Northern Schools Inter Counties Track & Field Championships

Nineteen athletes from Morpeth Harriers took part in the Northern Schools Inter Counties Track & Field Championships, held at Gateshead Stadium, on Saturday 16th June 2018.

Half of those in action won their respective events, representing Northumberland, who had a truly excellent day collectively, by winning five of the six team competitions, and finishing third in the other, which cumulatively made them the overall winners on the day, ahead of second placed Cumbria, with Durham third and Cleveland fourth.

This competition was the last stepping stone for athletes with aspirations of competing in the All England Schools Championships, which take place in Birmingham on Friday and Saturday 13th and 14th July.

Several Morpeth Harriers may well be amongst the 24 candidates that Northumberland selectors will need to choose, and after Saturday’s performances produced a few borderline cases suitable for consideration, an anxious wait for some is on the cards.

Ben Waterfield of Morpeth won the Junior Boys 800m in a new personal best time of 2m05.54s.

Another Junior Boy winner from the club, was Daniel Dowd, who proved to be a clear winner of the 600g Javelin,
by producing a new lifetime best of 40.42m, which was around a four-metre improvement.

Morpeth Harriers newcomer Nat Arkle finished third in the Junior Boys Hammer, with a best throw of 25.18m.

In the Junior Girls 75m Hurdles, Morpeth’s Amy Lott got the judges verdict over Cleveland’s Charlotte Rutter
in a close photo finish. Lott posted a time of 11.84s, which was a fraction adrift of her lifetime best.

Jessica Gardiner won the Junior Girls 1kg Discus with her best throw of 29.90m, which was a lifetime best.
She had been expected to do well in the 3kg Hammer, however could only achieve an on the day best of 28.31m, which saw her finish third, just over a metre adrift of the leading pair from Cleveland,
and another Northumberland thrower.

Another good Morpeth Junior Girls result came in the 500g Javelin, where Alice Geoghegan finished second,
with an on the day best of 27.85m, and Rosie Winter placed third with 25.91m,
both being lifetime best performances.

Mia Belton produced an excellent run to finish third in the Junior Girls 300m in 44.66s,
which was her second-best time in the event.

On to the Intermediate Boys, where the best Morpeth performer was Ethan Stephenson,
who produced a lifetime best of 13.63m in the Triple Jump, which was around seventy centimetres
better than all previous, a performance that also will probably see him on the bus to Birmingham,
as it is well inside the entry standard, and just a mere fraction adrift of national standard.

The Intermediate Boys 1500m saw Morpeth pair Tom Balsdon and Rowan Bennett
finish third and fourth, posting respective times of 4m23.80s, and 4m25.43s.

Lily Heaton and Holly Peck of Morpeth both had excellent wins respectively in the
Intermediate Girls 800m and 1500m events, posting times of 2m24.08s, and 4m51.91s.

Matthew Waterfield and Taylor Glover of Morpeth Harriers were respective winners
of the Senior Boys 400m and 1500m, posting times of 50.18s, and 4m17.84s.

Six Morpeth Harriers were unable to make a top three placing, results were as follows
JUNIOR BOYS 1500m Euan Duffin (5th) 4m29.06s,
JUNIOR BOYS High Jump Ben Waterfield (7th) 1.41m,
JUNIOR GIRLS 200m Rosie Winter (5th) 28.21s,
JUNIOR GIRLS 800m Rhiannon Hedley (7th) 2m31.48s,
INTERMEDIATE BOYS 3000m Daniel Melling (6th) 9m37.39s,
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS 3Kg SHOT PUTT Elena Saunders (5th) 9.49m.