Northern Athletics League Division 2E Match 3

Updated Match Results

Emma Holt in action in the Womens 3000mt race

Despite nursing respective injuries, Emma Holt and Bobbie Griffiths provided Morpeth Harriers & AC with their sole A string victories, at their penultimate Northern Athletics Track and Field League Division 2 fixture, held at the Morpeth Athletics Track at KEVI School, on Sunday 9th July 2017.

Holt proved to be a clear runaway winner of the Women’s 3000m, posting a finishing time of 10m30.4s.
The event also provided the host club with one of their only two double victories on the day,
as Gracie Hufton took the B race in 11m50.10s.

Morpeth’s other double victory on the day, came in the Women’s Javelin, where Griffiths, still in pain from a troublesome back injury, which seriously affected her performance at the previous days English Schools finals, threw an on the day best of 35.23m,
winning by nearly eleven metres from her closest rival Hollie Smith of Leeds City.

Proving her worth her weight in Gold to Morpeth yet again, was Claire Reid,
who travels all the way down from Ayrshire for her matches.

Reid won the Javelin B string, throwing 17.72m, beating her closest rival Jenna Murdoch of Leeds by 1.70m.
The pair also teamed up to produce excellent results in the Hammer and Discus.
Whilst Reid finished third in the A String Hammer (28.29m), and second in the Discus (32.36m),
Griffiths weighed in superbly by taking both B string competitions,
with respective on the day bests of 26.56m, and 25.77m.

Reid also found time to finish third in the A String Shot Putt with 10.44m,
and Naomi Arkle, who was prevented by illness to take much of her regular sprinting roles on the day,
provided good B string support by finishing third, producing an on the day best of 7.29m.

The match itself saw Morpeth finish third on the day, subject to further scrutiny,
which now sees them elevated from sixth to fifth cumulatively in the league standings after three matches.

This firmly means that Division 2 survival is all to play for at the final fixture,
​which will take place at Middlesbrough in early August.

Updated Match Results

Jake Masterman and Mark Snowball in action in the 3000mt Steeplechase at Morpeth on Sunday 9th July

There were some good performances amongst the Morpeth Men’s track specialists,
which included no less than four B String victories.
The best of these came in the longer and middle-distance events.

In the 1500m, James Young finished an excellent second in the A String,
posting a time of 4m04.2s, with Thomas Straughan winning the B String in 4m10.0s.
The 3000m Steeplechase, saw Mark Snowball finish second in the A String in 10m22s,
and Jake Masterman take the B String in 11m02.20s.

Making his maiden Morpeth Northern League appearance,
Andrew Lawrence finished second in the A String 5000m in 16m00.5s,
and Karl Taylor stepped up to the plate by taking the B String in 16m21.0s.

Birthday boy Jordan Scott, finished third in the A String 800m in 2m03.2s,
and Under 17 athlete Joe Dowd, took the B String in 2m04.9s.

Fellow Under 17 athlete Matthew Waterfield, who had competed at the English Schools,
finished third in the A String 400m, posting a time of 50.6s, again just a fraction outside his personal best.

Under 20 athlete Jacob Hopkins, making a competitive comeback after injury, finished fifth in the B String in 58.2s.

In the Men’s sprints, Morpeth Harriers had Phil Pitt and Kenny Harrison in A and B Strings in the 100m and 200m.
Pitt finished fourth in the A String 100m (11.7s), and fifth in the A String 200m (24.1s).

Harrison meanwhile was second in both the B String 100m and 200m,
with respective clockings of 11.7s, and 23.8s. 

Craig Charlton, and the Appleby brothers, Steven, and Paul,
were the mainstays of the Morpeth Men’s Throws results.
Charlton produced the best on the day individual performance,
finishing second in the A String Shot Putt, producing a best of 13.92m.
Steven Appleby finished as third B string with 8.52m.
Charlton finished a close third in a competitive A String Hammer tussle,
with Skyrac’s Robert Russell, producing an on the day best of 33.25m.

Making his first appearance of the season, Paul Appleby produced
a best of 25.69m, to finish as third in the B String.

Paul also did well in the Javelin, finishing as third A String, with a best throw of 30.83m.
He also linked up with brother Steven in the Discus.

Steven finished fifth in the A String, producing an on the day best of 31.23m,
whilst Paul’s 29.34m in the B String, gave him third place.

David Thomas was Morpeth Men’s A String competitor in the Long Jump, Triple Jump, and High Jump events.
He finished fourth in both the Long Jump (5.56m), and Triple Jump (11.87m),
and his clearance of 1.50m, saw him finish fifth in the High Jump.
In B String action for Morpeth in the Long Jump and Triple Jump, were Mitchell Cryer and Owen Priest.

Cryer finished sixth in the Long Jump with 4.50m, and Priest,
making his Northern League debut, finished fourth, with 10.78m.

In the Men’s 4 x 400m Relay, Morpeth finished third in 3m35.1s,
​courtesy of Jacob Hopkins, James Young, Owen Priest, and Matthew Waterfield.

Mens 1500mt race at Morpeth on Sunday 9th July

Earlier in this report, we gave mention to the Morpeth Women’s track efforts.
In addition to those mentioned, Gemma Floyd competed well to produce two
excellent second A String places in both the 800m and 1500m events,
posting respective times of 2m24.1s, and 4m57.3s.

Backing Floyd up with good respective B String performances for Morpeth,
were Kirsty Duffin, who finished third in the 800m on her Northern League debut in 2m43.0s,
and seasoned Veteran Jane Hodgson, who finished second in 5m01.2s.

Also, earlier we gave mention to the ill Naomi Arkle,
who was unable to take part in the Women’s sprints.
It led to younger sister Nadine, currently still an Under 17,
being promoted to A String runner in both the 100m and 200m events.
She finished third in both cases, posting respective times of 13.6s, and 27.8s.

Backing Nadine up well in the B races for Morpeth,
was Lynsey Cunningham, who was third in the 100m in 14.2s,
and second in the 200m in 30.5s.
Both Arkle and Cunningham joined forces with
Naomi Arkle and Katie Stafford to finish fourth for Morpeth
in the Women’s 4 x100m Relay, posting a time of 55.3s,
just being fractionally edged out of third spot.

Match Result (Subject to scrutiny)
1st Middlesbrough AC 350pts,
2nd Gateshead Harriers 345pts,
3rd Morpeth Harriers 341pts,
4th Tynedale Harriers 326pts,
5th Skyrac 308pts,
6th Leeds City 303pts.

Many thanks to all Morpeth Harrier members and friends who
​helped out on the day to ensure smooth running of the event.

Updated Match Results

Some of the team relaxing by the track at the Northern League fixture in Morpeth on Sunday 9th July