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2009 Track and Field
Northern Athletics
UK Running Track Directory
The definite guide to athletics tracks in the UK.
2009 Track and Field News
Updated 13th September 2009
2008 Track and Field News
2009 TRACK & FIELD PROGRAMME
Click here for full programme
2009 Track & Field News
Updated 27th August 2009
Laura Weightman Top Junior Woman !
Tartan Games !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !
BMC Nike Grand Prix !
BMC Trafford Grand Prix !
BMC Race Series !
Northern League Division 3 Match !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !
World Masters Athletics Championships !
BMC Races Monkton Stadium !
National Young Athletes League Division 2 ( July 19th )
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 4 )
European Championships !
BMC Nike Grand Prix Meeting !
Aviva World Trials & UK Track & Field Championships !
English Schools Track & Field Championships !
Scottish Schools Track & Field Championships !
BMC Race Series !
Northern League Division 3 Match !
Aviva Under 23 & Under 20 Championships !
BMC 5000m Race !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 3 )
Northern Senior & Under 20 Track & Field Championships !
Veterans North East Track & Field Championships !
BMC Race Series !
Veterans North East League Track & Field League No. 3
Super 8 Athletics !
Nike BMC Classic !
Northern League Division 3 Match !
National Young Athletes League Division 2 ( May 31st )
BMC Nike Grand Prix !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 2 )
BMC Race Series !
Veterans North East Track & Field League !
Loughborough International Track & Field Championships !
National Young Athletes League Division 2 ( May 17th )
North Eastern Counties Track & Field Championships !
Northern League Division 3 !
National Young Athletes League Division 2 ( May 3rd )
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 1 )
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Laura Weightman Top Junior Woman !
As a footnote to the Track and Field season,
although it has now been well documented,
the fact that Morpeths Laura Weightman did not make
the European Junior Championships was a large disappointment to her,
she can still be fairly upbeat about her seasons achievements.
Laura ranks top Junior Women in the UK,
and second in Europe with her best 1500m clocking of 4m14.90s,
only beaten by the European Junior Champion who clocked 4m14.64s.
That also ranks her as 19th when placed with UK Senior Women.
Her 800m time of 2m05.3s ranks her as fourth Junior in the UK,
and 27th amongst Seniors.9m33.5s, saw her place 9th in the
UK Junior Womens rankings for the 3000m.
Laura will now focus on her Road and
Cross Country season in a positive mode.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Tartan Games !
The Annual Tartan Games meeting held at Gateshead's
International Stadium on Saturday 22nd August,
which is traditionally the final domestic local
Track and Field event for the season,
saw five Morpeth Harriers in action.
Most successful were Marcus Cram and Laura Weightman
who had wins in the Under 17 Mens 1500m (4m25.50s)
and Under 20 Womens 400m (58.43s)
In the case of the latter, it was a new personal best,
with her previous figures reading 58.80s,
having being set in a Northern League
match at Jarrow in 2008.
Joe Robertshaw set new figures in the Under 15 Boys 400m
when he finished an excellent second in 56.84s.
Claire Reid took part in no less than three Field events when
she finished second in both the Senior Womens Discus and Javelin,
and she went on to place third in the Shot.
Her best distances were 36.06m, 19.09m, and 10.42m respectively.
A new Morpeth name appeared in the Under 15 Girls 200m
in the form of Greta Maldziuwlaite,
who finished fifth in Heat 2 of the event in 32.29s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !
Three Morpeth Harriers produced personal best performances
at the sixth and final Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League
meeting held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Wednesday 12th August.
Jonnie Nisbet clocked an excellent 2m12.58s
when finishing third in the Under 15 Boys 800m.
In the Under 17 Mens 400m, Marcus Cram finished sixth
in the A race of the seeded 400m in 52.64s.
Cram also went on to set a new time of 9m33.50s
in his first 3000m when he finished second.
Third place went to his Morpeth club colleague
Laura Weightman who set new figures of 9m33.55s.
Laura's younger brother Adam finished second in the
Under 13 Boys High Jump with his clearance of 1.10m.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Nike Grand Prix !
Nick McCormick produced his best performance for the season
when he clocked 3m41.47s, to finish second to Australian
Nick Bromley (3m41.18s) in the BMC 1500m A race at the
Nike Grand Prix Meeting in Cardiff on Saturday night, 15th August.
His Morpeth Harriers club colleague Jonathan Taylor was just
under a second outside his personal best when he finished
seventh in 3m42.87s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Trafford Grand Prix !
Morpeths Jonathan Taylor put his disappointments of the
European Under 23 Championships behind him to win the
Mens 1500m A race at the BMC Trafford Grand Prix meeting
last Wednesday 5th August in a time of 3m44.45s.
At the same meeting fellow Morpeth Harrier Marcus Cram
finished second in the 800m A race in a time of 1m58.49s.
Morpeths Michael Dawson finished fifteenth in the 3000m in 8m59.67s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Race Series !
Six days after clocking a personal best of 4m18.4s for the 1500m,
Morpeths Laura Weightman returned to the very same venue
at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow on Monday 3rd August,
and superbly smashed that time by just under four seconds,
by setting new figures of 4m14.9s.
In doing so, she beat long term leader Justina Heslop
of Clapham Chasers in the mixed BMC B race by nearly two seconds.
It was certainly a good night for the Weightman
household when younger brother Connor (an Under 17 athlete)
clocked a lifetime best of 4m50.6s to take the 1500m D race.
Connor broke the five minute barrier for the first time ever.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Northern League Division 3 Match !
Fielding a severely weakened squad, ( 7 Men and 6 Women)
Morpeth Harriers Senior Track and Field team went through
the formality of completing their 2009 Northern League Division 3
campaign at Shildon on Sunday 2nd August,
to gain promotion back up to Division 2 for next season.
Despite finishing last of the six competing teams,
they did enough to win the league outright ahead of New Marske,
who by finishing second on the day just pipped City of York for promotion.
One of the finest performances on the Morpeth Harriers Mens side came in the Discus,
where Stephen Appleby threw a seasons best of 34.21m.
Mens Team Manager John Thompson finished fifth
in the B String with a best of 21.98m.
Morpeth Harriers also saw Mens wins
in the 100m and 5000m
courtesy of William Driver (11.1s),
and Nathan Shrubb (15m58.8s).
David Swinburne found himself passed with only
100m of the Mens 1500m remaining,
where he clocked 4m29.2s.
Swinburne had earlier finished third
in the 800m in 2m11.0s.
Angus Wood cleared 1.65m to finish
second in the Mens High Jump.
He also finished a good second in the 110m Hurdles in 21.6s,
and claimed another second place in the
Triple Jump with his best effort of 11.22m.
John Thompson backed him up in the
110m Hurdles B race by finishing second in 25.1s.
Will Driver finished third in the A race of the 200m in 23.9s,
and Wayne Gedge finished fourth in the B race in 28.7s.
In the Womens events, Morpeth's Claire Reid claimed
her usual victories in the Shot (10.43m), and Discus (33.58m).
On the track Morpeth's Womens Team Manager Aiveen Fox
secured a handsome victory in the 3000m in 10m39.5s,
and Kate Chapman took the B race in 11m31.1s.
Zoe Armstrong also performed well to finish second
in the 800m (2m25.5s) and 400m (64.1s) events.
She was very ably backed up in these by the B String performances
of Aiveen Fox and Catriona MacDonald.
Fox clocked an excellent 2m32.2s to win the 800m B,
and MacDonald finished second in the 400m B in 68.7s.
Armstrong's 800m effort proved to be a seasons best.
Katie Plant ran excellently to finish second in the 100m (13.8s)
and third in the 200m (29.9s).
Catriona MacDonald did well to finish third in the High Jump
with her best clearance of 1.30m.
As a footnote to the season, John Thompson and Aiveen Fox
can feel well pleased with their respective stewardships
in what has been an excellent promotion drive back
into Division 2 by the Morpeth Harriers squad.
FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st City Of York B 372pts,
2nd New Marske 348pts,
3rd Jarrow & Hebburn 302pts,
4th Richmond & Zetland 299pts,
5th Scarborough 289pts,
6th Morpeth 269pts.
FINAL LEAGUE STANDINGS
1st Morpeth 18pts,
2nd New Marske 16pts,
3rd City of York B 15pts,
4th Jarrow & Hebburn 13pts,
5th Scarborough 11pts,
6th Richmond & Zetland 11pts
(overall points scored in all four matches determines
the final result affecting Scarborough and Richmond & Zetland).
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !
There were four performances of note by athletes from Morpeth Harriers
at the fifth and penultimate Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Athletics League
meeting held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Wednesday 29th July.
Most notable of these was the further improvement of Laura Weightman
when she produced a new personal best of 4m18.4s
in the B race of seeded 1500m events to finish third.
In the 1500m A race her Morpeth clubmate Marcus Cram finished second,
and was agonisingly just under three seconds adrift of his personal best with a clocking of 4m11.1s.
In the D race Morpeth's Zoe Armstrong clocked
a seasons best of 4m55.2s to finish third,
and her improvement this season has been so immense,
that after missing nearly all of last seasons campaign,
she is back to being only four seconds adrift of her lifetime best.
Wayne Gedge was fourth in his heat of the seeded 100m events in 13.1s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
World Masters Athletics Championships !
News from the World Masters Athletics Championships held in Lahti, Finland,
reveals that Morpeths Archie Jenkins finished 18th overall in the Over 55 Mens 5000m in 19m39.22s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Races Monkton Stadium !
Morpeths Marcus Cram clocked a new personal best
of 1m58.9s for 800m at the BMC Regional races
held at Jarrow on Monday 20th July,
finishing one place behind clubmate
Nick Swinburn who clocked 1m58.5s.
At the same meeting Morpeth's Laura Weightman
was just outside her best for 800m with 2m07.8s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
National Young Athletes League Division 2
Unfortunately Morpeth Harriers final Young Athletes League meeting
scheduled to be held at Chester Le Street's Riverside Track on Sunday 19th July,
was cancelled due to the venue being flooded during last Friday's torrential downpour.
No new date for the fixture has been set.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !
Morpeths Laura Weightman bounced back from her disappointment
in not securing entry into the forthcoming European Junior Championships,
by clocking a brand new personal best time of 2m05.3s,
when convincingly winning the Under 20 Womens seeded 800m event,
at the fourth Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Athletics League meeting,
held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Wednesday 15th July.
She took nearly three seconds off her previous figures,
which she had set in the North Eastern Counties
Championships at the same venue in 2008.
Another Morpeth Harrier in determined form, and also making up
for his disappointment at the previous weekends
Scottish Schools Championships was Marcus Cram.
Watched by his father Steve, he clocked a very respectable 1m59.6s,
when winning Heat 2 of the 800m seeded events,
which was agonisingly just adrift of his best,
which he had set in his heat at the aforementioned Scottish event.
It certainly became a good night for Morpeth Harriers when
Neil Wilkinson clocked a seasons best of 8m53.5s to finish
second in the Mens 3000m,
and Callum Duncan produced a best of 10.96m
to win the Under 15 Boys Triple Jump,
after earlier finishing second in the Long Jump with 5.01m.
In the seeded 150m events, Morpeth's Will Driver
finished third in 17.5s,
and Joe Robertshaw clocked 26.3s when
finishing fourth equal in the Under 15 Boys 200m.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
European Championships !
Unfortunately Morpeth's Under 23 qualifiers Jonathan Taylor
and Lewis Timmins failed to get anywhere near the medals
when they finished thirteenth and nineteenth respectively
in the Mens 5000m at the European Championships
held in Kaunas, Lithuania at the weekend.
Their respective clockings were 14m15s and 14m32.51s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Nike Grand Prix Meeting !
In a classy field, Morpeths Nick Swinburn clocked
a new personal best of 8m15.3s when finishing thirteenth
in the A race of the Mens 3000m at the BMC Nike Grand Prix
meeting held in Solihull on Saturday night (18th July ).
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Aviva World Trials & UK Track & Field Championships !
A seasons best performance of 29m27.18s, gave former UK Champion
Ian Hudspith a well earned Bronze medal in the Mens 10,000metres final
at the Aviva World Trials and UK Track and Field Championships
held at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium
over Friday 10th, Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July.
The 38 year old Morpeth Harrier was the oldest in the race,
and his performance was his best for two years.
He only just lost out for Silver by five seconds,
in the event won by Aldershot's Inter Counties Cross Country
Champion Andy Vernon, who clocked a winning time of 28m43.41s.
Another Bronze medal by a Morpeth athlete was achieved on the final day,
when Nick McCormick finished third in the televised Mens 1500m in 3m42.21s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
English Schools Track & Field Championships !
Morpeths Laura Weightman retained her Senior Girls 1500m title
at the English Schools Track and Field Championships,
held at Sheffield's Don Valley Stadium on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July.
Laura clocked a winning time of 4m24.96s,
and was one of very few Northumberland successes at the event.
Fellow Morpeth Harrier Callum Duncan finished eleventh
in the Junior Boys Triple Jump Final with his best of 11.45m.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Scottish Schools Track & Field Championships !
Morpeths Marcus Cram found the going tough at the
Scottish Schools Track and Field Championships held at
Grangemouth on Friday and Saturday 10th and 11th July.
After finishing second in his heat of the 800m in a very competent 1m59.19s,
unfortunately he placed eighth in the final in a disappointing 2m05.27s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Race Series !
Morpeths Lewis Timmins ran a personal best of 3m50.03
when he finished third in the Mens 1500m at the BMC
meeting held at Stretford on Tuesday 7th July.
At the same meeting fellow Morpeth Harrier Matt Nicholson
finished tenth in the Mens 800m in a seasons best 1m55.72s.
Unfortunately Morpeth's Laura Weightman just failed to achieve
the standard required in the Womens 1500m to get her to the
European Junior Championships, when after being paced early
on in a solo performance by New Marske's Jessica Russon,
to whom she is very grateful, she crossed the finish line in 4m21.27s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Northern League Division 3 Match !
An outstanding team victory in their third round Northern League
Division 3 match at York on Sunday 5th July, ensured that
Morpeths Senior Men & Womens Track & Field team
will be experiencing life back in Division 2 in 2010.
Winning by a clear thirty one points from the hosts Scarborough
on the day meant that they are now well clear by six league points
at the head of the table, and with only one match to go at Shildon
in August they cannot fail to gain promotion.
However it took a good number of events for the Morpeth
squad to lead the match, and on this occasion the Mens
distance athletes stood out, although there were good results
from the Women and in the Field events.
Nick Swinburn looked particularly strong in the 800m and 1500m,
where he won in 2m03.1s and 4m10.7s respectively.
He was well backed up in these events by Michael Dawson
who won the B 800m in 2m10.0s, and Jordan Scott who was
second in the B 1500m in 4m24.5s.
Morpeth also had wins in the 3000m Steeplechase,
courtesy of David Swinburne (10m06.9s) and
5000m through Kristian Forster's 16m18.9s.
Again splendid running by Jordan Scott saw him finish
second in the 5000m B race in 19m14.6s.
In the Mens Field events Steven Appleby took victory in the Discus (33.44m)
and finished second in the Hammer (22.20m)
and second in the Shot (8.61m).
In the Discus and Shot B events he was well backed up
by newcomer Adam Scott,
whose respective efforts of 15.84m,
and 7.76m saw him finish second and third.
Morpeth achieved a superb result in the Mens High Jump
with Angus Wood clearing 1.70m to win the A string,
and Michael Holland won the B string with 1.60m.
This pairing also went well in the Triple Jump,
where Angus finished third in the A string with a best of 10.83m,
and Michael won the B event with 10.38m.
Mens Team Captain John Thompson also did a great deal of work on the day,
and his best result came in the Javelin
where he finished second with a best of 34.50m.
Morpeth also had a good result in the Mens 4x400m Relay
where they finished second in 3m52.5s. seventh A string, three B string,
and a relay victory meant Morpeth Womens contributed
enormously to the teams overall success.
Team Captain Aiveen Fox led by example by winning the A races
of the 800m (2m26.9s) and 3000m (10m26.0s)
She was very well backed up by the B race wins secured by
Gwenda Cavill (2m37.8s) and Zoe Armstrong (11m03.2s).
Elaine Telford also had excellent wins in the 100m (12.9s) and 200m (26.1s)
Again there was good backing here, firstly from Emma Pearson who
finished third in the 100m B race in 15.9s, and Zoe Armstrong
who finished second in the 200m B race in 29.6s.
Morpeth secured a double victory in the 1500m when Hannah Rank
took the A race in 5m16.8s, and Emma Pearson won the B race in 5m24.8s.
In the 400m Gwenda Cavill finished fourth in the A race in 65.8s,
and Catriona MacDonald finished second in the B race in 68.9s.
Claire Reid claimed victories for Morpeth in the Discus (34.50m) and Shot (10.87m)
and went on to finish second in the Hammer with a best of 23.84m,
and fourth in the Javelin with 16.27m.
Morpeth's best B result in the Field came in the Discus courtesy
of Gwenda Cavill who had a best of 14.12m.
Aiveen Fox, Elaine Telford, Zoe Armstrong and Catriona MacDonald
all teamed up well in the Womens 4x100m and 4x400m Relay events
where they finished third and first with respective times of 58.4s and 4m31.4s.
FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Morpeth 379pts,
2nd Scarborough 348pts,
3rd New Marske 313pts,
4th City of York 310pts,
5th Richmond & Zetland 266pts,
6th Jarrow & Hebburn 259pts.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Aviva Under 23 & Under 20 Championships !
Against very tough conditions, which played against good times,
Morpeths Jonathan Taylor and Lewis Timmins each secured places
in the European Under 23 Championships due to be held in
Kaunas in Lithuania over 16th to 19th July,
by placing first and second in the 5000m,
at the Aviva Under 23 and Under 20 Championships held at Bedford
International Stadium over Saturday and Sunday 27th and 28th June.
Taylor clocked 14m27.28s, and Timmins eventually won
a close battle for second when he finished in 14m38.20s.
It wasn't so lucky however for fellow Harrier Laura Weightman,
who was hoping to reach the qualifying time to run the
1500m at the European Junior Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia,
which are being held one week after the Under 23 event.
Unfortunately the frustration continues, after she clocked
an impressive 4m22.08s for fourth place, with the first three all
dipping under the 4m20s qualifying standard required.
Weightman now has to find a suitable race before the cut
off point of 13th July, to see if she can still gain inclusion.
What the added frustration is, the fact she has already
dipped under the qualifying time this season,
however that was in a mixed race at the North Eastern
Track and Field League at the end of April,
and the authorities will not accept that as a ratified qualification.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC 5000m Race !
Recent winner of the Blaydon race Ian Hudspith,
donned his track shoes on Saturday night ( 27th June )
to come home in seventh place in 14m07.94s,
in the Mens 5000m at the BMC meeting held at Manchester.
It was Hudspith's best 5000m time since 2002.
Fellow Morpeth Harrier Matthew Nicholson,
was just inside his seasons best when he clocked
3m52.39s for seventeenth place in a talent filled 1500m.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 3 )
It was back to traditional miling at Gatesheads International Stadium
last Wednesday night ( 24th June ) when the Stan Long Memorial race was held,
as part of the third North Eastern Athletics League meeting.
The A race contained four Morpeth Harriers.
Nick Swinburn was first home for the club in third place in 4m27.34s.
Not far behind him in fifth place was Marcus Cram who clocked 4m34.03s.
One place behind Marcus came Ross Floyd who finished in 4m37.18s.
Gary Jones took part in his first ever track mile,
and finished twelfth in 4m56.08s.
Morpeth Junior Jordan Scott ran a very creditable
B race when he finished fourth in 4m50.13s.
Elsewhere in the other North Eastern Athletics League events,
Morpeth Harrier Jonnie Nisbet was just outside his personal
best when he placed fourth in the Under 15 Boys 1500m in 4m30.56s.
Callum Duncan and Joe Robertshaw finished fourth and fifth
respectively in the A race of the Under 15 Boys 100m in 12.7s and 13.3s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Northern Senior & Under 20 Track & Field Championships !
After winning his 1500m heat in 3m59.55s, Morpeths Matt Nicholson
went on to finish fifth in 3m57.07s, in the final at the
Northern Senior and Under 20 Track and Field Championships,
held at Manchester's Sports City Arena over Saturday
and Sunday 20th/21st June.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Veterans North East Track & Field Championships !
Morpeths evergreen Archie Jenkins enjoyed a triple medal winning
success at the annual Veterans North East Track & Field Championships,
held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium, on Saturday 20th June.
The Alnwick schoolteacher, having only just recovered from an operation
to cure a niggling arm and shoulder injury,
won Gold medals in the Over 55, 800m, 1500m and 5000m events.
His 1500m win saw him clock an impressive seasons best 4m55.7s,
which saw him not only improve by seventeen seconds,
the time he had clocked in the Scottish Championships a week previous,
but also saw him only a mere four seconds adrift of his best 2008 time for the distance.
In the 800m, which he was running for the first time since 2007,
saw him clock 2m32.4s, which was only five seconds
outside the best he had set two years ago.
Archie also competed strongly in the later 5000m,
where he clocked 19m23.4s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Race Series !
Morpeths Marcus Cram created a new personal best of 4m08.30s
when running in the A race of the BMC 1500m at Monkton Stadium,
Jarrow on Monday night ( 15th June )
Cram knocked a whole seven seconds off his previous best
for the distance which he set at Gateshead in July 2008.
His Morpeth Harriers club colleague Matt Nicholson also ran
in the same race and finished second in 3m53.5s,
which was agonisingly just outside his best.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Veterans North East Track & Field League No. 3
Morpeths Archie Jenkins finished as first Over 55 and second in the B race
of the Veteran Mens 1500m at the Veterans North East League
meeting on Monday night ( 15th June ) He clocked 5m03.7s.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Super 8 Athletics !
Although her time was a bit short of her target for qualifying
for the European Junior Championships, Morpeths Laura Weightman
was still very upbeat about her performance at the Super 8
meeting held in Cardiff last Wednesday 19th June.
With the deadline for qualifying still a month away,
she still feels confident following her 4m24.98s,
which saw her finish fourth in a 1500m that began very slowly,
and was eventually won in 4m15.01s by Wakefield's Charleen Thomas.
Laura described the conditions as reasonable, with a slight wind,
and had the race not been so tactically slow
she may have got closer to the qualifying time.
She will now pin her hopes on another chance
in the Junior Trials at Bedford later this month,
and hopefully a faster race.
Her training and preparations are going well,
it is just the races, where the tactics on the
occasion don't quite seem to work to plan.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Nike BMC Classic !
In his very first Track 5000m at Watford on Saturday night ( 13th June )
in the Nike BMC Classic meeting, Morpeth's Jonathan Taylor
clocked a very respectable 14m06s to finish seventh.
At the same meeting, his fellow clubmate Chris Sampson
achieved a seasons best 9m21.90s, to finish 9th in the 3000m Steeplechase.
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2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Northern League Division 3 Match !
It was largely the Womens track efforts that helped
Morpeth Harriers to take second place in their second round
Northern League Division 3 match held at
Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Saturday 6th June.
They claimed seven of the eight A race victories on offer,
and managed to take four B race victories into the bargain.
In the Womens Field events Morpeth had two A string victories.
Elaine Telford claimed wins in the 100m and 200m
in respective times of 13.0s and 26.7s, and was well backed up in
both of these by Under 17 athlete Katie Plant,
who marked her Northern League Senior debut by finishing third in the
100m B race in 14.0s, and second in the 200m B race in 29.5s.
The Womens 400m, 800m, 1500m and 3000m
saw Morpeth claim double victories.
Laura Weightman secured victories in the 400m and 800m
in respective times of 61.0s and 2m18.7s, and was well
backed up by the B race victories by Gwenda Cavill (63.9s)
and Faye Kankowski (2m43.3s).
Aiveen Fox took the 1500m in a sprint finish with Richmond and Zetland's
Jo Adams and clocked 4m42.6s, and another Northern League
Morpeth debutant Emma Pearson gallantly took the B race in 5m22.6s.
After drawing well clear in the early stages,
Zoe Armstrong ran on to win the 3000m in 11m03.7s,
and North Eastern Under 17 Womens Champion Hannah Rank
easily won the B race in 11m23.3s by finishing second overall.
Morpeth's Womens Team Captain Aiveen Fox showed her
determination and versatility by getting a clear round in the
400m Hurdles for victory where she clocked 90.7s.
Claire Reid claimed victories in the Discus and Shot events
with bests of 31.66m and 10.62m, and finished second in the
Hammer (24.33m), and third in the Javelin (14.72m).
Morpeth's best Womens B Field performer was Gwenda Cavill,
who finished second in the Discus with 14.09m.
In the Womens 4x100m Relay Morpeth finished second in 59.4s,
courtesy of Aiveen Fox, Elaine Telford, Emma Pearson and Gwenda Cavill.
Morpeth's only Mens A track victory came from Chris Sampson
who won the 3000m Steeplechase in 9m25.2s.
The next best track result for Morpeth came from
Ross Floyd and Kristian Forster.
Floyd finished second in the 800m A race in 2m07.2s,
and Forster took the B race in 2m07.8s.
Forster also finished third in the 1500m A race in 4m25.1s,
and Jordan Scott took the B race in 4m26.4s.
In the Mens 5000m, Morpeth's Mark Davies finished
third in the A race in 16m49s, and Archie Jenkins took
second in the B race in 18m57s.
It also marked a Northern League
debut for Welshman Davies.
Morpeth's only Mens Field victory came in the Discus
courtesy of Steven Appleby's 31.72m.
Appleby also finished second in the Hammer (23.85m)
and third in the Shot (9.40m).
Debutant Michael Holland did well when finishing third
in the Triple Jump A event with his best of 10.18m,
and Ray Kirkup backed him up well in the B event with 9.62m.
MATCH RESULT
1st Jarrow & Hebburn 380pts,
2nd Morpeth 321pts,
3rd New Marske 287pts,
4th Scarborough 250pts,
5th Richmond & Zetland 228pts,
6th City of York 137pts.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
National Young Athletes League Division 2 !
Morpeth Harriers just lost out to current league leaders Chester Le Street
in their third round Young Athletes Northern League Division 2 match,
held at Wentworth Stadium, Hexham on Sunday 31st May.
A margin of fifteen points only split the clubs as the Cestrians
and Morpeth each amassed in excess of 500 points with
Tynedale the closest team in third spot with 416 points.
In the Boys events, Morpeth scored best at Under 15 level
with Callum Duncan once again proving to be a star by having
three victories, and North East Under 15 Boys 1500m Champion
Jonny Nisbet secured two victories in the 400m and 800m events.
Duncan won the 200m in 25.5s, then went on to record two
Field event successes in the Long Jump (5.28m), and Javelin (35.33m)
Nisbet ran a superbly judged victory in the 800m,
where he grabbed the lead halfway down
the finishing straight to win in an impressive 2m10.9s.
His 400m however was to prove an even bigger success,
where he clocked a new personal best of 56.4s, and his victory
was sweetened even more when Joe Robertshaw
took the B race also in a new personal best of 57.6s.
North East Under 17 Womens 3000m Champion Hannah Rank
also achieved a great measure of success on the day
when she secured two A string victories in the 800m (2m30s) and 1500m (5m24s)
and she won the B Javelin event with a best of 11.45m,
backing up Rachael Steel's A string victory with her best of 13.11m.
Steel also proved to be a formidable partner to Rank in the 800m
when she won the B race in 2m38.7s.
Josh Dixon and Daniel Smith gained maximum points in the
Under 15 Boys Shot with respective bests of 11.16m and 6.26m.
In the Under 13 Boys events Joe Elder and Andrew Allen
teamed up well for a double victory in the 1500m with
respective clockings of 5m26.5s and 5m34.0s.
Katie Plant worked very hard in the Under 17 Womens events
where she recorded a victory in the 80m Hurdles A race
in 16.2s, and a B race victory in the 200m in 29.2s,
and she was second in the A race of the 100m in 14.5s.
Kathryn Lake was first in the Under 17 Womens 300m B in 48.2s race
backing up Catriona MacDonald's second place in the A race with 47.0s.
In the Under 15 Girls events Morpeth's best result came in the
1500m from a double victory secured by
Miriam Inverarity (5m43.5s) and Rhian Watkins (6m27.6s).
Francesca Price and Amy Gibson teamed up well in the
Under 15 Girls Shot where Price won the B event with a best of 6.11m,
and Gibson finished second in the A event with 6.76m.
Everyone who turned out did Team Managers Tony Ward and Gareth Plant proud,
and its all down to the final match at Chester Le Street in July,
with promotion back to Division 1 looking a distinct possibility.
MATCH RESULT
1st Chester Le Street 553pts,
2nd Morpeth 538pts,
3rd Tynedale 416pts,
4th New Marske 204pts,
5th Shildon 191pts,
6th Durham 157pts,
7th Richmond & Zetland 115pts.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Nike Grand Prix !
Jonathan Taylor of Morpeth Harriers added a whole new dimension
to his blossoming athletics career on Saturday night( 30th May )
when he finished sixth in the Mens 1500m A race at the
BMC Nike Grand Prix meeting held at Manchester's Sports City.
The race was full of quality talent, and it was won by fellow
Under 23 International James Brewer of Cheltenham in 3m40.63s,
and Taylor's individual effort can't have gone unnoticed,
as he clocked a lifetime best of 3m41.97s,
taking nearly four seconds off his previous figures.
Fellow Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman can't have
done her credentials any harm either.
Despite being a fraction outside her best time with 4m20.72s,
she still finished a creditable sixth behind Great Britain
International Helen Clitheroe of Preston.
Laura, in the early stages unfortunately found herself leading
a chasing group behind the first three or four in the fifteen
strong contest, but bravely never dropped her determination
to achieve her goal of a European Qualifying time.
Morpeths Matt Nicholson finished fourteenth
in the Mens 1500m B race in a time of 3m58.72s.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 2 )
Wednesday 27th May proved to be a great occasion for young
Morpeth Harrier Marcus Cram when he found himself
competing against more Senior athletes in the special 800m event
at the second Start Fitness North Eastern Track and
Field League held at Jarrow's, Monkton Stadium.
The occasion was the very first holding of the Jimmy Hedley Cup,
presented in honour of the former Jarrow stalwart who
passed away a few years ago, and was the man behind the many
fabulous successes that Marcus's father Steve had achieved.
Chris Parr of Gateshead just managed to win the event from Belgrave's Shaun Moralee,
despite both athletes being credited with the same time,
and Marcus managed to come home in seventh place in 2m01.4s,
and afterwards watched as father Steve presented Parr with
the trophy dedicated to his former mentor.
Jimmy Hedley would have been proud to see a younger Cram in action.
Morpeths Kristian Forster and Ross Floyd both produced
seasons bests of 9m13.8s and 9m21.4s,
when they finished second and fifth respectively
in the Senior Mens 3000m.
Morpeth's Zoe Armstrong clocked 10m57.5s
when finishing fourth in the Womens 3000m.
John Thompson of Morpeth finished second in the
Senior Mens 100m in 12.5s, and fourth in the 400m in 58.6s.
In the Under 15 Boys 200m Morpeth's Joe Robertshaw finished fourth in 27.3s.
Ben Steel finished eighth in the Under 13 Boys 800m in 2m44.08s.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Race Series !
The BMC events held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Monday 18th May
saw Morpeth Harrier Matt Nicholson finish eighth in a
very fast run Mens 800m race.
Matt clocked 1m58.8s.
Running in the mixed 800m C Race,
Morpeth's Zoe Armstrong clocked 2m30.3s
for to place 4th Lady in seventh place overall.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Veterans North East Track & Field League !
Morpeths Alistair MacDonald finished second in the
40 to 45 Age Group 1500m event at the first
Veterans North East Track and Field League meeting
held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Monday 18th May.
Alistair's time was 4m42.1s.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Loughborough International Track & Field Championships !
Rain and strong winds affected the athletes performances
and personal aspirations at the McCain sponsored high profiled
Loughborough International Track & Field Championships on Sunday 17th May.
Nevertheless Morpeths Jonathan Taylor still managed to clock
a seasons best of 3m45.21s when he won the Senior Mens 1500m A race
from Gateshead's Under 20 International Ross Murray,
who clocked both a season and personal best of 3m46.21s.
Taylor can feel well pleased with his performance,
as if the conditions had been as they were during the middle of last
week, he would have certainly bettered his lifetime best of 3m45.07s.
Not so fortunate however was his Morpeth Harrier clubmate Laura Weightman,
who finished sixth in the Womens 1500m A race.
Laura's time of 4m26.69s was certainly well short of what she had hoped for,
and she will have to seek a more faster race
in order to further her seasons ambition.
Having already clocked 4m19.9s in somewhat better conditions,
there is still certainly a fair amount of hope in prospect of achieving those goals.
North Eastern double 800m and 1500m Champion Stacey Smith
of Gateshead finished one place ahead of Laura in 4m23.84s.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Our young athletes finished third in their National Young Athletes
League Division 2 match at Shildon on Sunday 17th May.
A full report of this match will be on this page shortly.
MATCH RESULT
1st Chester Le Street 455pts,
2nd Shildon 353pts,
3rd Morpeth 348pts,
4th Tynedale 306pts,
5th New Marske 213pts,
6th Durham 171pts,
7th Richmond & Zetland 137pts.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Athletes from Morpeth Harriers collected 3 Gold,
2 Silver, and 2 Bronze medals from their efforts
at the two day North Eastern Counties Track and Field Championships
held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday and Sunday 9th and 10th May.
Saturday saw high winds, a smattering of rain, and cool conditions,
which did affect times, and certain performances in the Field events,
however in contrast on Sunday, the wind had largely dispersed,
and the event was blessed with warmer sunshine.
Jonny Nisbet and Hannah Rank of Morpeth Harriers superbly
both won Gold medals on the first day of events.
Despite a strong wind, Nisbet was just outside his personal best
when he outsprinted Gateshead Harrier Barry Maskell
to win the Under 15 Boys 1500m in 4m33.28s.
It looked very much as if Maskell was going to assume control at the bell,
however Nisbet had other ideas when he attacked in the middle
of the back straight with 250m remaining, and managed to cross the finish line
with around half a second to spare over his Gateshead rival.
After pre-race favourite Charmian Porter of Jarrow and Hebburn
pulled out when in the lead with just over 2 laps remaining,
Hannah Rank seized her opportunity to add the
Under 17 Womens 3000m title to the Under 15 Girls
title that she won in 2008, in a new personal best time of 11m01.79s,
which gave her around a four second winning margin
over her closest rival Rachel Lundgren
of Gosforth Harriers, who is a whole year older.
Another major medallist on the first day for Morpeth was Marcus Cram.
Running in his very first 400m Final, Cram was very unlucky not to
take the Under 17 Mens title, as he found himself pipped by a
whisker by Oliver Walker of Gateshead, when he clocked 53.31s.
Zoe Armstrong of Morpeth Harriers won a Silver medal in
the Under 20 Womens 800m, where she clocked 2m32.31s,
having to battle her way when the wind was at its strongest.
New Morpeth recruit Michael Dawson secured himself a
Bronze medal in the Senior Mens 5000m, where he clocked 15m44.97s.
Two more medals were won by athletes from Morpeth Harriers on Sunday.
They both came in the Field events where John Thompson
won Gold in the Senior Mens Javelin with his best of 33.79m,
and Alan Richmond took a Bronze in the
Under 20 Mens Hammer with a best of 33.66m.
The latter event was very nearly cancelled when it was
discovered that there had been some damage to the Hammer Cage
which infringed Health and Safety regulations,
and Richmond will be quite grateful that the efforts by the
Stadium staff to engage repair on the spot were not in vain.
After his sterling effort to win a Silver Medal in the
Under 17 Mens 400m on Saturday, unfortunately Marcus Cram
could not repeat his performance in his more favoured event over 800m,
as in a tough and fast Final he finished fourth in 2m05.26s.
2008 Under 13 Boys 200m Champion Joe Robertshaw
performed extremely well to make the Final of his new
Under 15 Age Group event, where he finished fifth
in a new personal outdoor best of 26.50s,
and clearly benefited from making the Final in his first year in the age group.
Joe's Championship 2008 best of 27.21s
in the Under 13 Boys 200m also remained undefeated.
Other Morpeth Harriers performances
outside of the medals over the weekend were as follows
UNDER 20 MENS 1500m, Jordan Scott (9th) 4m25.67s,
UNDER 13 GIRLS 800m HEATS, Sarah Wilkes (5th) 2m55.7s (Ht 2)
UNDER 13 GIRLS 200m HEATS, Sarah Wilkes (5th) 32.97s (Ht 2)
SENIOR MENS 100m HEATS, John Thompson (5th) 12.85s, (Ht 1)
UNDER 20 WOMEN 1500m, Zoe Armstrong (6th) 5m02.18s,
SENIOR MENS 800m, Matthew Nicholson (5th) 1m56.49s,
SENIOR WOMENS 400m, Gwenda Cavill (6th) 64.47s,
UNDER 17 WOMENS 100m HEATS, Kathryn Lake (6th) 14.00s, (Ht 1)
UNDER 13 GIRLS LONG JUMP, Sarah Wilkes (8th) 3.58m.
Full
Results.......
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
With the assistance of just fifteen competing athletes,
Morpeth Harriers Senior Men and Womens Northern League
Division 3 campaign got off to an excellent start at Huntington Stadium,
York on Saturday 2nd May.
Following the loss of distance man Chris Sampson through illness,
and top Field eventer Paul Appleby (torn Achilles Tendon)
which will see him miss the entire season, not much was
in prospect for their depleted squad, however with some
tremendous effort to plug a few gaps by the willingness
of those who turned out, plus some superb performances,
Morpeth Harriers won the match with twenty three points
to spare over the host club City of York.
Paul Appleby's brother Steven was one of the heroes,
producing a hat-trick of victories in the Field.
He won the Hammer with his best effort of 23.30m,
proving to be a good metre and a half ahead of his closest rival.
Morpeth Harriers Team Captain John Thompson backed him
up well here by taking second in the B string with 16.48m.
Next came the Discus, where Appleby proved to be a good
three and half metres clear of his closest rival with his best of
32m38s, and again it was Thompson backing him up
with a good 20.24m in the B String.
Appleby's third win came in the Shot,
where he putted a best of 9.67m.
Under 20 athlete Jordan Scott finished fourth
in the B string with a best of 4.20m.
John Thompson secured a bonus field victory for
Morpeth in the Javelin, where he produced a best of 33.76m.
He was well backed up in this by B competitor Angus Wood
who finished second with a best of 25.51m.
Angus also did well to finish second in the Triple Jump ((10.55m)
and second in the High Jump (1.70m), and rounded
these off with a third in the Long Jump with 5.80m.
He was well backed up in the Triple Jump and Long Jump
by B String competitor Ray Kirkup.
Kirkup won the triple with an excellent 10.08m,
and finished second in the latter event with a best of 4.85m.
In the Mens Track events, Morpeth Harriers were well represented
with Ross Floyd securing two victories in the 800m (2m08.9s)
and 3000m Steeplechase (11m02.7s),and Mark Brown
securing a twenty nine second marginal victory when
he clocked 15m23.1s in the 5000m where he lapped
everyone barring the second placed man.
Ray Kirkup also got an excellent second in the
A race of the 400m Hurdles in 68.1s,
and John Thompson backed him up
well when finishing second in the B race in 72.3s.
The pair reversed roles in the 100m with Thompson
finishing fourth in the A race in 12.3s, and Kirkup
came through to take the B race in 13.0s.
Thompson also finished fourth in the A race of the 110m Hurdles in 25.6s,
and Angus Wood ran excellently to win the B race in 21.7s.
The pair also went better in the 200m where Thompson finished
second in the A race in 25.2s, and Wood responded
again well by winning the B race in 26.5s.
These efforts were also well backed up by some good performances
by Morpeth Harriers Road and Cross Country Team Manager
David Swinburne, and Under 20 athlete Jordan Scott.
Swinburne ran a rare 400m B race to finish second in 60.9s,
to back up Ray Kirkup's effort of 59.8s,
which saw him take fourth in the A race.
This was accompanied by another second in the B race of the 800m in 2m09.7s,
to back up the A race victory of Ross Floyd, and Swinburne went on to
place third in the B race of the 1500m in 4m33.0s,
to back up Jordan Scott's fourth in the A race, where he clocked 4m22.7s.
Scott finished third in the B race of the 5000m in 18m30.1s,
to support Mark Brown's excellent victory.
Morpeths Womens efforts contributed greatly to the squads overall success,
with Womens Team Manager Aiveen Fox having four wins,
Laura Weightman three, Elaine Telford, Claire Reid,
Zoe Armstrong and Northern League debutant
Hannah Rank all securing two victories.
Fox won the A races of the 1500m and 3000m in
respective times of 4m50.4s, and 10m15.9s,
after earlier winning the B race of the 800m in 2m26.3s.
She also performed well when winning the B event
of the Long Jump with her best of 3.66m.
Still celebrating her superb success at the North Eastern Athletics League
at Jarrow on the Wednesday, Laura Weightman turned in some fine
performances to win the 400m A race in 60.8s,
the 800m A race in 2m11.5s, and ran a very first and
rare 200m B race to claim her hat-trick of victories in 27.2s.
This was marginally just adrift of her clubmate Elaine Telford's 26.4s,
which had seen her win the 200m A race,
after earlier taking the 100m in 12.7s.
Claire Reid enjoyed double winning success in the Discus and Shot
with respective bests of 34.22m and 10.38m, and was
third in the Hammer with 25.48m.
Reid also finished fifth in the A section of the Javelin
with a best effort of 15.19m, and Laura Weightman added more
points to her clubs tally when she finished second in the B string with 11.98m.
Zoe Armstrong clocked 4m57.8s to secure a Morpeth B
string victory in the 1500m, and went on to claim her second
victory in the B string Shot with 6.26m.
Hannah Rank certainly earned her first call up as an Under 17
when she secured B string victories in the 400m and 3000m
in 72.0s and 11m29.3s respectively.
Rank also celebrated another Morpeth victory in the 4x400m Relay
along with Zoe Armstrong, Laura Weightman and Aiveen Fox.
If Morpeth Harriers can perform like this in the remaining three matches,
then promotion back to Division 2 for next term remains a formality.
FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Morpeth Harriers 381pts,
2nd City of York 358pts,
3rd Richmond & Zetland 238.5pts,
4th New Marske 213.5pts,
5th Jarrow & Hebburn 206pts,
6th Scarborough AC 165pts.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
By finishing second, Morpeths youngsters made an impressive start
to their National Young Athletes League Division 2
season at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Sunday 3rd May.
Most of the clubs points came courtesy of their Under 15 age group,
highlight of which were the two double victories by
Callum Duncan and Philip Caldwell in the Long Jump
and 80m Hurdles events, and Josh Dunn and Joe Robertshaw's
effort in the 400m, which was the latters first attempt at the distance.
Duncan won the Under 15 Boys Long Jump with a best of 5.40m,
and Caldwell took the B event with 3.86m.
The pair teamed up in the 80m Hurdles to good effect,
with Duncan again the A string winner in 15.0s, and Caldwell
clocking 17.3s to take the B race.
Josh Dunn won the Under 15 Boys 400m in 57.3s,
just outpacing his clubmate Joe Robertshaw who
convincingly took the B race in 60.7s.
Joe had earlier won the B race of the 200m in 27.6s,
and was a good partner to Jonny Nisbet's third in the A race in 26.4s.
Jonny finished second in the A race of the 1500m in 4m33.8s
to a very fast Fergus Roberts of Richmond & Zetland whose
4m19.3s was easily the fastest time outdoors this year for the age group.
Sam Hancox was second in the B race for Morpeth in 5m33.4s.
Josh Dunn capped a good day for himself by finishing second in the Discus with 21.90m.
Callum Duncan added to his other successes by finishing second in the 100m in 12.8s,
and Henrik Paulson took the B race in 15.0s.
Morpeth capped a good Under 15 Boys performance by taking
both the 4x100m and 4x400m Relays in respective times of 55.7s and 4m11.1s.
The best result in the Under 15 Girls events for Morpeth
came in the High Jump where Francesca Price finished second in
the A string with her best clearance of 1.30m,
and Adele Stewart managed 1.25m to take the B event.
Adele also finished third in the A events of the 75m Hurdles
and 800m in respective times of 14.8s and 2m43.5s, and was
well supported by B competitors Catherine Phillips
who won the 75m Hurdles in 16.3s,
and Steph Purvis who finished second in the 800m in 2m57.9s.
Another hardworking Morpeth performer was Amy Gibson
who finished third in both the Discus and Shot,
with respective bests of 16.18m and 7.13m,
and also finished fourth in the Long Jump with 3.95m.
Catherine Phillips again proved her worth as a B competitor
when she finished second in the Long Jump with 3.51m.
In the Under 15 Girls Javelin Francesca Price finished fourth with 9.25m,
and Rachel Todd took the B event with 8.55m.
Rachel also proved to be a good B competitor in the 1500m
when she finished second in 6m09.9s,
supporting Miriam Inverarity's third in the A race in 5m40.9s.
In the Under 13 Boys events Matthew Denton finished
second in the 200m in 31.5s, and followed that up with a second
in the 800m B race in 2m53.5s, in support to Ben Steel's
third place in the A race in 2m42.5s.
Joe Elder finished second in the 1500m in 5m40.0s,
and third in the 100m in 16.1s.
In the Under 13 Girls events, Morpeth's best result came in the Shot
where Lucy Pargeter won with a best of 4.96m, and
Alice Kelly took the B event with 3.54m.
Morpeth had a number of new competitors taking part in this age group,
and Paige Capstaff, Charlotte Wellden, Beth Wooley
and Alison Brown all look prominent prospects.
Morpeth's best two results in the Under 17 Womens
age group came from the Javelin and the 800m.
In the Javelin Rachael Steel finished second in the A String with 11.16m,
and Kathryn Lake finished second in the B string with 10.35m.
Rachael Steel was also involved in the 800m success
where she finished second in 2m39.4s.
Jessica Caldwell finish third in the B race in 2m51.8s.
Katie Plant saw just reward for her hard work when she
won the 80m Hurdles in 16.6s, finished second in the Long Jump
with a best of 3.70m, and finished third in the 100m in 14.7s.
Kathryn Lake added to her Javelin performance by finishing
second in the 300m in 46.5s, and third in the 200m in 28.7s.
Jessica Caldwell won the 1500m in 5m55.2s.
Unfortunately Morpeth could only manage one
competitor in the Under 17 Mens age group.
MATCH RESULT
1st Chester Le Street 503pts,
2nd Morpeth 399pts,
3rd Tynedale 365pts,
4th Shildon 273pts,
5th Richmond & Zetland 204pts,
6th New Marske 197pts,
7th Durham 145pts.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Morpeths Laura Weightman began her 2009
Outdoor Track season in superb style at
Monkton Stadium, Jarrow on Wednesday night, 29th April
when she bettered her previous 1500m figures
by nearly three seconds, when clocking what was the fastest
Womens outdoor time in Britain so far this year of 4m19.9s,
and also gives her the qualifying standard for the
UK Championships at the very first attempt.
The first meeting of the Start Fitness sponsored
North Eastern Athletics League also saw a third place for
Laura's younger brother Adam in the Under 13 Boys 1500m in 5m16.0s,
and Jonny Nisbet finished third in the Under 15 Boys 1500m in 4m30.3s.
Jordan Scott clocked a new personal best in the Junior Mens 1500m
where he finished third in 4m21.6s, and Emma Pearson capped hir first
outing in a Morpeth Vest in the Senior Womens 1500m,
where she proved to be fastest in 5m28.5s.
Return To
2009 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
2008 Track and Field News
Updated 21st September 2008
City of York Open Meeting !
Scottish Track & Field Championships !
Stretford Open Meeting !
Northern Inter Counties Track & Field Championships !
Tartan Games Track & Field Festival !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 6 )
BMC Grand Prix Final !
Gateshead Open Minor Grand Prix !
BMC 800m Race Jarrow !
Northern League Division 2 Match !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 5 )
Elmsley Carr Mile at Crystal Palace !
National Police Track & Field Championships !
Young Athletes League ( 5 )
BMC Races Monkton Stadium !
VAA NE Track & Field League ( 4 )
BMC Grand Prix Manchester !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 4 )
Watford Open Track & Field Meeting !
Norwich Union Beijing Olympic Trials & UK Championships !
English Schools Track & Field Championships !
Northern League Division 2 Match !
BMC Meeting Watford !
BMC Nike Grand Prix Meeting !
Northumberland Minor Schools Track & Field Championships !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 3 )
Young Athletes League ( 4 )
England Athletics Under 20/Under 23 Track & Field Championships !
Northumberland School's Track & Field Championships !
VAA NE Track & Field League ( 3 )
BMC Elite Meeting !
NoE Senior & Under 20 Track & Field Championships !
Northern League Division 2 Match !
Stretford BMC PB Classic !
Young Athletes League ( 3 )
BMC Grand Prix Meeting !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 2 )
CAU InterCounties Track & Field Championships !
Fanny Blankers-Koen Memorial Games !
North of England U15/U17 Track & Field Championships !
Veterans North East Track & Field League 1
Loughborough International Athletics !
Young Athletes League ( 2 )
North Eastern Counties Track & Field Championships !
Young Athletes League ( 1 )
Senior Men & Womens Northern League Division 2 !
BUSA Track & Field Championships !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 1 )
News From America !
BMC Watford Open Meeting !
Return To
2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
City of York Open Meeting !
Jonathan Taylor won the 800m at the City of York Open Meeting in a time of 1min 53.2secs.
Return To
2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Scottish Track & Field Championships
!
At the Scottish Track & Field Championships at Pitrevie,
Morpeth's Claire Reid took the bronze medal in the Shot, with a throw of 10.36 metres.
She also finished 6th in the Discus (32.51m).
Return To
2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Stretford Open Meeting !
Jonathan Taylor won the BMC 800m at a recent Stretford Open Meeting,
just missing his personal best with a time of 1min 51.30secs.
Return To
2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Northern Inter Counties Track & Field Championships !
Representing the North East, Morpeths Rachel Denton was
an impressive winner of the Under 15 Girls 1500m at the
Northern Inter Counties Track & Field Championships
held at Hull's Costello Stadium on Saturday 23rd August.
Rachel won with a margin of four seconds over
Yorkshire's Sally Smith with her clocking of 4m53.60s.
Return To
2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Tartan Games Track & Field Festival !
Morpeths Jonathan Taylor was a clear winner of the Senior Mens 800m
at the annual Tartan Games Track & Field Festival held at
Gateshead International Stadium on Saturday 23rd August.
Jonathan clocked 1m52.32s for his victory.
Another Morpeth winner on the day was Elaine Telford who
crossed the line first in the Senior Womens 100m in 13.07s.
Telford also finished third in the 200m in 27.44s.
Morpeths Joe Robertshaw finished second in the finals of both the
Under 13 Boys 100m and 200m events in respective times of 13.96s and 28.35s.
Return To
2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 6 )
In her first race after a three week family holiday in New Zealand,
Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman showed that she had not
lost any of her previous sparkle by winning the
Womens 3000m at the final Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern
Athletics meeting held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Wednesday 13th August.
Her victory was well sweetened by the fact that she also
clocked a new personal best for the distance of 9m38.6s,
this beating her previous figures by a mammoth eighteen seconds
which she had set in June 2007 at Gateshead.
She also set a new Morpeth Harriers Womens record for the
distance as she took victory from Chester Le Street's
Claire Simpson by a margin of four seconds.
This also means that Weightman has improved times in
all four of the events she has covered this season,
a unique individual and club achievement for someone
who is still at Junior level.
Other Morpeth Harrier winners on the night were Rachel Denton and Joe Robertshaw.
Denton was hard pressed during the first lap of the Under 15 Girls 800m
by Birtley's Sophie Taylor, however at the bell she put sufficient daylight
between herself and the determined Taylor to coast home to victory in 2m23.5s
which eventually gave her a seven second cushion.
Robertshaw just held off the close challenge of Gateshead's Jack Young
to claim victory in the Under 13 Boys 200m in 28.4s.
Alistair Douglass was fifth Under 17 Man in the 3000m in a time of 9m56.3s.
Daniel Hedley was second Under 17 Man in the 200m in 25.3s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Grand Prix Final !
Unfortunately Morpeth Harrier Jonathan Taylor became the victim
of a slower run 1500m A race at the BMC Grand Prix Final meeting
in Eton on Saturday night ( 9th August ) when he finished fifth in 3m49.59s,
which was around four seconds short of his season and personal best.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Gateshead Open Minor Grand Prix !
Young Morpeth Harrier Sarah Wilkes has just completed the
series of Gateshead Open Minor Grand Prix meetings.
The final meeting was held on Sunday 10th August,
Sarah finished fourth in the Under 12 Girls section with a total of 33 points.
She had to compete on the track over 60m and 600m,
and in the Long Jump and Javelin Field events over a series of five meetings.
Her improvement over the period of the competition was quite noticeable.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC 800m Race Jarrow !
Morpeths Jonathan Taylor clocked a new personal best time of 1m51.1s
when he won the BMC 800m A Race at Monkton Stadium on Monday 4th August.
At the same meeting his clubmate Marcus Cram fractionally improved his best
when he finished second in the B race in 1m59.6s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Northern League Division 2 Match !
Morpeth Harriers failed to avoid the drop into Division 3 of the
North of England Track and Field League despite the gallant efforts
from those who turned out in their final match of the season at
Claireville Stadium, Middlesbrough on Sunday 3rd August.
Sadly a poor turnout from the club resulted in them having to call
on distance runners to compete in sprints, and even Club Secretary
Mike Bateman was forced into action in a desperate bid for valuable points.
Morpeth had to finish above Durham City in the match to avoid relegation,
however they were very much on an uphill struggle as
Durham managed to finish third, and Morpeth ended up fifth.
Womens Team Manager Aiveen Fox, and Claire Reid were the clubs
only winners on the day as the squad battled to claim respectability.
Fox claimed her victory in the 3000m where she clocked 10m15.5s,
and Kate Chapman took the B race in 11m25.9s to secure maximum points.
Fox also had a B race win in the 800m where she clocked 2m26.7s,
and Zoe Armstrong took third in the A race in 2m28.2s.
Reid won the Shot Putt with 10.53m, and finished second in the Discus with a best of 36.62m.
In the Mens events, there were second places for John Woods (3000m Steeplechase) (11m11.4s)
and Mark Brown (5000m) (16m17.6s), and also for Ian Mawdesley (110m Hurdles) (19.4s)
and a returning Andrew Wake (Pole Vault) (3.50m).
The Appleby brothers Steven and Paul battled in the quest for points in the Discus, and Shot.
In the Discus Paul finished fourth in the A event with his best of 33.31m,
and Steven finished third in the B event with his best of 29.76m.
Steven finished fourth in the A event of the Shot with 9.73m,
and Paul finished second in the B string with 9.03m.
Martyn Cairns produced an excellent run of 2m05.3s
to finish second in the B race of the 800m.
FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st City of York A 405pts,
2nd Middlesbrough (Mandale) 379.5pts,
3rd Durham 334pts,
4th Gateshead 325.5pts,
5th Morpeth 261.5pts,
6th Scarborough 57pts.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (5)
Callum Duncan of Morpeth Harriers produced two outstanding performances
to win both the Under 15 Boys 100m and Long Jump at the fifth and penultimate
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League meeting held at
Gateshead's International Stadium on Wednesday 30th July.
Duncan won the 100m in 12.75s, and the Long Jump with a best of 4.72m.
Another Morpeth winner on the night was Joe Robertshaw
who won the Under 13 Boys 100m in 13.62s.
There were also good runs in the Junior Mens 1500m
by Morpeth's Martyn Cairns and Jordan Scott,
who each recorded new personal bests with 4m18.46s and 4m24.34s
when they finished fourth and sixth respectively.
Marcus Cram finished third in the Under 17 Mens 1500m in 4m15.50s,
and Wayne Gedge finished sixth in the Senior Mens 100m in 13.26s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Elmsley Carr Mile !
Morpeths Nick McCormick finished tenth in a very tactical
Elmsley Carr Mile at Crystal Palace on Friday 25th July,
in a seasons best time of 3m58.04s, which saw him around
four seconds adrift of Shedrack Korir of Kenya,
who won in avery close finish with Britain's Beijing bound Andy Baddeley.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
National Police Track & Field Championships !
Rachel Archer and Ian Mawdsley of Morpeth Harriers competed in the
National Police Track and Field Championships in Hillingdon last week.
Representing Northumbria, Rachel finished second in the Finals
of the Womens 100m and 200m in respective times of 13.7s and 27.5s,
and Ian finished second in the Mens 110m Hurdles in 19.8s,
and third in the 400m Hurdles in 64.5s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Young Athletes League ( 5 )
Although relegation was unavoidable, Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes
did enough to survive the final indignity of being awarded the wooden spoon
in their final Northern League Division One East match at Cleethorpes on Sunday 20th July.
By finishing third for the only time this season,
and above their North East rivals Houghton,
it meant that the aforementioned not only also faced the drop,
but they had the honour of ending up at the foot of the table.
Main highlights in the Morpeth Harriers performances
were the wins by Adele Stewart, Rachel Denton, Jessica Caldwell,
Stevie Goodfellow, Deborah Oakley, Catriona MacDonald,
Jonathan Cozens, Josh Dunn and Jonny Nisbet, and the overall commitment
given by those athletes who turned out on the day to make some very valuable contributions,
albeit by claiming good minor placings across the age groups.
Adele Stewart won the Under 13 Girls 800m in splendid fashion in 2m44.8s,
and Rachael Todd contributed well here by finishing second in the B race in 3m07.4s.
Stewart also contributed well by finishing second in the 70m Hurdles in 12.8s,
and Sarah Wilkes backed her up well by taking second in the B race in 15.1s.
Steph Purvis finished second in the A race of the 1200m in 4m29.8s,
and Sarah Wilkes backed her up well by finishing second in the B race in 4m34.8s.
Rachel Denton easily won the Under 15 Girls 800m in 2m28.9s,
which although was a little way short of her best,
mainly due to a swirling wind, was a good win.
Polly-Ann Jeffrey finished third in the B race in 3m18.3s.
Jeffrey also contributed well with a good second in the Javelin with a best of 12.26m.
Another good performer in the Under 15 Girls age group was Katie Plant,
who finished second in the 100m (14.1s), third in the 200m (29.4s),
and third in the 75m Hurdles (15.2s).
Jessica Caldwell competed well to just clinch victory
in the Under 17 Womens 800m in 2m49.2s,
and went on later to finish second in the 1500m in 5m57.3s.
Stevie Goodfellow scored an excellent victory in the 300m Hurdles in 57.5s.
She also finished second in the Triple Jump with a best of 8.84m.
Despite carrying a painful leg injury, Deborah Oakley managed to capture
no less than three B race victories in the 800m (3m09.2s),
1500m (6m02.1s) and 3000m (14m16.0s).
Catriona MacDonald confirmed maximum points
for Morpeth in the 3000m by winning in 13m57.4s.
A name to watch for the future in the Morpeth Under 17 Womens ranks
could be Elizabeth Severs who finished second in the 100m (13.9s),
second in the 200m (29.2s), and second in the High Jump with a best clearance of 1.38m.
Stevie Goodfellow backed Elizabeth up well in the 200m by taking the B race in 32.7s.
On to the Boys events where Jonathan Cozens scored
an excellent victory in the Under 15 200m in 25.8s,
and Jonny Nisbet backed him up well with an excellent second in the B race in 27.3s.
Nisbet later tasted a superb victory in the 1500m in 4m51.3s.
Josh Dunn won the 400m in 59.4s, and Jonathan Cozens made his victory
that much sweeter by taking the B race in 61.1s.
Callum Duncan placed second in the Long Jump with a best of 4.97m.
In the Under 17 Mens events Daniel Hedley finished second
in the 100m in 12.8s and third in the 200m in 25.2s.
A hardworking Philip Shuttleworth tackled all the distance events,
and finished third in the 800m (2m27.4s), third in the 1500m (5m03.6s)
and second in the 3000m (10m29s).
In the Under 13 Boys events Morpeth's best performances
came from Matthew Denton who finished second in the 200m (31.9s)
won the B race of the 800m in 2m52.0s
to support Joe Elder's third in the A race in 2m45.9s,
and went on to finish third in the 75m Hurdles in 17.0s.
A final thanks must go to Team Managers Tony Ward and Josie Goodfellow
for their efforts to get teams out during a season where commitment was hard
to find apart from those who did turn out,
and to the helpers who went along to the matches quite willingly
and contributed greatly to the overall performances.
FINAL MATCH SCORE
1st Doncaster 472pts,
2nd Cleethorpes 317.5pts,
3rd Morpeth 196pts,
4th Houghton 177.5pts.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Races Monkton Stadium !
Six days after creating a new personal best for himself over 800m,
Morpeths Marcus Cram once again rewrote his record book when he clocked 4m15.8s
in the BMC 1500m at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium, on Monday 21st July,
which shaved a further four seconds off his previous figures.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
VAA NE Track & Field League ( 4 )
At the fourth VAA NE Track & Field League meeting
held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium, on Monday 21st July,
Morpeth's Archie Jenkins finish 3rd in the 800m in 2m30.9s,
and 4th in the 3000m in 10m55.07s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Grand Prix Manchester !
Morpeths very much in form Chris Sampson created
himself another huge personal best in the BMC Grand Prix
3000m B race at Trafford, Manchester on Saturday 19th July.
Exactly a week after his excellent 3000m Steeplechase success
in the UK Trials Sampson clocked a superb 8m20.29s,
which knocked around 19 seconds off his previous best.
In the very same race clubmate Nick Swinburne
finished in fifth place in 8m 26.51s.
In the A race of the Mens 1500m Morpeth's
British Universities Champion Jonny Taylor
clocked 3m47.77s for tenth place.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 4 )
Morpeth Harrier Marcus Cram created another new milestone in his young athlete career
when he dipped under two minutes in the 800m for the very first time at
Gateshead's International Stadium on Wednesday 16th July.
Watched by his illustrious father, former World Mile Record Holder Steve,
and his more than interested grandparents,
the fifteen year old claimed victory in the second of four mixed seeded events
that were run for Under 17, Under 20 and Senior athletes
at the fourth Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League meeting,
in a new personal best exceptional time of 1m59.69s.
After a fast first lap, Marcus worked his way from fourth at the bell
to second on the run in, and just managed to head off Elswick's Jonny Pearson
around 30 metres from the finish line with an exhilarating late run.
It was a tremendous boost for Marcus Cram after a horrendous time
at the Scottish Schools a few weeks ago, where he literally blew up
in the final stages of a 1500m to finish a desperate last.
Other good Morpeth performers on the night were Daniel Hedley in the 150m,
where he finished as third Under 17 in 18.69s,
and Jordan Scott who finished third in the 3000m in 9m29.91s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Watford Open Track & Field Meeting !
In a specially organised 1500m race at the Watford
Open Track and Field meeting on Wednesday 16th July,
Morpeths Nick McCormick failed in what was his very last attempt
to get a time to take him to the Beijing Olympics when he finished
second to Britains other hopeful Michael East in a time of 3m41.59s,
with East clocking 3m39.04s which was
also outside the required qualification standard.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Norwich Union Beijing Olympic Trials & UK
Championships !
There was a mixture of emotions for the two Morpeth Harriers
who competed at the third and final day of the Norwich Union
Beijing Olympic Trials and UK Championships meeting
at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium on Sunday 13th July.
For Chris Sampson there was a feeling of elation,
as for the second time in two weeks he created
himself a new lifetime best for the 3000m Steeplechase.
Coming in as a late entry certainly did the 32 year old Chris a lot of favours,
as once again he managed to get himself dragged round by some of the nations
best to an excellent 9m03.56s, which clipped over three seconds
off his previous best set at Solihull a couple of weeks previous.
Chris can take particular delight at his track season,
and now will concentrate on taking his current run of form
onto the roads in the hope of bettering his excellent time set in last years Great North Run.
Not so happy however was Sampson's clubmate Nick McCormick
who on Saturday managed to win his heat of the Mens 1500m in 3m47.33s,
which was a good twelve seconds down on his best for the distance.
After a lively start on Sunday which saw him lead until 1100metres,
having gone through the first 400m in 58.75s, and then through 800m in 1min56.30s,
he was found wanting over the final 150metres where he faded to fifth in 3m40.43s,
and any hopes of an Olympic appearance finally in tatters.
Another Morpeth Harrier who competed in the Mens 1500m
was Jonathan Taylor who went out in the heats on the Saturday
with his clocking of 3m51.84s which saw him finish eighth in the heat won by Michael East.
Also in action at the trials on Saturday was Morpeths Ian Hudspith who clocked
a seasons best of 14m14.44s when he finished thirteenth in a classy Mens 5000m field.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
English Schools Track & Field Championships !
In a very tactical race Morpeths Laura Weightman stole away in the final 200 metres
to win the English Schools Senior Girls 1500m Championship held at
Gateshead International Stadium on Saturday 12th July.
Clocking a time of 4m31.08s, which although was a little way short of her best,
it was enough to clinch an excellent victory over some very tough opposition.
In the Intermediate Boys 1500m, Morpeths Alistair Douglass
clocked 4m14.95s to finish seventh in his heat, but was agonisingly
just a hairsbreadth short of his personal best, as he failed to make the final.
Rachel Denton clocked a lifetime best of 4m44.93s
to finish third in her heat of the Junior Girls 1500m.
However she found the final a lot tougher where she finished
last of eleven in a much slower 4m55.60s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Northern League Division 2 Match !
Missing athletes in key events, saw Morpeth Harriers
Senior Men and Womens Track and Field squad only finish fourth
in their third round Northern League Division 2 match
held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Sunday 6th July.
This means that they will have to finish ahead of Durham City
in their final match at Middlesbrough in August to avoid the drop
into Division 3 along with the already doomed Scarborough squad.
Nevertheless the Morpeth athletes who did turn out gave
their all and tried to plug the gaps where possible.
It was in the Mens section where a poor turnout resulted
in a lack of quality distance runners being able to tackle the rigours of the 5000m,
which has usually proved to be a strong event in the past for the club.
On the credit side the best Mens result came in the 800m
with Alistair Douglass and Martyn Cairns both producing
personal bests of 2m03.2s and 2m04.7s respectively
as they placed second in the A and B races.
Other high points came in the Discus and Shot events where the Appleby
brothers combined to good effect with very workmanlike performances.
Paul finished fifth in the A string of the Discus with a best of 32.56m,
and Steven won the B String with a marginally smaller 32.29m.
The pair completed a replica success in the Shot where
Paul managed a best of 9.78m and Steven again was
just marginally adrift of his sibling with 9.59m.
Another good Morpeth Mens result came in the 200m
with Greg Swinburn finishing a good second in 24.1s.
In the Womens events Morpeth managed four excellent wins from
a squad that worked very hard to achieve on the day.
Clair Reid managed a Shot (10.43m) and Discus (35.26m) winning double
and was well supported in both events by Rachel Moody and Josie Goodfellow respectively.
Moody won the B String Shot with a best of 7.39m,
and Goodfellow excellently finished third in the B event of the Discus with a best of 16.59m.
Laura Weightman clocked a personal best of 58.8s to outsprint
Middlesbrough's talented Kirsty Legg in the 400m.
Morpeth scored good points here by fielding Aiveen Fox
in the B race where she finished third in 71.7s.
Fox also helped Morpeth to more valuable points when she won
the 3000m in 10m22.1s, and Kate Chapman took the B race in 11m17.5s.
This pairing also did well in the 800m, with Fox finishing second
in the A race in 2m23.4s and Chapman finishing fourth in the B race in 2m45.1s.
FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st City of York 426pts,
2nd Middlesbrough (Mandale) 376.5pts,
3rd Gateshead 322pts,
4th Morpeth 291.5pts,
5th Durham City 280pts,
6th Scarborough 122pts.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Meeting Watford !
Morpeth Harrier Jonny Young finished second in the 1500m B race
at the BMC meeting held at Watford on Saturday 5th June in a time of 3m58.53s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Nike Grand Prix Meeting !
When finishing tenth in the Mens 3000m Steeplechase in the BMC
Nike Grand Prix meeting at Solihull, West Midlands on Saturday night ( 28th June )
Morpeths Chris Sampson added yet another dimension to his long and very
determined and relatively distinguished athletics career when he clocked
a lifetime best of 9m06.75s, in what can only described as a classy field of entrants.
Chris who has come all the way through the ranks at his club,
and has had to put up with a fair share of injuries and disappointments in his time,
is described by one highly regarded club official as a hard working athlete,
and richly deserves to achieve this success,
albeit in the later stages of his Senior career at the age of 32.
His latest effort puts him 16th currently in the country's rankings for the event,
and the improvement on his previous best by nearly three seconds which he
achieved exactly a year ago in Watford is quite outstanding.
Chris commented, that he had been feeling pretty good in recent weeks
and knew that there was a decent race in him,
thankfully he had chosen the right race,
had held the correct pace throughout amongst good opposition,
and that it had all come right for him on the night.
On the Morpeth Harrier front, Chris now ranks fourth in the club records
for the Mens Steeplechase behind European representative Dave Camp,
and Scottish representative Archie Jenkins and Nigel Reeves,
with only Gary Woods a nearer challenger previously.
At the same meeting there was both satisfaction and despair
for two of Sampson's club colleagues.
Jonathan Taylor was just over a second outside his lifetime best
when he finished eleventh in the A race of the Mens 1500m in 3m46.22s,
however will take some satisfaction that he was only a mere four seconds
adrift of race winner and seasoned International James Thie of Cardiff,
and that he had Somalia's Moumin Geele and India's Ravida Sharma,
both Under 23 Internationals trailing in behind him five and ten seconds adrift respectively.
It was not a happy night however for Ian Hudspith, who doesn't seem
to have quite recaptured the form he showed before falling ill prior to
April's London Marathon, where he was forced to pull out.
Hudspith finished an unlucky thirteenth in the Mens 5000m
and one place behind fellow North Easterner Ryan Mcleod.
His time of 14m27.94s, which although is a seasons best,
is still a good way short of what he would have wished for on the track,
however when he returns to the roads someone will have to watch out.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Northumberland Minor Schools Track & Field
Championships !
Morpeth Harriers Jonny Nisbet, Callum Duncan, Tom McGee,
Joe Robertshaw and Reece Ramsey all claimed respective victories
at the Northumberland Minor Schools Track and Field Championships
held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 28th June.
Jonny claimed a narrow victory in the Under 14 Boys 1500m in 4m41.1s.
Callum showed excellent form when winning both the
Under 14 Boys Long Jump (4.75m) and Triple Jump (10.93m) events.
Tom McGee won the Under 14 Boys Javelin with his best effort of 30.89m.
After finishing third in the Under 13 Boys 100m in 13.9s,
Joe Robertshaw clocked 28.4s to win the 200m.
Reece Ramsey won the Under 13 Boys 400m in 65.9s.
Finally Carley Mae Webster finished second in the Under 14 Girls 800m in 2m38.0s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 3 )
Morpeths Joe Robertshaw won the Under 13 Boys 100m at the third
meeting of the Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Athletics League
held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Wednesday 25th June.
The North Eastern Under 13 200m Champion clocked 13.90s.
Elaine Telford had two second places in the Senior Womens 100m (13.09s) and 200m (27.03s).
In the seeded 1500m events Morpeth had good performers in
Alistair Douglass, Martyn Cairns, Jordan Scott, Phil Walker and Paul Waterston.
Alistair, although a little short of his personal best, gave a typical fighting display
to finish ninth in the A race in 4m23.36s and was second Under 17 Mens athlete.
Martyn ran excellently to win the B race in a new personal best of 4m23.59s,
finishing two places ahead of Jordan who also clocked a new best of 4m26.58s.
Phil and Paul clocked 4m26.74s and 4m41.32s respectively to finish as seventh and 12th Senior Men.
In the Under 17 Womens 300m, Zoe Armstrong finished third in 46.2s
and Katie Plant finished fifth in the B race of the Under 15 Girls 100m in 14.34s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Young Athletes League ( 4 )
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Track and Field squad
very nearly managed to escape finishing bottom for their
fourth successive Northern League match held at
Sheffield's Woodburn Road Stadium on Sunday 22nd June.
Only ten points separated them from third placed fellow North Easterners Birtley,
with host club Spenborough by far the winners,
and another fellow North East club Tynedale finishing second.
This now means that Morpeth cannot avoid the drop into Division 2
for next season, which indeed is a rarity for the Northumbrians.
Over the past 20 years under the leadership of Tony Ward
they have drifted between Premier and Division 1 status,
however despite strong efforts by those who have taken part relegation is inevitable.
On this occasion however the effort was stronger,
but it was in the Field events where missing athletes lost valuable points.
Credit must go to Alistair Douglass in the Under 17 Mens age group
where he took on some tough opposition to record two outright victories and a second.
He won both the 800m (2m10.2s) and 1500m Steeplechase (4m55.9s)
and went on to finish second in the 400m (56.5s)
only losing out for a hat-trick of victories by a mere two seconds.
Morpeth took maximum points in the Steeplechase with Philip Shuttleworth winning
the B race in 5m46.3s, and that was after earlier finishing second in the 3000m in 10m24.6s.
The best results in the Under 15 Boys events for Morpeth
came in the Field with Callum Duncan and Tom McGee both performing well.
Duncan claimed victories in the Shot (8.69m) and Long Jump (4.99m)
and McGee won the Javelin (27.83m) and B event of the Shot (7.87m)
in addition to his second in the A event of the Discus (20.22m).
In the Under 15 Boys Track events Josh Dunn and Jonny Nisbet
took honours with victories over 800m (2m18.8s) and 1500m (4m54.7s).
Maximum points were achieved in the 1500m when Tom Brookes took the B race in 5m16.0s.
At Under 13 Boys level both Liam Brooks and Ryan Dodds look bright spots for the future.
Brooks finished third in the 200m (32.3s)
and the hardworking Dodds finished third in the 100m (14.8s)
second in the 800m (2m53.7s), third in the 1500m (5m29.7s)
and rounded a splendid afternoons work with a third in the Long Jump (3.86m).
Morpeth's best points in the Under 17 Womens events came in the 3000m
which Jessica Caldwell won in 13m43.9s
and Catriona MacDonald won the B event in 14m11.4s.
In the Under 15 Girls events Morpeth had a double victory in the
75m Hurdles courtesy of Steph Courty (13.9s) and Katie Plant (15.0s)
Courty also finished second in the 800m in 2m39.6s.
Plant finished third in the 100m in 13.9s.
There were some hardworked efforts in the Under 13 Girls events by Morpeth athletes.
Steph Purvis gained their only victory when winning the Shot with a best of 4.55m.
Purvis also finished third in the 1200m in 4m36.3s, with Sarah Wilkes producing
an excellent 4m42.7s to finish second in the B race.
In the 75m and 150m A races Catherine Phillips finished third
in both in respective times of 11.3s and 23.9s.
B race runners Eve Shashova (12.2s) and Ailidh McCallister-Williams (24.8s)
placed third respectively.
These two also shared the spoils in the 800m with Eve finishing third
in the A race in 2m58.6s and Ailidh winning the B race in 3m08.1s.
FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Spenborough 392pts,
2nd Tynedale 260pts,
3rd Birtley 208pts,
4th Morpeth 198pts.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
England Athletics Under 20/Under 23 Track & Field
Championships !
Morpeths Jonathan Taylor and Laura Weightman qualified for
their respective finals of the 1500m at the Norwich Union England Athletics
Under 20/Under 23 Track & Field Championships held at
Bedford International Stadium over Saturday and Sunday 21st-22nd June.
After clocking 3m49.55s in the slower of his two heats
of the Under 23 Mens 1500m on the Saturday,
Jonathan Taylor went on to finish third in the final with a slower 3m55.8s,
mainly because of a prevailing wind.
This was still a good run however with the poor conditions
playing their part towards the slower time as he defeated
two other rivals who had run faster than him in the heats.
After running 4m37.49s when finishing second to Aldershot
International Stephanie Twell in her heat of the
Under 20 Womens 1500m on Saturday,
Laura Weightman found life a little tougher in the wind on the Sunday,
despite running a faster time of 4m35.04s she finished fifth,
once again it was Twell who took the honours.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Northumberland School's Track & Field
Championships !
The Northumberland School's Track and Field Championships
held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 14th June,
saw easy wins for Morpeth Harriers Laura Weightman and Deborah Oakley,
and an excellent second place gained in a
tough Intermediate Boys 1500m by Alistair Douglass.
Laura was unopposed in the Senior Girls 1500m where she clocked 4m33.9s,
and Deborah was likewise in the Intermediate Girls 3000m clocking 12m00.4s.
Alistair was only three seconds adrift of outright victory with his clocking of 4m22.0s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Veteran Athletics Association Track and Field League
!
Morpeths Archie Jenkins finished second in the Over 50 Mens 1500m in 4m54.2s
at the third meeting of the Veteran Athletics Association North East Track and Field League
at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow on Monday 16th June.
In the Over 40 Mens 1500m, Morpeths Alistair MacDonald
and Neil McAnany finished 7th and 9th in
respective times of 4m52.5s and 4m57s.
Alistair also finished sixth in the 400m in 63.1s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Elite Meeting !
Three Morpeth Harriers were in action at the BMC Elite
meeting held at Watford on Saturday evening, 14th June.
Ian Hudspith finished tenth in a class filled
Mens 10,000metres in a time of 29m27.47s.
Jonathan Taylor finished thirteenth in the B race of the Mens 1500m in 3m47.41,
and Chris Sampson clocked a seasons best of 9m15.81s
when he finished ninth in the 3000m Steeplechase.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
NoE Senior & Under 20 Track & Field
Championships !
On the first day of the North of England Senior & Under 20 Track
& Field Championships held at Sport City, Manchester over
Saturday and Sunday 14th and 15th June,
Morpeth athletes Claire Reid and Nick Swinburn were competing.
Claire finished fifth in the Shot with 10.70m,
and Nick finished ninth in the Mens 5000m in 15m26.41s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Northern League Division 2 Match !
With all of their regular middle and distance Men being unavailable
for their second round Northern League Division 2 match at
Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Saturday 7th June,
Morpeth Harriers Team Manager John Thompson was forced to be
content with either missing athletes, or opt to blood a combination of
Under 17 and Under 20 talent that was at his disposal.
The direct result of that was that Morpeth finished fifth in the match,
with no one behind them as Scarborough were in worse
trouble by not being able to turn out a single competitor.
Morpeth had to look to their Womens section for their best points,
and it has to be said that on the day they served their club proud.
On the Track, Laura Weightman, Aiveen Fox, Elaine Telford,
Rachel Archer, Jane Mooney, and Deborah Oakley were the stars.
Whilst in the Field Claire Reid, Womens Team Manager Josie Goodfellow,
and daughter Stevie turned in some good performances.
Laura Weightman had two excellent victories in the 400m (59.3s)
and 800m (2m12.9s) A races, although was a little bit disappointed
to see her times rendered a little short of best by a prevailing breeze.
She had excellent back up in these events however by Rachel Archer
winning the 400m B race in 63.8s, and Aiveen Fox taking the 800m B in 2m28.3s.
Archer had another B race victory in the 200m in 26.8s,
backing up Elaine Telford's second in the A race which saw
her clock a fractionally faster 26.4s.
Telford also finished third in the A race of the 100m in 12.9s.
Stevie Goodfellow finished fourth in the B race of the 100m in 13.9s.
Fox had her second win of the day in the A race of the 3000m
where she clocked 10m42.0s, and Deborah Oakley took the B race in 12m05.4s.
Jane Mooney finished a close second in the 1500m A race in 4m55.4s,
and Kate Chapman finished third in the B race in 5m23.1s.
In the Field events Womens Team Manager Josie Goodfellow led
by example by pulling off excellent placings in no less than five B String events.
Her best came in the Hammer, Discus and Shot,
where she finished second on each occasion, with best efforts
of 13.18m, 19.02m and 7.35m respectively.
Claire Reid partnered her in the A events, and the best of these
came in the Shot with her effort of 9.81m.
Reid finished third in the Discus with 32.77m,
and fifth in the Hammer with 17.38m.
Claire also finished fifth in the Javelin with 15.27m,
and Aiveen Fox finished fourth in the B event with her best of 8.00m.
Josie Goodfellow's other excellent performances came in the
Long Jump and Triple Jump where her bests of 3.92m
and 8.54m earned her fourth and third places respectively.
Partnering her in these events as the A string athlete was daughter Stevie
who finished fifth in both cases with respective efforts of 4.23m and 9.47m.
On to the Mens events and Morpeth's best result of the day here
came in the 110m Hurdles where Ian Mawdsley finished second
in the A race in 18.4s, and Team Manager John Thompson
came second in the B race in 25.5s.
In the 400m Hurdles Mawdsley finished second in the B race in 74.2s,
and Under 17 athlete Alistair Douglass, making his Northern League
debut finished fourth in the A race in 73.0s.
Douglass also competed well when finishing third
in the A race of the 800m in 2m08.7s, and Martyn Cairns showed
another improvement when he finished third in the B race in a slightly faster 2m06.1s.
Jordan Scott finished fourth in the A race of the 1500m in 4m31.2s,
and Cairns finished fourth in the B race in 4m35.9s.
Scott also finished fourth in the 5000m in 17m52.7s.
In the Mens 200m Daniel Hedley finished fourth in the A race in 24.9s,
and John Thompson finished fourth in the B race in 25.6s.
Best results for Morpeth from the Mens Field events came in the Hammer, Discus and Shot.
The Appleby brothers have certainly been synonymous with these events in recent times for Morpeth,
and they were both well to the fore during proceedings.
In the Hammer, Paul finished fourth in the A event with a best of 27.54m,
and Under 20 athlete Alan Richmond certainly made a mark for himself
when he placed second in the B event with an excellent 23.44m.
Steven Appleby finished third in the A event of the Discus with a best of 35.29m,
and brother Paul weighed in with 28.84m for fourth in the B event.
In the Shot, Steven finished fourth in the A String with his best of 9.45m,
and Paul's 8.95m saw him place third in the B String.
FINAL MATCH SCORE
1st City of York 397pts,
2nd Durham 353pts,
3rd Gateshead 326pts,
4th Middlesbrough 313pts,
5th Morpeth 294pts,
6th Scarborough DNA.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Stretford BMC PB Classic !
Morpeths Marcus Cram further improved his 800m best
when he clocked 2m01.2s to finish third in the Mens B race
at the Stretford BMC PB Classic meeting held at
Longford Park, Manchester on Saturday night 7th June.
At the same meeting Morpeths Rachel Denton
also improved her personal best over 1500m by over
two seconds when she clocked 4m48.9s in finishing
eighth in a race including nine older athletes.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Young Athletes League ( 3 )
Once again it was a poor athlete turnout that dogged the determined
efforts of Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Team Management for their
third round match held at a rainswept Monkton Stadium, Jarrow on Sunday 1st June.
Nevertheless the athletes who did turn out gave their all, but however once again
couldn't prevent their club from finishing last of the four competing clubs,
which means they now face life next season in Division 2,
and it will be the first time for a good number of years that Morpeth will have competed so low.
The club did have a number of excellent performances across the age groups however.
In the Under 17 Mens section Alistair Douglass and Daniel Hedley
both achieved wins in the 800m and 100m events in respective clockings of 2m08.9s and 12.3s.
Hedley also achieved a second in the 200m in 24.7s.
Another hard worker in the Under 17 Mens age group was Philip Shuttleworth
who finished second in both the 3000m (10m49.1s) and 1500m steeplechase (6m01.9s)
and third in the 1500m (5m20.4s)
In the Under 17 Womens events Deborah Oakley (11m41s)
and Catriona MacDonald (13m29.6s) combined to take maximum points in the 3000m.
Oakley also finished as second A runner in the 1500m (5m38.3s),
where Jessica Caldwell took the B event in 6m03.7s.
Caldwell had earlier finished second in the 800m in 2m47.8s.
Stevie Goodfellow captured an excellent victory in the triple Jump with 9.31m,
and added a B string victory in the 300m (48.1s) to compliment
Rachel Moody's second place in the A race in 46.4s.
In the Under 15 Boys events Jonny Nisbet had an excellent 1500m victory in 4m45.7s,
and Tom Brookes obliged by taking the B race in 5m02.2s.
Jonny also had earlier finished an excellent second in the 200m in 27.4s.
Jonathan Cozens finished second in the 100m in 12.5s.
In the Under 15 Girls events Kim Jinks cleared 1.30m to win the High Jump.
There was an excellent double victory in the 1500m with Rachel Denton
winning the A race in 4m55.5s and Hannah Rank taking the b event in 5m09.1s.
In the Under 13 Boys events Joe Robertshaw's victories
in the 100m (14.1s) and 200m (28.0s) stand out.
Matthew Denton's second in the B 200m in 31.9s was excellent.
Robertshaw also finished second in the Shot with a best of 6.32m.
In the Under 13 Girls events Shannon Henley won the 150m (21.7s)
finished second in the Long Jump (4.16m) and third in the Shot (5.03m)
Eve Shashova backed Shannon up well in the Long Jump by taking the B event with 3.33m.
Sarah Wilkes scored an excellent victory in the 1200m in 4m32.0s.
FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Chesterfield 432pts,
2nd Blaydon/Elswick 325.5pts,
3rd Hallamshire 290pts,
4th Morpeth 233.5pts.
Return To
2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Grand Prix Meeting !
Morpeths Jonathan Taylor and Laura Weightman both clocked
new personal bests over 1500m at the BMC Grand Prix Meeting
held at Sports City, Manchester on Saturday 31st May.
Jonathan finished eighth of 15 finishers in a classy Mens A race
in a time of 3m45.07s, which saw him knock just over
a second off his previous figures set in 2007.
Laura`s new best of 4m22.20s was also just more than
a second off her previous best set at Jarrow a few weeks ago,
and she finished twelfth in what was also a classy field of sixteen finishers,
and in doing so she also captured the scalp of four Senior Women
who included Hallamshire's Hatti Dean, just in the throes of a comeback,
and was only a second and one place adrift of Dean's illustrious
clubmate Rebecca Lyne, also on the comeback trail.
Morpeth's only other athlete competing on the night was Jonathan Young,
who finished fifth in the Mens 1500m D Race in a time of 3m56.78s,
which was around four seconds outside his personal best,
and a second outside his seasons best so far.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 2 )
There were some fine performances from athletes from Morpeth Harriers
at the second Start Fitness North eastern Athletics League held at
Gateshead's International Stadium on Wednesday 28th May.
The event also incorporated a series of BMC 800m events
which saw Rachel Denton produce a new personal best of 2m21.82s
to capture an excellent victory over Middlesbrough & Cleveland Senior athlete Abby Smith.
In the league events, the performances of Marcus Cram,
Alistair Douglass and Joe Robertshaw clearly stand out for merit.
In the 800m A race where he was seeded against more Senior athletes,
Cram achieved a brand new personal best of 2m02.57s.
Clubmate Martyn Cairns can also feel well pleased with a
personal best of 2m08.13s which saw him take the B race.
Alistair Douglass ran a superb 3000m to finish third against
more Senior rivals in a time of 9m25.7s.
Other Morpeth athletes in the 3000m were Phil Walker (9th) 9m38.3s,
Jordan Scott (10th) 9m39.4s and Paul Waterston (11th) 9m41.5s.
Joe Robertshaw just missed his personal best when he
triumphed in the Under 13 Boys 200m in 27.29s.
Jonny Nisbet gave good account for himself when he finished second
in the Under 15 Boys 200m in 27.4s and fifth in the 800m in 2m18.50s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
CAU InterCounties Track & Field Championships !
A time of 9m27.61s earned Morpeths Chris Sampson
a Bronze medal in the 3k Steeplechase at the CAU InterCounties
Track & Field Championships at Bedford on Sunday 25th May.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Fanny Blankers-Koen Memorial Games !
Morpeths Nick McCormick was well below his best when he
competed in the Mens 5000m at the Fanny Blankers-Koen
Memorial Games held in Hengelo in the Netherlands on Saturday 24th May.
He finished 18th as the only Briton in a top class field of Ethiopian's
and Kenyan's that included World Cross Country Champion
Kenenisa Bekele who won in this years best time of 12m58.94s.
McCormick will now return to his Loughborough base and take stock of things,
and will probably revert to his more recognised 800m and 1500m events
in the hope of a title at the UK Championships later in the Summer.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
North of England U15/U17 Track & Field Championships !
A lifetime best performance of 4m50.87s brought
Morpeths Rachel Denton a well earned Bronze medal
in the Under 15 Girls 1500m at the first day of the
North of England Under15/Under17 Track & Field
Championships held at Robin Park in Wigan on Saturday 24th May.
After finishing third in her heat in a very modest 5m05.2s,
Rachel ran well to finish in the Final behind East Cheshire's
Katie Reynolds (4m46.37s) and Wakefield's Sally Smith (4m47.36s)
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Veterans North East Track & Field League 1
Morpeths Archie Jenkins finished fourth in the Over 50's 1500m at the
first Veterans North East meeting held at Jarrow on Monday 19th May.
Archie crossed the line in 4m58.4s.
Neil McAnany finished seventh in the Over 40's 1500m in 5m01.1s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Loughborough International Athletics !
At the Loughborough International Athletics meeting on Sunday 18th May,
Morpeths Laura Weightman was fractionally outside her best when
she took victory in the Womens 1500m Invitation in a time of 4m25.69s.
At the same meeting Nick McCormick won the Mens 1500m Match event in 3m43.40s,
and clubmate Jonathan Taylor finished seventh in 3m45.81s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Young Athletes League ( 2 )
Despite gallant efforts by those who turned out on the day,
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes squad could once again
only finish fourth out of the four competing teams in their
second round Northern Division 1 match at the Dorothy Hyman Stadium
at Cudworth, near Barnsley on Sunday 18th May,
and are now staring relegation in the face with three matches remaining.
Team Managers Tony Ward and Josie Goodfellow are seeing their efforts
and that of those turning out being thwarted by the total lack of commitment
being shown from the absentees within the club who fail to support
their hardworking colleagues for whatever reason.
There were however some excellent performances
across the age groups that are worthy of mention.
Daniel Hedley continues to make enormous progress
in the sprints where he achieved two seconds in the
Under 17 Mens 100m and 200m in respective times of 12.3s and 24.5s.
Hedley also gained valuable points by finishing second in the Triple Jump with 10.07m.
Jonny Nisbet clocked a new personal best of 4m44.0s
to win the Under 15 Boys 1500m in one of the most exciting finishes of the day.
Tom Brookes gained maximum points for Morpeth
when he took the B race in 5m14.2s.
Elsewhere in this age group Callum Duncan won the Shot with 8.70m,
and finished second in the Long jump with 4.99m.
Joe Robertshaw renewed his rivalry with Middlesbrough Mandale's
Matthew Routh in the Under 13 Boys 100m and 200m events.
He had to be content with second in the 100m with 13.8s,
however he again outsprinted Routh over 200m by
clocking a new personal best of 27.2s, albeit wind assisted.
In the 200m B event Joe Elder finished second in 32.1s
to give Morpeth more valuable points.
Elder did his club proud by taking the 1500m in 5m31.1s
There were two splendid double victories for Morpeth
in the Under 17 Womens 3000m and Discus events.
Deborah Oakley won the 3000m A race in 11m48s
and Catriona MacDonald clocked 13m31.6s to take the B race.
Rachel Moody (20.62m) and Rebecca Gibson (18.76m)
combined to produce an excellent double in the Discus.
Moody also finished second in the Shot (8.21m)
and Stevie Goodfellow (9.35m) finished second in the Triple Jump.
Under 15 Girls level saw Hannah Rank win the 1500m in 5m12.2s,
and Miriam Inverarity finished second in the B event with 6m04.2s.
Rachel Denton (2m22.0s) and Katie Plant (4.40m)
finished second in the 800m and Long Jump events.
The Under 13 Girls events saw Adele Stewart, Steph Purvis
and Shannon Henley each record A string victories.
Stewart won the 800m in 2m50.3s and Eve Shashova
backed her up well in the B event by finishing second in 3m03.5s.
Purvis won the 1200m in 4m30.3s, and Henley
won the Long Jump with her best of 4.12m.
Henley's win in the Long Jump was sweetened
with Amy Gibson taking the B event with 3.88m.
Gibson also finished second in the 150m B race in 23.4s,
where Henley had finished third in the A race with 21.8s.
FINAL MATCH SCORE
1st Bingley 328pts
2nd Middlesbrough (Mandale) 325pts
3rd Barnsley 260pts
4th Morpeth 200pts.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
North Eastern Counties Track & Field Championships !
Nineteen Championship medals were won by athletes from Morpeth Harriers
at the North Eastern Counties Track and Field meeting held at Gateshead's
International Stadium over Saturday and Sunday 10th/11th May.
Apart from the medals, five of which were Gold, seven were Silver
and seven were Bronze, a host of new personal bests were achieved
in what could only be described as perfect conditions,
with both days being blessed with dry, warm sunny weather.
On Saturday Laura Weightman was the first Morpeth athlete to
strike Gold in what could only be described as a fairly
competitive combined Under 20 and Senior Womens 800m.
The 2007 Under 17 Champion shared most of the early pace
with former Morpeth athlete Nisha Desai, now running for Trafford,
and with 200m remaining Weightman decided to take up the gauntlett
only to be chased all the way to the line by her fierce rival Stacey Smith,
formerly Tynedale, now with Gateshead.
Sensing danger from Smith, Weightman injected yet another surge
of power with 40m remaining and crossed the finish line in 2m08.20s,
knocking a whole three seconds off her previous figures for the distance.
By finishing in fourth place behind Desai, Morpeth's Natalie Young picked
up a Bronze medal by virtue of being third Under 20 in 2m23.5s.
Another Morpeth Gold medallist on the Saturday was Hannah Rank,
who easily won her very first Under 15 Girls 3000m in 11m15.1s.
Photo courtesy
Angus Lumb Gateshead
Harriers
Hannah's training partner and clubmate Rachel Denton opted to
give the Under 15 Girls 800m a miss on the Saturday, however
turned up on the Sunday to put in an outstanding performance
to take Gold in the 1500m in 4m51.99s, and bettering
her previous figures by around three seconds.
Morpeth's Joe Robertshaw more than made up for his narrow
defeat in the Under 13 Boys 100m on the Saturday,
where his clocking of 13.7s was exactly the same as the winner
Matthew Routh of Middlesbrough, by breaking the Championship
record in the heats of the 200m on the Sunday with his time of 27.38s,
and then went on to win Gold in the Final in a slightly faster 27.21s
against the same Middlesbrough athlete, however the sweetness
was slightly taken away by the fact that the Wind Gauge had ruled
his time ineligible for ratification to a better figure.
Nevertheless Joe had worked hard for to retain his hold on the title that
he won in 2007, and more than deserved this particular victory alone.
Morpeth's fifth Gold of the weekend came on the Sunday
where Alan Richmond won the Under 20 Mens Hammer with a best of 34.53m.
This was Richmond's second medal of the weekend having taken Bronze
on the Saturday in the Discus with a little below par best of 29.12m.
Chris Sampson just lost out to New Marske's Dominic Shaw in
a hard fought Senior Mens 5000m, where he clocked 15m09.56s.
Clubmates Dan Samuels and Ross Floyd finished fourth and seventh
in respective times of 15m44.88s and 16m06.69s.
Deborah Oakley picked up a well deserved Silver medal
in the Under 17 Womens 3000m with a finishing time of 11m37.74s.
On Sunday Natalie Young added a Silver medal to the
Bronze medal she'd won on the Saturday when finishing
second in the Under 20 Womens 1500m in 4m51.41s.
Photo courtesy
Angus Lumb Gateshead
Harriers
Also on Sunday Martyn Cairns secured Silver in the
Under 20 Mens 5000m where he clocked 17m45.08s.
Morpeth's other two Silver medals came in the Field events
with Rachel Moody taking second in the Under 17 Womens Javelin
on the Saturday with her best of 17.05m, and Claire Reid took
second in the Senior Womens Shot on the Sunday with her best of 10.56m.
Photo courtesy
Angus Lumb Gateshead
Harriers
On Saturday Alistair Douglass secured a well earned Bronze medal in the
Under 17 Mens 1500m where he clocked a brand new lifetime best of 4m17.08s,
and on the Sunday he very nearly added a second Bronze
in the 3000m where he clocked an excellent 9m31.30s.
After securing a Bronze in the Senior Womens 200m
on Saturday with her finishing time of 26.55s,
Morpeth's Elaine Telford returned on Sunday to take
a second Bronze in the 100m in 13.07s.
Photo courtesy
Angus Lumb Gateshead
Harriers
On Saturday Morpeth's Jonny Young found himself squeezed out
of the medals in the Senior Mens 1500m with his clocking of 4m02.52s,
however he made up for that on the Sunday by securing a Bronze in the 800m in 1m59.03s.
Morpeth's Jack Hepple finished third in the Under 15 Boys 400m in 68.45s.
One Morpeth athlete who performed superbly over the
two days was Jonny Nisbet who on Saturday won his heat of
the Under 15 Boys 1500m in a new personal best time of 4m45.74s,
and although he bettered that time again in the final,
just lost out for medals when he finished fifth.
Jonny returned on the Sunday to produce yet another personal best
in the heats of the 800m where his 2m18.69s saw him finish fourth
in his heat, to go through to the final as a fastest loser.
However 2m18.84s in the Final was just not quite good
enough to get him amongst the medals.
Photo courtesy
Angus Lumb Gateshead
Harriers
Despite clocking excellent new personal bests of 4m19.23s
and 2m04.72s in the Under 17 Mens 1500m and 800m events,
Morpeth's Marcus Cram found himself outside the medals,
however as a first year in this age group there is certainly more to
come from the son of the former World Mile Record Holder.
Other excellent Morpeth performers other than medallists were
Shannon Henley who made it through to the finals of both the 100m
and 200m in the Under 13 Girls age group and finished fourth in the Long Jump,
Daniel Hedley who got through to the Final of the Under 17 Mens 200m,
Andrew Toothill who finished fourth in the Under 20 Mens Discus,
and Liam Brooks who just lost out on countback for
a Bronze medal in the Under 13 Boys High Jump.
The profile of the North Eastern Counties Championships certainly
reached a new high with a good deal of competition in Track events,
however there is still a good deal of work to be done
to ensure popularity within the Field events.
Certainly medal presentatations done in front of a watching
crowd added some spice to the occasion.
Many thanks must go to Gateshead Council
for their efforts in promoting the event.
Complete Track Results Saturday.......
Complete Field Results Saturday.......
Complete Track Results Sunday.......
Complete Field Results Sunday.......
Return To
2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Young Athletes League !
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes squad were badly hit by a
number of absentees when they finished fourth in their opening
Northern League Division 1 match at Monkton Stadium on Sunday 4th May.
Nevertheless Team Managers Tony Ward and Josie Goodfellow did their
level best to tactically place those who could turn out to the best advantage.
Despite the loss of athletes there were a number of
excellent performances across the three age groups.
In the Under 17 Womens section Rachel Moody claimed
excellent victories in the Long Jump (4.23m) and Shot (8.57m).
Stevie Goodfellow went alone in the Triple Jump
to gain maximum points with a best of 8.66m
and followed that up with an excellent second in the 200m (28.9s)
with Kathryn Lake taking second in the B race in 29.0s.
After a hard day at York the previous day competing for the Seniors,
Deborah Oakley competed in the 3000m to finish third in 11m32.3s,
then later finished third in the 1500m in 5m35.4s,
and Jessica Caldwell took the B race in 5m48.3s.
There were good performances to be seen in the
Under 15 age group with Rachel Denton, Hannah Rank
and Jonny Nisbet all capturing the spotlight.
Denton claimed a superb victory in the Girls 800m in 2m23.3s,
a new personal best, which saw her finish well clear of her nearest rival.
Ellen Welsh ran well to finish second in the B race in 3m05.3s
Morpeth claimed an excellent double victory in the Girls 1500m
with Hannah Rank taking the A race in 5m06.7s
and Miriam Inverarity took the B race in 5m50s.
Rank also finished second in the Shot with 5.92m.
There were excellent second places for Anna Matthews
in the 200m (28.8s) and Ismay Kitson in the Javelin (10.77m)
Jonny Nisbet and Tom McGhee combined well to claim an
excellent Morpeth double victory in the Boys 200m
with Nisbet taking the A race in 27.4s and McGhee the B race in 31.2s.
Nisbett also finished second in the 1500m (4m47.2s)
a new personal best by almost thirty seconds,
and McGhee finished second in the Long Jump with 4.15m.
Another highlight was Philip Caldwell's second in the 80m Hurdles with 18.1s.
In the Under 13 age group Joe Robertshaw's victories in the 100m (13.9s)
and 200m (27.9s) certainly caught the eye.
Added to that he was agonisingly 9cm short of making a reasonable claim
of a hat-trick of victories with his best Long Jump effort of 3.91m.
In the Girls events Adele Stewart and Eve Shashova's performances
were outstanding with a double victory being claimed in the 800m
with respective clockings of 2m51.1s and 2m58.9s.
Stewart also finished second in the High Jump with a best clearance of 1.10m
and Steph Purvis came second in the B String with 1.05m.
There were very satisfactory debuts for Ryan Dodds and Liam Brooks.
Dodds finished third in the 75m Hurdles (16.7s)
and Brooks also placed third in the 1500m in 5m30.9s.
FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Harrogate 360pts,
2nd Lincoln Wellington 354pts,
3rd Chester Le Street 233pts,
4th Morpeth 195pts.
Return To
2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Senior Men & Womens Northern League Division 2
!
Huntington Stadium in York was the venue for Morpeth Harriers
first taste of Senior Men and Womens Northern League
Division 2 Track and Field action on Saturday 3rd May.
Despite a number of gaps in both sections, some good characteristic
performances saw them finish fourth of the six competing teams.
One of the pleasing major highlights from Morpeth's
point of view was to see debutant Ian Mawdesley
win the A race of the Mens 110m Hurdles in fine style in 18.7s,
with Team Captain John Thompson throwing in his all by taking
his place in the B race to finish second in 22.7s.
Mawdesley again played his part enormously by winning
the B race of the 400m Hurdles in 69.4s
to add to Ray Kirkup's fourth in the A race in 66.2s.
Chris Sampson ran well to beat City of York's Andy Hilton
to the finish line in the 3000m Steeplechase to win in 9m32.6s,
and David Swinburne finished second in the B race in 10m15.4s.
In the Mens Field events Angus Wood did well to finish second
in the High Jump with a clearance of 1.65m.
Paul Appleby threw 37.62m to finish third in the Javelin,
and John Thompson backed him up well to finish third
in the B event with 36.00m.
In the Womens events Laura Weightman landed a victory in the 800m
clocking 2m11.6s which was fractionally just adrift of her personal best.
Natalie Young backed her up well by taking second in the B race in 2m27.7s.
Weightman also did well when finishing third in the 400m in 60.3s
and Rachel Archer finished second in the B race with 64.1s.
Elaine Telford finished third in both the 100m (12.8s) and the 200m (26.6s)
Archer backed her up in the 200m when finishing fourth in the B race in 27.4s.
Aiveen Fox finished third in the 3000m in 11m29.2s
and Deborah Oakley finished second in the B race in 11m56.2s.
In the Womens Field events as usual it was Claire Reid
at the helm of Morpeth's points haul by finishing second
in the Discus (30.99m) and second in the Shot (10.07m)
FINAL MATCH SCORE
1st City of York 447pts,
2nd Gateshead Harriers 345pts,
3rd Middlesbrough (Mandale) 340pts,
4th Morpeth Harriers 286pts,
5th Durham City 269pts,
6th Scarborough 186pts.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BUSA Track & Field Championships !
A close and very exciting finish saw Morpeths Jonathan Taylor
representing Teeside University, snatch victory in the Mens 1500m
from Darlington's Lewis Moses representing Loughborough, at the
BUSA Track and Field Championships held at Bedford on Monday 5th May.
Jonathan Taylor clocked 3m45.61s, a new personal best,
with Lewis Moses also getting a new personal best of 3m45.72s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !
Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman showed that she is now virtually
back to her sparkling best as she knocked a whole three seconds
off her personal best time in the 1500m at the first Start Fitness
North Eastern Athletics League meeting held at a rainswept
Monkton Stadium, Jarrow on Wednesday 30th April.
She certainly took every advantage when running as the only Female
against older Men and Boys, to cross the finish line in an excellent 4m23.4s.
Another good Morpeth performer on the night was Joe Robertshaw,
who won the Under 13 Boys 100m in 13.5s.
Other Morpeth performers on the night were
Katie Plant Under 15 Girls 75m Hurdles (16.0s) and 100m (14.5s)
Daniel Hedley (18.1s) Under 17 Mens 150m and (39.7s) 300m,
Claire Reid (10.54m) Senior Womens Shot and (16.75m) Hammer,
Martyn Cairns (4m35.4s) Under 20 Mens 1500m,
Deborah Oakley (5m49.1s) Under 17 Womens 1500m.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
News From America !
Morpeth Harrier Lewis Timmins finished second in the Mens 5000m
at The McDonnell Invitational Track and Field meeting held
at Fayetteville, Arkansas in America on April 19th.
Timmins time was 14m09.91s.
Click Here For Full Report of Meeting.......
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
BMC Watford Open Meeting !
Morpeth Harrier Jonny Young finished third in the 3000m B Race at the
BMC Watford Open Meeting on Wednesday 23rd April in a time of 8m45.67s.
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2008 TRACK AND FIELD INDEX
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