Four athletes from Morpeth Harriers were medal winners at the first day of competition at the annual combined Northern Athletics Senior and Under 20 Track and Field Championships, sponsored by Start Fitness, h eld at Sport City in Manchester. Adam Pratt won a much-prized Gold Medal in the Senior Men’s 3000m Steeplechase, posting a new personal best time of 9m35.42s, taking an excellent twenty-two seconds off his previous figures. He won by a margin of one second from Leeds City’s Mohamed Abshir, with Wharfedale Harrier Lee Athersmith a further nine seconds adrift in third place. Specialist throwers Ruaridh Lang and Bobbie Griffith’s, who have only recently been sitting A levels at King Edward VI School, are the proud owners of respective Silver Medals. Lang finished a very close second in the Under 20 Men’s Discus, only just losing out for Gold by a mere forty centimetres with his best throw of 42.51m. Gold Medal winner was Aran Thomas of Wakefield. Griffiths threw a best of 39.90m in the Under 20 Women’s Javelin to secure a Silver Medal behind Pendle AC’s Zoe Ellen Kidney, who produced an on the day best of 41.02m. The third medallist, and a much prized and much deserved and popular Bronze win, went to Under 20 Man Matthew Waterfield in the 400m. In his earlier heat he finished a very close second, posting an excellent 50.49s, however in his later run final, Matthew truly excelled, as he posted a new lifetime best of 49.39s, just missing out by a mere fraction for Silver to Sale Harrier Thomas Baines. The Gold Medal went to Leon Stubbs of Preston, who clocked 48.67s. Waterfield’s Morpeth Harriers Coach Eddie Hedley reflected afterwards how pleased and proud he was in his athlete’s achievement. He wasn’t sure if Waterfield was going to line up at the championships, due to the fact that over the Bank Holiday he had developed a worrying niggle, and had also endured the pressure of important exams, however having made the Start Line, was very pleased with the end result, as a coach he could only advise, and Matthew had to carry out the hard part, and he had done that with much distinction. Morpeth Harriers gained another medal on Sunday’s second day of competition, courtesy of James Young, who only fractionally missed out on a Gold Medal, when he finished a very close second to Preston’s Matthew Wiglesworth in the Senior Men’s 800m. Young was also just fractionally adrift of his lifetime best, when he posted a time of 1m52.66, to the winners 1m52.55s. It was a double for Wiglesworth, as he had won Gold in the previous days 1500m. Young must have been thoroughly sick of the sight of the Preston man, as he had also finished second in the earlier run heat, clocking 1m57.18s, a heat that also saw fellow Morpeth Harrier Alistair Douglass qualify for the final, as he finished fourth in 1m57.54s. Douglass finished seventh behind Young in the final, posting a time of 1m59.66s. In the Under 20 Men’s 800m Final, Morpeth Harrier Kieran Hedley finished fifth in 1m57.37s. Watch James Young in action at Sports City in the 800mts
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