Morpeth Harriers & AC’s Senior Men and Women’s Track and Field squad maintained their excellent start to their NESDL Division 2 campaign, when they easily carved out a hard worked victory at Shildon Stadium on Saturday 16th May in their second-round match.
Team Manager’s, George Patterson and Holly Lawrence had managed to muster an excellent number of twenty three athletes, ten men, and thirteen women into the team, who also managed to accumulate thirteen A string and eleven B string wins, plus two relay victories, on a day very worthy of much credit.
As Team Manager, Lawrence clearly led by example, managing two A race wins in the Women’s 800m and 3000m events, despite feeling a little tired following some recent extensive travel.
After a very steady start, she eventually went to the front of the 3000m to win in 10m37.40s.
Not long after this, she also won the A race of the 800m in 2m29.99s and also finished an excellent second in the 400m A race in 66.57s.
Lawrence also had excellent support in the B races of both the 3000m and 800m B races by Kirsty Burville, who finished second in the 3000m in 11m45.80s, and won the 800m in 2m44.26s.
B race support in the 400m, came from debutant Olga Bell, who finished in an excellent second place, posting a time of 74.4s.
The Women’s sprints also saw Morpeth’s Ellie Wickens in truly sparkling form, as she won the A races of the 100m and 200m in respective times of 13.4s and 27.14s, the latter proving to be very fractionally a new personal best.
Olivia Gent won the B race of the 100m, to make it a club double victory, posting a time of 13.9s, which was a new personal best, and Olga Bell finished second in the B race of the 200m, with a time of 33.2s.
Kay Errington won the Women’s 400m Hurdles in a time of 85.9s.
The Women’s 1500m saw Sophie Ward and Julie Roche of Morpeth finish third in the A and B races with respective clocking’s of 5m54.64s, and 6m35.05s.
The Morpeth Women rounded off an excellent day on the track, by winning both relay events.
Charlotte Earl, Olivia Gent, Grace James, and Ellie Wickens posted a winning finishing time in the 4 x 100m of 53.9s.
In the 4 x 400m Kay Errington, Kirsty Burville, Sophie Ward, and Olga Bell brought the Morpeth quartet home in 5m17.53s.
The day in the Field Events for Morpeth got off to a most brilliant of starts, when the Senior Team debuting of Under 18 Hammer Thrower Alexandria Hodgson came up trumps, as she won the A String competition by producing a best throw of 39.11m.
This currently ranks her around 80th in the Senior rankings in the UK to date, and fourth in her own age rankings, regionally she will now lie in third place throwing the 4k weight.
Veteran thrower Claire Reid took the winning honours in the B String to complete an excellent double win for her club, by throwing 22.45m.
Reid also enjoyed success in the Discus, winning the A String by producing a best throw of 28.79m.
Ellie Wickens confirmed another excellent double win for her club, by winning the B String with a best of 18.39m.
In the Javelin, Bobbie Griffiths succumbed to a rare defeat to New Marske Multi Eventer Caroline Likaraba, losing out by around three metres with her best throw of 31.25m.
Griffiths had not lost a throwing contest since her days as an Under 15.
Kay Errington threw 19.35m for second place in the B string, and Claire Reid was a Morpeth additional thrower, weighing in with a best of 13.51m.
Reid was not very far from winning the Shot Putt A String when she putted a best of 8.78m.
Julie Roche finished fourth in the B String with a best of 5.27m.
Morpeth were very dominant in the Long Jump and Triple Jump event.
In the Long Jump, new signing Grace James produced a best of 5.37m to win the A String, which was a new League Record, and Charlotte Earl won the B String with a best of 4.99m.
Olivia Gent was not far behind Earl in the contest, with her best of 4.91m.
There was also a Morpeth double victory in the Triple Jump, with Charlotte Earl winning the A String with a best of 10.52m, and Olivia Gent won the B String with a best of 9.72m.
On to the Men’s events, where on the track, three A race wins, and four B race wins were achieved.
There was one double victory, which came in the 3000m.
Thomas Prentice won the A race in 9m06.53s, with Alistair Douglass taking the B race in 9m27.54s.
It was also the first of two race wins on the day for Prentice, who was making his Senior Track debut for Morpeth.
He also won the 1500m in 4m14.45s, with another newcomer Tom Pattinson finishing an excellent second in the B race, posting a time of 4m51.54s.
Another debutant for Morpeth was Alastair Beasley, where after front running the 800m, and leading the field as they went through bell, he gently eased off the pace going down the back straight, enough to allow Durham’s Joshua Wraith to ease past with 200m remaining.
However, Wraith’s possible moment of glory was very short lived, as Beasley attacked again, and very cooly took victory in a time of 2m11.64, with Wraith just over a second adrift.
Morpeth Under 18 athlete Thomas Roche finished second in the B race in 2m20.14s.
Making his Morpeth debut, 20-year-old sprinter Kevin Thomas finished second in both the A race of the 100m, and 200m, posting times of 12.51s, and 25.41s respectively,
Alistair Douglass won the B race of the 100m in 12.94s, and Ben Harding took the B race of the 200m in 25.60s.
Another Morpeth competitor in the 100m and 200m was Paul Bellingham, who posted times of 14.29s, and 30.25s, respectively.
Meanwhile Douglass and Harding had other moments of glory, when Douglass finished second in the 400m A race in 54.30s, and Harding took the B race in 56.51s.
Another Morpeth competitor in the 400m was debutant Jack Walker, who posted a time of 60.90s.
Morpeth Men finished third in the Men’s 4 x 100m, courtesy of Walker, Bobby Hagan, Paul Bellingham, and Tom Pattinson, producing a time of 55.59s.
In the 4 x 400m Relay, Morpeth Men managed to finish second in 4m04.30s, courtesy of Alastair Beasley, Bobby Hagan, Thomas Roche, and Jack Walker.
Morpeth Men’s Field Event duties were shared by five athletes, and the best result came from the Long Jump, which saw a double win for the club, courtesy of Kevin Thomas who won the A String with an excellent 4.76m, with Bobby Hagan taking the B String with 3.72m.
Hagan was by far Morpeth’s hardest worker in the Field Events, placing fifth in the A String Javelin (16.96m), fifth in the B String Shot Putt (4.14m), and fourth in the B String Discus (11.72m).
Alistair Douglass finished third in the Triple Jump with a best effort of 7.56m, plus also fourth in the A String Discus with 18.73m.
Jack Walker finished fourth in the A String Shot Putt, with a best effort of 6.12m, and Alastair Beasley placed fourth in the B String Javelin, producing a best effort of 11.63m.
Next round of NESDL matches is on Sunday 14th June 2026, and Morpeth Harriers compete at Hexham.
MATCH RESULT
1st Morpeth Harriers 338pts, 2nd South Shields/Birtley AC 254pts, 3rd New Marske 210pts, 4th Houghton Harriers/Jarrow & Hebburn 148pts, 5th Tyne Bridge 139pts, 6th Chester Le Street/Durham City 98pts.
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Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes, who this season have joined forces alongside Tyne Bridge Harriers for their 2026 NEYDL Division 2 campaign, were in action in their second-round match at Shildon on Sunday 17th May.
Team Manager David Swinburne had managed to muster fifteen athletes from the club, with ten male, and five females from the club joining the seven provided by the Newcastle club, making a total of twenty-two athletes taking part.
After finishing bottom of the eight competing squads in the opening match in April, it was refreshing to see the combined efforts of the squad enable them to finish sixth on this occasion.
Seven A event wins, and two B event wins were achieved on the day, with the bulk of victories coming from the Morpeth contingent.
Under 16 Boy Mason Gaylor was once again a star performer, having three A event wins to his credit.
He won the 800m in 2m13.81s, with Jack Dhawar getting third in the B race in 2m25.0s.
Gaylor won the 300m in 39.98s, and the Long Jump, where he produced a best of 5.16m.
Jacob Thompson of Morpeth finished third in the B String Long Jump, with his best effort of 2.96m.
Another star Morpeth performance came from Under 14 Boy Joseph Fawcett, who very much front ran his 1500m from gun to finish line, beating off the close attentions of his fiercest rival Jacob Hopper of Jarrow and Hebburn.
Fawcett’s finishing time of 4m37.71s, was not only a new personal best for him, also sees him placed around fortieth in the country for his efforts.
Morpeth Under 18 sprinter Will Hodgson also gave his all in the 100m and 200m events but just lost out to South Shields athlete Freddie Lloyd on both occasions.
Hodgson posted times of 11.98s and 24.19s, respectively.
Under 16 Girl Heidi Wilkinson ran well in the 1500m, but found Tynedale’s Eleanor Dickie, daughter of former Morpeth Harrier Paul, a little too strong in opposition terms.
Nevertheless, she maintained her nerve to finish a well-earned second in 5m03.56s.
Charlotte Marshall of Morpeth won the Under 18 Women’s 1500m, posting a time of 6m01.63s.
William Fawcett, slightly younger brother of Joseph, won the B race of the Under 14 Boys 800m, posting a time of 2m38.52s.
Other Morpeth performances in this event came from Hector Ford-Hutchinson (2m40.71s), and Joseph Clasper (2m45.36s).
Clasper and Ford-Hutchinson also competed in the 200m, where the former finished sixth in the A race (29.26s), and the latter finished fourth in the B race in 32.63s.
In the Under 16 Girls 200m, Morpeth’s Sophie Peace finished fourth in the A race in 29.58s, and Zoe Tomlinson finished fourth in the B race in 33.54s.
The Under 16 Girls 800m saw Morpeth pair Faye Heatley and Zoe Tomlinson in action.
Heatley finished fourth in the A race in 2m34.40s, and Tomlinson was third in the B race in 2m47.65s.
In the Under 16 Girls 100m, Sophie Peace was fourth in the A race in 14.1s, and Faye Heatley was second in the B race in 14.7s.
Charlie Taylor was sixth in the A race of the Under 16 Boys 200m in 28.91s.
Three athletes from Morpeth Harriers competed in the Under 16 Girls Long Jump.
Faye Heatley finished fifth in the A String, producing a best of 3.69m, Sophie Peace produced a best of 3.65m for second in the B String, and an additional performance of 2.58m came from Zoe Tomlinson.
Jacob Thompson of Morpeth finished third in the A String Javelin, with a best performance of 11.79m.
Genuine Teamwork was definitely the order of the day from this dedicated squad of athletes, who supported each other in everyway possible, hopefully more will come on board before the season’s end in July.
The next round of competition is on Sunday 21st June at Whitley Bay.
MATCH RESULT
1st Middlesbrough 563pts, 2nd Chester Le Street/Durham 526.5pts, 3rd South Shields/Elswick Harriers 437pts, 4th Birtley AC/Jarrow & H/Phoenix 401.5pts, 5th New Marske 384pts, 6th Morpeth/Tyne Bridge 358pts, 7th Tynedale/Prudhoe 332pts, 8th Blaydon/Wallsend/Gosforth 247pts.
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Three members of Morpeth Harriers competed at the high-profile BMC Manchester Grand Prix, held at Trafford on Saturday 16th May.
Finn Brodie and Carl Avery finished eighth and ninth respectively in the fastest of two 5000m races, posting seasons best times of 14m14.53s, and 14m15.12s.
In the third fastest 1500m, Ellis Hetherington finished fourth in 3m51.36s, which was also his best time so far for the distance this season.
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Ben Harding of Morpeth Harriers equalled his seasons best time of 56.70s for 400m, when he finished as the fastest Over 55 Man at the opening North East Masters Track and Field League Monday 18th May.
Paul Bentley of Morpeth Harriers competed in the 3000m.
The Over 80 Veteran posted a finishing time of 20m56s.
Team Manager’s, George Patterson and Holly Lawrence had managed to muster an excellent number of twenty three athletes, ten men, and thirteen women into the team, who also managed to accumulate thirteen A string and eleven B string wins, plus two relay victories, on a day very worthy of much credit.
As Team Manager, Lawrence clearly led by example, managing two A race wins in the Women’s 800m and 3000m events, despite feeling a little tired following some recent extensive travel.
After a very steady start, she eventually went to the front of the 3000m to win in 10m37.40s.
Not long after this, she also won the A race of the 800m in 2m29.99s and also finished an excellent second in the 400m A race in 66.57s.
Lawrence also had excellent support in the B races of both the 3000m and 800m B races by Kirsty Burville, who finished second in the 3000m in 11m45.80s, and won the 800m in 2m44.26s.
B race support in the 400m, came from debutant Olga Bell, who finished in an excellent second place, posting a time of 74.4s.
The Women’s sprints also saw Morpeth’s Ellie Wickens in truly sparkling form, as she won the A races of the 100m and 200m in respective times of 13.4s and 27.14s, the latter proving to be very fractionally a new personal best.
Olivia Gent won the B race of the 100m, to make it a club double victory, posting a time of 13.9s, which was a new personal best, and Olga Bell finished second in the B race of the 200m, with a time of 33.2s.
Kay Errington won the Women’s 400m Hurdles in a time of 85.9s.
The Women’s 1500m saw Sophie Ward and Julie Roche of Morpeth finish third in the A and B races with respective clocking’s of 5m54.64s, and 6m35.05s.
The Morpeth Women rounded off an excellent day on the track, by winning both relay events.
Charlotte Earl, Olivia Gent, Grace James, and Ellie Wickens posted a winning finishing time in the 4 x 100m of 53.9s.
In the 4 x 400m Kay Errington, Kirsty Burville, Sophie Ward, and Olga Bell brought the Morpeth quartet home in 5m17.53s.
The day in the Field Events for Morpeth got off to a most brilliant of starts, when the Senior Team debuting of Under 18 Hammer Thrower Alexandria Hodgson came up trumps, as she won the A String competition by producing a best throw of 39.11m.
This currently ranks her around 80th in the Senior rankings in the UK to date, and fourth in her own age rankings, regionally she will now lie in third place throwing the 4k weight.
Veteran thrower Claire Reid took the winning honours in the B String to complete an excellent double win for her club, by throwing 22.45m.
Reid also enjoyed success in the Discus, winning the A String by producing a best throw of 28.79m.
Ellie Wickens confirmed another excellent double win for her club, by winning the B String with a best of 18.39m.
In the Javelin, Bobbie Griffiths succumbed to a rare defeat to New Marske Multi Eventer Caroline Likaraba, losing out by around three metres with her best throw of 31.25m.
Griffiths had not lost a throwing contest since her days as an Under 15.
Kay Errington threw 19.35m for second place in the B string, and Claire Reid was a Morpeth additional thrower, weighing in with a best of 13.51m.
Reid was not very far from winning the Shot Putt A String when she putted a best of 8.78m.
Julie Roche finished fourth in the B String with a best of 5.27m.
Morpeth were very dominant in the Long Jump and Triple Jump event.
In the Long Jump, new signing Grace James produced a best of 5.37m to win the A String, which was a new League Record, and Charlotte Earl won the B String with a best of 4.99m.
Olivia Gent was not far behind Earl in the contest, with her best of 4.91m.
There was also a Morpeth double victory in the Triple Jump, with Charlotte Earl winning the A String with a best of 10.52m, and Olivia Gent won the B String with a best of 9.72m.
On to the Men’s events, where on the track, three A race wins, and four B race wins were achieved.
There was one double victory, which came in the 3000m.
Thomas Prentice won the A race in 9m06.53s, with Alistair Douglass taking the B race in 9m27.54s.
It was also the first of two race wins on the day for Prentice, who was making his Senior Track debut for Morpeth.
He also won the 1500m in 4m14.45s, with another newcomer Tom Pattinson finishing an excellent second in the B race, posting a time of 4m51.54s.
Another debutant for Morpeth was Alastair Beasley, where after front running the 800m, and leading the field as they went through bell, he gently eased off the pace going down the back straight, enough to allow Durham’s Joshua Wraith to ease past with 200m remaining.
However, Wraith’s possible moment of glory was very short lived, as Beasley attacked again, and very cooly took victory in a time of 2m11.64, with Wraith just over a second adrift.
Morpeth Under 18 athlete Thomas Roche finished second in the B race in 2m20.14s.
Making his Morpeth debut, 20-year-old sprinter Kevin Thomas finished second in both the A race of the 100m, and 200m, posting times of 12.51s, and 25.41s respectively,
Alistair Douglass won the B race of the 100m in 12.94s, and Ben Harding took the B race of the 200m in 25.60s.
Another Morpeth competitor in the 100m and 200m was Paul Bellingham, who posted times of 14.29s, and 30.25s, respectively.
Meanwhile Douglass and Harding had other moments of glory, when Douglass finished second in the 400m A race in 54.30s, and Harding took the B race in 56.51s.
Another Morpeth competitor in the 400m was debutant Jack Walker, who posted a time of 60.90s.
Morpeth Men finished third in the Men’s 4 x 100m, courtesy of Walker, Bobby Hagan, Paul Bellingham, and Tom Pattinson, producing a time of 55.59s.
In the 4 x 400m Relay, Morpeth Men managed to finish second in 4m04.30s, courtesy of Alastair Beasley, Bobby Hagan, Thomas Roche, and Jack Walker.
Morpeth Men’s Field Event duties were shared by five athletes, and the best result came from the Long Jump, which saw a double win for the club, courtesy of Kevin Thomas who won the A String with an excellent 4.76m, with Bobby Hagan taking the B String with 3.72m.
Hagan was by far Morpeth’s hardest worker in the Field Events, placing fifth in the A String Javelin (16.96m), fifth in the B String Shot Putt (4.14m), and fourth in the B String Discus (11.72m).
Alistair Douglass finished third in the Triple Jump with a best effort of 7.56m, plus also fourth in the A String Discus with 18.73m.
Jack Walker finished fourth in the A String Shot Putt, with a best effort of 6.12m, and Alastair Beasley placed fourth in the B String Javelin, producing a best effort of 11.63m.
Next round of NESDL matches is on Sunday 14th June 2026, and Morpeth Harriers compete at Hexham.
MATCH RESULT
1st Morpeth Harriers 338pts, 2nd South Shields/Birtley AC 254pts, 3rd New Marske 210pts, 4th Houghton Harriers/Jarrow & Hebburn 148pts, 5th Tyne Bridge 139pts, 6th Chester Le Street/Durham City 98pts.
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Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes, who this season have joined forces alongside Tyne Bridge Harriers for their 2026 NEYDL Division 2 campaign, were in action in their second-round match at Shildon on Sunday 17th May.
Team Manager David Swinburne had managed to muster fifteen athletes from the club, with ten male, and five females from the club joining the seven provided by the Newcastle club, making a total of twenty-two athletes taking part.
After finishing bottom of the eight competing squads in the opening match in April, it was refreshing to see the combined efforts of the squad enable them to finish sixth on this occasion.
Seven A event wins, and two B event wins were achieved on the day, with the bulk of victories coming from the Morpeth contingent.
Under 16 Boy Mason Gaylor was once again a star performer, having three A event wins to his credit.
He won the 800m in 2m13.81s, with Jack Dhawar getting third in the B race in 2m25.0s.
Gaylor won the 300m in 39.98s, and the Long Jump, where he produced a best of 5.16m.
Jacob Thompson of Morpeth finished third in the B String Long Jump, with his best effort of 2.96m.
Another star Morpeth performance came from Under 14 Boy Joseph Fawcett, who very much front ran his 1500m from gun to finish line, beating off the close attentions of his fiercest rival Jacob Hopper of Jarrow and Hebburn.
Fawcett’s finishing time of 4m37.71s, was not only a new personal best for him, also sees him placed around fortieth in the country for his efforts.
Morpeth Under 18 sprinter Will Hodgson also gave his all in the 100m and 200m events but just lost out to South Shields athlete Freddie Lloyd on both occasions.
Hodgson posted times of 11.98s and 24.19s, respectively.
Under 16 Girl Heidi Wilkinson ran well in the 1500m, but found Tynedale’s Eleanor Dickie, daughter of former Morpeth Harrier Paul, a little too strong in opposition terms.
Nevertheless, she maintained her nerve to finish a well-earned second in 5m03.56s.
Charlotte Marshall of Morpeth won the Under 18 Women’s 1500m, posting a time of 6m01.63s.
William Fawcett, slightly younger brother of Joseph, won the B race of the Under 14 Boys 800m, posting a time of 2m38.52s.
Other Morpeth performances in this event came from Hector Ford-Hutchinson (2m40.71s), and Joseph Clasper (2m45.36s).
Clasper and Ford-Hutchinson also competed in the 200m, where the former finished sixth in the A race (29.26s), and the latter finished fourth in the B race in 32.63s.
In the Under 16 Girls 200m, Morpeth’s Sophie Peace finished fourth in the A race in 29.58s, and Zoe Tomlinson finished fourth in the B race in 33.54s.
The Under 16 Girls 800m saw Morpeth pair Faye Heatley and Zoe Tomlinson in action.
Heatley finished fourth in the A race in 2m34.40s, and Tomlinson was third in the B race in 2m47.65s.
In the Under 16 Girls 100m, Sophie Peace was fourth in the A race in 14.1s, and Faye Heatley was second in the B race in 14.7s.
Charlie Taylor was sixth in the A race of the Under 16 Boys 200m in 28.91s.
Three athletes from Morpeth Harriers competed in the Under 16 Girls Long Jump.
Faye Heatley finished fifth in the A String, producing a best of 3.69m, Sophie Peace produced a best of 3.65m for second in the B String, and an additional performance of 2.58m came from Zoe Tomlinson.
Jacob Thompson of Morpeth finished third in the A String Javelin, with a best performance of 11.79m.
Genuine Teamwork was definitely the order of the day from this dedicated squad of athletes, who supported each other in everyway possible, hopefully more will come on board before the season’s end in July.
The next round of competition is on Sunday 21st June at Whitley Bay.
MATCH RESULT
1st Middlesbrough 563pts, 2nd Chester Le Street/Durham 526.5pts, 3rd South Shields/Elswick Harriers 437pts, 4th Birtley AC/Jarrow & H/Phoenix 401.5pts, 5th New Marske 384pts, 6th Morpeth/Tyne Bridge 358pts, 7th Tynedale/Prudhoe 332pts, 8th Blaydon/Wallsend/Gosforth 247pts.
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Three members of Morpeth Harriers competed at the high-profile BMC Manchester Grand Prix, held at Trafford on Saturday 16th May.
Finn Brodie and Carl Avery finished eighth and ninth respectively in the fastest of two 5000m races, posting seasons best times of 14m14.53s, and 14m15.12s.
In the third fastest 1500m, Ellis Hetherington finished fourth in 3m51.36s, which was also his best time so far for the distance this season.
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Ben Harding of Morpeth Harriers equalled his seasons best time of 56.70s for 400m, when he finished as the fastest Over 55 Man at the opening North East Masters Track and Field League Monday 18th May.
Paul Bentley of Morpeth Harriers competed in the 3000m.
The Over 80 Veteran posted a finishing time of 20m56s.