Morpeth Harriers & AC’s Senior Track and Field squad got their 2026 season off to a superb start by winning their opening NESDL Division 2 Match at Whitley Bay, on Saturday 18 April.
They eventually won by around 79 points over nearest rivals Tyne Bridge Harriers, with Chester Le Street/Durham a few points further behind in third place.
Morpeth’s squad of ten women and seven men, combined really well throughout the day, and showed a very genuine team spirit, which very much pleased Team Managers George Patterson and Holly Lawrence.
Perhaps as usual, the men’s strengths very much lay in the distance track events, with Ellis Hetherington taking victory in both the 800m (1m59.01s) and 1500m (4m03.88s).
Bobby Hagan (2m20.96s), easily took the 800m B race, and Connor Marshall won the 1500m B race in 4m25.07s.
Alistair Douglass won the 5000m A race in 16m05.63s, and Bobby Hagan took the B race in 18m11.49s.
Douglass also finished a very close second in the 400m A race in 56.1s, and Anthony Liddle took the B race in 62.3s.
In the 100m, Douglass finished third in the A race 13.1s, with Paul Bellingham finishing second in the supporting B race in 14.5s.
Liddle finished fourth in the 200m A race in 27.7s, and Bellingham finished fourth in the B race in 30.6s.
In the Men’s 4 x 100m Relay, Morpeth finished fourth in 59.4s, courtesy of Anthony Liddle, Paul Bellingham, Bobby Hagan, and Dave Marshall.
The Men’s Field events saw Bobby Hagan finish fourth in the A String Long Jump (3.42m), with Alistair Douglass supporting in the B String with 3.22m, which gave him second place.
Including the Long Jump, Douglass played his part well for valuable points, taking part in no fewer than four events.
He finished fourth in the Triple Jump (7.79m), sixth in the A String Shot Putt (6.39m), and fifth in the A String Discus (18.2m).
B String performances in the Shot Putt and Discus came respectively from Bobby Hagan (4.18m) and Dave Marshall (13.3m), which saw them place fifth and third.
In the Javelin, Bobby Hagan threw 15.4m for fifth in the A String, and Anthony Liddle threw 13.9m for fourth in the B String.
We now move on to the Women’s events, where there were some excellent all-round performances achieved.
Team Manager Holly Lawrence was certainly a shining example here, as she enjoyed two A race victories in the 3000 and 800m events.
She won the 3000m in a time of 10m38.35s, and the 800m in2m32.99s.
Kisty Burville gave tremendous support in the 3000m. by winning the B race in 11m46.84s.
In the 800m, newcomer Jessica Holman finished second in the B race, posting a time of 2m56.47s.
The 400m saw Under 18 athlete Mya Young superbly take the A race in 65.3s, with again excellent B race support coming from Kirsty Burville, who won in 72.9s.
In the 1500m, Under 18 athlete Charlotte Marshall battled strongly to finish a close third in the A race in 5m56.92s, and Jessica Holman finished second in the B race in 6m31.22s.
Sprint specialist Ellie Wickens was just outsprinted in the 100m A race, finishing third in 13.3s, and was very close to winning the A race of the 200m, when she clocked 28.3s.
Mya Young gave excellent support by winning the B race in 29.7s.
Morpeth superbly won both the Women’s relays.
In the 4 x 100m, Charlotte Marshall, Ellie Wickens, Olivia Gent, and Mya Fox steered them to victory in 57.2s.
Kirsty Burville, Jessica Holman, Charlotte Marshall, and Ellie Wickens got round in 4m55.78s to take an excellent win.
The Women’s Field events saw Morpeth gain three A String victories and two B string wins as support, amongst a host of other good performances.
Olivia Gent and Ellie Wickens combined well in both the Long and Triple Jump events.
Gent won both A String sections with efforts of 4.91m and 9.85m respectively, whilst Wicken’s took both B String sections, by producing respective performances of 4.26m and 9.69m.
Former North East Champion Bobby Griffiths was Morpeth’s third A String winner, producing 30.28m in the Javelin.
Claire Reid finished third in the B String, where she produced a best of 13.20m.
As usual Reid took part in the bulk of the Morpeth throwing efforts, finishing in second place in the A Strings of the Hammer, the Discus, and the Shot Putt competitions.
In the Hammer she produced a best of 22.01m, in the Discus a best of 25.89m, and in the Shot Putt a best of 8.82m.
Vina Desai finished second in the B String Hammer with a best of 9.95m.
Ellie Wickens was second in the B String Discus, producing a best performance of 17.88m, and Jessica Holman was fifth in the B String Shot Putt with a best of 4.89m.
Hopefully, the squad can continue to produce more excellent performances throughout the remaining three matches, to ensure a chance of returning to the first division next season.
The season continues at Shildon on Saturday 16 May.
MATCH RESULT
1st Morpeth Harriers 354pts, 2nd Tyne Bridge 275.5pts. 3rd Chester Le Street/Durham 256.5pts, 4th New Marske 215pts, 5th South Shields/Birtley 206pts, 6th Houghton/Jarrow & Hebburn 186pts.
They eventually won by around 79 points over nearest rivals Tyne Bridge Harriers, with Chester Le Street/Durham a few points further behind in third place.
Morpeth’s squad of ten women and seven men, combined really well throughout the day, and showed a very genuine team spirit, which very much pleased Team Managers George Patterson and Holly Lawrence.
Perhaps as usual, the men’s strengths very much lay in the distance track events, with Ellis Hetherington taking victory in both the 800m (1m59.01s) and 1500m (4m03.88s).
Bobby Hagan (2m20.96s), easily took the 800m B race, and Connor Marshall won the 1500m B race in 4m25.07s.
Alistair Douglass won the 5000m A race in 16m05.63s, and Bobby Hagan took the B race in 18m11.49s.
Douglass also finished a very close second in the 400m A race in 56.1s, and Anthony Liddle took the B race in 62.3s.
In the 100m, Douglass finished third in the A race 13.1s, with Paul Bellingham finishing second in the supporting B race in 14.5s.
Liddle finished fourth in the 200m A race in 27.7s, and Bellingham finished fourth in the B race in 30.6s.
In the Men’s 4 x 100m Relay, Morpeth finished fourth in 59.4s, courtesy of Anthony Liddle, Paul Bellingham, Bobby Hagan, and Dave Marshall.
The Men’s Field events saw Bobby Hagan finish fourth in the A String Long Jump (3.42m), with Alistair Douglass supporting in the B String with 3.22m, which gave him second place.
Including the Long Jump, Douglass played his part well for valuable points, taking part in no fewer than four events.
He finished fourth in the Triple Jump (7.79m), sixth in the A String Shot Putt (6.39m), and fifth in the A String Discus (18.2m).
B String performances in the Shot Putt and Discus came respectively from Bobby Hagan (4.18m) and Dave Marshall (13.3m), which saw them place fifth and third.
In the Javelin, Bobby Hagan threw 15.4m for fifth in the A String, and Anthony Liddle threw 13.9m for fourth in the B String.
We now move on to the Women’s events, where there were some excellent all-round performances achieved.
Team Manager Holly Lawrence was certainly a shining example here, as she enjoyed two A race victories in the 3000 and 800m events.
She won the 3000m in a time of 10m38.35s, and the 800m in2m32.99s.
Kisty Burville gave tremendous support in the 3000m. by winning the B race in 11m46.84s.
In the 800m, newcomer Jessica Holman finished second in the B race, posting a time of 2m56.47s.
The 400m saw Under 18 athlete Mya Young superbly take the A race in 65.3s, with again excellent B race support coming from Kirsty Burville, who won in 72.9s.
In the 1500m, Under 18 athlete Charlotte Marshall battled strongly to finish a close third in the A race in 5m56.92s, and Jessica Holman finished second in the B race in 6m31.22s.
Sprint specialist Ellie Wickens was just outsprinted in the 100m A race, finishing third in 13.3s, and was very close to winning the A race of the 200m, when she clocked 28.3s.
Mya Young gave excellent support by winning the B race in 29.7s.
Morpeth superbly won both the Women’s relays.
In the 4 x 100m, Charlotte Marshall, Ellie Wickens, Olivia Gent, and Mya Fox steered them to victory in 57.2s.
Kirsty Burville, Jessica Holman, Charlotte Marshall, and Ellie Wickens got round in 4m55.78s to take an excellent win.
The Women’s Field events saw Morpeth gain three A String victories and two B string wins as support, amongst a host of other good performances.
Olivia Gent and Ellie Wickens combined well in both the Long and Triple Jump events.
Gent won both A String sections with efforts of 4.91m and 9.85m respectively, whilst Wicken’s took both B String sections, by producing respective performances of 4.26m and 9.69m.
Former North East Champion Bobby Griffiths was Morpeth’s third A String winner, producing 30.28m in the Javelin.
Claire Reid finished third in the B String, where she produced a best of 13.20m.
As usual Reid took part in the bulk of the Morpeth throwing efforts, finishing in second place in the A Strings of the Hammer, the Discus, and the Shot Putt competitions.
In the Hammer she produced a best of 22.01m, in the Discus a best of 25.89m, and in the Shot Putt a best of 8.82m.
Vina Desai finished second in the B String Hammer with a best of 9.95m.
Ellie Wickens was second in the B String Discus, producing a best performance of 17.88m, and Jessica Holman was fifth in the B String Shot Putt with a best of 4.89m.
Hopefully, the squad can continue to produce more excellent performances throughout the remaining three matches, to ensure a chance of returning to the first division next season.
The season continues at Shildon on Saturday 16 May.
MATCH RESULT
1st Morpeth Harriers 354pts, 2nd Tyne Bridge 275.5pts. 3rd Chester Le Street/Durham 256.5pts, 4th New Marske 215pts, 5th South Shields/Birtley 206pts, 6th Houghton/Jarrow & Hebburn 186pts.