A total of sixty-one hard working athletes turned out for Morpeth Harriers in their third and penultimate NEYDL Division 1 match, held at Middlesbrough Sports Village on Sunday 23rd June 2019. Twenty-nine athletes competed in the Male events, with thirty-two taking part in the Female events, who all played their part in securing second place on the day. Despite a strong performance that saw the club achieve a total of thirty four event wins, fifteen A String, and nineteen B String, seven of these being double victories, they just couldn’t match a winning score achieved by fierce rivals Harrogate, who at the end of the day won by a margin of forty four points. The biggest number of on the day victories for Morpeth, came from the Under 15 Girls, with nine in all, plus an excellent 4 x100m Relay victory, one of two on the day. Not far behind the clubs Under 15 Girls in performance terms, were the Under 17 Women, who had eight wins. The result, however, still sees the club in pole position cumulatively, but only by one league point going into the final match at Morpeth next month. A home win would certainly give Morpeth the team title, regaining the status they lost to their Yorkshire rivals in 2018. In the event of a league points tie, Morpeth do have a match point advantage of over 200 points, however Morpeth Team Managers Mark Brown (Male), and Dave Thomas (Female), are calling for a match win to seal a championship victory comfortably. Morpeth’s Under 15 Girl sprinter Mia Belton was certainly one of the athletes in fine form, as she recorded two A String victories in the 100m and 200m events, posting respective clocking’s of 12.88s, and 27.59s, both of these being lifetime personal bests. Backing Mia up well in the respective B events for Morpeth was Melody Brooks. Brooks finished second in the 100m in 13.24s, and she won the 200m in 27.93s. Other Morpeth athletes in the 200m were Lucy McConnell (29.94s), and Olivia Gent (30.65s). Another excellent club track performance came in the form of Alice Geoghegan and Abi Leiper in the Under 15 Girls 300m, which was a double victory, where the former took the A race in 42.81s, with latter recording a new personal best of 45.79s in taking the B race. For Leiper’s part, she also produced new figures of 2m28.76s, when finishing second in the 800m. Sadie Charlton finished third in the 800m B race in 3m31.09s. Geoghegan also enjoyed A String winning success in the Javelin, throwing 29.00m. Olivia Carruthers won the B String, producing a best of 18.25m. Another Under 15 Girls double victory, came in the Discus, courtesy of Melody Brooks (18.82m), and Alice Geoghegan (17.61m), both performances representing new personal bests. Morpeth’s Under 15 Girls won their 4 x 100m Relay, posting a time of 52.66s. Abi Leiper, who performed well on the track, added a good Long Jump to her day’s achievements, finishing as third A String with her effort of 4.48m. Olivia Gent backed her up well by finishing as second B String, with her effort of 3.95m. Morpeth’s Lucy McConnell cleared 1.40, to finish second in the High Jump. Second best performers for Morpeth Harriers on the day were their Under 17 Women. Their eight wins included a league record, which was achieved by Hammer thrower Jessica Gardiner, who improved on her second round Hexham performance by all of 18cm, to break her own record. Gardiner also enjoyed a win in the A String Discus, throwing an on the day best of 31.89m. She also finished third in the A String Shot Putt, producing a lifetime best of 8.71m. Two regular track runners backed up Gardiner in the three B String events. Amy Lott finished second in the Hammer, producing a best of 26.37m, and equalled her lifetime best of 7.75m in the Shot Putt, when also finishing second. Holly Peck threw the Discus for the first time, achieving figures of 14.99m to finish in third place. Another track runner in action for Morpeth in the Shot Putt was Lily Heaton, who produced a lifetime best of 5.40m. Heaton’s moment of glory however was on the track, where she bravely got around in the 300m Hurdles, to record a winning personal best time of 53.01s. Back with the Field events, where the Under 17 Women’s only double victory on the day, came courtesy of Charlotte Earl (10.17), and Abbie Ross (9.21m), in the Triple Jump, the latter being a new lifetime personal best. The pair also teamed up in the Long Jump, with Ross finishing second in the A String, equalling her best of 4.67m, losing out for victory by 1cm to Gateshead’s Daisy Percival. If Ross had won the A String, it would have been another double win for Morpeth, as Earl won the B String, with a best effort of 4.38m. Apart from Heaton, Morpeth’s other track win was also over Hurdles, this time in the 80m, which was won by Amy Lott, who won in a time of 12.05s. In the 100m and 200m A String events, Morpeth’s Amber Witt finished third and second, posting respective times of 12.93s, and 27.21s. Backing Witt up in the respective B String events were Abbie Ross and Holly Peck. Ross finished third in a new personal best time of 13.67s, and Peck finished second in 29.03s. Lily Heaton couldn’t quite match up to her earlier 300m Hurdles win in the sprint over the same distance, as she finished fourth in 46.48s. Sophie Coaker finished third in the 300m B race in 47.69s, and tackled 800m for the first time, placing as third A String in 2m36.49s. In the 1500m, Holly Peck finished as second A String in 5m08.26s, and Kate Gaffing backed this up well by winning the B String in 5m48.41s. Morpeth’s Under 15 Boys achieved a total of seven event wins, two of them being A String, and five coming from the B String events. They had one double victory, which came from the Javelin, where Harry Brown won the A String, producing an on the day best of 26.94m, and Edward Gardiner, who was second overall in the event with a best of 25.42m, took the B String. Another Morpeth competitor in the Javelin was Oliver Geoghegan, who produced a personal best performance of 25.05m. The clubs other A String winner was Nat Arkle, who won the Shot Putt, producing a new personal best of 11.81m. Dan Waddington finished third in the B String with a best of 7.02m. Waddington also proved his worth, when finishing third in the A String Discus (23.56m), and second in the A String Hammer (18.98m). In the B String events, Waddington was backed up respectively by winning efforts by Nat Arkle (23.41m), and Edward Gardiner (16.16m), the latter being a personal best. Continuing with the Under 15 Boys Field events, Adam Howliston produced a personal best clearance of 1.40m, to finish second in the A String High Jump, and Sam Parker finished second in the B String with his clearance of 1.25m. Sam also achieved a new personal best of 15.31s, when finishing second in the A String 80m Hurdles. Another track personal best for Morpeth, came courtesy of Nat Arkle, who finished third in the A String 100m in 12.47s. Jack Kyte backed him up well in the B race, finishing second in 12.51s. Another Morpeth performer in the 100m was Harry Brown, who posted a personal best of 13.30s. In the 200m A Race, Jack Kyte finished second in a time of 25.56s, and Harry Brown finished third in the B Race in 27.53s. Another Morpeth performer in the 200m, was Adam Howliston, who posted a time of 30.60s. Ryan Davies ran the 300m for the first time, posting a time of 46.89s, when finishing third in the A Race. Bertie Marr finished second in the B Race, posting a time of 49.53s. Davies also competed in his more specialist event over 800m, finishing fourth in the A Race, posting a time of 2m22.33s. Supporting Davies well in the B Race was Joe Dixon, who won, posting new figures of 2m26.60s. Another Morpeth performer in the 800m was Adam Howliston, who also posted new figures of 2m33.25s. Meanwhile in the 1500m, Bertie Marr finished second in the A Race in 4m42.42s, whilst he was also well supported by Liam Roche’s win in the B Race in 4m56.76s. Morpeth’s Under 13 Girl’s, all twelve of them, achieved a worthy set of results, which included five event wins, including one double victory. That double victory, came in the Shot Putt, where Hannah Lott took the A String, with a performance very close to her personal best (6.21m), and Georgia Turner won the B String, with an on the day best of 5.63m. Turner had an excellent day, by achieving two personal bests of 19.20m, and 15.42m, when finishing second in the A String Javelin and Discus events. In the respective B String events, newcomer Emily Rutherford finished third with 11.92m, and Hannah Lott, tackling Discus for the first time, produced a best of 8.55m, finishing second. Victoria Hodgson and Freya Caygill teamed up well for Morpeth in the Under 13 Girls sprint events. Hodgson finished second in the A String 100m in 28.80s, whilst Caygill finished second in the B String, posting a new personal best of 14.18s. In the 200m A Race, Hodgson again finished second in 28.80s, whilst Caygill had an excellent B String victory in 30.32s. Caygill showed her true versatility while tackling the longer 800m, finishing second in the A Race in 2m43.36s, whilst her Morpeth club colleague won the B Race in 2m44.72s. In the 1500m, Molly Baker produced new figures of 5m53.37s, when finishing fourth in the A Race. Newcomer Paris Lee finished third in the B Race in 6m38.18s. In the 70m Hurdles A Race, Hannah Lott equalled her personal best of 11.86s, when finishing fourth in a tough A Race. Paris Lee also showed versatility in finishing third in the B String in 15.03s. In the Under 13 Boys 100m, Morpeth narrowly missed out on a double victory. In the A Race, Owen Omoigui was just a fraction adrift of Harrogate’s William Todd, as he posted a personal best time of 13.35s. Alex Searro won the B Race in 14.22s. In a tightly run 200m, Elliot Mavir finished fifth in the A Race in 30.80s, and newcomer Benjamin Hope won the B Race in 30.82s. Finn Tillmouth finished third in the 800m A Race in 2m41.95s, whilst newcomer Sam Livingstone marked his club debut well, by finishing an excellent second in the B Race in 2m53.46s. In the 1500m, Oliver Tomlinson finished third in the A Race, in 5m18.36s. Owen Omogiui achieved another personal best when finishing third in the 75m Hurdles A Race in 15.09s. Newcomer Benjamin Hope again performed well, in finishing second in the B Race in 15.37s. Morpeth’s Under 13 Boys achieved an excellent track triumph when winning their 4 x 100m event in 57.58s. In the Under 13 Boys Field Events, Morpeth’s best achievers were Elliot Mavir and Owen Omoigui in the Long Jump. Mavir finished second in the A String, producing a personal best of 4.11m, and Omoigui won the B String, with a best of 4.08m. Morpeth Harriers had two A String wins achieved by their small Under 17 Men’s squad of eight athletes.
Ben Waterfield won the 800m in 2m03.63s and finished fourth in the A String 400m in 55.85s. Backing Waterfield up in the 400m B Race was Charlie Lane, who finished second in 57.76s. The other Morpeth A String winner was Dylan Gooding, who took the 1500m A Race in 4m24.87s. Dylan Davies finished second in the B Race in 4m40.72s. Waterfield, Davies, and Gooding all showed their willing team spirit by testing themselves in Field Events. Ben Waterfield cleared 1.50m to finish third in the High Jump, and the two Dylan’s teamed up in the Triple Jump. Gooding finished third in the A String Triple Jump with a best effort of 8.90m, whilst Davies was second B String with 8.10m. The best Morpeth Field performance came from Josh Adams in the Long Jump, who produced a lifetime best of 4.95m to finish second in the A String. In the Under 17 Men’s Throws events, Daniel Dowd finished third in the Javelin with 39.69m, and Theo Brown finished third in both the Discus and Shot Putt, producing respective efforts of 32.00m and 9.86m. It was pleasing to both Morpeth Team Managers, that some of their respective charges made brave efforts to attempt some unfamiliar events, this is what brings the points as a team, and it is hoped that they may be able to call on a greater effort at the final match at Morpeth on Saturday 20th July, when it is already known that some athletes may be unavailable due to family commitments, both Mark Brown and Dave Thomas are calling for more effort within the club to cover these gaps, in order to regain the league title that was lost to Harrogate in 2018. MATCH RESULT (Subject to further scrutiny) 1st Harrogate 850pts, 2nd Morpeth Harriers 806pts, 3rd Gateshead Harriers 652pts, 4th New Marske 543pts, 5th North Shields Poly 494pts, 6th Durham City 316pts. Comments are closed.
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