 9.14m.
Other Morpeth Field events covered by Morpeth Under 13 Boys Evan Laude and Thomas Roche were the Long Jump, and the Shot Putt.
Laude finished fifth in the Long Jump with 3.21m, and Roche putted a best of 5.05m for fifth place.
The Morpeth Under 13 Boys 4 x 100m Relay squad finished fifth in 63.69s.
Under 13 Girl Emma Tomlinson, younger sister of Under 15 Boy Ollie, certainly was not workshy, as she competed in three individual events.
Her best result came in the Javelin, where she produced a personal best throw of 11.33m, to place second.
She also finished fourth in the Shot Putt with 3.66m and was third in the 1500m in 5m35.66s.
Also competing alongside Tomlinson for Morpeth in the 1500m were Hannah Foggon and Faye Heatley.
Foggon was fourth in the B String in 6m09.71s, with Heatley just behind her in 6m09.80s, both of these athletes doing the event for the first time.
The sprint races of 100m and 200m saw Abbie Potrac, younger sister of Megan tackling the A events.
She finished sixth in the 100m in 15.52s, and fifth in the 200m in 32.29s.
Giving respective B String backing were Maia Annis in the 100m, who was fifth in 15.68s, and Faye Heatley in the 200m, who finished fourth in 34.99s.
Annis also competed in the 70m Hurdles, finishing sixth in 15.17s.
She also competed in the A String Long Jump, finishing fifth with a best of 3.26m.
Also competing in the Long Jump for Morpeth were Abbie Potrac and Faye Heatley.
Potrac finished fourth in the B competition with 3.23m, and Heatley’s performance as an additional athlete was 2.81m.
Morpeth’s Under 13 Girls 4 x 100m Relay squad finished fourth in 66.06s.
MATCH RESULT
1st Harrogate Harriers 787pts, 2nd Darlington/Allerton 689pts, 3rd North Shields Poly 660pts, 4th Gateshead Harriers 566pts, 5th Morpeth Harriers 328pts, 6th Blyth/Alnwick 285pts.