 Wentworth Stadium on Sunday 15th July Morpeth Harriers team of young Male and Female athletes, finished in an accomplished second place in their final NEYDL Division 1 fixture, held at Hexham’s Wentworth Stadium on Sunday 15th July 2018. It was a superb effort by those who turned out for their respective Team Manager’s Mark Brown (Male), and Dave Thomas (Female), who were well short in resources, only having 52 athletes between them, with a few gaps conceding vital points to their hungry rivals, in what was a vital final effort for survival. That excellent second place, albeit by a nine-point margin over third placed Blaydon Harriers, meant that the club also finished second cumulatively for the 2018 season. At the end of affairs, Harrogate emerged as winners on the day, firmly cementing their Championship status, and it was lowly Chester Le Street, and former champions Blaydon Harriers, who faced the drop into the second tier for next season, after finishing fifth and sixth cumulatively. On the day, Morpeth managed a total of 33 event wins, 20 of them being A String, with 13 being shared by B String performances. The big majority of success for the club, came from their Under 15 athletes, who had a total of 21 event wins, 13 of them being A String and eight B String, 14 were won by the Male athletes, with seven coming from their Female performers. However, on an individual basis, it was Under 17 Man Andrew Knight, who deserves commendation for one of the performances of the day, by putting an excellent 16.45m in the Shot, winning by over two metres from North Shields Poly’s leading light James Wordsworth. Considering both athletes had also competed for Northumberland at the English Schools Championships in the previous two days, speaks volumes for their respective top-quality performances, and dedication to their clubs’ cause.  Under 17 Men 1500mts (Photo courtesy of Dave Thomas) Other good performers in the Under 17 Men’s events were Tom Balsdon and Andrew Hudspith, who produced a double victory for the club in the 1500m, Tom taking the A race in 4m22.86s, with Andrew winning the B race in 4m48.94s. Ben Waterfield was certainly a star in the Under 15 Boys events, winning the A races of the 300m and 800m events, posting times of 41.4s, and 2m13.32s. Another A String track winner was Euan Duffin, who won the 1500m in 4m28.62s, which also saw an excellent Morpeth double victory, courtesy of Dylan Gooding taking the B race in 4m47.36s. Morpeth also had great service from their Under 15 Boy Field eventers, who pulled off at least four double victory successes. Koffi Avornyo cleared 1.50m to win the A String High Jump, and Thomas Damaher cleared 1.45m to claim victory in the B String competition.
Photos Courtesy of Alan Gardiner Theo Brown and Nat Arkle certainly proved to be a most formidable partnership for Morpeth. Brown won the A String Discus, producing a best throw of 30.04m, and Arkle took the B String with 23.11m. The pair swapped roles in the Hammer competition, with Arkle winning the A String with a best throw of 25.81m, and Brown took the B String with 21.74m. Arkle had his second A String victory in the Shot Putt, producing a best of 9.44m, and Brown won the B String with 8.08m. Daniel Dowd provided Morpeth with another A String victory, when throwing a best of 40.52m in the Javelin. Morpeth’s other winner in the Under 15 Boys events was Max Marr, who won the 200m B String in 26.8s, supporting Josh Adams’s third in the A String in 26.2s. Morpeth Under 15 Boys certainly backed themselves up well in the 4 x 100m Relay, finishing second in 52.6s.  Jessica Gardiner in the U15 Girls Hammer (Photos courtesy of Alan Gardiner) The clubs Under 15 Girls performed well by producing four A String wins, along with two B string victories. Two of those A Strings belonged to Jessica Gardiner, who had competed at the English Schools competition on the previous day. Gardiner won both the A string Discus and Hammer, with respective throws of 23.36m, and 33.54m. She also finished second in the Javelin with 22.16m. Other A String wins came in the 300m, courtesy of Mia Belton (43.5s) and 75m Hurdles courtesy of Amy Lott (11.7s), who had also competed at the English Schools Championships. Morpeth’s two B String victories in the Under 15 Girls, came courtesy of Ellie Longstaff in the 100m (13.5s), and 200m (28.6s).  Under 13 Boys 1500mts (Photo courtesy of Dave Thomas) It was good to see Morpeth’s Under 13 Boys making a valuable contribution to the days successes by producing two A String wins along with three B String victories. The A String wins came from Bertie Marr and Harry Brown. Marr won the 1500m in 4m59.88s and was well backed up by Ryan Davies in the B String, who won in 5m00.37s. Brown won the A String Javelin with 26.68m, and Edward Gardiner won the B String with a best of 25.18m. Gardiner also finished a good second in the Shot Putt, only missing out for victory by a mere 71cm. The other B String winner in the Under 13 Boys was Oliver Omoigue (14.4s), backing up Harry Brown’s second in the 100m A String (14.2s).  Under 17 Women 1500mts (Photo courtesy of Dave Thomas) Morpeth’s four Under 17 Women certainly did their best to achieve some respectable results for the club. Charlotte Barnsley managed two A String wins in the Javelin and Discus, producing respective bests of 23.59m and 19.66m. Holly Peck won the A String 1500m in 4m55.91s, and the B String 300m in 46.9s, backing up Lily Heaton’s second in the A String in 46.1s. Morpeth’s other Under 17 Woman performer was Kayleigh Wenn, who finished third in the Triple Jump (8.55m), and fifth in the Long Jump (4.06m).  Under 13 Girls 200mts (Photo courtesy of Dave Thomas) There were some very encouraging performances from Morpeth’s band of Under 13 Girls.
In the 100m A Race Olivia Gent was very close to the winner, when finishing fifth in 14.9s. Erin Buxton finished second in the B race in 15.0s. Olivia only lost out fractionally when finishing third in the A race of the 200m in 30.8s. Freya Caygill finished second in the B race in 31.8s. Caygill also finished fourth in the 800m in 2m49.13s In the Under 13 Girls 70m Hurdles Kaitlyn Waddell finished fifth in the A race in 13.7s, and Hannah Lott finished second in the B race in 13.8s. Olivia Gent finished third in the Under 13 Girls Long Jump A String with a best of 3.73m, and Saveena Mullin finished third in the B String with 3.56m. Kaitlyn Waddell cleared 1.20m to finish third in the High Jump. There was also a good result achieved by the Under 13 Girls 4 x 100m squad, who finished second in 59.1s FINAL MATCH RESULT (Subject to further scrutiny) 1st Harrogate 816pts, 2nd Morpeth 664pts, 3rd Blaydon 655pts, 4th New Marske 618pts, 5th North Shields 607pts, 6th Chester Le Street 152pts. Comments are closed.
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