morpeth youngsters face tough competition at schools championships

Six athletes from Morpeth Harriers & AC were in competitive action representing Northumberland at the annual English Schools Track and Field Championships, held in Birmingham on the weekend of 30 June and 1 July.
In the Senior Boys 3000m Final, both William DeVere-Owen and James Tilley tackled the seven=and-a-half lap event.
Will managed to finish in a good seventh place, posting a time of 8m47.50s, which while marginally down on his personal best of 8m32.84, was nevertheless encouraging at such a level.
James’s finishing time of 8m55.40s was a little adrift of his personal best in what was a tough race, with James finishing in 17th overall.
Intermediate Boy Elliot Kelso finished 18th also in the 3000m, in a time of 9m13.44s, like James a little off his pb.
Perhaps unluckiest of all was Intermediate Boy Joseph Close, who - after finishing third in the opening heat of three in the 800m in 1m55.9s, a fraction adrift of his personal best, and seventh fastest overall in the heats - found himself squeezed out of the final by finishes in other heats, with qualifications of two from each heat, plus two other fastest.
Ironically in Saturday’s final only the eventual winner ran a faster time than Close had achieved.
The other two Morpeth athletes competed in the field events.
Ed Gardiner finished ninth in a very tough competition with his best effort in the Senior Boys Discus, reaching 38.71m with his best throw, a couple of metres adrift of his best for the season however.
Also facing tough competition was the club’s youngest representative Alexandria Hodgson, in her first English Schools.
In the Junior Girls Hammer, held in a prevailing cold wind, she unfortunately found herself unable to make a mark in the event, perhaps partly down to nerves.
Having done well to get there, hopefully, she will be able to treat this as a learning curve and make progress in her next outing.