Start Fitness North Eastern Grand Prix (2)

Amy Lott winning the U13 Girls 70m Hurdles at Monkton Stadium on Wednesday 8th June

The second meeting of the Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Grand Prix,
held at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow, on the evening of Wednesday 8th June,
saw some excellent performances by athletes from
Morpeth Harriers & AC, both on the Field and on the Track.

Two of the best performances certainly belonged to Field throwers
Charlotte Pickering – Pruvot, and Andrew Knight.
Charlotte’s best was in the Under 17 Women’s Shot Putt,
which she won with her best effort of 11.71m,
which bettered her previous by 51cm.

Another Morpeth Harrier competing in the Under 17 Women’s Shot
was Javelin specialist Bobbie Griffiths, who was second in the competition,
with a best of 8.98m, which was agonisingly just short of her lifetime best.
Griffiths did have her personal moment of glory however, when she won the Hammer,
by producing a new personal best of 26.40m.

Griffiths and Pickering – Pruvot also competed in the Discus,
producing respective bests of 25.83m and 24.98m,
which saw then finish as first and second in the Under 17 Women’s competition.

It was certainly an excellent evening for Andrew Knight of Morpeth Harriers,
as he produced new figures of 13.35m, to win the Under 15 Boys Shot Putt,
beating his previous best by all of 1.61m, an incredible performance,
which now makes him third in the national rankings,
and he beat his North East nemesis Luke Allen of Darlington
by the handsome margin of 1.91m.

Morpeth Harriers other Field event winner was Ruaridh Lang,
who produced the best performance in the combined Under 17/Under 20/Senior Discus.
He threw 41.19m, which saw him home as first Under 17 Man.

In the Senior Men’s competition, Steven Appleby finished third, with his best throw of 31.30m.

Andrew Knight in action in the U15 Boys Shot Putt

​On the track, the main event of the night was the 800m,
where the prize in the Graded A race was the Jimmy Hedley Cup,
presented in honour of the late legendary Jarrow coach,
who in his day, was very much responsible for Steve Cram’s excellent athletics career.

Gateshead Harrier Andrew Rouen won the award in a breathtaking final sprint effort
with Sunderland Harrier Mark Smith, with both athletes being given the same time of 1m57.3s.

Two Morpeth Harriers competed in this event,
with Under 17 Man Kieran Hedley finishing fourth in 1m58.4s,
equalling his personal best, and Under 20 Man Jake Masterman,
who has continued to prosper since his transfer from Blyth,
finished just behind him in fifth place in 1m59.4s, bettering his previous figures by six seconds.
Hedley was very obviously fastest Under 17 Man, and Masterman was second Under 20 Man.

In the B race, Morpeth had Under 17 Men Joe Dowd, Matthew Waterfield,
and Under 20 Man  Jacob Hopkins in competitive action.
Dowd finished almost two seconds adrift of Gosforth’s Zack Wylie,
when finishing second in 2m05.1s, which was a new personal best,
and Waterfield, who has really been going through a purple patch,
continued to impress as he finished third in 2m05.4s,
bettering his previous figures by five seconds.
Dowd and Waterfield were second and third fastest Under 17 Men on view,
and Hopkins who finished fifth in 2m07.4s,
and was also fifth fastest in his age group over the four graded races .

In the fourth race, Morpeth’s Under 20 Woman Abby Sheldon
finished seventh in 2m30.4s, making her third fastest in her age group.

Morpeth Harriers had two individual winners in the younger age group events.
In her comeback after injury, Amy Lott quickly got back to winning ways
in the Under 13 Girls 70m Hurdles, where she clocked 12.2s.
She was also just outside her previous wind assisted personal best,
when she finished in third place in the second of three heats
of the Under 13 Girls 200m in 31.0s,
making her eighth equal fastest overall on the night.

Rhiannon Hedley, who on the night found out that she was being awarded
Best Performance Track Female from the first meeting,
was a comfortable winner of the Under 13 Girls 800m, posting a time of 2m28.9s.

In the Under 13 Boys 800m, Morpeth’s  Ben Walker and Dylan Gooding
finished in fourth and fifth places, with respective clockings of 2m34.8s and 2m39.2s,
the latter being a new personal best by a massive nineteen seconds.

Morpeth had three competitors in the Under 15 Girls 800m.
They were all in heat 1, and Holly Peck finished second in 2m26.9s,
Ellie Coxon finished fourth in 2m28.9s, and Lily Heaton was sixth in 2m31.7s.

In the Graded 3000m, Morpeth’s Ian Harding, who was running the distance
for the first time, finished third in 8m57.4s.
Club colleague Robert Balmbra bettered his
previous figures by four seconds, when he finished fifth in 9m07.0s.
Under 17 Man Liam Marsh, finished just ahead of his age group counterpart
Kieran Moffatt of South Shields, when he posted a time of 9m50.2 to place 14th overall.

Complete Results