four harriers compete in uka champs

There were four Morpeth Harriers in action in the UKA Championships held at the Manchester Regional Arena over the weekend of 29 and 30 June, which also doubled for the GB Olympic Trials.
 
First up was 400m hurdler Nisha Desai, a veteran of these championships, who was using the event primarily for competition in advance of the World Masters Championships at Gothenburg in August, her main target for the season, finishing 8th in her heat in a time of 63:95 seconds.
 
Also competing on Saturday was Cameron Boyek, who took part in the first of the day’s three 1500m heats, where he qualified in 3rd place for Sunday’s final in a time of 3:44.59, coming home in 3rd place in a strong heat won by GB international Neil Gourley.
 
Sunday afternoon saw training companions Scott Beattie and Rory Leonard line up together in the 5000m event, run as a straight final.
 
This time it was Scott who finished ahead of Rory, coming home in 4th place in a time of 13:47.71, with Rory in 8th in 13:52.65. The race was won by Tonbridge’s James West in 13:43.62, with Preston’s Patrick Dever and Aldershot’s Jack Rowe in 2nd and 3rd.
 
Final race of the day, the Men’s 1500m, saw Cameron finish 11th in a time of 3:44.10, with GB internationals Neil Gourley (3:37.67) and Danny Mills (3:38.29) contesting 1st and 2nd place.