Morpeth Harriers Senior Men and Women’s Track and Field squad finished an excellent third of six competing teams in their third round Northern Athletics North East Premier League match, held at Middlesbrough Sports Village on Sunday 9 July.
In a very tightly contested match, just 37 points divided the first four teams, and again in was Gateshead Harriers who came out on top, with Darlington Harriers only 11 points adrift in second place. In finishing third on the day, Morpeth remain in third place cumulatively, however they still have New Marske breathing down their necks in fourth spot, only one point adrift in terms of league points, and thirteen in terms of match points, going into the fourth and final match at Whitley Bay on Saturday 19 August. A final placing of third for Morpeth would prove very respectable, very similar to 2022, getting second place from Darlington, looks very much a tall order, but not entirely unachievable, On to the third-round match itself, and results from both sides of the Morpeth camp were good, as were the team spirited efforts on the day. In the Men’s events, Will Cork on his Northern League debut for the club, Ady Whitwam, who had made the long journey up from his Guildford home, and Mark Snowball all enjoyed A Race victories. Cork won the 1500m in 3m59.0s, the only competitor in the event to drop below the four-minute mark, and Mark Banks backed him up well in the B Race, finishing second in 4m05.7s. Banks also finished fourth in the B Race of the 5000m in 20m55.9s, supporting Whitwam’s excellent A Race victory in 16m12.1s. In a last gasp effort to the finish line, Mark Snowball snatched a superb win in the 3000m Steeplechase, posting a time of 11m40s. Snowball also finished fourth in the 400m Hurdles in a time of 76.4s. Sean O’Hara and Anthony Liddle shared duties for Morpeth in the 100m and 200m events. O’Hara finished fourth in the 100m A Race (11.6s) and was second in the A Race of the 200m in 23.0s. Liddle meanwhile placed third in both 100m and 200m B Races, posting respective times of 12.3s and 25.8s. In the 400m A Race, Liddle placed fourth in 56.2s, and Veteran athlete Jason Dawson had a good B Race, finishing second in 58.4s. Morpeth squad members in the Men’s events were mainly track specialists, however there was a good all-round effort to cover as much as possible in the Field events. Jason Dawson threw 24.45m, to finish fourth in the A String Javelin, and Tom Innes finished fourth in the B String with 16.84m. Dawson also placed fourth in the A String of the Triple Jump, with a best of 9.52m, and Mark Banks managed a best of 9.19m, to finish third in the B String as support. Innes, who as one of the Men’s Assistant Team Manager’s, along with Mark Snowball and George Patterson, was certainly no shirker when it came to effort in the Field Events, in competing in no fewer than four events, including the earlier referred to Javelin. He finished sixth in the A String Discus, producing a best throw of 13.29m, and Snowball finished sixth in the B String with 10.85m. In the Shot Putt B event, Innes finished sixth with a best of 5.15m, with sprinter Sean O’Hara finishing sixth in the A String with 7.49m. Innes also finished fifth in the B String Long Jump with a best of 3.56m, and again it was a dual Team Manager effort, as Snowball finished as sixth in the A String, producing a best of 4.02m. Anthony Liddle, Sean O’Hara, Mark Snowball, and Mark Banks, combined to bring Morpeth Men’s 4 x 100m Relay squad home in fourth place in a time of 52.1s. In the closing Men’s track event, the 4 x 400m Relay, Liddle, O’Hara, Dawson, and Banks, combined to finish second in 3m47.8s. On to the Morpeth Women’s events, where the club were able to mastermind for A String victories, and five B String wins, one of these being a double victory, plus winning both relays, as an added bonus. Despite a niggling injury, Nisha Desai was once again on top form, and the Women’s Team Managers Daughter demonstrated this with two A Race wins in both the 400m and 400m Hurdles, posting respective times of 59.2s, and 63.5s. The 400m was an excellent result, being a double win, with Mia Belton taking the B Race in 65.6s. In the 400m Hurdles, Desai was partnered by young Victoria Hodgson in the B Race, and she produced an excellent run to finish second in 69.4s, this being only her second attempt at the longer race. Hodgson also finished second in the 100m B Race in 13.3s, backing up Mia Belton’s third in the A Race in 12.7s. Nisha Desai added a B Race track win to her performance, this being in the 200m, where she posted a time of 26.8s, backing up Ellie Wickens fourth in the A Race in 28.2s. Wickens had warmed up for this by finishing fourth in the earlier non scoring 100m in 13.4s. There were good points to come into the growing Morpeth tally, courtesy of Caitlin Flanagan and Lizzie Rank in the Women’s 1500m. Flanagan finished second in the A Race in 5m09.5s, and Rank won the B Race in 5m22.2s. In the 3000m, Julie Vermaas finished second in the A Race, ad Claire Calverley won the B Race in 13m17.7s. Eight years on, it was good to see Amber Cormack back in action in the 800m. With a powerful final lap surge, she finished as third in the A Race in 2m37.2s, and Veteran Woman Pam Woodcock finished second in the B Race in 3m46.7s. Charlotte Earl was very much a star performer in the Field Events, winning both A String competitions in the Long Jump and Triple Jump, with efforts of 5.12m and 10.97m. The Triple Jump proved to be a double victory, courtesy of Olivia Gent winning the B String, with a best effort of 9.55m Gent also partnered Earl in the Long Jump, finishing as second in the B String with a best of 4.13m. Claire Reid was Morpeth’s leading athlete in the Shot Putt, Discus and Hammer events. Her best result came in the A String Discus, where she finished second, throwing a best of 30.40m, which was only a mere 34m adrift of winner Catherine Cotterill of North Shields Poly. Ellie Wickens finished third in the B String Discus with 18.50m. In the Hammer competition Reid finished third in the A String, managing a best throw of 26.66m, and Women’s Team Manager Vina Desai finished third inn the B String with a best throw of 14.76m. Reid putted a best of 9.28m in the A String Shot Putt for fourth place, and Olivia Gent was fourth in the B String with 6.09m. Nisha Desai and Olivia Gent competed for Morpeth in the Javelin, with Desai finishing fourth in the A String with a best throw of 20.49m, and Gent threw 13.19m in the B String, which earned her third place. Morpeth Women rounded their competitive day off in superb style by carving out victories in both the 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m Relays. In the 4 x 100m Relay, Mia Belton, Ellie Wickens, Olivia Gent, and Victoria Hodgson got round in 53.1s, ahead of Darlington and Chester Le Street/Durham. Victoria Hodgson, Lizzie Rank, Nisha Desai, and Mia Belton brought Morpeth home in the 4 x 400m Relay in 4m22.5s, ahead of the same opposition. MATCH RESULT 1st Gateshead Harriers 6pts (371pts), 2nd Darlington Harriers 5pts (360pts), 3rd Morpeth Harriers 4pts (350pts), 4th New Marske Harriers 3pts (334pts), 5th North Shields Poly 2pts (213pts), 6th Chester Le Street/Durham City 1pt (208pts). CUMULATIVE RESULTS (After 3 Matches) 1st Gateshead Harriers 18pts (1147.5pts), 2nd Darlington Harrier 15pts (1085pts), 3rd Morpeth Harriers 11pts (957pts), 4th New Marske Harriers 10pts (944pts), 5th Chester Le Street/Durham City 5pts (754.5pts), 6th North Shields Poly 4pts (612 pts). Many thanks go to all the clubs’ competing athletes, and band of officials for their attendance on the day, to ensure another good result was achieved. It is now all down to the final match on Saturday 19th August at Whitley Bay, to hopefully consolidate all the season’s efforts, in the hopes of a successful finale. Comments are closed.
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