NORTH EAST YOUTH DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE DIVISION 1 MATCH 1

Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes squad, under the brand new Team Management duo of Mark Brown (Male),
​and Dave Thomas (Female), made a most encouraging start to their 2017 NEYDL Track and Field campaign,
by finishing an excellent second to a very strong Harrogate squad, in their opening Division 1 fixture,
held at Middlesbrough Sports Village on Sunday 30th April 2017.

They only lost out for victory by a mere 23 points (subject to further scrutiny), against a Harrogate squad,
who will prove hard to beat this season, as they are boosted by an injection of good Under 17 Athletes of both genders, because the Yorkshire squad have pulled out of the higher echelon Under 17/Under 20 league,
contained within the National competition.

Particularly outstanding on the day for Morpeth, were some of their already well established Under 17 athletes, along with a sprinkling of very competent Under 15 performances, and they were somewhat boosted by the early efforts of some of the novice Under 13 athletes, some of whom were gracing a Track and Field stage for the very first time, a factor which pleased Messrs Brown and Thomas, which will also serve to give the squad improvement over the next three fixtures, to be held later this month, at the end of June,
culminating in the final fixture in early July.

Back with Sunday’s match, and one athlete who proved to be in really outstanding form,
despite a stiff breeze, which seriously affected personal ambitions both on the Field, and on the Track,
was Morpeth Under 17 Woman Throws specialist Bobbie Griffiths.

She won all three of her competitions with consummate ease, winning her best event,
the Javelin, with her best throw of 38.60m, the Hammer with 37.15m, and the Discus with 27.88m,
all just short of her personal best, but nevertheless, considering the extremely windy conditions,
good early season pointers to further success, and considerable winning margins.

Griffiths and Morpeth were well backed up by good B string efforts by Megan Winter in the Javelin (17.28m),
and Hammer (23.01m), and Nadine Arkle, who is unable to sprint at present due to injury,
bravely stepping in to throw the Discus, producing a best of 13.06m, which won the B string competition.
Winter’s efforts meanwhile gained her second places in both instances.

Another outstanding performer in the Under 17 Women’s section was Jessica Young-Rogers,
who won the A string races of the 100m and 200m in 12.5s and 26.7s, both just outside her personal best.
Backing Jessica up for Morpeth with good B string efforts were Katie Hilton,
who won the 100m in 13.1s, and Natasha Hart, who finished second in the 200m in 32.1s.

MATCH RESULTS (Subject to further scrutiny)
1st Harrogate 724pts,
2nd Morpeth 701pts,
3rd Durham 620pts,
4th New Marske 582pts,
5th Blaydon 510pts,
6th Tynedale 440pts.

Read Full Match Report

Match 1 Results