more youngsters needed to boost ranks of neydl squad

Morpeth Harriers' Young Athletes finished sixth of eight competing squads, in their opening NEYDL Division 2 fixture, held at Jarrow’s Monkton Stadium on Sunday April 24.
A great deal of effort on the part of Team Managers David Swinburne (Male), and Julie Roche and Judith Nutt (Female), had resulted in a total turnout of 26 athletes to contest a full programme of events over the three age groups Under 13, 15 and 17, in both genders.
But those efforts are going to be well and truly stretched across the whole season unless they obtain the support of more younger members.
In overall points terms the squad were only 70 points adrift of fourth, and 50 adrift of fifth, tells us that with another three or four athletes on board, they could gain a better position before the season's end.
On the day, Morpeth managed to get seven A String wins, plus five B String wins within their efforts, however, lack of strength in numbers, especially in the Under 15 Boys, where only Daniel Scott turned out, was going to take its toll.
Two of the A String wins belonged to Under 17 Man Joe Close, who undoubtedly has the furthest to travel, coming down from Berwick in the Borders.
He won the 800m comfortably, posting an excellent early season time of 2m00.15s.
Club colleague Elliot Kelso took the B race in 2m03.21s.
Also running the 800m in a Morpeth vest was Elliot Mavir, who posted the third fastest time of 2m12.08s.
Close also secured an excellent win in the 1500m, in a time of 4m26.19s.
First year Under 17 Harry Armstrong finished second in the B race in 5m05.05s.
Morpeth Under 17 sprinters Jack Dinning, Harrison Scott, and Conner Phillips shared duties in the 100m and 200m events.
Dinning finished third in both the 100m and 200m A races, posting respective times of 11.8s, and 24.7s.
Scott finished second in the B race of the 100m in 11.9s, and Phillips also finished a close second in the B race of the 200m in 24.8s.
Five athletes turned out for the club in the Under 17 Women’s events.
The best A String performance here came in the 300m, where Amelia Hamlin had a clear win in 43.6s.
In the 100m and 200m A races, Freya Caygill finished second in both, posting respective times of 13.0s, and 26.5s.
She was well backed up in the B races by Amy Longstaff in the 100m and Victoria Hodgson in the 200m, who both had wins in 13.4s and 27.6s, respectively.
Longstaff also ran in the 200m, posting 27.93s.
Hodgson also finished second in the 300m Hurdles in 48.5s.
Morpeth’s other athlete in the Under 17 Women’s events was Kate Kennedy, who finished second in the 800m in 2m31.86s, and third in the Shot Putt A String with 7.59m.
Caygill, Longstaff, Hodgson, and Kennedy combined to bring Morpeth’s Under 17 Women’s 4 x100m squad home in second place to Blyth/ Alnwick in 52.8s.
Unfortunately, and somewhat disappointingly, Morpeth only had one Under 15 Boy to turn out in support of his club.
Daniel Scott ran well to finish a close second in the 800m, posting a finishing time of 2m31.9s.
He also competed in the Shot Putt, finishing second with a best effort of 5.00m.
The turnout of Morpeth’s Under 15 Girls was considerably better however, with six athletes responding to their team managers call.
One of the best results from that age group, was that of newcomer Abigail Kahn’s second place in the Long Jump.
Her best effort of 4.21m, was only 40cm from an event win.
Another second A String placing in the Field Events, was Emma Tomlinson’s 12.2m in the Javelin.
In the Discus, Molly Roche finished third in the A String competition, with a best throw of 10.3m.
Emma Tomlinson’s 9.9m, saw her win the B String.
Three of Morpeth’s six Under 15 Girls took part in the Shot Putt competition, with good points coming from their efforts.
Megan Potrac finished third in the A String with a best of 6.23m.
Charlotte Marshall finished second in the B String with 4.86m, and Molly Roche was not far adrift of her, with a best of 4.65m.
On the Track, the best performance came from Emma Tomlinson, who was third in the 800m in 2m38.99s.
Megan Potrac finished fourth in the A String 1500m in 5m51.64s, and Charlotte Marshall was fourth in the B String in 6m17.89s.
Abigail Kahn was sixth in the A String 100m in 14.2s, and another newcomer Isla Dawson was fourth in the B String in 14.8s.
Morpeth’s Under 15 Girls 4 x 100m Relay squad finished fifth in 61.0s.
The two Morpeth Under 13 Boys who turned out, worked hard to try to achieve some excellent results with their committed determination.
Evan Line won the 1500m in 5m19.64s, finished second in the A String 800m in 2m32.58s, and sixth in the A String 200m in 31.4s.
Daniel Vermass finished second in the B String 800m, but found great success in the Field, by winning the Long Jump with a best of 4.03m, and clearing 1.33m to win the High Jump.
Five Morpeth athletes competed in the Under 13 Girls events, they probably would have had six, had Sophie Pledger’s day not been halted when sustaining an injury in the 70m Hurdles.
The best result for Morpeth in the Under 13 Girls events came in the Long Jump, where newcomer Gabby Jobson won the A String competition, producing a best of 3.58m.
Posting the third best overall performance of 3.25m, Abi Potrac won the B String, to bring maximum points from the event.
Faye Heatley of Morpeth also performed well here, producing 3.13m.
Jobson very nearly had a second victory in the 100m, where she posted a time of 14.6s, which made her second in the A String.
Her Morpeth club colleague Anna Archibald finished third in the B String in 15.9s.
Abi Potrac was a very close second in the A String 200m, posting a time of 31.4s.
In the Under 13 Girls 1500m, Faye Heatley finished second in 5m45.07s.
Anna Archibald was seventh in the A String 800m in 3m04.19s, and Zoe Tomlinson was fifth in the B String in 3m06.52s.
Morpeth’s Under 13 Girls 4 x 100m squad finished third in 63.5s.
The club will certainly require more support in the squads in time for the second fixture, which is at Shildon on Sunday 21st May, particularly in the Under 13 and Under 15 Boys events.

​FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Birtley/Jarrow/Phoenix 623pts, 2nd Blyth/Alnwick 519pts, 3rd Chester Le Street/Durham 515pts, 4th  Houghton/Derwentside/Tyne Bridge 483pts, 5th Blaydon/Wallsend/Gosforth 463pts, 6th Morpeth 413pts, 7th Middlesbrough AC 309pts, 8th Tynedale/ Prudhoe 176pts.