Morpeths Ruaridh Lang and Jason Nicholson of Gateshead Harriers, were Northumberland’s sole individual medal winners at the annual All England Schools Track and Field Championships, which were held at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium, over Friday and Saturday 7th & 8th July 2017. Lang won a well-deserved Silver Medal in the Intermediate Boys Discus, throwing 47.91m, his second best ever distance, having thrown 48.21m in the Schools Inter Counties at Hexham, a fortnight earlier. Lang agonisingly missed out on Gold by just over 1.50m, to Surrey’s Philip Bartlett, who before the competition was ninth in the UK Rankings, two places adrift of Lang. Both Lang and Bartlett should renew rivalries at the Schools International Match, scheduled to be held in Dublin on the 15th July. Also expected to take part is Buckinghamshire’s Alfred Mawdsley, who produced an on the day best of 46.68m, to finish third in the competition. Other Morpeth Harriers throws specialists in action at the championships were Andrew Knight, and Bobbie Griffiths. Knight never quite matched up to his best, when Putting 13.73m, to finish fifth in the Intermediate Boys Shot Putt. Had he thrown at his best on the day, he would have gotten Silver. Despite complaining of a sore back, Griffiths threw an on the day best of 40.41m, to finish ninth in the Intermediate Girls Javelin. Closest Morpeth athlete on the Track to a medal, was Intermediate Boy Taylor Glover. After finishing eighth in his Friday heat of the 1500m, in 4m05.06s, Glover ran an almost equal time in his Saturday final, finishing ninth. In the Senior Boys 1500m Final, Morpeth’s Scott Beattie finished eleventh in 4m13.39s, however his Friday heat, where he finished a qualifying fourth in 3m59.78s, had been more impressive. Another Morpeth Harrier competing in that heat was Kieran Hedley, who finished tenth in 4m10.67s. In the Intermediate Boys 3000m, Rory Leonard of Morpeth finished eleventh in 8m54.09s,
which was around eleven seconds adrift of his best, negotiating a crowded field of twenty-six competitors, may be to answer for this, however to his favour, he was in the top half of the field for the entire seven and a half laps. Other Morpeth Harriers in action at the championships were Matthew Waterfield and Holly Peck, who both went out in the heats of their respective events on the Friday. Despite not being far adrift of his personal best, when posting 50.97s in the Intermediate Boys 400m, North East Champion Waterfield could progress no further, when finishing fifth in his heat. Although agonisingly just a fraction outside her best, Peck could only finish ninth in her heat of the Junior Girls 1500m, posting a time of 4m49.90s. Comments are closed.
|
Archives
January 2025
|