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Despite a number of holidaying absentees, Morpeth Harriers Senior Men’s and Women’s Track and Field squad still managed a respectable final match position of third in the Northern Premier League fixture, held at Churchill Playing Fields, Whitley Bay on Saturday. That result meant that Morpeth finished in third place overall, having finished two places above closest rivals New Marske on the day, with host club North Shields Poly achieving their best result of the season to finish three match points adrift of Morpeth in fourth place. Once again it was Gateshead and Darlington well to the fore, with the latter winning on the day, but the former took the league title by finishing second, but only a mere 15 points ahead of Morpeth. There were some truly excellent efforts from Morpeth's men and women and the team managers finished the day with smiles all round. In the Men’s events, Morpeth secured one A String victory, and three B String wins. The A String victory came courtesy of Thomas Prentice, who was also making his track debut. After one quarter of the twelve-and-a-half lap 5000m, Prentice went to the front, a lead that he maintained all the way to the finish line, posting a winning time of 16m34.0s, beating New Marske’s Thomas Aspin by a margin of 22 seconds. Morpeth’s B Runner James Dixon, also a track debutant, can feel well pleased with his 17m38.3s, which made him sixth fastest, and second place in the B String. Prentice also backed up Anthony Liddle’s second in the 400m A Race (55.4s), by finishing second in the B Race in 59.3s. Sprinter Sean O’Hara was certainly up with the pace of things in the 100m and 200m, when he finished third and second respectively, posting times of 11.7s and 23.3s. Backing him up well in the B String events was Anthony Liddle, who finished fourth and third in respective times of 12.8s and 25.5s. In the 800m, an in-form Alistair Douglass finished third in the A Race in 2m15.4s, however Mark Banks produced an even better run to win the B Race in a faster 2m10.4s. Banks also finished third in the A Race of the later run 1500m, posting a time of 4m12.3s, and Peter Smallcombe took the B Race in 4m13.5s. In the 400m Hurdles, Mark Snowball was second in the A Race in 85.9s. Mark Banks finished second in the Men’s High Jump with his clearance of 1.55m. The other most notable Morpeth Men’s Field performance was in the Javelin, where Alistair Douglass finished as second A String with a best of 30.62m, and Tom Innes threw 20.05m to win the B String. In the Men’s Shot Putt, sprinter Sean O’Hara putted a best of 8.05m for fourth in the A String, and Alistair Douglass finished third in the B String with 7.18m. Anthony Liddle, Sean O’Hara, Alistair Douglass, and Mark Banks combined to bring Morpeth’s Men’s 4 x 100m squad home in second place in 3m35.2s. On to the Morpeth Women’s section, where three A String victories were achieved, along with two B String wins. Four of those victories were achieved by the tireless Nisha Desai, whose commitment and contribution has again been exemplary. Desai won the 400m A Race in 60.1s, with Tayla Douglass finishing second in the B Race in 76.2s. Nisha also won the days track opener, posting a winning time of 65.1s in the 400m Hurdles. She also won the 100m B and 200m B events in 13.4s and 27.3s respectively, backing up Mia Belton’s third place in the 100m A Race (12.8s), and second place in the 200m A Race in 27.4s. Tayla Douglass also put in a hard shift on the track, finishing third in the 800m A Race in 2m52,5s, and fourth in the 1500m in 6m00.0s. All this and a young child to look after with Alistair! Veterans Julie Vermaas and Claire Calverley ran the 3000m for Morpeth Women, finishing fourth in the A Race and third in the B Race respectively, posting times of 12m36.7s, and 13m14.0s. Claire Reid participated in all four throws, winning the Discus with her best effort of 30.20m, and Vina Desai finished fourth in the B String with 12.75m. Reid also finished second in the Shot Putt with a best of 9.15m, again backed up in the B String by Vina Desai, who putted 4.60m for fifth. They partnered again in the Hammer, where Reid finished fourth in the A String with a best of 25.16m, and Desai threw 15.59m, for fourth in the B String. Nisha Desai and Claire Reid teamed up in the Javelin, where Desai finished as fourth A String with a best of 20.00m, and Reid was fourth in the B String with 10.30m. Morpeth’s Women’s 4 x 400m squad finished second in 4m52.7s, courtesy of Tayla Douglass, Mia Belton, Julie Vermaas, and Nisha Desai. All in all then a very decent season, but once again the squad has been very dependent on a small number of wholly committed individuals – Mark Snowball and Nisha Desai have set a fine example and worked tirelessly - but really needs to look to some of the younger athletes in the club to be more involved next season. It goes without saying that the club thanks team managers Mark Snowball, Tom Innes and George Patterson for the Men, and Vina Desai for the Women, for all their efforts. It wouldn’t have happened without you. And Tom, happy travels! MATCH SCORE 1st Darlington 398pts, 2nd Gateshead 323pts, 3rd Morpeth 308pts, 4th North Shields Poly 305pts, 5th New Marske 273pts, 6th Chester Le Street/Durham 165pts.  Tayla and Ali Douglass were juggling family and Morpeth Harriers responsibilities Winding down for the season like the NEGP was the North East Masters Track and Field League.
With some six meetings in total there were perhaps a few less Morpeth Harriers taking part than we might like, but among the participants were some stand out performances, rewarded with table topping awards. Anthony Liddle, who was really committed himself to the short stuff over the Spring and Summer and taken part in all six meets, topped the Sprints table overall, winning by the narrowest of one point margins from Andy Pattison of Blyth. Trevor Hodgson was 4th in the 0/50s, though unable to make all meets. Jason Dawson was 7th 0/50 and Neil MacAnany 5th 0/60, both only managing a couple of meets. There was more success in the Middle Distance GP, with Anthony again featuring, this time 3rd, and Anthony Jannetta 5th in the 0/40s (three meets). Jason was 5th (two meets). Biggest success came from two of the club’s evergreen vets, however, with Gavin Bayne topping the 0/65 table (five meets) and Pam Woodcock 2nd in the 0/70s (four). Jason was 4th 0/50 in the Jumps and Throws tables. Congratulations to all who took part, although it’s noticeable a lot of other clubs seem to be better represented, and those vets looking for a different kind of competition from the roads might want to follow Anthony, Gav, Pam and others examples and give it a go next year. Comments are closed.
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