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Welcome To Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Page



WINTER 2012

This page will keep you informed about our young athletes,
at all their events and their results this year

NEWS AND RACE REPORTS FROM 2012


NEWS AND RACE REPORTS FROM 2011
NEWS AND RACE REPORTS FROM 2010

Last updated on 22nd February 2012

Running In The Dark !

If any Young Athletes would like to contribute articles about running events or photos from races etc, or you would like to report on a race you have watched or took part in. Then email us and we will feature them on this page.

Contact us by clicking on Email link below.
Send us an e-mail

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NEWS AND RACE REPORTS FROM 2012

Athlete of the Month Award !

Gateshead College Indoor Athletics Meeting !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 4 )

Northern Inter Counties Schools Cross Country Championships !

2012 North of England Cross Country Championships !

Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships !

North of England Indoor Athletics Championships !

Athlete of the Month Award for December 2011 !

Borders League Cross Country Meeting !

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Athlete of the Month Award !
Jacob Hopkins and Bill Woods
Morpeth Harriers are pleased to announce that their Benfield Motors
Athlete of the Month award for January 2012,
has gone to Under 13 athlete Jacob Hopkins.

Jacob mainly earned his award for his truly outstanding performance
at the North of England Cross Country Championships, held at Pontefract,
where he finished fifteenth, and was Morpeth Harriers best placed Young Athlete on the day,
and in addition was second overall from the region in his age group.
He is pictured above alongside Club Chairman Bill Woods, with his certificate
which was presented to him at Morpeth Harriers clubhouse.

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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Gateshead College Indoor Athletics Meeting !
At the Gateshead College Indoor Athletics meeting, held on Thursday 16th February,
Morpeth Harriers Alex Nesbit and Jared Lewis each clocked new personal bests
of 7.90s and 8.67s respectively when finishing second and fifth in the Under 15 Boys 60m.
Lewis also set new figures of 1.35m, when competing in the High Jump.

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League (4)
There were some good performances from athletes from Morpeth Harriers
at the fourth meeting of the Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League,
held at Cardinal Hume Catholic School, Wrekenton, Gateshead on Saturday 11th February.

Despite a cold chilly wind, the area seemed to escape the worst
of the wintry conditions that threatened to engulf the country,
and organisers were cheered that they were able to offer conditions
that were manageable with care in places.

Pride of place amongst the Morpeth Harriers performances
must go to their Under 15 Boys squad, who more or less cemented
their place at the top of the seasons Grand Prix standings
with an outstanding team victory on the day.

With leading light, and North East Cross Country
champion Phil Winkler out through injury,
it was left to Elliot Kelly to lead the clubs charge,
and despite suffering the effects of a heavy cold,
he put in a tremendous performance to finish a superb individual third,
and as second fastest on the day overall.

Next home was Ryan Green, who finished seventh, and as fifth fastest on the day.
Green was largely spurred on at the finish, by the sight of his Morpeth Harriers clubmate Jared Lewis,
who it has to be said gave a very polished individual performance to finish ninth,
and only two seconds adrift of Green.Lewis was sixth fastest on the course.
Kelly and Green currently lie second and third in the Grand Prix standings individually.

Jonnie Nisbet made light work of an easy victory in a
sparsely contested Under 17 Mens event,
where he won with twelve seconds to spare over his closest rival.
Unfortunately club colleague Phil Caldwell suffered a recurrence of injury,
and was forced to pull out during the second lap.
Meanwhile Sam Hancox bravely fought his problems to finish 13th.

Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys maintained their second place
in the grand prix standings, when finishing as second on the day
Also maintaining their second and third placings in the individual standings
were Jacob Hopkins and Kieran Hedley, who finished fifth and eleventh
on the day respectively from the Fast Pack.
Further team support came from an excellent Slow Pack
run from Samuel Williams, who finished 22nd.

Other Morpeth finishers in this event were Philip Kirby (25th) (Fast Pack),
Euan Jones (27th) (Fast Pack), and Lewis James (46th) (Slow Pack).

Hannah Sheerin and Charlotte Jewell both had good runs in the Under 15 Girls event,
which saw them place second and fourth from the Slow Pack.
Excellent runs by Teegan Dryden (4th) (Slow Pack), Georgia Priest (10th) (Slow Pack),
and Harriet Grace (19th) (Slow Pack), saw Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Girls
finish in third team place on the day behind Birtley and Elswick.

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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Northern Inter Counties Schools Cross Country Championships !
Thankfully the threatened snowfall failed to live up to its full expectations,
and organisers could breathe a sigh of relief as they managed to complete
the 8 event Northern Inter Counties Schools Cross Country Championships
at Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria, before the worst conditions arrived on Saturday 4th February.

That is not to say that the event went without its problems,
as certain parts of the course were frozen and rutted,
and bordered upon being dangerous to say the least,
and athletes were forced into extra careful action when needed.

Nevertheless the event went ahead as planned,
and several athletes from Morpeth Harriers were amongst
Northumberland School's leading performers.

Ryan Green, who had won the area Championship at South Shields for Junior Boys,
finished a good second to Cleveland's Henry Johnson on this occasion,
with only nineteen seconds dividing the pair at the finish.
Fellow Morpeth Harriers Jacob Hopkins and Jared Lewis also competed well in this age group,
when finishing in 7th and 15th places respectively, as fifth and seventh from the county.

In the Minor Boys, Morpeth Harrier Kieran Hedley led Northumberland home by placing third.
Fourth counter home for the county was Philip Kirby, who finished 24th.

Jonnie Nisbet was another podium placed athlete,
when finishing third and first for the county,
behind Gateshead's Barry Maskell in the Senior Boys event.
Phil Caldwell also ran well in this age group,
to finish as fourth for Northumberland in 16th place overall.

One athlete not so lucky in the tricky conditions was Under 15 Boys
North Eastern Champion Phillip Winkler, who may well have prematurely
ended his winter cross country campaign, when he took a heavy tumble
when negotiating a rutted area, and may well have damaged ankle ligaments.

Thankfully a hospital examination afterwards revealed no break,
however he did return home on crutches, and faces what is possibly
a lengthy period of incapacity, which is likely to blight both his own,
and his clubs immediate plans for success.
Phillip did however manage to hobble bravely to the finish line in order to
complete as a very creditable second for Northumberland in eighth place overall.
Morpeth's Elliot Kelly continued his excellent run of form, to come home
in 19th place overall, as the county's second counter.

Another Morpeth Harrier continuing an excellent run of form is Alison Brown,
who has had a very tough season, and the Berwick based starlet certainly repaid her selectors,
when finishing third for Northumberland, and 10th overall in the Intermediate Girls event.
Other Morpeth Harriers to feature in this event were Beth Wooley (31st) (8th North),
Hannah Sheerin (41st) (11th North), Josie McReton (50th) (13th North),
and Sarah Wilkes (53rd) (14th North).

In the Senior Girls event Morpeth Harriers Ailsa McGregor and Hannah Rank
finished 10th and 18th respectively, as third and fifth for Northumberland.

In the Minor Girls event, Morpeth's Teegan Dryden finished 22nd, as fourth from the county.
Chloe Robertson and Lizzie Rank finished 30th and 36th and were fifth and seventh from the county.

Finally the Junior Girls event saw Morpeth Harriers Charlotte Jewell and Amber Cormack
place 34th and 53rd as eleventh and fourteenth for Northumberland.
At the time of going to press final team results are awaiting confirmation.

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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2012 North of England Cross Country Championships !

At the North of England Cross Country Championships,
held at Pontefract Park Racecourse, on Saturday 28th January,
Morpeth’s Jacob Hopkins battled tenaciously throughout the Under 13 Boys 3.1k one lap event,
and was quite prominent amongst the leaders in the early stages.
He eventually came home in 15th place overall, and as second from the region
behind Gateshead’s second placed Markhim Lonsdale,
but Hopkins was only a mere thirty seconds adrift of the
Bronze medal placing such was the strength of competition around him.

Morpeth Harriers team placing of ninth of seventeen closing teams
in the Under 13 Boys was very creditable, and was very much due to the excellent run of Hopkins,
supported by the equally excellent and perhaps surprising performance of Kieran Hedley,
who after spending nearly ten days in sick bay following a bout of influenza,
turned out in support of his club.
Hedley’s performance was a very much valued contribution
as he came home an individual 45th, and eighth from the region.
Further Morpeth team support came from excellent runs
from Philip Kirby (101st ), and Euan Jones (113th).

Morpeth Harriers best team achievement on the day undoubtedly came from their Under 15 Boys,
who led home by North Eastern Champion Philip Winkler finished in fourth place of sixteen closing teams,
and agonisingly just outside team Bronze medals.

Winkler who was always prominent in their one lap 4k event,
however may feel a little disappointed individually to finish in seventeenth place,
and third from the region behind Jarrow’s Thomas Coyne (9th),
whom he had out sprinted in the regional championships
at Cramlington, and Sunderland Harrier Joel Jones (12th).
Morpeth’s team count was further supported by Elliot Kelly (37th),
Ryan Green (61st), and Jarod Lewis, who produced one of his best
ever performances to finish 75th in a 158 strong field.

Jonny Nisbet was Morpeth Harriers lone competitor in the Under 17
6.2k event which involved completion of two 3.1k laps.
After a steady start Nisbet carefully made his way through the field,
which had a total of 111 finishers, to finish 18th,
and saw him as third from the region behind North Eastern Champion
Wayne Parker of New Marske (9th), and Gateshead’s Greg Chambers (15th).
On this occasion however North Eastern Bronze medallist Nisbet,
did finish well ahead of the North Eastern Silver medallist,
Gateshead’s Barry Maskell, who after a promising start,
sadly faded to finish in fifty eighth place overall.

At the time of producing this report final results have not been fully clarified,
which means that we cannot confirm the team performance of Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Girls squad,
who despite the first publication of results, which indicated that they had not finished as a team,
they did finish as a full squad, however Charlotte Jewell a key member of the squad
tripped shortly after the start, and unfortunately shed a shoe.
Having recovered her shoe, without the added help of a budding " Prince Charming",
she continued to chase down her rivals, and it is believed that she finished
approximately 100th of what is reported to be a 157 strong field.

If she was rewarded with a final position of 100th, this then when recorded
alongside the finishing positions of Alison Brown (43rd), Hannah Sheerin (122nd),
and Sarah Wilkes (135th), would have given Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Girls
squad a final team placing of fourteenth of eighteen closing teams.

Click here for Full Results

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships !
Morpeth Harriers provided two new champions at the
Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships,
held at Temple Park, South Shields, on Tuesday 17th January.

Ryan Green was a very clear winner of the Junior Boys event,
coming home ahead of Alnwick's Adam Weightman,
with Green's clubmate, and training partner Jacob Hopkins,
securing a well earned third place.

Another Morpeth Harriers winner on the day,
was Minor Girl Teegan Dryden.

In the Minor Boys event Kieron Hedley just lost out
for victory in the final run in, with his Morpeth Harriers
clubmate Philip Kirby bearing down at him at a fast rate of knots,
taking a well earned third place.

Other well placed Morpeth Harriers were Alison Brown,
who took third place in the Intermediate Girls,
and Philip Winkler, and Elliot Kelly,
who finished third and fifth in the Intermediate Boys.

In the Senior Boys event, Philip Caldwell produced an excellent run to finish fifth,
and his Morpeth Harriers clubmate Jack Hepple did well to come home in ninth place.

Additional performances from athletes from Morpeth Harriers.
Minor Boys
Mitchell Green (55th)

Junior Boys
Jarod Lewis (9th),
Sam Foster-Beattie (20th),
Leon Craggs (39th),
James Heppell (43rd),
Kieron Smith (54th)

Intermediate Boys
Henrik Paulsen (35th)

Minor Girls
Chloe Robertson (6th),
Lizzie Rank (7th),
Kate Walker (47th),
Natasha Fleming (52nd)

Junior Girls
Charlotte Jewell (19th),
Ria Fairnington (28th),
Abby Elliot (33rd),
Kirsty Lang (71st)

Intermediate Girls
Beth Woolley (9th),
Helen Sheerin (10th),
Sarah Wilkes (14th),
Josie McCreton (15th),
Paige Capstaff (16th),
Alice Kelly (18th),
Lucy Pargeter (26th)

Senior Girls
Ailsa McGregor (5th),
Hannah Rank (6th)

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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North of England Indoor Athletics Championships !
It was a disappointing early exit for Morpeth Harriers Under 17 star Joe Robertshaw,
at the first day of the North of England Indoor Athletics Championships,
held at Sheffield Arena, over Saturday and Sunday 14th/15th January.

The North Eastern Counties 400m outdoor Bronze medallist,
running the Indoor 400m Championship for the first time,
unfortunately slightly misjudged the camber during his heat,
and straddled the dividing line at the edge of his lane long enough
to catch the eagle eye of an observing Track Judge,
who in turn issued notice of a disqualification.

This meant immediate elimination from a competition that almost certainly
would have given Robertshaw at least a minor medal to show for his efforts,
as he had more than clearly won his heat by at least five metres,
which in turn would have seen him safely through to the final.

Afterwards a clearly distraught, yet philosophical Robertshaw,
declared that he had taken a great deal of experience from the occasion,
and would hope to put this disappointment behind him as quickly as possible,
and will obviously seek to experience more of this type of event,
in order to gain a wider tactical knowledge for the future.

On the same day, Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys sprinter
Alex Nesbit went out in the heats of the 60m when finishing fourth individually,
as fifth fastest overall with 8.07s.

At the second day of the North of England Indoor
Athletics Championships on Sunday 15th January,
Morpeths Alex Nesbit clocked a new personal best,
when finishing second in his heat of the Under 15 Boys 200m, with a time of 25.76s.
Unfortunately 25.81s, could only gain him fifth in the final.

Jarod Lewis finished third in his heat of the Under 15 Boys 800m in a time of 2m16.71s.
Although this was a personal best, it was still not quite good enough to gain a place in the final.

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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Athlete of the Month Award for December 2011 !
Philip Winkler and Bill Woods
Morpeth Harriers are pleased to announce their award for
Benfield Motors (Morpeth) Athlete of the Month for December 2011
has gone to Under 15 athlete Philip Winkler.

Philip much deserved his award, particularly for his individual performance
at the North Eastern Cross Country Championships at Cramlington,
where he not only won the Under 15 Boys event with an outstanding
breathtaking finish, after looking to be destined for the Silver medal,
he also encouragingly led the his Clubs squad to an excellent team victory.

Philip is pictured above receiving his Certificate of the award from
Morpeth Harriers Chairman Bill Woods, at the Harriers Clubhouse
on Mitford Road, Morpeth, on Monday 9th January 2012.

He now goes into the pot for a possible more lucrative award later on in the year,
along with previous recipients Joe Robertshaw, Ria Fairnington,
Jonny Nisbet, Ryan Green, and Alison Brown.

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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Borders League Cross Country Meeting !
Morpeths Alison Brown produced a race winning performance
in the Borders League Cross Country meeting,
held at Paxton House, near Berwick on Sunday 8th January.

The Benfield Athlete of the Month for November,
finished as first Girl in the combined Young Athletes event,
which covers ages up to and including Under 17 of both genders,
when she finished thirteenth overall, with her time of 11m17s,
being a good thirty eight seconds clear of her nearest girl rival.

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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NEWS AND RACE REPORTS FROM 2011

Gateshead Stadium Indoor Meeting !

North Eastern Counties Cross Country Championships !

Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships !

Athlete of the Month Award for November !

Winter Standards Indoor Meeting !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 3 )

Athlete of the Month Award for October !

Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races !

2011 Saucony English National Cross Country Relays !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 2 )

Sherman Cup and Davison Shield !

Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Men and Womens Road Championships !

National Young Athletes Road Relays !

Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys and Girls Road Championships !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 1 )

Alwinton Show Fell Race !

Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys and Girls Road Championships !

Morpeth Harriers Under 11 Boys and Girls Road Championships !

North of England Young Athletes Road Relay Championships !

2011 Junior Great North Run !

Sunderland Harriers Open XC Races !

BMC 800M Races !

Northumberland Classic Track & Field Meeting !

2011 Tartan Games !

Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (6)

Northern Athletics Inter-Counties Track & Field Championships !

Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (5)

BMC Races !

Benfield Athlete of The Year !

Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (4)

Aviva 2011 ESAA Track & Field Championships !

Junior Blyth Beach Races !

Northumberland Middle Schools Track & Field Championships !

Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (3)

National Young Athletes League Division 1

Athlete of the Month Award for May !

2011 Morpeth Fair Day Fun Run !

Northumberland Schools Track & Field Championships !

Athlete of the Month Award for April !

National Young Athletes League Division 1. 05.06.2011

Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (2)

National Young Athletes League Division 1. 22.05.2011

North Eastern Counties Track & Field Championships !

National Young Athletes League Division 1. 08.05.2011

Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (1)

Elswick Harriers Good Friday Road Races !

London Mini-Marathons

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 6 )

English Schools Cross Country Championships !

Athlete of the Month Award for February !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 5 )

English National Schools Cross Country Championships Preview !

Borders Cross Country League !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 4 )

English National Cross Country Championships !

Athlete of the Month Award for January !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 3 )

Northern Schools Inter Counties Championships !

Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships !

Scottish East District Cross Country Championships !

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Gateshead Stadium Indoor Meeting !
Morpeths Joe Robertshaw won the Under17 Mens 60m
at the Indoor Meeting, held at Gateshead International Stadium
on Thursday 15th December, in a time of 7.59s,
which was very easily a new personal best,
and particularly well achieved for all his hard work and determination.

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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North Eastern Counties Cross Country Championships !
A superbly timed last gasp effort from Philip Winkler gave Morpeth Harriers
a much welcome individual Gold Medal win at the
North Eastern Counties Cross Country Championships,
held at East Cramlington Nature Reserve on Saturday 10th December.

The Mike Bateman coached Duchess High School pupil certainly
deserved all his plaudits as he calmly got on with the business in hand
to produce one of the finest performances of the day,
that also saw one of the tightest of finishes.

Perhaps it was Winkler's country roots, that saw him take on the role of a wily fox scenting its prey in front him,
that enabled him to grab the Under 15 Boys Gold Medal in the final run to the line
with Jarrow and Hebburn's Thomas Coyne, and only a mere second divided them at the death.

However for Winkler, it was a just reward for all of the hard work that he has put in,
along with his aforementioned coach, and this Gold is a much coveted
addition to the Silver Medal that he won at Darlington, when he was an Under 13.

Winkler was obviously overjoyed on learning that he had also
spearheaded a very much welcome Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys team
victory by a margin of twenty two points over Shildon, with further excellent support
coming from Elliot Kelly (6th), and Ryan Green (13th).
Kelly had an excellent run, and he clearly showed his bravery in the early stages
when he established a slender lead.
Green also ran a sensibly judged race to produce an excellent performance all round.

Although not making the scoring count, Joe Elder also deserves some praise for his performance,
where in finishing 18th, was easily in the top half of a fifty one strong Under 15 Boys field.
Morpeth Harriers other finisher in this event was Jarod Lewis,
who finished 29th, but will feel a little disappointed at not being further up the field.

Only two points deprived Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys of a Gold Medal team win.
They finished behind Middlesbrough Mandale, and were led home by an excellent Jacob Hopkins,
who tried to stay with eventual race winner Markhim Lonsdale of Gateshead Harriers
for as long as he could muster over the 2.9k circuit.

Eventually Lonsdale drew away, however Hopkins did have the satisfaction
of putting five seconds between himself and Elswick's Ewan Cassidy,
to grab a Silver individual medal, to add to the aforementioned team medal.

Assisting Hopkins in the team medal were Kieran Hedley,
who produced a superb run to finish fifth, and Philip Kirby,
who gets better with every race, who finished in 22nd place
out of a 48 strong field of Under 13 Boys finishers.
Morpeth's Samuel Williams also ran creditably to finish in 32nd place.

Unfortunately a pre race bout of glandular fever hit Morpeth Harrier's
Jonnie Nisbet's chances of winning the Under 17 Mens title.
Nevertheless Nisbet took his place on the start line,
and battled bravely throughout the 6.3k event, to finish in third place,
to take the Bronze Medal behind New Marke's Wayne Parker,
and Gateshead Harrier Barry Maskell.

Nisbet will also be grateful to club colleagues Sam Hancox (25th)
and Matthew Leveson (26th), whose combined
supporting efforts gained additional Bronze team medals.

Unfortunately Morpeth Harriers just missed out on medals
in the combined Under 17/ Under 20 Womens event.
Ailsa McGregor was fifth Under 20 in eleventh place overall,
and Hannah Rank was sixth Under 20 in seventeenth place overall.
The scoring count was closed by Lucy Shuttleworth,
who was 25th Under 17, and 25th overall finisher.

Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Girls finished as fifth team behind Jarrow and Hebburn.
They were led home by Lizzie Rank (14th), with good supporting runs coming from
Teegan Dryden (19th), and Olivia Priest (23rd).
Harriet Grace and Lois Scott also finished for Morpeth Harriers in 33rd and 39th places out of 41 finishers.

It was very disappointing that Morpeth Harriers failed to field a complete Under 15 Girls squad,
and only an excellent run by Alison Brown (8th),
and Jennifer Tynemouth (36th) were to show for the club.

North East Counties Cross Country Championships Results

Under 13 Boys
A HREF=http://www.new-marske-harriers.co.uk/images/stories/nexc/print%20outs%20u13b.pdf>Click here for Under 13 Boys Results

Under 13 Girls
Click here for Under 13 Girls Results

Under 15 Boys
Click here for Under 15 Boys Results

Under 15 Girls
Click here for Under 15 Girls Results

Under 17 / Under 20 Women
Click here for Under 17/ Under 20 Women Results

Under 17 Men
Click here for Under 17 Mens Results

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships !
Despite a very evident chill factor, athletes from Morpeth Harriers were in fine
dominant form at the East Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships,
held at Queen Elizabeth 11 Park, Woodhorn, near Ashington, on Tuesday 6th December.

The club had two out of the three winners in the Boys events,
and two of the three Girls events, which clearly outlined their superior individual performances.

Philip Kirby of Newminster, began the day well by winning
the Minor Boys with thirteen seconds to spare over his closest rival,
and clubmate Mitchell Green, also from Newminster,
and younger brother of Ryan, made it onto the school bus for the County Championships,
to be held at Temple Park, South Shields on Tuesday 17th January 2012.

Ryan Green from King Edward was a nineteen second margin winner of the Junior Boys,
with fellow Morpeth Harrier Jacob Hopkins of Meadowdale finishing second
James Heppell of St Benet Biscop produced a storming finish to take third place,
and a further seven seconds adrift.

Sam Foster-Beattie of King Edward also made the County Championships,
by virtue of his sixth place.Samuel Williams of Chantry, also a Morpeth Harrier, finished 30th.

Joe Elder of St Benet Biscop battled hard for his third place in the Intermediate Boys,
and Morpeth Harriers clubmate and schoolmate Henrik Paulsen did well to finish eleventh.

Lizzie Rank representing Newminster won the Minor Girls event,
and Beth Wooley was a clear winner of the Intermediate Girls event,
where Morpeth Harriers athletes Hannah Sheerin,
Josie McCreton, Paige Capstaff, Alice Kelly and Lucy Pargeter
also finished in third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh places respectively.

Abbie Elliot, Charlotte Jewell, and Kirsty Lang finished in second, fifth,
and eleventh places respectively in the Junior Girls event.

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Athlete of the Month Award for November !
Alison Brown and Bill Woods
Alison Brown has won the Benfield Motors (Morpeth) Morpeth Harriers
Athlete of the Month award for November 2011.

After her victory at the Heaton Memorial Road Races,
the Berwick based Under 15 starlet followed up with two
notable successes in the Borders Cross Country League.

Living as far North involves Alison sometimes travelling
to the region at least three times a week, and these recent
successes are not only a testimony to her determination,
but also her excellent improvement in overall terms.

Alison is pictured receiving her certificate of achievement
from Morpeth Harriers Club Chairman Bill Woods
at the clubhouse on Monday 5th December.

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Winter Standards Indoor Meeting !
Naomi Arkle of Morpeth Harriers competed in the Winter Standards Indoor Meeting,
held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Thursday 1st December.
By finishing as third equal Under 13 Girl in her heat of the 60m in 9.7s,
she finished third in her final in 10.0s.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League (3)
At the third Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League meeting held
at Shibdon Pond, Blaydon on Saturday 26th November,
Philip Winkler, worked his way through from the Fast Pack to finish fourth,
and led the clubs Under 15 Boys to a narrow team victory over Blyth,
with excellent further team support coming from
Elliot Kelly (8th) (Fast Pack), and also Ryan Green (12th) (Fast Pack).

Despite a mid race tussle with Blackhill's Isaac Dunn,
Morpeth's Jonnie Nisbet clocked the fastest Under 17 Mens
time to finish third on the day.

Morpeth Harriers finished as fourth team in the Under 13 Boys event,
being led home by an excellent Jacob Hopkins,
who was second fastest when finishing fifth from the Fast Pack,
and just ahead of clubmate Kieran Hedley (6th) (Fast Pack), who was third fastest.
Morpeth's scoring count was completed by Philip Kirby (39th) (Fast Pack).

Alison Brown finished eighth in the Under 15 Girls event,
and her run from the Fast Pack saw her emerge as fifth fastest on the day.
Sarah Wilkes finished 18th from the Slow Pack for Morpeth.

The Under 13 Girls event saw Morpeth's Georgia Priest and Lois Scott
finish 11th and 24th respectively from the Slow Pack.

In the non scoring Under 11's event, Morpeth Harriers Ailsa Jones
and Harriet Priest finished as sixth and 17th females respectively.

YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX

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Athlete of the Month Award for October !
Ryan Green and Jim Alder
Morpeth Harriers are pleased to announce the result of our
Benfield Motors (Morpeth) Athlete of the Month for October 2011.

After a close decision, Ryan Green won the judges hearts for two excellent performances.
Firstly for his individual victory in the Under 15 Boys event at the
first Start Fitness North East Harrier League at Cramlington,
then his contribution to a good team performance at the
National Young Athletes Road Relays at Sutton Park.

Ryan is pictured above receiving his Certificate of Achievement
from Morpeth Harriers Club President Jim Alder MBE,
at the Clubhouse on Mitford Road on Monday 21st November.

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Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races !
At the Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races on Sunday 13th November,
Jonnie Nisbet was a convincing winner of the Under 17 Mens 5k event,
holding a twenty second margin over his closest rival,
Patrick Crombie of Sunderland Harriers.
Nisbet's finishing time was 16m35s.

Another convincing Morpeth Harriers winner was Alison Brown,
whose 11m33s for her Under 15 Girls 3k race, saw her finish
with fifty four seconds to spare over her closest rival Danielle Coulson of Birtley,
and was a just reward for all her recent hard work in training.
Sarah Wilkes of Morpeth finished fifth in 13m04s.

Jacob Hopkins ran well to finish second in the Under 15 Boys 3k event in 10m55s,
which was agonisingly just eleven seconds adrift of race winner Ewan Cassidy of Elswick.
Kieran Hedley also competed well in this event, to finish fifth in 11m12s.

Ryan Green was Morpeth Harriers sole competitor
in the Under 15 Boys 3k, where he finished fifth in 10m16s.

In the Under 13 Girls 3k event, Morpeth's Georgia and Olivia Priest
finished 6th and 13th in respective times of 13m50s, and 14m44s.

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2011 Saucony English National Cross Country Relays !
Some of the worst conditions ever faced at the venue,
blighted some athletes individual ambitions at the annual
Saucony English Cross Country Relays, held at Berry Hill Park,
Mansfield on Saturday 5th November.

A heavy rainstorm during the Under 15 Boys 3 x 2k event made its mark
on the normally reasonably pristine surface.

Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys team at Mansfield on Saturday
On the day, Morpeth Harriers athletes managed to produce some
positive results from the four events in which they competed.
The most surprising however, and most welcome,
came from their Under 13 Boys, in their 3 x 2k event,
where they thoroughly exceeded all expectations by finishing
in 16th place out of 91 teams who faced the starter,
and were seventh from the North of England.

Fortunes were indeed boosted by first leg runner Kieron Hedley,
who in September was a relatively unknown force.
However he proved his worth when he came home in 18th place in 7m31s,
which was followed by Jacob Hopkins excellent 7m29s on second leg,
which in turn saw him rise eleven places to seventh.
This left final leg runner Philip Kirby, who would not always be automatic third choice,
with the task of maintaining a respectable placing.
Philip did an excellent job, by clocking 8m07s, which although saw him drop back to sixteenth,
still showed him to play his part in a superb result.

The Under 15 Boys 3 x 2k event was run during what was the worst conditions of the day,
where a heavy downpour forced spectators and officials alike to seek some protective shelter.
During the course of proceedings Morpeth Harriers first leg runner Ryan Green began the challenge
by coming home in a time of 7m34s to finish 55th of the 98 starters, and passed on to Joe Elder,
who was called in as a last minute replacement for the ill Philip Winkler,
who gained a further place on his run of 7m47s.
Jarod Lewis finished off the final effort by placing 51st in 7m46s,
which gave Morpeth Harriers the mantle of 22nd from the North of England.

Having three out of their four competing teams in fairly high positions
was certainly a good result for Morpeth Harriers,
after a good days work, and withstanding the conditions,
was a true testament to their athletes determination.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League (2)
At the second Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League fixture,
held at Farringdon College, Sunderland on Saturday 29th October,
Jarod Lewis in action at Harrier 
League at Sunderland
an excellent team leading performance by Jarod Lewis,
saw Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys just lose out in the
team race on the day to Gateshead Harriers.
Running from the Slow Pack, Lewis finished fourth overall,
and further team support came from excellent performances by
James Heppell (7th) (Slow Pack), and Philip Winkler (14th) (Fast Pack)
who in turn was sixth fastest in the race.
Morpeth's other runner in this event was Hans Paulsen,
who finished 46th from the Slow Pack.

Jacob Hopkins in action at Harrier 
League at Sunderland
Another good Morpeth Harriers result on the day came from their Under 13 Boys,
who finished third, only losing out for second on countback when on level points with Chester Le Street.
They were led home by a buoyant Jacob Hopkins, who continues to impress,
and his run from the Fast Pack to finish sixth overall, was indeed something special,
as he was third fastest on the course.
Not far behind him in eleventh place was Kieron Hedley,
who also produced an excellent run from the Fast Pack,
that saw him finish as eighth fastest overall.
The Morpeth team count was closed by Samuel Williams,
whose run from the Slow Pack saw him finish 17th overall.
Other Morpeth Harriers to finish in this age group were Euan Jones (32nd) (Fast Pack)
Philip Kirby (43rd) (Fast Pack),
Hamish Thomson (44th) (Slow Pack),
and Lewis James (53rd) (Slow Pack).

Jonny Nisbet continued his splendid form to finish in fifth place overall in the Under 17 Mens race.
Running from the Fast Pack he emerged as easily the fastest on the course.
Sadly here there was no Morpeth Harriers team challenge,
with the clubs only other competitor being Henrik Paulsen,
who finished 19th from the Slow Pack.

Under 15 Girls race at Harrier 
League at Sunderland
Unfortunately Morpeth Harriers could not turn out full teams
in either the Under 13 or Under 15 Girls events.
In the Under 13 Girls, Florence Thomson ran very confidently
from the Slow Pack to finish eighth overall,
and not far behind her was fellow Slow Packer Georgia Priest,
who finished in twelfth place.

Morpeth Harriers two Under 15 Girls Charlotte Jewell and Sarah Wilkes,
finished in twelfth and twentieth places respectively from the Slow Pack.

In the Non Scoring Under 11's event, Morpeth Harriers Ailsa Jones
and Harriet Priest finished in 15th and 40th places
as sixth and 22nd females respectively.

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Sherman Cup and Davison Shield !
A good club turnout, laced with a number of excellent individual performances,
saw Morpeth Harriers retain their hold on the Davison Shield trophy,
at Temple Park, South Shields on Saturday 22nd October.

Jacob Hopkins at Temple Park on 
Saturday 22nd October
On the day Morpeth's Under 13 Boys clearly dominated,
and they were led home valiantly by their club Road Champion Jacob Hopkins,
who finished third, after just losing out for second in the run in.
He was very closely followed home by Kieran Hedley in fourth place,
and the scoring count was very ably completed by Leon Craggs,
who on his debut placed fifteenth.

Jonnie Nisbet at Temple Park on 
Saturday 22nd October
Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Men put up a very game fight to finish as second on the day to Gateshead.
They were led home by Jonnie Nisbet, who after a close first lap battle,
won a battle of wits with Gateshead's Barry Maskell,
to eventually create a handsome margin of fifty one seconds.
Good supporting Morpeth counts came from Philip Caldwell,
who finished 16th, and who bravely got round with the agony of a painful leg injury,
which may see him absent from the scene for a considerable period unfortunately,
and Sam Hancox who finished 18th.

Phillip Winkler at Temple Park on 
Saturday 22nd October
Morpeth's Under 15 Boys,who were minus the talents of Ryan Green
and Elliot Kelly, finished fourth on the day.
They were led home by Philip Winkler, who ran well to finish fifth.
Supporting counts came from Jarod Lewis (12th), and Andrew Allan (23rd).

Best Morpeth result in the Davison Shield on the team front,
came from their Under 13 Girls, who were led home by Abbie Elliot (13th),
with supporting counts coming from Olivia Priest (15th), and Georgia Priest (17th).

Alison Brown at Temple Park on 
Saturday 22nd October
Next best team result came in the Under 15 Girls,
who finished third on the day,
and were led home by Alison Brown (7th),
with further support coming from Charlotte Jewell (18th),
and Jennifer Tynemouth (26th).

Other Morpeth Young Athlete performances not aforementioned were as follows

SHERMAN CUP
UNDER 13 BOYS
Philip Kirby (23rd),
Samuel Williams (31st)

UNDER 15 BOYS
James Heppell (27th),
Hans Paulsen (38th)

UNDER 17 MEN
Matthew Levison (20th)

DAVISON SHIELD
UNDER 13 GIRLS
Harriet Grace (27th),
Lois Scott (28th)

Morpeth Harriers had two competitors facing the Starter
in the non scoring Under11's event at Temple Park.
Mark Booth finished ninth, and Ellie Ferman finished 28th.

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Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Men and Womens Road Championships !
Monday night,17th October heralded the completion of
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championships for 2011.

Five Under 17 Men and two Under 17 Women toed the startline
on a rainy and windswept Lancaster Park,
and after completing the required two laps (2.50mile),
Jonny Nisbet came home in 15m25s,
to retain his hold on the Under 17 Mens title.
Jonny had gone through halfway in 7m32s,
but found a slight headwind slowing him during the later stages.
Second place went to Philip Caldwell who clocked 16m53s,
with Jack Hepple taking the Bronze medal in 17m16s.
Fourth and fifth places went to Sam Hancox and Henrick Paulsen,
who clocked 18m12s and 20m20s respectively.

The Under 17 Womens one lap event was won by Francesca Price in 10m49s,
who fought out a close battle with Polly Jeffrey (10m59s)
All winners from the Championships will be presented with their medals in December.

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National Young Athletes Road Relays !
Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys competed in the
National Young Athletes Road Relays, held at Sutton Park,
Sutton Coldfield on Sunday 16th October.

They were represented by Ryan Green (13m46s)
Elliot Kelly (14m07s), and Philip Winkler (13m56s)
whose combined efforts saw them come through to
place 22nd behind Northern Champions Trafford.

Morpeth were also seventh from the North of England in that age group.

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Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys and Girls Road Championships !
Philip Winkler and Alison Brown were the respective winners of the third
in the series of Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championships,
held on Lancaster Park on Monday night, 10th October.

Winkler felt no after effects from his exertions at Saturday's Alwinton Show Fell Race,
when he won the Under 15 Boys race in 7m26s,
winning with six seconds to spare over his closest rival Ryan Green,
who was still celebrating his Harrier League win at Cramlington.

Third place went to Elliot Kelly, who got round the
1.25mile circuit in a very respectable 7m38s.
For Winkler it was retention of the title that he won in 2010,
and on this occasion hew bettered his time by twenty seconds.

Another athlete bettering her time was Alison Brown,
who knocked six seconds off her 2010 time when crossing
the finish line in 8m45s to take the Under 15 Girls title.
On this occasion however she was reversing the placings on Sarah Wilkes,
who finished second in 9m18s.
Third place went to Beth Wooley, who clocked 9m25s.

Other Results
BOYS RACE
Jared Lewis (4th) 8m01s,
Sam Foster-Beattie (5th) 8m38s,
Hans Paulsen (6th) 11m01s.

GIRLS RACE
Alice Kelly (4th) 9m28s,
Molly McDonald (5th) 9m43s,
Jennifer Tynemouth (6th) 10m59s,
Rosie McDonald (7th) 11m02s,
Ella Brookes (8th) 13m48s.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League (1)
Kieran Hedley, Euan Jones and Sam 
Williams at Cramlington on Saturday 8th October
The first in the series of Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League meetings
took place at East Cramlington Country Park on Saturday 8th October.

Athletes from Morpeth Harriers were very swift to get their names on the honours board,
with a superb team triumph being achieved by their very promising Under 13 Boys squad,
plus an individual triumph being very much enjoyed by Under 15 Boys athlete Ryan Green.

Until a few weeks ago young Kieran Hedley was a virtually unknown,
when he made his competitive debut in the Northern Relays at Warrington.
However running from the Slow Pack, he very nearly won the Under 13 Boys event outright,
only losing out by 15 seconds to South Shields Harrier Matthew Wakefield.

Kieran was joined in a nine point marginal team victory over Northumberland rivals Alnwick Harriers
by Euan Jones and Samuel Williams, who finished third and twelfth respectively from the Slow Pack.

At the end of the day Hedley and Jones were credited with the overall sixth and eighth fastest times,
and Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys Road Champion for 2011 Jacob Hopkins emerged as third fastest,
when finishing a creditable fifteenth from the Fast Pack.
Other Morpeth Harriers finishers in this event were young Mark Booth,
who competing against Boys much than himself, finished a very creditable 35th from the Slow Pack,
Philip Kirby (38th) (Fast Pack), and Lewis James (47th) (Slow Pack).

Ryan Green at Cramlington on Saturday 8th October
Ryan Green certainly used his Slow Pack start to good advantage,
when winning the Under 15 Boys event with eleven seconds to spare over his closest rival,
and emerged as sixth fastest on the day.
He also led Morpeth Harriers to sixth team place,
with further support coming from Elliot Kelly,
who came through to finish in 19th place from the Fast Pack,
and as a very creditable third fastest overall,
and Joe Elder (32nd) (Fast Pack), (16th Fastest).

Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Men finished as fifth team,
being led home by an excellent performer in Philip Caldwell,
who when finishing eleventh from the Fast Pack, was second fastest on the course.
He was further supported in the team effort by Henrick Paulsen (18th) (Slow Pack),
and Sam Hancox (25th) (Fast Pack).

Alison Brown at Cramlington on Saturday 8th October
In the Under 15 Girls race Sarah Wilkes finished in 14th place from the Slow Pack,
just one place ahead of her Morpeth clubmate Alison Brown,
who produced an aggressive performance from the Fast Pack,
to finish as fifth fastest overall.

Unfortunately Morpeth Harriers failed to field a third member for team count.
The club also failed to turn out a third runner in the Under 13 Girls event,
where Olivia Priest (22nd) (Slow Pack), and Georgia Priest (28th) (Slow Pack),
were their sole competitors.

Click here for complete Male Results

Click here for complete Female Results

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Alwinton Show Fell Race !
Morpeths Jonny Nisbet triumphed for the second year running in the Junior
Mens Race at the annual Alwinton Show Fell Race on Saturday 8th October.

Fellow clubmates Philip Winkler and Jarod Lewis finished as
second Under 17 Man, and first Under 14 Boy respectively.

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Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys and Girls Road Championships !
A record total of 47 runners took part in the second of the Morpeth Harriers
Young Athletes Road Championships on Monday night (3rd October).

30 toed the line in the Under 13 Boys event, and 17 contested the Under 13 Girls challenge.

First home in the Under 13 Boys event was Jacob Hopkins,
who flew round the 1.25mile Lancaster Park circuit in a sprightly 8m25s.
Not far behind him however, and taking the minor medals were
Kieron Hedley (8m30s), and Euan Jones (8m36s).

The Under 13 Girls event was in the end a little more cut and dried however,
with Lizzie Rank claiming victory in 9m35s, a time that would
have seen her place seventh in the Boys event.
Second Girl home was Florence Thomson in 10m32s,
just out pacing Teegan Dryden who took third place in 10m33s.

Other Results were as follows
UNDER 13 BOYS

4th Liam Craggs 8m44s,
5th Philip Kirby 8m49s,
6th Jake Stevenson 9m13s,
7th Samuel Williams 9m43s,
8th Josh Burton 9m52s,
9th McKenzie Clark 10m16s,
10th Patrick Smith 10m17s,
11th Daniel Almond 10m26s,
12th Ciaran Jewell 10m27s,
13th Finn Farthing 10m28s,
14th Ryan Cleverley 10m31s,
15th Connor Robson 10m36s,
16th Jack O'Halloran 10m38s,
17th Matthew Hogan 10m39s,
18th Daniel Bell 10m46s,
19th Euan Darroch 10m47s,
. 20th Connor Barclay 10m53s,
21st Charlie Shaw 11m16s,
22nd Hamish Thomson 11m20s,
23rd Joseph Oman 11m24s,
24th Robbie Nash 11m25s,
25th Charlie Bowden 11m30s,
26th Joe Hale 12m05s,
27th Lewis James 12m09s,
28th Max Wilson 12m37s,
29th Brad Savage 12m43s,
30th Louis Charlton 13m31s.

UNDER 13 GIRLS
4th Lois Scott 10m50s,
5th Georgia Priest 11m00s,
6th Kate Walker 11m14s,
7th Emily Todd 11m39s,
8th Olivia Grundy Priest 11m49s,
9th Harriet Grace 11m50s,
10th Rachel Woodfine 14m12s,
11th Bethany Smith 14m15s,
12th Lucy Nevens 14m49s,
13th Rachel Hughes 14m50s,
14th Katie Young 14m51s,
15th Phoebe Lake 15m31s,
16th Beth Watts 16m33s,
17th Grace Nevens 16m39s.

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Morpeth Harriers Under 11 Boys and Girls Road Championships !
Morpeth Harriers began their series of 2011 Young Athletes Road Championships
on Monday night, 26th September, with their Under 11 youngsters being
the first to test themselves over the Lancaster Park 1.25mile circuit.

First home in the Boys event was Alex Cunningham, who completed in 9m08s,
and the first girl to finish was Ailsa Jones, who when finishing in an excellent 9m42s,
would have placed fourth in the Boys race.

Second and third Boys were Luke Wareing and Joseph Dowd,
with respective times of 9m23s and 9m33s.

Eleni Woodvine and Jane Armstrong were second and third in the Girls event,
finishing in10m34s, and 11m54s respectively.

Other Results were as follows
BOYS RACE
4th Ethan Howe 9m42s,
5th Matthew Waterfield 9m59s,
6th Matthew Dodds 10m00s,
7th Mark Booth 10m23s,
8th Tom Colvin 10m29s,
9th Oliver Bultitude 10m35s,
10th Robbie Elder 10m39s,
11th James Dibbon 10m43s,
12th Matthew Briggs 10m58s,
13th Brodie Willis 10m59s,
14th Alex Colvin 11m03s,
15th James Colvin 11m04s,
16th Evan Gibb 11m05s.

GIRLS RACE
4th Lauren Robson 11m57s,
5th Kathleen Swindlehurst 11m59s,
6th Abbie Willis 13m43s,
7th Harriet Priest 13m44s,
8th Chloe Priest 13m48s,
9th Charlotte France 14m19s.

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North of England Young Athletes Road Relay Championships !
The North of England Young Athletes Road Relays were held
at Birchwood Business Park, near Warrington, on Saturday 24th September,
and Morpeth Harriers were represented in the
Under 13 and Under 15 Boys, and Under 15 Girls events.

Best results came in the Under 13 and Under 15 Boys events,
where each managed to finish in twelfth position,
and the Under 15 Girls eventually finished in a well achieved 24th pace.

High hopes had been expected of the Under 15 Boys,
however those hopes were somewhat dashed when
leading light Philip Winkler was forced out through illness on the eve of the event.

The team still managed to rally however, and credit goes to Ryan Green (10m17s),
Elliot Kelly, making his championship debut for Morpeth (10m13s),
and a gutsy replacement for Winkler, Jarod Lewis (10m40s).
Kelly actually lost several seconds, due to a judging error in the changeover melee,
which could have cost them a place in the end.

Jacob Hopkins (11m05s), Euan Jones (12m06s), and Kieran Hedley (11m27s),
all very much played their part in what turned out to be
a very creditable Under 13 Boys performance,
by what was a relatively inexperienced squad at championship level,
and the final placing of twelfth was a well and truly deserved achievement.

Alison Brown's 18th fastest overall clocking of 11m12s,
was very much the highpoint of Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Girls performance,
which in turn saw her finish a well accomplished ninth on the first of three legs,
that eventually saw the squad come home in 24th place,
with further help coming from Sarah Wilkes (12m34s),
and Charlotte Jewell (13m10s).

Credit goes to Team Manager and Club Secretary Mike Bateman for ensuring
the continued competitive health of Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes squads.

Link to Complete Young Athlete Road Relay Championships Results

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2011 Junior Great North Run !
Not long after World 5000m Champion Mohammed Farah
was enjoying success over 2miles on Newcastle Quayside on Saturday 17th September,
Jonnie Nisbet was adding his name to a long list
of Morpeth Harriers successes in the Bupa Junior Great North Run,
when he won with eighteen seconds to spare over Gatesheads Barry Maskell
in a time of 12m42s, with Border Harrier Alistair Weymouth a further five seconds adrift in third place.

Other Leading Morpeth Harriers finishers were,
Philip Winkler, who finished in 14m18s as sixth in his category,
Elliot Kelly (14m25s) (9th in category),
Ryan Green (14m49s) (15th in category),
Alison Brown (15m40s) (4th in category),
and Jacob Hopkins (15m40s) (9th in category)

In addition to the above, the following gave creditable performances,
Sam Foster-Beattie (16m06s) (36th in category),
Euan Jones (17m17s) (33rd in category),
Sarah Wilkes (17m24s) (11th in category),
Joseph Dowd (18m17s) (34th in category),
Ailsa Jones (18m45s) (13th in category).

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Sunderland Harriers Open XC Races !
Several young athletes from the club successfully kick-started their Cross Country season
on Saturday 10th September, at Sunderland Harriers Open XC Races held at Farringdon School.

Philip Winkler and Jonnie Nisbet celebrated by recording excellent individual placings,
and good runs by Ailsa Jones and Jacob Hopkins saw them achieve minor medals.

There were also a handful of excellent improved performances,
particularly from Philip Caldwell, Alison Brown, Elliot Kelly,
Harriet Priest, and Lauren Robson.

Philip Winkler with his Gold 
medal at Farringdon XC on Saturday
Despite feeling unwell before and after the event, Philip Winkler took his place
on the startline in the Under 15 Boys race, and was boosted to win with nine seconds
to spare over his tough Chester Le Street rival Thomas Gouldings.
Not far behind Philip came clubmate Elliot Kelly, who is really starting to show his potential,
and he showed this with a highly commendable placing of fifth,
and was very close to battling for a minor medal.

Ryan Green came through steadily to finish ninth,
and other Morpeth Harriers to finish in this event were
Jarod Lewis (12th), and Joe Elder (17th).

Jonnie Nisbet made a comfortable job of winning the Under 17 Mens event
with twelve seconds to spare over his closest rival, however the shining light
for Morpeth Harriers in this race was definitely Philip Caldwell,
who battled well throughout, and was not far away from the minor placings when he finished fifth.
Other Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Mens finishers were
Sam Hancox (15th), and Jack Hepple (16th).

Ailsa Jones won herself a Silver medal in the Under 11 Girls event,
which also saw excellent performances being set by Harriet Priest (6th), and Lauren Robson (7th).

Jacob Hopkins ran excellently to take a Bronze medal in the Under 13 Boys event,
and there were also good Morpeth finishers in Euan Jones (10th), and Hamish Thomson (25th).

Despite having one of her best runs, Alison Brown can count herself very unfortunate
to be just run out of the medals in the Under 15 Girls event when she finished fourth.

Morpeth Harriers had an excellent turnout in the Under 13 Girls event,
managing to field no less than six runners.
Other Morpeth positions were as follows
Lizzie Rank (9th), Abbie Elliot 12th)
Olivia Priest (15th), Harriet Grace 16th)
Georgia Priest (18th), and Florence Thomson (22nd).

In the Under 11 Boys event Robbie Elder finished thirteenth.

Click here to see photos from Sunderland Harriers Open XC Races

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BMC 800M Races !
Three of our young athletes competed in the 800m BMC races that accompanied
the Northumberland Classic events at Hexham on Saturday 3rd September.

Ryan Green and Philip Winkler both enjoyed victories in the
B and C events in respective times of 2m12.6s and 2m12.3s.
In Green's case he very nearly equalled his personal best.

Laura Weightman finished fifth in a male dominated A race in a time of 2m07.9s,
which was around three seconds adrift of her personal best.

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Northumberland Classic Track & Field Meeting !
One of Morpeths newest young athletes, Alex Nesbit certainly did himself proud on
Saturday 3rd September, when he achieved a hat-trick of Under 15 Boys
victories in the Northumberland Classic Track and Field meeting held at Hexham.

He triumphed in both the 100m and 200m events in respective times of 12.70s and 26.50s,
and then went on to complete his dominance in the age group
by winning the Long Jump with a best of 4.30m.

Fellow Harrier Ria Fairnington, also a new recruit,
finished second in the Under 13 Girls 200m in 29.67s,
and won the Long Jump with a best of 4.07m.

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2011 Tartan Games !
Morpeth Harriers Young athletes performed well at the 17th Tartan Games at
Gateshead International Stadium on Saturday 27th August.

Joe Robertshaw comfortably won the Under 17 400m in a time of 51.91secs.
Ria Fairnington won the Under 13 High Jump with a clearance of 1.35m.
She also finished 2nd in the Long Jump (3.99m) and 3rd in the 200m
(29.84 after a 29.75 heat). The only other Morpeth winner was Jonny Nisbet
in the Under 17 1500m who clocked 4mins 18.82secs.

Philip Winkler finished 2nd in the Under 15 1500m in a time of 4mins 28.40secs,
behind Middlesbrough's Jason Blackburn, who smashed the meeting record
with a time of 4mins 24.30sec. Blackburn had taken the bronze medal in the 800m
at the England Athletics Championships, the previous weekend.

Other Morpeth placings in the 1500m were
5th Ryan Green 4:35.23;
6th Jarod Lewis 4:37.80;
7th Elliot Kelly 4:39.91.

Philip Winkler also finished 5th in the Long Jump (5.19m)
Ryan Green had earlier finished 2nd in the Triple Jump with a distance of 10.45m.
Alex Nesbit clocked 26.53secs in his 200m heat and was 6th in the Under 15 Long Jump (4.63m).

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Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (6)
The final North Eastern Athletics League meeting of the season
at Gateshead Stadium on Wednesday 10th August, once again
saw a good turnout by Morpeth Harriers in the Under15 Boys age group.

Phil Winkler added to his growing reputation with a win in the 800 metres in 2-08.11
with Ryan Green improving his personal best to 2-12.57 in 5th place.
Elliot Kelly was 6th in 2-15.47 with Jarod Lewis 9th in 2-17.52 (another PB)
and Sam Foster-Beattie 12th with 2-27.04

Alex Nesbitt also did well, finishing 4th in the Long Jump (4.43m)
and 6th overall in the 200 metres in a time of 26.34.
Jarod Lewis also finished 3rd in the 80 metres Hurdles with his time of 16.41 seconds.

Joe Robertshaw was a comfortable winner in the Under 17 section
of the 400 metres in 52.12 whilst Jacob Hopkins set a new
personal best time of 2-30.69 in placing 4th in the Under 13 Boys 800m

Alison Brown went close to her best in placing 3rd
in the Under 15 Girls 800 metres in a time of 2-34.77.

The versatile Ria Fairnington was once again prominent in the Under 13 Girls events.
She won both the 200 metres in 30.03 seconds and the High Jump with 1.30 metres,
and went on to place 2nd in the Long Jump with a jump of 3.94 metres.

Ria finished 3rd in the Grand Prix competition - a tremendous performance
as the Wooler-based athlete only joined the Harriers partway through the season
and therefore was only able to compete in three of the six League meetings.

Joe Robertshaw also finished 3rd in the Under 17 Men's Grand Prix,
with Jacob Hopkins placing 5th overall in the Under13 Boys section.

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Northern Athletics Inter-Counties Track & Field Championships !
At the Northern Inter-Counties Track & Field Championships at Leigh
on Saturday 30th July, Joe Robertshaw was representing the North East Counties,
and in the U17 Mens 400m event, Joe set a new personal best of 50.34.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (5)
The fifth North Eastern Athletics League meeting at Gateshead Stadium on Wednesday
27th July, saw a number of good performances by Morpeth Harriers athletes.

Ria Fairnington repeated her good form from the previous meeting
by winning the Under 13 Girls High Jump with a clearance of 1.35 metres
and the Long Jump with a distance of 4.06 m,
and also taking 2nd place in the 200 metres in a time of 29.42.

In the Under 15 Girls 1500 metres Alison Brown ran a well-judged race to take nearly 8 seconds
from her previous best for the distance with a time of 5-15.41 which gave her 3rd place.

Morpeth vests were well to the fore in the Under 15 Boys 1500 metres
with Elliot Kelly 3rd in 4-36.01 (a new personal best),
Joe Elder 4th in 4-38.09, Ryan Green 5th in 4-38.74 (also a PB)
and Jarod Lewis in 9th place with 4-50.79.

Sprinter Alex Nesbitt also did well in the Under 15 age group
taking 5th place overall in the 100 metres with 12.80 seconds
and 6th in the 200 metres (26.64) whilst Mitch Green made an encouraging
debut in the Under 13 100 metres placing 4th in a time of 15.33 seconds.

Joe Robertshaw continued his good form by placing 2nd
in the Under 17 section of the 200 metres with a time of 24.19
whilst Henrik Paulsen finished 4th in 27.19.

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BMC Races !
At the Regional BMC meeting at Jarrow on Monday 18th July,
the top Morpeth performance came from 14 year old Phil Winkler
who took 6 seconds off his previous best for 1500 metres,
his time of 4m22.0 giving him 2nd place in the B race.

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Benfield Athlete of The Year !
Awards ceromony at Benfield Motors
To celebrate the renewal of Benfield Motor`s sponsorship of the club,
Benfield VW & Renault, Morpeth dealership manager, Anthony Lee
presented prizes to the three young athletes judged the
Athletes of the Year out of the winners during the previous 12 months.

Top prize went to 400 metres runner Joe Robertshaw,
who recently set a new personal best of 51.21s
in the heats of the English Schools Intermediate Boys Championships.

Runner-up Phil Winkler also notched a personal best of 2m06.32
in the Junior Boys 800 metres heats at the English Schools,
whilst third placed Ryan Green was a recent winner of the 800mts
in the Northumberland Schools Year 8 championships.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (4)
The fourth North East Athletics League meeting at Gateshead on Wednesday 13th July,
saw a number of good performances from Morpeth Harriers young athletes.

Best of these, on her debut for the club, came from Ria Fairnington
whose winning height of 1-45 metres in the Under13 Girls High Jump
was the best by a North East athlete this season and moved her up
to joint 6th place in the national Under 13 rankings.
The versatile Glendale Middle School athlete also won the
200 metres in 29.0 seconds and placed 2nd in the Long Jump with a leap of 4.04 metres.

In the Under 13 800 metres Morpeth's Carrie Collins finished 5th in 2-49.7
with clubmate Sarah Brown 6th in 2-50.9.

Alison Brown made a big improvement on her personal best
in placing 3rd in the Under15 800 metres A race in 2-32.4,
with Beth Woolley finishing 6th in 2-45.5.
In the B race Molly McDonald was 2nd in 2-37.3 (6th overall) and Alice Kelly 4th in 2-48.7.

In the Under 13 Boys age group Euan Jones (3.96m) and Daniel Bell (3.19m)
were 2nd and 3rd in the Long Jump, having previously finished 3rd and 7th
overall in the 200 metres with times of 29.4 and 31.1 seconds respectively.

The Under 13 800 metres saw Jacob Hopkins take over 3 seconds off
his best with his time of 2-31.1 earning him 3rd place.
There were also personal bests in the Under 15 800m races
and might have been more with better race seedings.

Morpeth's Phil Winkler was the fastest of the competing athletes with a winning time of 2-09.4 in the A race.
Behind him Ryan Green was 4th in 2-13.8 and newcomer Jarod Lewis 6th in a new best of 2-20.6.
Joe Elder was 4th in the B race with a PB of 2-13.6.

Another recent recruit Alex Nesbitt was also prominent in this age group,
finishing 2nd in the 200 metres B race (25.9) and 3rd in the Long Jump (4.59m)

Joe Robertshaw continued his good season with a new best of 23.6 seconds in the graded 200 metres races,
which gave him 2nd place of the Under 17s taking part whilst Henrik Paulsen clocked 27.3 for 8th place.

Jonnie Nisbet improved his best 800 metres time to 2-03.2
in the graded races to finish 3rd amongst the Under 17s.

Morpeths Young athletes full results were as follows,

Under 15 Boys
800m

Philip Winkler 2m09.4
Joe Elder 2m13.6
Ryan Green 2m13.8

Under 15 Boys
200m

Alex Nesbitt 25.9

Under 15 Boys
Long Jump

Alex Nesbitt 4.59m

Under 13 Boys
800m

Jacob Hopkins 2m31.1

Under 13 Boys
200m

Euan Jones 29.4
Daniel Bell 31.1

Under 13 Boys
Long Jump

Daniel Bell 3.69mts
Euan Jones 3.98mts

Under 13 Girls
800m

Carrie Collins 2m49.7
Sarah Brown 2m50.9

Under 13 Girls
200m

Ria Fairnington 29.0

Under 13 Girls
Long Jump

Ria Fairnington 4.04mts

Under 13 Girls
High Jump

Ria Fairnington 1.45mts

Under 15 Girls
800m

Alison Brown 2m32.4
Molly McDonald 2m37.3
Beth Wooley 2m45.5
Alice Kelly 2m48.7

Under 17 Men
800m

Jonnie Nisbett 2m03.2

Under 17 Men
200m

Joe Robertshaw 23.6
Henrik Paulsen 27.3

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Aviva 2011 ESAA Track & Field Championships !
The two Morpeth Harriers representing Northumberland at the English Schools Championships
on Friday and Saturday 1st and 2nd July both acquitted themselves well.

Running in what proved to be the fastest heat of the Intermediate Boys 400mts,
Joe Robertshaw finished sixth in a new personal best time of 51.21 seconds.

There was also a personal best of 2-06.32 for Phil Winkler
who placed sixth in his heat of the Junior Boys 800mts.

Both boys have worked hard to achieve these times and will look
forward to improving them further in the remainder of the season.

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Junior Blyth Beach Races !
Morpeth Harriers were well to the fore in the Blyth Junior beach races on Saturday 2nd July.
Elliot Kelly won a closely contested Under15s race in 5-28 with Andrew Allan placing fourth in 5-56
and Sarah Wilkes second in the Girls section of the age group.

Ryan Green was surprised to find himself still eligible for the Under13 category
in the rules of the race and ran out an easy winner in 3-54 - 28 seconds clear of the rest of the field.

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Northumberland Middle Schools Track & Field Championships !
Morpeth Harriers Ryan Green and Kieran Smith, were leading performers
at the Northumberland Middle Schools Track and Field Championships,
held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 25th June.

Green certainly continued his current run of form,
when he won the Year 8 Boys 800m in 2m15.1s,
and in addition to this he gained himself some pleasure,
when finishing second in the Triple Jump, with a best of 10.41m.
Fellow Morpeth Harrier Sam Foster-Beattie finished fourth in the 800m in 2m26.1s.

Smith secured himself a superb victory in the 400m in 61.2s,
after running an identical time in the heats,
and fellow Harrier Connor Blair finished fifth in 63.4s.

In the 1500m, Andrew Allan clocked a new personal best of 5m02.1s, when placing sixth.

In the Year 7 Boys events, Jacob Hopkins was the clubs best performer,
when he finished second in the 1500m in 5m10.4s.
Clubmate Samuel Williams finished eighth in 5m42.8s.

In the 300m, Jake Stevenson finished eighth in 52.2s.

Kirsty Lang clocked 14.5s in her heat in the Year 8 Girls 100m,
however in the 200m, she made the final courtesy of a personal best of 30.3s,
however found 30.7s in the final only good for seventh.

Elswhere in the Girls events, two Year 7 members of
Morpeth Harriers achieved new personal bests.
In the 800m Carrie Collins and Abbie Elliott finished
fifth and seventh in respective times of 2m46.2s, and 2m46.7s.
Olivia Priest was fifteenth in this event in 3m21.6s.

Florence Thomson finished second in the 200m in 32.1s.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (3)
Morpeth Harriers Under 17 sprinter Joe Robertshaw was certainly in sparkling form,
when he created two new personal best performances at the third
Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Athletics League,
held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium, on Wednesday 22nd June.

Firstly in the B race of the seeded 100m events, he finished in third place in 12.0s,
which was just fractionally inside his old figures for the distance,
and he was fourth Under 17 Man in the event overall.
However in the 200m, held later, he really excelled,
by winning the B race in 23.8s, which was comfortably
inside his previous best, which made him third Under 17 overall.

Another Morpeth Harrier competing in these events was fellow
Under 17 athlete Henrik Paulsen,
who finished third in the C race of the 100m in 13.2s,
which made him seventh in his age group,
he also excelled however in the 200m,
when he created new figures of 26.8s in winning the C race,
which placed him sixth in the age group on the night.

Under 13 athlete Jacob Hopkins can feel well pleased with his effort in the 1500m,
where he finished third in 5m07.4s, a new personal best.
Morpeth club colleague Sam Williams finished seventh in 5m37.2s.

In the Under 15 Boys 1500m, Phil Winkler was Morpeth Harriers leading finisher,
when he came home in second place in 4m28.2s.
Next home for the club was newcomer Elliot Kelly,
recently signed from North Shields Poly,
and he marked his debut in a Morpeth vest superbly,
by clocking a new personal best of 4m39.5s for eighth place.
The next two places behind him were filled by new clubmates Joe Elder and Ryan Green,
who clocked 4m41.5s and 4m44.0s respectively, the latter being a new personal best.
Andrew Allan clocked 5m03.1s, when finishing in sixteenth spot.

Alison Brown was fractionally outside her personal best,
when finishing fifth in the Under 15 Girls 1500m in 5m24.1s.
Fellow Morpeth Harriers Beth Woolley and Lucy Pargeter
finished sixth and eighth in respective times of 5m55.1s, and 6m38.3s.

In the Under 13 Girls 1500m, Morpeth's Abbie Elliott was fifth in 5m42.4s.

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National Young Athletes League Division 1
Our Under 15 Girls squad at York on Sunday
Despite the absence of a few key athletes, Morpeth Harriers
Young Athletes squad still managed to maintain a very respectable
performance in their fourth and final Northern League Division 1 fixture,
held at Huntington Stadium, near York on Sunday 19th June.

Although they were never quite up to the strength of host club Harrogate,
they finished just 61 points adrift in second place, and thirty seven points
clear of a much weakened third placed New Marske on the day.

With two league wins, and two second places to show for their efforts for the season,
Morpeth may finish second when the totting up processes are completed,
and at the very worst third.

The club managed twelve individual, and two relay wins,
along with a host of other good supporting performances,
to end their season on a positive note.

In terms of graded performances, Phillip Winkler, Ryan Green,
Joe Elder, and Jonnie Nisbet show prominence.

Winkler's 2m10.7s, although fractionally short of his personal best,
is ranked alongside his clubmate Green's 2m13.5s, (personal best by 1 second)
that saw them finish first and second in the Under 15 Boys 800m respectively.
The former also ranked well in the Long Jump, where he finished second with 5.23m,
also a new personal bestand was well backed up by Joe Elder's third with 4.51m.

However Elder's best performance undoubtedly came in the Under 15 Boys 400m,
which he won in 59.0s, which again welcomed a new personal best.

Green also did well in the 200m, crossing the line in 27.1s for third place,
which also heralded a new personal best by four seconds.

Despite just losing out to New Marske's Charlie Pasco in the Under 17 Mens 800m
with his clocking of 2m04.8s, Jonnie Nisbet bounced back to win the 400m in fine style in 54.2s.

Jacob Hopkins won the Under 13 Boys 800m in 2m34.7s,
which was agonisingly fractionally short of his personal best.

Elsewhere in the Under 13 Boys, Euan Jones had an excellent victory in the 1500m in 5m27.9s.
Henrick Paulsen achieved a sprint double victory, where his respective clockings of 13.2s,
and 27.0s, took seconds off his previous best figures.

Molly McDonald achieved an excellent win in the Under 15 Girls 800m in 2m36.7s,
and she was well backed up by Jennifer Tynemouth's third place in 2m41.5s.

Daniel Smith won the Under 17 Mens 100m Hurdles in 21.1s,
and went on to exercise his talents to the fore,
by winning the Shot, with a best of 8.35m.

Lizzie Rank was a star in the Under 13 Girls section,
where she won the 1200m in 4m48.9s,
and also cleared 1.20m to win the High Jump.
She was also backed up well in the 1200m by clubmate Harriett Grace,
who finished second in 4m58.5s.

The long journey down to York from Berwick did nothing to deter
a resilient Alison Brown from taking victory in the Under 15 Girls 1500m,
where she clocked her second best ever time of 5m26.2s.

Morpeth Harriers saw their two relay victories come from their Under 17 Mens 4 x 100m,
and Under 15 Boys 4 x 400m squads, in respective times of 51.8s, and 4m17.2s.

Our Young Athletes at York on Sunday
Apart from the aforementioned victories and placings,
the following second placings are also worthy of mention,
as they contributed greatly to the clubs tally of points at the end of the day.

Daniel Smith (Under 17 Mens 100m, 13.3s)
Daniel Bell (Under 13 Boys 75m Hurdles, 16.1s), (200m, 30.4s
Abbie Elliott (Under 13 Girls 800m, 2m47.4s), (Long Jump, 3.57m)
Andrew Allan (Under 15 Boys 1500m, 5m06.6s), (Shot, 4.72m)
Ryan Simpson (Under 17 Mens Long Jump, 5.19m), (Triple Jump, 10.57m)
Greta Deans (Under 17 Womens Shot, 4.92m), (Discus, 12.44m)
Kirsty Lang (Under 15 Girls High Jump, 1.20m)

FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Harrogate 445pts,
2nd Morpeth 384pts,
3rd New Marske 347pts.

Click here to see more photos from National Young Athletes League Division 1 NE at York on Sunday 19th June

TRACK RESULTS FROM YORK

FIELD RESULTS FROM YORK

RELAY RESULTS FROM YORK

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Athlete of the Month Award for May !
Phillip Winkler and Bill Woods
Morpeth Harriers are pleased to annunce that their
Benfield Motors (Morpeth) Athlete of the Month award
for May 2011 has gone to Under 15 athlete Phillip Winkler.

Phillip has had a superb May, which saw him play a very integral
part in his clubs Young Athletes Track and Field team successes,
pick up medals in the 800m and 1500m events at the
North Eastern Counties Track and Field Championships,
and achieved individual successes on the road in the Junior Run at the Les Allcorn event,
and the Druridge Bay 10k, where he was first Under 16 athlete to finish.

Phillip is pictured above receiving his certificate at Morpeth Harriers clubhouse,
from Club Chairman Bill Woods, on Monday 13th June 2011.

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2011 Morpeth Fair Day Fun Run !
The annual Morpeth Fair Day Fun Run on Sunday 12th June,
attracted a superb field of 76 finishers, who were led home
by Ryan Green, Year 8 pupil at Newminster School,
and also a regular competitor for organisers Morpeth Harriers.

Ryan’s finishing time of 4m53s, saw him finish thirty seconds
ahead of second placed Jacob Hopkins,
Year 7 pupil at Meadowdale School,
and also a member of the Harriers.

Third placed Boy was Euan Jones, who finished in 5m49s,
who like Jacob is in Year 7, however at Newminster,
and is also a member of the Harriers.

In the Girls race, fifth placed Charlotte Jewell,
Year 8 at St Benedicts, was first home in her gender, in 6m05s.
Second placed girl was Abbie Elliott, Year 7 at Druridge Bay Middle School,
who finished in 6m07s, and third place went to Ailsa Jones,
Year 5 at Newminster, who clocked 6m36s.

As with the Boys, all three leading finishers in the Girls event,
are members of Morpeth Harriers.

Click here for Full Results

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Northumberland Schools Track & Field Championships !
The Northumberland Schools Track and Field Championships,
held in cool showery conditions at Gateshead International Stadium on Saturday 11th June,
saw several athletes from Morpeth Harriers produce performances that saw
them through to the forthcoming Inter Area match,
that is the next stone to competing in the prestigious English Schools Championships,
plus a number of personal bests were achieved.

Top performer was undoubtedly East Northumberland sprinter Joe Robertshaw,
who won the Intermediate Boys 400m in a brand new personal best time of 51.6s.

Another winner for East Northumberland was Hannah Rank,
who took the Senior Girls 3000m title in 11m38.8s.

With winners and seconds automatically through to the
aforementioned Inter Area qualification match,
which will be held at the Gateshead venue this coming Saturday 18th June,
other Morpeth Harriers scheduled to run following Saturday’s efforts are
Philip Winkler, Ailsa McGregor, Jonnie Nisbet, and Joe Elder.

Winkler crowned what has been a tremendous spell of form,
by running close to his personal best when he
finished second in the Junior Boys 800m in 2m11.3s.

McGregor clocked 2m30.9s when finishing second in the Senior Girls 800m.

After giving his clubs Young Athletes fixture a timely miss on the previous Sunday,
Jonnie Nisbet bounced back to run an excellent 2m05.7s,
when finishing second in the Intermediate Boys 800m.

A superb personal best by six seconds gave Joe Elder
his place at the Inter Area competition, when he finished
second in the Junior Boys 1500m, in a time of 4m38.4s.

Alison Brown will have to await a selectors decision to see
if she will claim her place at the Inter Area match,
after finishing third in the Junior Girls 1500m in 5m31.0s.

Fellow Morpeth Harrier Beth Woolley finished eighth in this event, in a time of 6m10.3s.

The ever improving Molly McDonald produced an excellent new personal best of 2m37.3s,
when finishing fifth in the Junior Girls 800m, taking a whole seven seconds off her old figures.

Sarah Wilkes finished tenth in this event, in a time of 2m45.3s.

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Athlete of the Month Award for April !
Ailsa McGregor and Bill Woods
Morpeth Harriers have now announced their Benfield Motors (Morpeth)
Athlete of the Month award for April 2011.

After making some great strides over the winter months as an Under 17,
which ultimately led to some excellent performances during the month of March,
including both the English Schools Cross Country Championships,
and the North Eastern Harrier League,
Ailsa McGregor further progressed both on the road and on the track during April,
and brought some success both to her club and herself in the process.

This all culminated in an excellent performance in the 1500m
at the first North Eastern Athletics League meeting held at Jarrow on 27th April,
where Ailsa created new figures of 4m58.5s,
her previous best during 2010 having been 5m13.4s,
which is a very clear measure of her outstanding form,
and all round improvement.

Ailsa is pictured above receiving her certificate from Morpeth Harriers
Club Chairman, Bill Woods at a presentation held on Monday 6th June.

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National Young Athletes League Division 1

On Sunday 5th June, Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes took part
in their National Young Athletes League Division 1 match
at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow, against probably their
most formidable opponents in Blaydon & Elswick, and Chester Le Street.

All three clubs had won their two matches so far, and this definitely
promised to be the toughest of the four rounds contested.
This certainly proved to be true; however Blaydon & Elswick
were clearly dominant on the day, as once again they high scored in the match.

It was certainly close between Morpeth Harriers and Chester Le Street
with only a few events remaining, however the Northumbrian club managed
to gain some points over the last few events to maintain
an an albeit slender margin to take second place.

Morpeth managed seven track wins across the age groups on the day
including one of the relays, and five victories in the field
were indeed an added bonus to their competitive tally.

Their best graded performer of the day was undoubtedly Myles Foggon,
who won the Under 15 Boys 200m in 25.2s,
and added an excellent second in the 400m in 57.6s,
just losing out to Blaydon & Elswick’s Chris Milburn.

Philip Winkler claimed an excellent victory in the Under 15 Boys 800m,
where he was just a fraction away from his personal best with 2m12.2s,
and Ryan Green backed him up well in the points stakes by placing third in 2m18.2s.
Winkler refused to rest on his laurels however, and can feel well
pleased with his effort of 5.17m, which saw him take the Long Jump with ease.

The excellent form of Jacob Hopkins continues apace, as he secured
an excellent victory in the Under 13 Boys 800m in 2m38.6s.

Florence Thomson won the Under 13 Girls 70m Hurdles in 15.4s,
and she was backed up well by Lizzie Rank who finished third in 17.0s.
Rank also performed well by winning the High Jump with a best clearance of 1.05m,
where a similar clearance saw Thomson placed third on countback.
This pairing also fared well in the 1200m, with Rank finishing second in 4m48.0s,
and Thomson getting third in 5m01.7s.

Victory in the Under 17 Men’s 200m also saw another positive step
in the right direction for injury victim Jack Hepple,
who in turn clocked a new personal best for the distance,
with his clocking of 24.6s.
Henrik Paulsen finished fourth in this event, in 27.1s.
Paulsen also supported his club well by placing third in the 100m (12.6s)
and went on to finish second in the 400m in 64.5s.

Alison Brown secured an excellent victory in the Under 15 Girls 1500m in 5m32.4s,
and her Morpeth clubmate Charlotte Jewell backed her up well by placing third in 5m49.3s,
actually just missing out for second by a whisker.

Morpeth Harriers other winners on the day were
Ryan Simpson Rebecca Dodds, and Beth Woolley.
Simpson won the Under 17 Men’s Long Jump with a best of 5.41m,
and later added a third in the Triple Jump with 10.66m to his tally.
Dodd’s won the Under 15 Girls Shot with 6.40m, and was well backed
up by Alice Kelly’s 4.61m, which saw her place third.
Second place in the Discus was also secured by Dodds with her best throw of 11.21m,
and Kelly again backed her up well with third place with 10.80m.
Woolley won the Under 15 Girls Javelin with 12.70m,
and had Rosie McDonald backing her up well in second place with 8.93m,
and then went on to take third place in the Long Jump with 3.65m,
and added a track success by placing second in the 75m Hurdles in 15.9s.

In addition to the victories there were some good second places
secured for Morpeth Harriers with the performances by the following

Olivia Priest (11.9s) (Under 13 Girls 75m), and (2.80m) (Under 13 Girls Long Jump,

Ewan Jones (15.8s) (Under 13 Boys 75m Hurdles), and (5m23.2s) (1500m),

Molly McDonald (2m44.7s) (Under 15 Girls 800m),

Abby Elliott (2m57.9s) (Under 13 Girls 800m),

Matthew Hogan (5.23m) (Under 13 Boys Shot),

Calum Thomson (15.47m) (Under 17 Men’s Hammer),

Kirsty Lang (1.25m) (Under 15 Girls High Jump),

Georgia Priest (4.94m) (Under 13 Girls Shot).

Morpeth Harriers secured victory in the Under 15 Girls 4 x 100m relay in 60.6s,
courtesy of Kirsty Lang, Alison Brown, and Molly and Rosie McDonald.

They finished in second place in the Under 13 Boys, Under 13 Girls,
and Under 15 Boys relays, in respective times of 61.6s, 65.2s, and 54.6s.

Third place was secured in the Under 15 Boys 4 x 400m relay in 4m15.8s,
courtesy of Joe Elder, Ben Welsh, Ryan Green, and Philip Winkler.

Added to this several of the clubs Young Athletes achieved personal bests in their efforts.

FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Blaydon 550pts,
2nd Morpeth 377pts,
3rd Chester Le Street 346pts.

The fourth and final round of the league takes place
at York on Sunday 19th June 2011.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (2)

Young athletes from Morpeth Harriers achieved new personal
bests on another excellent night of Track and Field,
at the second Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League meeting,
held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Wednesday 25th May.

When finishing third in the 100m seeded event, Joe Robertshaw finished third,
was first Under 17, and clocked a new personal best of 12.1s.
Although he did not quite match up to his best, Robertshaw can also feel
well pleased with his performance in the later held seeded 400m,
where he was also fastest Under 17, but also finished second in 53.0s,
and inflicted defeat upon some polished Seniors.

The ever improving Jacob Hopkins also did well by winning
the B race of the Under 13 Boys 800m, and emerged as second fastest overall,
by setting brand new figures of 2m34.4s for the distance,
taking another second off his previous best.

In the Under 15 Boys 800m Philip Winkler also showed his current
depth of form when he knocked a second off his previous best
with his clocking of 2m11.2s when winning a talent filled B race.

Another Morpeth personal best in the Under 15 Boys was set by Joe Elder,
who clocked 2m16.9s, and was eighth fastest of the night.
Eleventh fastest in this age group was Ryan Green, who clocked 2m19.3s.

Alice Kelly had her first taste of North Eastern Athletics League action,
by competing well in the Under 15 Girls 800m, where she finished seventh in 2m50.4s.

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National Young Athletes League Division 1. 22.05.2011
Another excellent across the board effort by their athletes and respective Team Managers,
saw Morpeth Harriers pull of a superb victory in their second round
Northern Young Athletes Division 1 match,
held at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow on Sunday 22nd May.

In a high scoring match, they once again scored over 400 points on the day,
and after two matches, are certainly amongst the contenders for promotion at the end of the season.

The determined squad produced 29 event winners on the day,
and that included six of the nine relay events on
offer, on top of some excellent Track and Field efforts.

In the Under 13 age groups Carrie Collins got matters off to a superb start
by taking victory in the Girls 70m Hurdles in 15.5s,
and was well backed up by newcomer Tegan-Jade Dryden,
who finished second in 17.4s.

Carrie also went on to claim a victory in the High Jump (1.15m)
in addition to finishing second in the 150m in 25.2s,
and was part of a Morpeth Under 13 Girls 4 x 100m squad that finished second in 67.8s.

Another excellent Under 13 Girls result came in the 800m,
where Olivia Priest secured a superb victory in 3m10.2s,
and Harriet Grace backed her up well when coming home second in 3m21.0s.
Added to this Lizzie Rank was a good second in the Shot with 4.74m.

In the Under 13 Boys events, Jacob Hopkins continued his excellent
improvement when winning the 800m in 2m37.1s,
and he added an excellent second in the 200m (33.4s)
plus was part of a Morpeth 4 x100m victory in 64.6s.
Other wins in the Under 13 Boys events came from Philip Kirby in the 1500m (5m47.0s)
and Matthew Hogan (5.28m) in the Shot.
Daniel Bell and Ewan Jones also performed well in the 75m Hurdles
when finishing second in the A and B sections in 15.8s, and 17.3s,
and the pair went on to finish second and third respectively in the 100m,
with 15.3s being recorded to both of them by the judges.

Morpeth Harriers had some superb results from their Under 15 athletes,
with Chelsea Morrison once again well to the fore with victories in the Discus (15.0m)
and Shot (8.22m), plus a second in the Javelin (10.34m) to her
winning clubmate Beth Wooley, who threw 11.58m to secure victory.
Wooley also secured victory in the Long Jump with 3.41m,
and clubmate Lucy Pargeter also played her part to
an excellent Morpeth result by finishing third with 3.17m.

Another good Under 15 Girl performer was Kirsty Lang,
finished second in the 100m in 15.4s, and second in the
High Jump with a clearance of 1.30m.
Molly McDonald also performed well to finish second to
Birtley's North East Champion Lydia Turner in the 800m in 2m51.2s.

There were some excellent efforts from Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys section.
This included two wins by Myles Foggin in the 400m (60.5s), and High Jump (1.55m)
Philip Winkler and Ryan Green clearly dominated the 800m
by finishing first and second in respective times of 2m19.8s, and 2m23.9s.

Joe Elder also secured a victory in the 1500m (4m57.7s)
and added a second in the Long Jump (3.65m) to his tally for good measure.
Morpeth Harriers also enjoyed winning success in the two Under 15 Boys relays.

On to the Under 17 age group efforts, and in the Girls events
Morpeth Harriers best performer was Millie Davidson,
who provided their only victory in the Javelin with a best of 13.25m,
with clubmate Greta Deans finishing second with 7.35m.
Davidson also placed third in both the Long Jump and Shot events
with best efforts of 3.26m and 5.00m respectively.

Deans provided Morpeth with their best Under 17 Womens
track performance by finishing second in the 300m in 52.9s.

There was an excellent degree of commitment however by the Under 17 Men
who between them managed five track victories, and three in the Field events.

Two of the latter belonged to Ryan Simpson who won both
the Long and Triple Jumps with bests of 5.37m, and 10.64m respectively.
Daniel Smith won the Shot with 8.09m, and went on to get two
second placings in the 400m Hurdles (78.8s), and 100m Hurdles in 21.3s.
Philip Caldwell supported his colleagues well to finish second in the High Jump with 1.40m.
Caldwell also enjoyed winning success in the 1500m Steeplechase
and 400m events with clockings of 5m02.3s, and 71.1s.

Joe Robertshaw secured an excellent win in the 200m in 24.9s,
and got excellent support from Jack Hepple,
who on returning to action from a second broken leg,
finished third as first B competitor in 25.5s.
Clocking exactly the same time as the winner Christopher Lillico
from Alnwick and Blyth, Robertshaw just missed out
on the nod with his clocking of 12.2s in the 100m.
He was backed up well in this by Henrick Paulsen,
who finished as first B competitor in 13.5s.

Sam Hancox added to his first ever track win in the first match by winning the 3000m in 11m12.7s.

Morpeth Harriers won the Under 17 Mens 4 x 400m Relay in 4m18.0s,
and finished second in the 4 x 100m in 52.2s.

The squad face a very hard battle in their third round match,
which is their home fixture, again at Monkton Stadium on Sunday 5th June,
when they will face stiff opposition from a very much in form Blaydon and Elswick,
and Chester Le Street.

FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Morpeth 457pts,
2nd Alnwick & Blyth 403pts,
3rd Birtley 394pts.

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North Eastern Counties Track & Field Championships !
A total of five medals were won by young athletes from Morpeth Harriers at the first day of the North Eastern Counties Track and Field Championships, held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 14th May.

Very windy conditions played havoc with many opportunities for record breaking,
and at the end of the days proceedings only three track records fell, in addition to one field record.

Silver Medals came the way of Hannah Rank
in the Under 20 Womens 5000m in 19m47.38s.
It was Rank's first tackling of a Championship 5000m,
after previously been a Gold medallist in the younger age group 3000m.

Four Bronze medals were won by Philip Winkler, Ailsa McGregor,
Joe Robertshaw, Ross Floyd, and Alison Brown respectively.

Winkler battled well in a tough Under 15 Boys 1500m, to come home in 4m38.41s.
His Morpeth clubmate Ryan Green finished 10th in 4m53.96s.

McGregor clocked 2m24.60s in the Under 20 Womens 800m.

Robertshaw battled hard for his Bronze in the Under 17 Mens 400m,
where he clocked 56.70s, having gone slightly better when finishing second in his heat in 54.56s.

Brown took her Bronze in the Under 15 Girls 3000m, where she clocked 12m06.48s.

Other competing Morpeth Harriers who were not medallists were as follows
Jacob Hopkins (Under 13 Boys 1500m Final) (5th) 5m21.92s,
Jonnie Nisbet (Under 17 Mens 1500m Final) (5th) 4m24.55s,
Daniel Bell (Under 13 Boys 100m Heat 2) (5th) 15.19s,

Click here for Full Track Results from Day 1

Click here for Full Field Results from Day 1

North Eastern Counties Track and Field Championships Day 2


Day two on Sunday saw young athletes from Morpeth Harriers accrue one more medal.

In the Under 15 Boys 800m, Philip Winkler added a Silver medal
to the Bronze he had won in the 1500m on day one.
He clocked 2m16.06s, which was just outside his personal best recently set at Shildon.
In the same event his clubmate Ryan Green came eighth in the final in 2m26.56s,
however he can take great satisfaction from the fact that he had finished second in his heat,
in front of Winkler, and he had set a brand new personal best of 2m14.46s,
which took a whole fifteen seconds off his previous best.

Jacob Hopkins made great strides over the two days,
and added a fourth in the final of the Under 13 Boys 800m
to his athletics CV, in an excellent 2m35.27s.

Other young Morpeth Harriers performances on the second day were
Jonnie Nisbet (Under 17 Mens 800m Heat 10 (4th) 2m07.33s, (Final) (7th) 2m05.18s,

Click here for Full Track Results from Day 2

Click here for Full Field Results from Day 2

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National Young Athletes League Division 1. 08.05.2011
Morpeths Young Athletes squad, boosted by one of their best turnouts for several years,
were very clear winners of their Northern League Division 1 match
held at Clairville Stadium, Middlesbrough on Sunday May 8th.

Excellent work by respective Team Managers saw Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes produce
a turnout that had not been seen by the club for several years,
which produced a superb victory in their opening fixture.
There were some very good performances across the three age groups,
which in turn gave the club a resounding victory.

In the Under 15 Boys 800m Philip Winkler won in an excellent 2m16.4s.
Sam Hancox achieved his first ever track win in the Under 17 Mens 3000m in 11m01.5s.
Jonnie Nisbet won the Under 17 Mens 800m in 2m09.5s.
Patrick Smith won the Under 13 Boys 800m in 2m59.2s.
Ryan Simpson won the Under 17 Mens 100m in 14.0s.
Daniel Bell won the Under 13 Boys 100m in 16.2s.
Beth Wooley won the Under 15 Girls 75m Hurdles in 17.7s.
Jacob Hopkins won the Under 13 Boys 1500m in 5m32.5s.
Alison Brown won the Under 15 Girls 1500m in 5m38.9s.
Myles Foggon won the Under 15 Boys 400m in 61.8s.

In the Field events there were also some good successes from
Jacob Hopkins (Under 13 Boys Long Jump) (3.35m)
Hans Paulsen (Under 15 Boys Javelin) (6.73m)
Matthew Levison (Under 17 Mens Javelin) (10.71m)
Ryan Simpson (Under 17 Mens Long Jump) (5.40m)
and Under 17 Mens Triple Jump) (10.92m)
Daniel Bell (Under 13 Boys Shot) (4.97m)
Ryan Green (Under 15 Boys Long Jump) (4.00m)
and Philip Winkler (Under 15 Boys Discus) (10.23m).

Added to this there were also some very good supporting efforts across the events.
noteably Ewan Jones (Under 13 Boys 75m Hurdles) (16.5s)
Alix Stonehouse (Under 17 Womens 800m) ( 3m09.9s)
Miriam Inverarity (Under 17 Womens 3000m) (14m02.7s)
Henrik Paulsen (Under 17 Mens 200m) (28.3s),
Matthew Levison (Under 17 Mens 1500m) (5m45.9s)
Jonnie Nisbet ( Under 17 Mens 400m) (55.8s)
Philip Caldwell (Under 17 Mens 1500m Steeplechase) (5m08.0s)
and Damian Adamson (Under 13 Boys High Jump) (1.05m).

FINAL MATCH RESULT (Subject to Scrutiny)
1st Morpeth 485pts,
2nd Barnsley 267pts,
3rd Jarrow & Hebburn 222pts.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League (1)
The first Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics meeting took place
at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Wednesday night 27th April,
and attracted what is thought to be a record number of competitors,
including seven from the ranks of Morpeth Harriers.

Best performers on the night from the club were Joe Robertshaw and Ailsa McGregor,
who finished second in their respective events.
Up against older opposition in his first year in the Under 17 Mens age group,
Robertshaw performed well to finish second in the 300m in a time of 37.9s.

Equally, McGregor found herself up against stern rivals
in the Junior Womens 1500m, where she clocked 4m58.5s.

Morpeth's Jacob Hopkins performed well,
when finishing fourth in the Under 13 Boys 1500m in 5m13.3s.

In the Under 15 Boys 1500m, Joe Elder and Ryan Green
finished ninth and eleventh with respective clockings of 4m49.9s and 4m54.0s.

Alison Brown finished seventh in the Under 15 Girls 1500m in 5m22.9s.

Morpeth's Beth Wooley had a good night when she cleared 1.25m
to finish third in the Under 15 Girls High Jump,
and she finished fifth in the 75m Hurdles in 17.6s.

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Elswick Harriers Good Friday Road Races !
In the younger age group races, at the annual Elswick Harriers Good Friday Road Races,
held at Newburn's Riverside Business Park on April 22nd,
Morpeth Harriers had excellent performers
in Alison Brown, Philip Winkler, Ryan Green, and Jacob Hopkins.

Alison was a fast finishing fifth in the Under 15 Girls 1.8mile event in a time of 10m55s.
Sarah Wilkes, also running for Morpeth finished eighth in 11m34s.

After an injury ridden winter, Philip Winkler did well to finish ninth
in the Under 15 Boys 2.28mile event in 13m07s.

Ryan Green and Jacob Hopkins clearly showed their immense improvement levels,
when finishing fourth and eighth respectively in the Under 13 Boys 1.8mile event in 10m21s, and 10m50s.

Morpeth's Sam Hancox finished fifteenth in the Under 17 Mens 2.28mile event in 13m57s.

Click here for Full Results

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London Mini-Marathons
In the Junior Mini Marathons that accompanied Sunday's Virgin London Marathon,
Morpeths Jonnie Nisbet added to his clubs overall successes on the day in the capital,
when he finished 43rd in the Boys 15 to 17 age group event for the regions,
in a time of 15m52s for the approx 3 mile distance.
He was fourth from the North East.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League !
Domestic Cross Country action for the 2010/11 season drew to a close on Saturday 26th March,
with the final Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League taking place at Prudhoe.

Under 17 Mens race at 
Prudhoe
A Morpeth Harriers Grand Prix winner was Jonny Nisbet,
who finished second from the Fast Pack in the Under 17 Mens event to confirm his success.
He also led his club to team victory over Blyth,
with excellent runs by Philip Caldwell (4th) (Fast Pack),
and Sam Hancox (11th) (Fast Pack), supporting the team effort.
Caldwell's effort also sees him finish second in the Grand Prix stakes to Nisbet.

Morpeths Under 13 Boys at 
Prudhoe
Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys just lost out in the team race on the day to Tynedale Harriers.
They were led home by Ryan Green, who again produced an excellent run to emerge
as second fastest on the day by twenty nine seconds.
He worked his way through to place fourth from the Fast Pack,
and excellent team support came from Jacob Hopkins (11th)
and Sam Fisher (14th), both also from the Fast Pack.

Other Morpeth Harriers finishers in this event were Sam Williams (35th) (Fast Pack)
Philip Kirby (38th) (Fast Pack), and Patrick Booth (39th) (Fast Pack).

After spending most of the cross country season being unable to field an Under 13 Girls squad,
Morpeth Harriers are pleased to be able to call upon some very promising talents in the form of
Florence Thomson, and Olivia and Georgia Priest, who combined well on Saturday,
to see their club finish as third team in a very competitive event.

Olivia was first home for the club in ninth place from the Slow Pack,
which will probably see her elevated to the Fast Pack next season.
Florence and Georgia also ran from the Slow Pack,
and finished in 11th and 14th places respectively.

Olivia and Georgia received sound encouragement from the sidelines
from their large family of parents and grandparents who had come to spectate,
who included Stephen, Anthony and Susan Priest,
who back in the late 80's were all prolific runners for Morpeth Harriers.

Alison Brown and Joe Elder were lone Morpeth Harrier
competitors in the Under 15 Girls and Boys events.

Brown finished a good sixth from the Fast Pack,
and Elder showed good improvement in his comeback
from injury problems to finish twenty fifth,
again running from the Fast Pack.

Hamish Thomson at Prudhoe
In the combined Under 11 Boys and Girls event
Morpeth Harriers had four runners facing the starter.
First home was Hamish Thomson, who was ninth overall and sixth boy.
Ailsa Jones at Prudhoe
One place behind Hamish came Ailsa Jones, who was third girl home.
Morpeth's other two runners were more from the Priest family.
Harriet finished 13th as sixth girl, and Chloe finished 17th as 8th girl.

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English Schools Cross Country Championships !
Morpeths Jonnie Nisbet produced one of Northumberland's finest
individual performances at theEnglish Schools Cross Country Championships,
held at Nottingham's Wollaton Park, on Saturday 19th March,
when he led the county home to nineteenth team place
in the Intermediate Boys event, by finishing twenty ninth,
and only just a minute adrift of the medallists.

Another Morpeth Harrier to produce an excellent run in this event was Philip Caldwell,
who distinguished himself well with an excellent run, to finish 158th, and fourth from the county.

Ailsa McGregor continued her fine run of current form,
when she came home as third counter for a ninth placed
Northumberland in the Senior Girls event,
which was the county's best team result on the day.
She finished an excellent 69th,
and less than two minutes adrift of the individual medallists.
Fellow Morpeth Harrier Hannah Rank was seventh
home from the county in 180th place.

Philip Winkler who has bounced back after some bad injury problems this winter,
can take some deserved reward and encouragement from the fact that he was Northumberland's
first counter in 137th place in the Junior Boys event, where they finished as 37th team.

Although disappointed with her finishing place of 247th,
Alison Brown will have gained great experience in the Junior Girls,
where she was seventh home for the county.
Eighth home for the county was her Morpeth clubmate
Jessica Morrison, who was 296th.
Northumberland finished 21st in this event.

In the Senior Boys event Northumberland were 35th,
and Morpeths James Woollett finished in 306th place, as eighth home.

Click here for full results.

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Athlete of the Month Award !
Ryan Green and Bill Woods
Morpeth Harriers are pleased to announce that their
Benfield Motors (Morpeth) Athlete of the Month award for February 2011,
has gone to promising Under 13 athlete Ryan Green.
Green was given his award for his excellent performance
at the fourth Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League at Wrekenton,
where he won, and was fourth fastest overall on handicap in the race,
and he led the club's Under 13 Boys to team victory on the day.

Ryan is pictured above receiving his award cerificate from
Morpeth Harriers Club Chairman Bill Woods,
at Morpeth Harriers clubhouse on Monday 14th March 2011.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League !
Sam Fisher and Ailsa McGregor at Blaydon
An excellent turnout by athletes across all the age groups,
saw Morpeth Harriers confirm their supremacy in winning
the Sherman Cup and Davison Shield, (subject to final results scrutiny),
at the fifth and penultimate meeting of the Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League,
held at Shibdon Pond, Blaydon on Saturday 12th March.

The event also saw Sam Fisher and Ailsa McGregor record individual victories,
and Morpeth Harriers also enjoyed team successes in the Under 13 Boys,
Under 13 Girls, Under 15 Girls sections.

Charlotte Jewell lead Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Girls to an excellent team victory.
Charlotte, having her first Harrier League run finished in fourth place from the Slow Pack,
and very narrowly missed out on a Bronze medal on the day for her efforts.
Morpeth Harriers team count was well supported by Georgia Priest (12th) (Slow Pack),
and Jennifer Tynemouth (13th) (Slow Pack).
Other good Morpeth performers on the day in this age group
were Emily Todd (28th) (Slow Pack), and Lizzie Rank (30th) (Fast Pack).

Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys also pulled off an excellent team victory on the day,
and for the second meeting in a row, the club also provided the race winner.

Sam Fisher used his Slow Pack start to record an excellent seventeen second marginal victory,
and at the end of the day he was fifteenth fastest in a total field of 48 finishers.
Supporting Sam well in the team challenge were Euan Jones (4th) (Slow Pack),
and Sam Williams in his first run came through well to place tenth from the Slow Pack.
Again having an excellent run in this age group were Ryan Green and Jacob Hopkins
who as Fast Pack competitors worked their way well to finish 12th and 20th,
and respectively they were excellent fourth and ninth fastest in the race.
Patrick Booth also had a good run from the Slow Pack
to finish one place behind the aforementioned Ryan Green.
Andrew Allan and Philip Kirby, who were also running from the Fast Pack,
finished in 36th and 47th places.

Morpeth Harriers secured another team victory in the Under 15 Girls event,
and were led home by Alison Brown, who in finishing fourth overall,
was an excellent third fastest on the day.
Excellent team support came from twin sisters Rosie and Molly McDonald
who ran well to finish eighth and ninth from the Slow Pack.

Ailsa McGregor had an excellent individual win in the
Under 17/Under 20 Womens event by the margin of six
seconds when running from the Slow Pack.
She was also third fastest in the race, and with good support
by Lucy Shuttleworth (6th) (Slow Pack), and Hannah Rank (10th) (Fast Pack),
Morpeth Harriers finished in second team place to a well packed Gosforth Harriers effort.

Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Men also finished in second team place,
and were led home by an excellent Tom Brookes, who finished second from the Slow Pack.
Equally excellent Fast Pack runs by Jonny Nisbet and Philip Caldwell were the support.
They finished ninth and eleventh respectively and as fifth and seventh fastest in the race.
Matthew Levison (16th) (Slow Pack), and Sam Hancox (22nd) (Fast Pack),
also competed for Morpeth Harriers in this event.

Jonny Nisbet currently heads the Under 17 Mens
Harrier League Grand Prix rankings, and is unlikely to be caught.

Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys finished in fourth team place,
and were led home by Henrik Paulsen,
who ran well from the Slow Pack to finish in fifteenth place.
Further team support came from Philip Winkler (20th) (Fast Pack),
and Tom Fisher (33rd) (Slow Pack).
Joe Elder of Morpeth finished 40th from the Fast Pack.
Winkler was seventh fastest on the day.

Prior to the main events there was a combined Under 11's events,
which was an opportunity for some of Morpeth Harriers younger athletes
to taste some big race atmosphere, some for the first time.

They were led home by Matthew Hogan who finished 23rd,
and he was followed home by Ciaran Jewell (25th),
Harriet Priest (26th), and Anna Fisher (37th).

The formal presentation for the Sherman Cup and Davison Shield
will take place along with the end of season awards
at the final meeting at Prudhoe on Saturday 26th March 2011.

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English National Schools Cross Country Championships Preview !
Northumberland Schools have now finalised their list of athletes for their squads
for the forthcoming English National Schools Cross Country Championships, which are to be held at Wollaton Park, Nottingham on Saturday 19th March 2011.

Several Morpeth Harriers are included in the six travelling squads,
and they are as follows
JUNIOR BOYS
Philip Winkler
INTERMEDIATE BOYS
Jonnie Nisbet and Philip Caldwell
SENIOR BOYS
James Woolett
JUNIOR GIRLS
Alison Brown and Jessica Morrison
SENIOR GIRLS
Ailsa McGregor, Hannah Rank and Jessica Caldwell.

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Borders Cross Country League !
Competing for her Scottish club Edinburgh AC, Morpeths Alison Brown won her
Under 15 Girls age category race at the Borders Cross Country League on Sunday 27th February.

In doing so, Alison also took an extra award by winning the overall
Junior Female Trophy, courtesy of her three wins in the series.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League !
Athletics activity at the weekend centred round the fourth
Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League meeting,
held at Cardinal Hume School in Wrekenton,
Gateshead, on Saturday 26th February.

Despite some pre-event rain, the course was in good raceable condition,
although there were some heavy patches of ground.

Under 13 Boys team at Wrekenton
This did nothing to deter Morpeth Harrier Ryan Green,
who in the first event on the programme,
the Under 13 Boys, took a handsome victory by a margin of twenty eight seconds,
by clocking the fourth fastest overall time of the day,
while using well his 100 second Slow Pack advantage.
Philip Kirby, having his first run for the club as an Under 13 Boy,
having previously taken great experience from his Under 11 outings,
ran superbly to come home in eighth place from the Slow Pack.
With Jacob Hopkins also coming through well in the Fast Pack to finish sixteenth,
Morpeth Harriers snatched a four point marginal team victory on the day from Tynedale Harriers.

Sam Hancox and Henrik Paulsen were Morpeth Harriers sole competitors
in the Under 17 Mens and Under 15 Boys events respectively.
Sam finished eleventh running from the Fast Pack,
and Henrik finished 31st from the Slow Pack.

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English National Cross Country Championships !
Sadly Alton Towers in Staffordshire proved to be no fairground attraction for athletes
taking part in the English National Cross Country Championships on Saturday 19th February.
A heavy early morning snowfall, plus an incessant rainstorm made conditions very difficult underfoot,
and in some places very near impossible.

At one stage organisers came very close to considering abandonment,
as following the first two events which had resulted in some accidents,
caused a delay to proceedings. After further checks, officials decided to continue
on slightly shorter courses, in order to try to complete the ten race programme.

Morpeths U15 Girls 
team at Alton Towers on Saturday
With no other runners to offer, Morpeth Harriers could not muster any challenge in team affairs.
Alison Brown certainly gave her all in her first National experience as an Under 15 athlete,
and although very exhausted afterwards, could feel well pleased in her efforts in finishing in 106th place.

Fellow Morpeth Harrier Sarah Wilkes also competed bravely in what was becoming a sea of mud,
interspaced by lake like areas, to finish in 214th place.

Morpeths U17 Mens 
team at Alton Towers on Saturday
In the Under 17 Mens event, Morpeth's Jonnie Nisbet couldn't quite match his best form,
however he courageously soldiered on to finish in 69th place.
Sam Hancox, also braved his way round to finish in 228th place.
Unfortunately Morpeth Harriers other runner in this event,
Philip Caldwell, was forced to call matters to a halt after one lap,
when he aggravated an ankle problem that he had recently suffered with.

Click here for Full Results

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Athlete of the Month Award !
Hannah Rank and Bill Woods
Morpeth Harriers are pleased to announce their Benfield Motors (Morpeth)
Athlete of the Month Award for January 2011 has gone to Hannah Rank.

Hannah has received this award for her continued dedication to her sport over recent months,
that she encountered some disappointments owing to injury.
Nevertheless she battled her way through, with some added guidance and help by her coach Tony Ward,
to have a good run at the recently held Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships,
where she finished an excellent fifth, and was first from East Northumberland.

Hannah now joins Joe Robertshaw, Patrick Booth, Jonny Nisbet, Alison Brown,
and Molly McDonald, in the melting pot for a more lucrative award later this year.

She is pictured above receiving her certificate from
Morpeth Harriers Club Chairman Bill Woods, at Morpeth
Harriers clubhouse on Monday 14th February.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League !
In very much mudbath conditions, several of our young athletes
gave good account for themselves at the rescheduled third meeting
of the Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League,
held on Newcastle's Town Moor, on Sunday 6th February.

Jacob Hopkins
Jacob Hopkins produced an excellent run to finish second,
as Morpeth Harriers sole competitor in the Under 13 Boys event.

In her very first Harrier League outing, Morpeth's Lizzie Rank
competed well to finish sixth in the Under 13 Girls event,
and was third from the Slow Pack.

Sam Hancox also had a good run when he finished fourth
in the Under 17 Mens event from the Slow Pack.

Henrik Paulsen and Joe Elder finished 17th and 25th
respectively in the Under 15 Boys event,
the latter running from the Fast Pack.

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Northern Schools Inter Counties Championships !
Jonnie Nisbet, Ailsa McGregor, Hannah Rank and Alison Brown
were the pick of the Morpeth Harriers representing Northumberland
at the Northern Schools Inter Counties Championships,
held at a cold and windy Haydon Bridge School on Saturday 5th February.

Nisbet ran excellently to finish fifth, and only slightly adrift
of the leaders in the Intermediate Boys event,
and was first home for the county,
who also saw fellow Morpeth Harrier Philip Caldwell
emerge as fourth counter in fifteenth place overall.

McGregor and Rank were fifth and sixth home for
Northumberland in the Senior Girls event,
when they placed eighth and tenth respectively.
Jessica Caldwell and Catriona MacDonald were eleventh
and twelfth home for the county, by finishing 28th and 30th.

Alison Brown was third home for Northumberland in the Junior Girls event when she finished 15th,
and Jessica Morrison and Sarah Wilkes placed 33rd and 52nd to finish as sixth and twelfth respectively.

In the Junior Boys event, Philip Winkler was Northumberland's eighth counter in 34th place,
and was three places ahead of his Morpeth Harriers clubmate Ryan Green who was ninth counter.

In the Senior and Minor Boys events, Morpeth Harriers James Woolett
and Sam Fisher finished 34th and 25th respectively.

At this juncture, Nisbet, McGregor, Rank, and Brown should find themselves included in the
Northumberland squad who will compete in the English School's Cross Country Championships
at Nottingham in March, following their days efforts.

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Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships !
Several of our young athletes competed at the
Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships,
held at Temple Park, South Shields on Tuesday 18th January.
Best performances came from Jonny Nisbet and Alison Brown and Sam Fisher.

Representing East Northumberland,
Jonny eventually stole away from Newcastle's Jack Reed
to capture the Intermediate Boys title by a margin of seven seconds.

Philip Caldwell also produced an excellent effort to finish in sixth place,
and as second from East Northumberland.
Tenth home for East Northumberland,
in 31st place overall was Sam Hancox.

Alison Brown finished an excellent third in the Junior Girls event,
and led home North Northumberland,
with further support coming from fellow Morpeth Harriers
Sarah Wilkes and Jessica Morrison, who placed 9th
and 21st as third and fifth home respectively as counters.

Sam Fisher produced what is probably his best ever Cross Country run
when he finished a superb third in the Minor Boys event,
and was first home for East Northumberland.
Fellow Morpeth Harriers Jacob Hopkins, Euan Jones,
Matthew McGuinness and Patrick Booth finished in 33rd, 37th, 53rd, and 66th places.

Hannah Rank, Ailsa McGregor and Catriona MacDonald
all competed in the Senior Girls event.
Hannah was first home for East Northumberland in fifth place,
and one place behind her came Ailsa, who was fourth for Newcastle Schools.
Catriona finished twelfth, and was third home for East Northumberland.

Morpeth Harriers Ryan Green, Joe Elder and Andrew Allan
all competed in the Junior Boys event for East Northumberland,
coming home in 18th, 38th and 54th places,
as second, fifth and eleventh counters.

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Scottish East District Cross Country Championships !
Berwick based Alison Brown of Morpeth Harriers,
continued her current run of excellent form,
when she travelled to Livingston to compete for her Scottish club
Edinburgh AC in the Scottish East District Cross
Country Championships on Saturday 15th January,
and came away as a recipient of a team Silver Medal,
when she finished a well accomplished eighth, ahead of some rivals
who had beaten her on previous occasions, as a third counter.

Alison had also produced an excellent performance a few days earlier
by winning her event at the North Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships,
where her Morpeth club colleagues Jessica Morrison and Sarah Wilkes
finished fourth and sixth respectively, and all three girls can now look forward
to representing the county at the forthcoming Northern Schools Inter Counties,
scheduled to be held at Temple Park, South Shields at the beginning of February.

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NEWS AND RACE REPORTS FROM 2010

Athlete of the Month Award for November !

Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races !

Athlete of the Month Award for October !

Saucony English National Cross Country Relays !

Athlete of the Month Award for September !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 2 )

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 1 )

Morpeth Harriers Under 17s Road Championships !

Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys and Girls Road Championships !

Morpeth Harriers Under 11 Boys and Girls Road Championships !

North of England Young Athletes Road Relay Championships !

Athlete of the Month Award for August !

Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys and Girls Road Championships !

Junior Great North Run !

Sunderland Harriers Open Cross Country Races !

Trafford Grand Prix !

Northern Inter Counties Track & Field Championships !

Athlete of the Month Award !

Aviva England Athletics Championships !

Under 17/Under 15 Scottish Track & Field Championships !

National Young Athletes League Division 1 Match 4

English Schools Track & Field Championships !

Middle Schools Track & Field Championships !

National Young Athletes League Division 1 Match 3

Northern Inter Counties Schools Track & Field Championships !

Morpeth Fair Day Fun Run !

Northumberland Schools Track & Field Championships !

Cancer Research UK Race for Life 5K !

National Young Athletes League Division 1 Match 2

North Eastern Counties Track & Field Championships !

National Young Athletes League Division 1 Match 1

Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !

Anne Marie Readshaw Memorial Track & Field Meeting !

Elswick Harriers Good Friday Road Races !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 6 )

English Schools Cross Country Championships !

Brough Law Fell Race !

UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships !

English National Cross Country Championships !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 5 )

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 4 )

Northern Inter Counties Schools XC Championships !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 3 )

2010 Northumberland Schools XC Championships !

BUPA Great Winter Run !

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NEWS AND RACE REPORTS FROM 2009

Club Road Championship Presentation !

North Eastern Counties Cross Country Championships !

2009/2010 Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 1 )

Gateshead International Cross Country Races !

Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races !

Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Championships !

Saucony English National Cross Country Relays !

Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Womens Road Championships !

Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys and Under 15 Girls Road Championships !

2009 Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys and Under 13 Girls Road Championships 1 !

Northern Athletics Young Athletes Road Relay Championships !

Junior Great North Run !

Tartan Games !

BMC Races Monkton Stadium !

National Young Athletes League Division 2 ( July 19th )

Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 4 )

National Young Athletes League Division 2 ( May 31st )

Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 2 )

National Young Athletes League Division 2 ( May 17th )

North Eastern Counties Track and Field Championships !

National Young Athletes League Division 2 ( May 2nd )

Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 1 )

Great Edinburgh Run !

Anniversary Wa Fell Race !

Elswick Harriers Good Friday Road Races !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 6 )

2009 English Schools Cross Country Championships !

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 5 )

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 4 )

English National Cross Country Championships !

Inter Counties Cross Country Championships Selection !

Northumberland Schools XC Championships Update

Northumberland Schools XC Championships !

Ourkidsports.com
The Junior Sport Website for All the Family........

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Athlete of the Month Award for November !
Molly McDonald and Bill Woods
Morpeth Harriers were at last able to present the award for the
Benfield Motors Athlete of the Month for November 2010,
at their clubhouse at Mitford Road on Monday Night (10th January).

The award went to Under 15 Girl athlete Molly McDonald
for some improved performances,
that were highlighted by her effort at the Heaton Road Races,
where after taking a hefty tumble on some ice,
she picked herself up to continue,
and achieved a position that enabled the club and her
illustrious team-mates to pick up awards for First Under 15 Girls team.

Molly is pictured above receiving her certificate from
Morpeth Harriers Club Chairman Bill Woods,
and her name now goes into the melting pot alongside
fellow club colleagues Joe Robertshaw, Patrick Booth,
Jonnie Nisbet, and Alison Brown,
for the possibility of a more prestigious award later this year.

In addition Molly has also recently received an award
for being the most improved club athlete during 2010.

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Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races !
At the Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races held within
the Exhibition Park and Town Moor areas of Newcastle,
on Sunday 14th November,our young athletes were in action

Alison Brown at the Heaton Harriers 
Road Races last Sunday.
Morpeth Harriers achieved team success
in the Under 15 Girls 3k event, being led home by their
Athlete of the Month for October, Alison Brown,
who ran excellently to finish fifth in 11m57s,
and was equally well supported by clubmates Sarah Wilkes and Molly McDonald,
who finished in seventh and thirteenth places in 12m11s, and 13m22s respectively.
Molly's twin sister Rosie, who is still recovering from injury, ran gamely to finish 19th in 15m23s.

In the Under 15 Boys race, Joe Elder was Morpeths only competitor and he finished 10th in 11m19s.

Jonnie Nisbet at the Heaton Harriers 
Road Races last Sunday.
In the combined Under 20 and Under 17 Mens 5k event,
Morpeth's Jonnie Nisbet finished third in 17m40s, and was second Under 17.
Sam Hancox finished 20th, as eleventh Under 17 in 21m32s.

Euan Jones and Jacob Hopkins 
at the Heaton Harriers Road Races yesterday.
Euan Jones and Jacob Hopkins ran competitively to finish
eighth and eleventh respectively in the Under 13 Boys 3k event,
with clockings of 12m08s, and 12m44s.

Heaton Harriers are to be congratulated on including
an Under 11's 1k event on their six race programme,
and Morpeth Harriers Ailsa Jones and Matthew Briggs
benefited from their respective outings, where they
both finished ninth in each section, with clockings of 4m25s, and 5m09s.

Click here for Full Results

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Athlete of the Month Award !
Alison Brown and Bill Woods
Following her excellent individual performances in the
first two North Eastern Harrier League meetings,
plus just missing out by a whisker in winning Morpeth Harriers
Under 15 Girls Club Road Championship,
has earned promising athlete Alison Brown her title of
Benfield Motors Athlete of the Month for October 2010.

Alison's dedication to both her club and sport is clearly shown in the fact
that she travels down from Berwick upon Tweed twice a week for training,
and also very often a third journey is made when competing.

Since joining Morpeth Harriers in 2008, Alison has clearly blossomed
into a very talented and very well respected member of her club,
and continues to improve with every opportunity.

Alison is pictured above receiving her winners certificate
from Morpeth Harriers Club Chairman Bill Woods, and
she now joins club colleagues Joe Robertshaw, Patrick Booth
and Jonnie Nisbet in the pool for a larger award in 2011.

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Saucony English National Cross Country Relays !
At the annual English Cross Country Relays,
held on Saturday November 6th, at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield,
quite a few of our young athletes were in action.

Morpeths Under 17 Mens team at 
Mansfield
Although they finished back in seventy fourth place,
Morpeths Under 17 Mens fortunes were somewhat boosted,
when Jonny Nisbet's second leg clocking of 9m51.90s for the 3k distance,
saw him recover a mammoth thirty places.
Philip Caldwell, and Sam Hancox clocked 10m24.80s,
and 12m29.70s respectively as the other Under 17 Mens performers.

Morpeths Under 17 Womens team at 
Mansfield
Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Women finished in 35th place in their 3x2.5k event,
courtesy of Ailsa McGregor (10m09.35s)
Hannah Rank (10m22.75s), and Rachel Denton (10m37.00s).

Alison Brown (8m18.65s), Sarah Wilkes (8m35.00s)
and Molly McDonald (8m56.10s), combined to bring
Morpeths Under 15 Girls squad home in 66th place in their 3x 2k event.

Morpeths Under 15 Boys team at 
Mansfield
The clubs Under 15 Boys competing over the same distance,
finished in 62nd place with Philip Winkler clocking their fastest time of 6m56.50s.
Joe Elder (7m36.90s), and Martin Hood (8m04.85s), were Morpeth's supporting efforts.

Morpeths Under 13 Boys team at 
Mansfield
In the Under 13 Boys event, Morpeth finished in 49th place
with respective efforts coming from Ryan Green (7m52.35s)
Andrew Allan (8m14.60s), and Euan Jones (8m30.10s).

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Athlete of the Month Award for September !
Jonnie Nisbet and Bill Woods
Morpeth Harriers are pleased to announce that their
Benfield Motors Athlete of the Month for September award
has been given to their leading Under 17 Mens member Jonnie Nisbet.

Jonnie receives his award particularly for his outstanding victory
at the Sunderland Harriers Open Cross Country meeting,
where he inflicted defeat on several rivals a year older than himself.

The picture shows Jonnie receiving his cerificate from
Morpeth Harriers Club Chairman Bill Woods.
He now goes into the melting pot for a major award later next year,
alongside July and August winners, Joe Robertshaw and Patrick Booth.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League !
At the second Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League meeting
held at Farringdon College, Sunderland on Saturday 30th October,
quite a few of our young athletes were in action.

An excellent team effort on the day for
Morpeth Harriers came from their Under 15 Boys,
who finished second to a very strong Sunderland Harriers effort.

Philip Winkler at Sunderland
They were led home by a front running performer in Philip Winkler,
who despite a hip niggle, clocked one of
the fastest times, to win by a margin of nine seconds.
Excellent team support came from vastly improved
performers in Joe Elder (9th) (Slow Pack)
and Martin Hood (23rd) (Slow Pack).

Morpeth Harriers other finisher here was Henrik Paulsen,
who came home in 40th place from the Slow Pack.

Unfortunately lack of a third finisher meant that Morpeth could
not mount a challenge in the team race in the Under 17 Mens event,
however Jonnie Nisbet and Philip Caldwell can take much consolation from the fact
that they were second and sixth fastest of twenty seven finishers,
when their Fast Pack efforts saw them finish 16th and 25th respectively.

Morpeths Euan Jones continues to show great improvement,
and he gave his all when finishing twenty second
from the Slow Pack in the Under 13 Boys event.
Unfortunately again Morpeth lacked athletes
here to mount a respectable team challenge.

In the Under 15 Girls event, Morpeths Sarah Wilkes
finished ninth from the Slow Pack,
and meanwhile club colleague Alison Brown,
produced an excellent tenth fastest time
when finishing 13th of 25 from the Fast Pack.

Philip Kirkby at Sunderland
Once again the Harrier League held a race for Under 11 athletes,
and Morpeths Philip Kirby and Robbie Elder produced
excellent runs to finish tenth and twenty first
respectively in a field of 46 finishers.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League !
Jonnie Nisbet, and Alison Brown produced excellent
performances at the first Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League,
held at East Cramlington Nature Reserve on Saturday 23rd October.

An interesting battle at the front end of the Under 17 Mens event,
where all competitors had the benefit of a level slow pack start,
saw Jonnie Nisbet finish an excellent third behind
Gateshead Harriers pair Calum Johnson and Robbie Costello.

These three worked so well, and so close together,
they managed to draw clear of the rest of the twenty five strong field,
to forge a 79 second lead over their closest rival at the finish.
Nisbet was assisted in the Morpeth Harriers team challenge,
quite excellently by Philip Caldwell (5th), and Sam Hancox (16th).

Alison Brown had an excellent run to finish sixth from
the slow pack in the Under 15 Girls event, however
was left to plough a lone furrow on the team front for Morpeth Harriers.

Joe Elder certainly showed his vastly improved potential
when he placed fifteenth of a 52 strong Under 15 Boys field.
Morpeth Harriers finished tenth as a team,
with Elder's effort being supported by Henrik Paulsen (36th)
and Martin Hood (37th).

In the Under 13 Boys event, Morpeth's Jake Stoddart finished 35th.

For the first time, the Harrier League provided competition for Under 11 Boys and Girls.
Morpeth Harriers Philip Kirby, Robbie Elder,
Ciaran Jewell, and Matthew Hogan, all performed well to finish
in 11th, 18th, 22nd, and 23rd, in a 44 strong field.

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Morpeth Harriers Under 17s Club Road Championships !
Clocking sixteen minutes for the 2.6mile two lap course,
Jonny Nisbet was a clear winner of the Under 17 Mens
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championship,
held on Lancaster Park on Monday night, 18th October.

Second place went to Tom Brookes who clocked 17m06s,
with Sam Hancox taking the Bronze medal in 18m06s.
Fourth place went to Matthew Levison, who finished in 19m08s.
Nisbet ran a very strong first lap in 7m42s.

A very close finish in the Under 17 Womens 1.3mile race saw
Ailsa McGregor pip Hannah Rank for victory by two seconds in a time of 8m52s.
The judges could not split the athletes for third place,
with Miriam Inverarity and Lucy Shuttleworth both clocking 9m46s.
Fifth place went to Rachael Steel in 10m01s,
and Polly Jeffrey (11m39s)
and Ellen Welsh (12m18s) claimed sixth and seventh places.

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Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys and Girls Road Championships !
There was a very close finish to the Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Girls
Road Championship on Monday night, 11th October when Sarah Wilkes
won by a nose from Alison Brown, with both girls being given a finishing time
of 8m51s for the 1.3mile Lancaster Park circuit.
Third place went to Beth Wooley, who clocked 9m33s.

In the Boys race Philip Winkler triumphed in an excellent 7m46s.
The minor placings went to Joe Robertshaw, and Joe Elder,
who both had excellent runs of 8m13s, and 8m32s respectively.

Other results were as follows

Boys
4th Daniel Smith (8m47s)
5th Ryan Dodds (8m56s)
6th Martin Hood (8m59s)
7th Ben Welsh (9m00s)
8th Henrick Paulsen (9m06s)
9th Miles Foggon (9m30s)
10th Matthew Brown (9m37s)
11th Ben Steel (9m43s)
12th Matthew Denton (9m46s)
13th Liam Fox (9m52s)
14th Cameron Wilson (9m59s)
and 15th Henry Rank (10m03)

Girls
4th Molly McDonald (9m46s)
5th Alice Kelly (9m59s)
6th Francesca Price (10m10s)
7th Lucy Pargetter (10m29s)
8th Hetty Naylor (10m47s)
9th Alix Stonehouse (11m40s)
10th Emma Telford (11m41s)
11th Rebecca Dodds (11m56s)
12th Ella Brookes (12m00s)
and 13th Georgie Beer (12m16s)

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Morpeth Harriers Under 11 Boys and Girls Road Championships !
The second in the series of Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championships
for 2010 took place on Lancaster Park on Monday night (4th October)

On this occasion it was the Under 11's who tackled the 1.3mile circuit,
and Hamish Thomson and Elizabeth Rank were the respective winners in times of 10m16s and 10m31s.

In the Boys event, Silver and Bronze medal placings
went to Alex Cunningham (10m18s), and Matthew Hogan (10m43s)

Ailsa Jones (10m36s) and Georga Priest (11m08s)
took the minor placings in the Girls event.

Other placings were as follows

Boys
4th Lewis James (10m51s)
5th Ciaran Jewell (11m11s)
6th Joseph Dowd (11m19s)
7th Robbie Elder (11m20s)
8th Brad Savage (11m52s)
9th Robbie Nash (11m56s)
10th Matthew Briggs (12m47s)

Girls
4th Anna Fisher (12m37s)
5th Eve Brannen-Davies (14m03s)

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North of England Young Athletes Road Relay Championships !
Start of the Under 17 Mens relays at Manchester on Saturday
There were some creditable performances achieved by our young athletes,
who travelled to Wythenshawe Park in Manchester on Saturday 2nd October,
for the North of England Road Relay Championships,
In the Young Athletes events, Morpeth Harriers had teams
in the Under 15 Girls, Under 13 Boys, and Under 17 Mens age groups.

In the Under 17 Mens 3 x 3.6k event,
Morpeth Harriers finished in 22nd place courtesy of
Philip Caldwell (13m08s), Jonnie Nisbet (12m06s), and Sam Hancox (13m36s)

Ryan Green (10m52s), Andrew Allen (11m26s)
and Euan Jones (12m04s), combined to bring Morpeth
Harriers Under 13 Boys home to 21st place over their 2.8k event.

The clubs Under 15 Girls finished in 37th place in their 2.8k event,
with efforts from Molly MacDonald (12m20s)
Alison Brown (11m50s), and Rosie MacDonald (13m33s)

Click here for complete Under 13 Boys Results

Click here for complete Under 15 Girls Results

Click here for complete Under 17 Mens Results

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Athlete of the Month Award for August !
Patrick Booth and Bill Woods
Morpeth Harriers are pleased to announce that their
Benfield Motors Athlete of The Month award for August
has gone to Under 13 member Patrick Booth.

Patrick was nominated by his Club Coach Steve McDonald
following his good steady improvement in his Monday night sessions at the clubhouse,
and also for his willing attitude to compete when required.
This follows on from his success in the Swimathon,
that was organised by the Harriers and Morpeth Swimming Club in July.

Patrick is pictured above receiving his award cerificate
from Morpeth Harriers Club Chairman Bill Woods,
and he will go into the list for a possible bigger award next year.

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Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys and Girls Road Championships !
Morpeth Harriers commenced their series of Young Athletes Road Championships
on Monday night (27th September) at Lancaster Park.

Ryan Green and Florence Thomson were the respective winners of the Under 13 age group events.
Green won in 8m59s, and Thomson achieved her success in 10m21s.

In the Boys event Andrew Allan and Sam Fisher finished
second and third in respective times of 9m06s, and 9m25s.

Charlotte Jewell (10m23s), and Jennifer Tynemouth (10m28s)
took the minor medals in the Girls event.

Other Results were as follows

BOYS RACE
4th Matthew McGuinness 9m41s,
5th Jacob Hopkins 9m52s,
6th Patrick Booth 9m55s,
7th Sam Williams 9m57s,
8th Liam Henderson 10m24s,
9th Evan Darroch 11m35s,
10th Finn Farthing 11m36s,
11th Rioghan Bruce 11m48s,
12th McKenzie Clark11m57s,
13th Gabriel Farthing 12m10s,
14th Elliot Henderson 12m29s,
15th Andrew Holland 12m48s,
16th Alex Brown 13m23s.

GIRLS RACE
4th Leoni Irving-Hogg 10m29s,
5th Sophie Telford 12m11s,
6th Emily Todd 12m18s,
7th Olivia Grundy 12m29s,
8th Kirsty Lang 12m37s,
9th Gabbi Foggon 12m41s,
10th Harriet Grace 13m10s,
11th Louise Brett 13m25s.

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Junior Great North Run !
Morpeth Harriers had some good performers at the
Junior Great North Run on Saturday 18th September.

In the Boys 12 to 16 year old event, Jonnie Nisbet and Philip Winkler
can feel well pleased with their respective placings of eighth and eighteenth.

Sarah Wilkes and Alison Brown had excellent runs
in the Girls event to finish fifteenth and sixteenth.

Other placings in the Boys race were Rhonan Green 75th,
Ryan Green 85th, Martin Hood 93rd,
Henrik Paulsen 131st, Matthew Denton 185th,
Ben Welsh 246th, and Ben Steel 280th.

Morpeth's other placings in the Girls race were
Miriam Inverarity 31st, Rachael Steel 47th,
Rachael Todd 90th, Amy Thomas 323rd,
and Tabitha Ward 433rd.

In the Boys 9 to 12 year old race,
Matthew McGuinness was Morpeth's leading finisher in 33rd place.
Other finishers in this event were Jacob Hopkins 62nd,
Patrick Booth 68th, and Elliot Henderson 250th.

In the Girls race, Emily Todd finished in 77th place.

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Sunderland Harriers Open Cross Country Races !
At Sunderland Harriers Open Cross Country Races on Saturday 11th September,
a lot of our young athletse were in action and it saw a good start to the season for Jonny Nisbet,
who won the Under 17 Mens 1.8k event in 9m30s,
Philip Caldwell and Sam Hancox also produced good early season runs
to finish fifth and eighth in respective times of 10m25s and 10m41s.

Ailsa McGregor just missed by a margin of ten seconds
for victory in the Under 17 Womens event to North Shields Poly's
Gemma Wallett with her clocking of 11m15s.
Her Morpeth clubmate Hannah Rank finished fourth in 11m27s.

Philip Winkler finished second in the Under 15 Boys event in 10m00s,
and Morpeth club colleagues, Joe Elder and Henrik Paulsen
finished thirteenth and twenty fifth in 10m57s, and 12m15s.

Morpeth Harriers had four competitors in the Under 15 Girls event.
Alison Brown led them home in seventh place in 12m09s,
followed by Sarah Wilkes (9th) 13m02s,
Molly McDonald (10th) 13m04s, and Rosie McDonald (12th) 14m06s.

In the Under 11 Girls and Under 11 Boys 1mile events
Morpeths Ailsa Jones, Robbie Elder and Kieron Wall finished eighth,
sixth and seventh respectively, with clockings of 5m05s, 4m39s and 4m52s.

Jennifer Tynemouth finished 18th in the Under 13 Girls event in 15m23s,
and in the Under 13 Boys event Euan Jones and Patrick Booth
finished 23rd and 30th in 12m30s and 13m31s.

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Trafford Grand Prix !
Morpeths Marcus Cram clocked his best time of the season over 800m
at Stretford in the Trafford Grand Prix meeting on Tuesday 7th September,
when he won a combined Under 20/Under 17 A race in 1m58.86s.

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Northern Inter Counties Track & Field Championships !
Morpeths North Eastern Counties Under 15 Boys 400m Champion,
Joe Robertshaw saved his best till last when he finished second to
Yorkshire Champion Joe Lancaster of Sheffield City
in a thrilling finish at the Northern Inter Counties Track and Field Championships,
held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 28th August.

He only lost out by nine hundredths of a second at the finish line,
after producing one of the regions finest performances of the day,
and created a brand new personal best of 52.93s,
his previous being 53.09s at the English Schools in July.

In the race itself, and running in lane three, watched by his very proud parents Gary and Andrea,
along with his grandparents, Robertshaw settled nicely into the first 100metres of the one lap event,
and by the middle of the back straight he had moved strongly into second place,
and was posing a very realistic threat to a dominant Lancaster,
who had also run a very strong early section in lane seven.
With 200metres remaining Robertshaw drew level. and by the time the finishing straight
was reached he had achieved a slender lead.
From this point Robertshaw made a very determined effort,
and Lancaster knew that if he was to win, he would have to dig deep into his resources
. With 50metres remaining Robertshaw still had a marginal lead,
and it was only in the last 20 metres that the Yorkshire Champion managed to pull himself level.
In the run to the line it was very much a close race,
and the finality did give the judges some anxious moments in decision terms,

This was Robertshaw's last race as an Under 15,
and he does know that he will face a tougher time next season,
when he makes the transition to the Under 17 age group as a first year athlete.
He will take with him however the positives, and there were lots of them,
quite notably that he has ended the season ranked around seventeenth in the country,
and an undoubted first from the region.

Winter training will consist of conditioning and circuit work,
which will hopefully bring him the strengths to combat new challenges next season.
The popular teenager will certainly gain the support of his coach Mick Groves,
and other mentors at Morpeth Harriers, to help him achieve his goals.

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Athlete of the Month Award !
Morpeth Harriers along with their sponsor Benfield Motors (Morpeth)
have pleasure in announcing their first Athlete of the Month Award
which will be targetted towards any athlete at the club below the age of 17.

For his achievements both at a National and Club level, the award for July 2010,
goes to the club's very promising Under 15 athlete, Joe Robertshaw.

Joe really arrived on the scene in May 2008, when he won Gold
in the Under 13 Boys 200m at the North East Counties Championships in a time of 27.21s,
and from that point onward, has worked consistently with his coach Mick Groves,
to a point where he raised his own personal bar to concentrate on 400m,
where he has progressed to not only win the 2010 Under 15 Boys
North Eastern Counties Championship in a time of 54.5s,
but has also seen his time for the distance quicken to a best of 53.09s,
which quite appropriately was achieved at the English Schools Track and Field
Championships in Birmingham on 9th July, where he was the sole
Northumberland representative coming from Morpeth Harriers.

Although that still was not good enough to get through to the final,
the achievement was substantial.
Since then Joe has shown himself to be a vital member
of the club's Young Athlete's Track and Field squad,
and in their final match recently at Whitley Bay,
his efforts received much deserved praise from his Team Manager Tony Ward,
that resulted in him being selected as Morpeth Harriers Male Young Athlete of the Match.

Joe receives a Benfield Motors Athlete of the Momth certificate,
and he goes into the selection list for the possibility of a
more lucrative award at the end of a 12 month period.

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Aviva England Athletics Championships !
Morpeths Joe Robertshaw clocked the fifth fastest time overall of 53.84s,
when qualifying for the final of the Under 15 Boys 400m at the
Aviva England Athletics Championships held at Bedford
on Saturday and Sunday 21st/22nd August.

He finished third in the slowest of the two heats, however in doing so he sustained a thigh strain,
and mindfull of his committment to compete in his favoured event for the North East
at this Saturday's Northern Inter Counties Championships,
which are being held at Gateshead's International Stadium,
he opted to pull out of Sunday's final.

Joe's run however did see him finish in front of Edinburgh's Ben Robbins,
who had denied him a Gold medal in the Scottish Championships
at Scotstoun, the previous week.

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Under 17/Under 15 Scottish Track & Field Championships !
After winning his heat in a very modest 55.14s, Morpeths North Eastern
Under 15 Boys 400m Champion Joe Robertshaw,
went on to win a Bronze medal in the Under 15 Boys 400m
at the combined Under 17/Under 15 Scottish Track and Field Championships
held at Scotstoun Stadium, near Glasgow on Sunday 15th August.

Robertshaw's time of 53.44s was just outside his own personal best,
and only a second adrift of winner Ben Robbins of Edinburgh AC.

Both athletes are likely to meet up in the AAA's Championships,
which are scheduled to be held at Bedford this weekend.

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National Young Athletes League Division 1 Match 4
31 Individual and 1 Relay victory, amongst a host of excellent performances by those who turned out,
spurred Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes to a marginal team victory
over their close rivals Alnwick and Blyth in their
fourth and final Northern League Division 1 match held
at Churchill Playing Fields, Whitley Bay on Sunday 18th July.

Respective Team Managers Tony Ward and Garreth Plant can feel justifiably proud of their charges,
for despite being short of athletes in certain key areas, they still managed to pull off a result
that sees them finish in third place in the final league table for the season.

Jonnie Nisbet can feel well pleased with his three Under 17 Mens victories
in the 400m (55.3s), 800m (2m07.8s) and 1500m (4m33.9s) events.

After being sidelined for nearly a year following a broken leg sustained in football,
Jack Hepple made an excellent winning comeback
in the Under 17 Mens 200m (26.3s), and the Long Jump (5.26m)

Philip Caldwell secured victories in the Under 17 Mens 400m Hurdles (70.6s)
and 1500m Steeplechase (5m15.7s).

Joshua Dixon performed superbly in the Under17 Mens Field events,
recording victories in the Javelin (36.72m), and Shot (9.44m)
and went on to finish second in the Discus (25.35m),
to his Morpeth clubmate Michael Holland, who won with a
best of 26.55m, to add to his earlier win in the High Jump where he cleared 1.70m.

Eight individual victories were secured for Morpeth Harriers in the Under 15 Boys events.
Two of those victories went to North Eastern 400m Champion Joe Robertshaw,
who cast away his previous weeks disappointments at not making it through
to the finals of the English Schools Championships by not only winning the 100m
in 12.8s, but also adding a victory in the 400m in 55.6s.
Joe's win in the 100m was boosted by his clubmate Adam Smith finishing second in 13.5s.

Another double winner in this age group was Henrik Paulsen,
who won the 200m in 27.9s, and the Long Jump with a best of 4.44m.

Philip Winkler won the Under 15 Boys 1500m in 4m39.4s,
and clubmate Joe Elder ran superbly to finish second in 4m44.4s.
Elder also won the Discus with a best of 15.45m.

Daniel Smith won the Under 15 Boys 80m Hurdles in 16.5s,
and Miles Foggon claimed victory in the High Jump by clearing 1.55m.

In the Under 13 Boys events, Morpeth's Ryan Green claimed victory in the 800m (2m32.1s)
and the 100m in 14.6s.Andrew Allen had an excellent run also to place second in the 800m in 2m41.6s.

A small Morpeth Harriers Girls Young Athletes squad secured a total of ten individual victories.
Three of those went to Katie Plant, who won the Under 17 Womens 100m (14.1s),
300m Hurdles (58.7s), and 200m (30.8s) events.
Hannah Rank won the 3000m in 11m51.6s.

Twin sisters Rosie and Mollie MacDonald dominated the Under 15 Girls 100m,
when finishing first and second in respective times of 15.0s, and 15.1s.

Jessica and Chelsey Morrison (no relation) had respective Under 15 Girls victories
in the 1500m (5m33.1s), and Shot (7.87m).

In the Under 13 Girls events, Morpeth's Kirsty Lang was again a dominant force,
claiming victory in the 75m and 150m in respective times of 11.2s and 22.9s.
Gabriel Foggon claimed victory in the Long Jump with 3.43m.

Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys 4x100m squad comprising
Adam smith, Philip Winkler, Henrik Paulsen and Joe Robertshaw,
combined to take victory in a nippy 53.2s

FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Morpeth 438pts,
2nd Alnwick & Blyth 425pts,
3rd Houghton 251pts.

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English Schools Track & Field Championships !
Joe Robertshaw
Morpeths Joe Robertshaw ran a personal best of 53.09s when he finished fourth
in his heat of the Junior Boys 400m at the English Schools Track and Field Championships
held at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham on Friday 9th July.

Despite this impressive run, the North Eastern Counties Under 15 Boys Champion,
failed to progress to the final, such was the high standard of opposition around him.

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Middle Schools Track & Field Championships !
There were some good performances by athletes from Morpeth Harriers
at the Middle Schools Track & Field Championships
held at Gateshead Stadium on Saturday 26th June.

Best of those performances came from Philip Winkler,
who won the Year 8 Boys 800m in 2m14.6s,
Kirsty Lang, who finished second in the Year 7 Girls 200m in 30.7s,
Jessica Morrison, who finished second in the Year 8 Girls 1500m in 5m29.8s,
and Ryan Green who finished third in the Year 7 Boys 800m in 2m31.0s.

Recovering from a heavy cold, Alison Brown battled bravely
for fourth in the 1500m won by Morrison, in a time of 5m41.1s.

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National Young Athletes League Division 1 Match 3
Three first class performances by Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Womens athlete Ailsa McGregor,
were not only a high spot of her clubs efforts at their third round Northern Young Athletes
match held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Sunday 20th June,
they also won much applause from her Team Manager Garreth Plant,
who elected her as his Female Athlete of the Match, because of her hat-trick of victories.

Her first win of the day came in the 800m, which she finished very strongly
to win by a handsome margin of twelve seconds in 2m28.1s,
having clocked a similar time at the Northern Inter Counties Schools at Gateshead the previous day.

Ailsa then went on to claim victory in the 300m Hurdles in 50.3s,
edging just ahead of her Morpeth Harriers clubmate,
and Team Managers daughter Katie Plant,
who also ran very well to finish in 52.9s.

Her third victory came in the Long Jump, where she achieved a best of 4.28m,
and this was indeed well supported by the best effort of 3.51m
being recorded by Polly Jeffrey, who finished third overall.

Stand in Mens Team Manager Paddy Paulsen gave her
Mens Athlete of the Match award to Michael Holland,
who won the Under 17 Mens High Jump with his best clearance of 1.65m,
and finished third in the Long Jump (5.06m), although
there were a number of challengers for the coveted title achieved.
They certainly included Joshua Dixon and Cole Anderson.

Dixon won the Under 17 Mens Javelin with a best of 31.79m,
and also went on to record two seconds in the Discus (25.02m)
and Under 17 Mens Shot (8.67m)
Meanwhile Anderson claimed victory in the Under 17 Mens 200m (25.1s)
and also finished third in the Triple Jump (10.66m).

Morpeth Harriers also collected another ten individual,
and one relay victory on the day.
Kirsty Lang won both the Under 13 Girls 75m and 150m events
in respective times of 11.3s, and 22.6s.

Ryan Green won the Under 13 Boys 800m in 2m29.7s,
Jonnie Nisbet won the Under 17 Mens 800m in 2m08.8s,
Joe Robertshaw created a new personal best of 24.8s
when winning the Under 15 Boys 200m,
Philip Caldwell maintained his unbeaten Young Athletes record
in the Under 17 Mens 1500m Steeplechase in 5m06.4s,
Andrew Allen won the Under 13 Boys 1500m in 5m30.7s,

Miriam Inverarity won the Under 17 Womens 1500m in 5m55.8s,
Sarah Wilkes won the Under 15 Girls 1500m in 5m31.5s,
after producing a strong finish to overhaul a strong early effort from a Blaydon
opponent in the final strides, and Polly Jeffrey won the Under 17 Womens Javelin with a best of 17.89m.

The combination of Cole Anderson, Michael Holland, Joshua Dixon, and Jonny Nisbet,
saw Morpeth win the Under 17 Mens 4x100m Relay in 51.0s.

There were also a good number of second places achieved by athletes from Morpeth Harriers,
notably Myles Foggin (13.4s) Under 15 Boys 100m, and (59.2s) 400m,
Philip Winkler (4m33.6s) Under 15 Boys 1500m,
Stefan Thompson (30.4s) Under 13 Boys 300m,
Paige Capstaff (28.9s) Under 15 Girls 200m,
Jonnie Nisbet (53.9s) Under 17 Mens 300m,
and Andrew Holland (1.05m) Under 13 Boys High Jump.

Morpeth Harriers Team Managers were very praiseworthy of all of the athletes
who turned out on the day in a brave fight, where although they placed third
of the three competing clubs in the match, the points difference
between second and third was rather less than expected.

FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Blaydon 518pts,
2nd Chester Le Street 424pts,
3rd Morpeth 386pts.

Click Here for Full Results

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Northern Inter Counties Schools Track & Field Championships !
Joe Robertshaw
Joe Robertshaw was very much the pick of Morpeth Harriers performances
at the Northern Inter Counties Schools Track & Field Championships
held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 19th June.

The North East Under 15 400m, and former 200m Champion,
clocked what was easily a new personal best of 53.7s,
with a prevailing wind, and took the Junior Boys 400m
with much panache to guarantee his qualification for the English
Schools Championships, due to be held in Birmingham on 9th and 10th July.

Another good Morpeth performer at the championships was Ailsa McGregor,
who ran well to pace fifth in the InterMediate Girls 800m in 2m28.5s.

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Morpeth Fair Day Fun Run !
Despite early morning rain, the Morpeth Fair Day Fun Run,
on Sunday 13th June organised by Morpeth Harriers still
attracted 68 enthusiasts, who were led home by Joe Elder
who finished in 5m16s, and twenty seconds ahead of his clubmate Ryan Green.

Third place went to Morpeth Harrier Alison Brown,
who was first girl, in a time of 5m43s.

Fourth place in 5m57s, was Elliot Harrison who was third boy.

Second and third places in the Girls race went to
Morpeth Harrier Sarah Wilkes (6m12s), and Hannah Smith (6m45s)
The event was started by the Mayor of Morpeth Coun Ken Brown.

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Northumberland Schools Track & Field Championships !
Morpeths Ailsa McGregor, Jonny Nisbet, and Joe Robertshaw
were amongst the star performers at the Northumberland
Schools Track and Field Championships,
held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 12th June.

McGregor took her talents to an entirely new level,
and more than pleased her watching coach, when she won the
Intermediate Girls 800m in a brand new personal best of 2m26.4s.

Although he finished fifth in a hard run Intermediate Boys 800m,
Nisbet can feel well pleased with his new personal best of 2m03.3s.

Drawn in an outside lane, Robertshaw still managed
to pull off a win in the Junior Boys 400m in 56.6s.

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Cancer Research UK Race for Life 5K !
Sarah Wilkes won the Race for Life 5K on Sunday 23rd May
Herrington Country Park at Penshaw certainly belonged to
Morpeths Sarah Wilkes on Sunday 23rd May,
when she won the 5k Cancer Research UK Race for Life
event in a time of 23m32s, on what was a very hilly course,
and on a very hot day, which boasted a high of 26C !
The event attracted an excess of 4,000 participants,
and it certainly has won the attraction of Sarah,
as she won the 5k Race for Life in 2009 in Newcastle's Exhibition Park.

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National Young Athletes League Division 1, Match 2
Our Young Athletes squad showed a great deal of commitment
on all sections to secure a narrow victory in their second round
Northern League Division 1 Match, held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Sunday 16th May.

One of the clubs star performers was Jonny Nisbet who scored
a hat-trick of outstanding individual victories
in the Under 17 Mens 800m, 3000m, and 400m events.
His win in the 800m was well fought for from the gun,
and he clocked a very good 2m10.6s.
Sam Hancox backed him up well to win the B race in 2m28.6s.

Unfortunately Nisbet's 3000m victory was very much a solo effort in 9m53.6s,
however his 56.1s in the 400m was excellent.
Hancox again backed him up well by taking the B race in 65.5s.

Another 800m winner for Morpeth was Henrick Paulsen,
who won the Under 15 Boys event in 2m50.1s,
with Tom Fisher taking the B race in 2m54.7s.

Outstanding performers also in the Under 15 Boys
section were Philip Winkler and Joe Robertshaw.
Winkler won the 1500m in 4m48.7s,
and Joe Elder backed him up well by taking the B race in 4m56.1s.

New North Eastern 400m Champion Robertshaw won his favoured event in 55.3s,
and Philip winkler took the B race in 59.7s.

Philip Caldwell knocked a whole twelve seconds off his
personal best when he won the Under 17 Mens 1500m
Steeplechase in 5m16.9s.

Andrew Allan secured an excellent victory
in the Under 13 Boys 1500m in 5m28.2s.

In the Womens track events, Morpeth's Kirsty Lang secured
an excellent victory in the Under 13 Girls 75m in 11.3s,
but found herself just outsprinted to the line as she clocked 22.8s in the 150m.

In her long awaited comeback, Morpeth's Rachel Denton
was a good second to Birtley's Sophie Taylor in the
Under 17 womens 800m, where she clocked 2m30.2s.

Lots of good points came Morpeth's way in the Field events,
particularly Joshua Dickson's triple victory in the Discus (27.52m),
Shot (9.28m), and Javelin (28.08m) in the Under 17 Mens section..

There were also outstanding performance in victories by
Ben Steel (Under 15 Boys Shot) 16.01m,
Cole Anderson (Under 17 Mens Long Jump) 4.65m,
and Myles Foggin (1.48m) in the Under 15 Boys High Jump.

Foggin also played an integral part in a superb
Under 15 Boys 4x100m Relay victory in 56.5s,
with further support coming from
Henrick Paulsen, Joe Robertshaw, and Tom Fisher.

FINAL MATCH SCORE
1st Morpeth 382pts
2nd Birtley 379pts
3rd Harrogate 297pts

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North Eastern Counties Track & Field Championships !
The two days of the North Eastern Counties Track and Field Championships
held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 8th May and Sunday 9th May,
saw three Gold medals achieved by our young athletes,
plus a number of minor medal placings, along with some good personal best performances.

On Saturday Joe Robertshaw celebrated his 14th Birthday in fine style
when he produced a blistering personal best performance of 54.5s
to win his second regional championship in the Under 15 Boys 400m final,
and achieved the time that should give him qualification
for the forthcoming English Schools Championships.
He won with a margin of 1.5seconds over Gateshead Harrier Chris Waite,
and also delighted his coach Mick Groves,
by adding another Gold medal to the one that he won exactly two years ago
in the Under 13 Boys 200m, and it was indeed a well earned reward
for the hard work he has put in during the winter months,
even to the point of turning out on the cross country circuit for his club.

Hannah Rank ran a sensibly paced race to retain her
Under 17 Womens 3000m title in 11m05.97s,
which was around four seconds adrift of her 2009 victory.

Although outside the medals, Phillip Winkler can feel well pleased
with his fifth placing in the final of the Under 15 Boys 1500m.
As a first year in the age group, Winkler did well to win his heat in 4m55.30s,
however he certainly bettered himself in the final,
as he knocked a whole second off his time with his clocking of 4m37.18s,
which was agonisingly just five seconds adrift of the minor medals.
Joe Elder finished eighth in the heat won by Winkler, in a time of 5m11.10s.

Although he clocked a new personal best of 4m24.38s,
as a first year in his new age group, Jonnie Nisbet was unable to
add the Under 17 Mens 1500m title to the Under 15 Boys one that he won in 2009.
In a fast and furious last lap and a half, he was forced to
settle for eleventh place out of fifteen finishers.

On Sunday, Morpeth Harriers other Gold Medal went to young Michael Holland,
who won the Under 17 Mens High Jump on countback with his best clearance of 1.70m.

Bronze medals came the way of Marcus Cram and Catriona MacDonald.
Marcus clocked 2m02.01 in the Under 20 Mens 800m,
and Catriona battled gallantly to clock 6m02.49s in the Under 17 Womens 1500m.

After achieving new personal bests over 1500m on the first day of the Championships,
Phillip Winkler clocked new personal bests in the Under 15 Boys 800m.
He clocked 2m14.80s in his heat, and then went on to better this to 2m13.32s,
when he placed fifth in the final.

In the Under 17 Mens 800m, Jonnie Nisbet clocked
a new personal best of 2m054.62s as he finished fourth in his heat,
however despite a valiant 2m07.02s in the final, he could only finish sixth.

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National Young Athletes League Division 1
It was another cold day on Sunday 2nd May when Morpeth Harriers
opened their programme of Young Athletes fixtures at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow.

After last seasons promotion, they now compete in the restructured Division 1
of the Northern section, and there are four matches to complete,
with three clubs competing in each match.

In this match they were up against Middlesbrough (Mandale)
and Scarborough, and they managed to finish second to the Teesside squad.

There were good results from both the Male and Female sections of the squad,
quite notably Kirsty Lang's hat-trick of victories in the Under 13 Girls events.
Her first came in the 75metres, where she clocked 11.4s,
and then went on to claim victory in the 150metres in 22.7s.
She made her day perfect when she also won the High Jump with her best clearance of 1.15m.

Morpeth Harriers other Under 13 Girls competitor was Emily Todd,
who finished third in the 1200m in 5m48.7s.

The club also had eleven other winners on the day,
in what turned out to be a very satisfactory day at the office
for Tony Ward and Josie Goodfellow's charges.

Joe Robertshaw clocked a new personal best in the Under 15 Boys 200m of 24.9s,
when he finished in a head to head with Middlesbrough's Fezan Mughal,
and only lost out by a whisker from the judges viewpoint.
Robertshaw made up for this a little later when he won the 400m in 58.0s.

Five winners came from Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Mens section,
quite notably from Michael Holland, who had competed
for the Seniors 24 hours earlier in Leeds.

He can feel well pleased with his victory in the High Jump
with his best clearance of 1.60m,
and he went on to give the squad further support by
finishing third in the Discus (25.84m), and fourth in the Long Jump (4.60m)
His efforts in those events were most welcome,
as he supported the second placing of Josh Dixon (26.69m)
and win by Cole Anderson (5.40m) respectively.

Dixon was also very industrious, as his 12.87m was good for fourth in the Javelin,
where he supported Sam Hancox's excellent winning throw of 28.99m,
and he was second in the A string of the Shot with 9.56m.

Cole Anderson did well in the 100m and 200m events,
where he finished third and second in respective clockings of 12.5s, and 25.8s.

Philip Caldwell was another hard working athlete,
when he finished second in the 800m in 2m24.9s,
fourth in the B string of the Shot (5.13m)
and then he put the icing on the cake by taking an excellent win
in the 1500m Steeplechase in 5m30s,
and even managed to entertain the crowd with a unique pirouette routine
when taking the seventh barrier during the event.

Sam Hancox backed Philip up well in the 800m,
when he finished third in 2m31.6s.

Morpeth's other winner in the Under 17 Mens events was Jonny Nisbet,
who won the 1500m in 4m35.3s, and then finished second in the 400m in 57.2s.

There were some excellent results achieved by Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Womens section,
with Ailsa McGregor, Hannah Rank, Miriam Inverarity, and Polly Jeffrey all having wins.

McGregor claimed two victories, firstly in the 800m (2m37.0s)
and then later in the 300m Hurdles, where she clocked 54.05s.
She also finished second in the Long Jump with 4.25m.

In the 800m, Morpeth Harriers also had a good
supporting run from Lucy Shuttleworth,
who placed second in 2m46.0s, and in the Long Jump
Polly Jeffrey finished fourth with a best of 3.55m.

Polly also finished second in the Shot with 5.80m,
where Lucy Shuttleworth finished fourth with a best of 5.06m,
however Polly achieved her prize moment when she won the Discus with 18.19m,
and was backed up very amiably by Tabitha Ward who finished third with a best of 12.61m.

Ward also finished second in the Javelin with 7.72m,
to clubmate Miriam Inverarity who won with her best of 8.46m.

Hannah Rank won the Under 17 Womens 3000m in 11m33.9s,
and was backed up by Miriam Inverarity's second placing in 13m04.1s,
and Inverarity added a third placing in the 200m to her tally, in a time of 38.2s.

Paige Capstaff was Morpeth Harriers only victor in the Under 15 Girls section,
where she took the High Jump with her best clearance of 1.25m,
however the efforts of clubmates Josie McCreton, Molly and Rosie McDonald,
Lucy Pargeter, Jessica Morrison, Harriet Jackson, Catherine Philips,
and Francis Holland did not go unrewarded.

Josie finished third in the 800m in 2m46.3s,
Molly's best result came in the 75metres Hurdles,
where she finished second in 16.8s,
Lucy Pargeter finished second in the Javelin with a best of 11.24m,
and Jessica battled to take second place in the 1500m in 5m38.2s.

In Morpeth's Under 15 Boys section,
apart from Joe Robertshaw's victory and second placings,
there were also excellent efforts from Philip Winkler
who finished second in the 800m in 2m17.0s,
Joe Elder, who also finished second in the 1500m (5m14.2s)
Henrick Paulsen who finished third in both the 800m (2m53.1s)
and 100m events (14.1s)
and Daniel Smith, who finished third in the Long Jump, with a best of 3.38m.

Although there were no outright winners in Morpeth's Under 13 Boys squad,
Ryan Green managed two second places in the 800m (2m35.7s) and 200m (30.4s)
and Patrick Booth came directly from a football match to finish third in the 1500m in 6m49.8s.

Added to that the other supporting efforts to the Morpeth Under 13 Boys section
by Matthew McGuinness, Elliot Henderson, and Andrew Allen are to be applauded.

In the Under 15 Girls 4x100m Relay,
Morpeth finished second in 59.9s,
courtesy of Catherine Philips, Rosie McDonald,
Molly McDonald, and Paige Capstaff.

They also finished second in the Under 13 Boys 4x100m Relay,
with Andrew Allen, Ryan Green, Patrick Booth,
and Elliot Henderson seeing them home in 66.2s

Morpeth's Under 17 Mens 4x400m squad
of Philip Caldwell, Sam Hancox, Jonny Nisbet,
and Cole Anderson, finished second in a combined time of 4m18.0s.

FINAL MATCH SCORE
1st Middlesbrough (Mandale) 658pts,
2nd Morpeth Harriers 362pts,
3rd Scarborough 125pts.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !
At the first Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Athletics League
held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Wednesday 28th April,
Michael Holland and Philip Winkler were the pick of results
achieved by athletes from Morpeth Harriers.

Michael won the Under 17 Mens High Jump with his best clearance of 1.55m,
and Philip finished fifth in the Under 15 Boys 1500m in 4m36.4s.

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Anne Marie Readshaw Memorial Track & Field Meeting !
Morpeths Joe Robertshaw won the Under 15 Boys 400m
at the Anne Marie Readshaw Memorial Track and Field meeting
held on Sunday 18th April at Shildon.
Robertshaw clocked 56.3s.

At the same meeting, his club colleague Jonny Nisbet set new figures of 2m06.5s,
when he finished fourth in the Under 17 Mens 1500m.
This was his first race in his new age group.

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Elswick Harriers Good Friday Road Races !
There were several successes for Morpeth Harriers
on both the team and individual front at the annual Elswick Harriers
Good Friday Road Races, held at Newburn's Business Park on April 2nd.

Under 13 Girls race at Elswick Harriers Road Races on Good Friday
On the team front, the best success came from the Under 13 Girls,
who won by a margin of twelve points from Durham City.
They were led home by Alison Brown, who finished fifth,
and covered the 1.74 mile circuit in 11m05s.
One place and five seconds behind her was her clubmate Sarah Wilkes,
and with Josie McCreton also finishing and excellent eighth in 11m23s,
Morpeth were convincing team winners.
Twin Sisters Molly and Rosie McDonald finished
16th and 23rd in respective times of 12m21s and 13m07s.

Best individual performer on the day for
Morpeth Harriers was undoubtedly Jonnie Nisbet,
who after running a very close race with rival
Chris Peverley of Chester Le Street,
stole away to win the Under 15 Boys 2.43mile event,
by a margin of three seconds with his clocking of 12m41s.
Sam Hancox of Morpeth Harriers finished thirteenth in 14m16s.

Philip Winkler of Morpeth Harriers finished second
in the Under 13 Boys 1.74 event in 9m23s.

Morpeths Lucy Shuttleworth and Miriam Inverarity
finished fifth and sixth respectively in the Under 15 Girls 1.74 mile
event in times of 11m31s, and 11m42s,
and it was a particularly brave run by Miriam,
who took a hefty tumble in the early stages,
which left her somewhat winded.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League (6)
At the sixth Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League
meeting held at Prudhoe on Saturday 27th March,
our young athletes were in action and competing successfully.

Jonnie Nisbet's winning performance in the Under 15 Boys event was exceptional.
The North East Champion, who by his own admission had not been in his best form of late,
certainly made up for any recent losses by winning with twenty one seconds to spare over
his closest rival Chris Peverley of Chester Le Street, who also had an excellent run from the Fast Pack.

Nisbet's joy was further enhanced on learning that the supporting places
of Joe Robertshaw (8th) (Slow Pack), and Philip Caldwell (10th) (Fast Pack)
had given Morpeth Harriers second team place behind Blyth on the day,
however this was enough to win the Under 15 Boys league championship for the season.

Other good performances for Morpeth in this age group came from
Sam Hancox (11th) (Fast Pack), and Connor Weightman (13th) (Slow Pack)
For Hancox, it meant that he had claimed sixth place in the Grand Prix standings for the season,
which is a very fine achievement for this fast improving youngster.

Morpeth Harriers success on the day was further enhanced when Jessica Morrison
claimed an eight second victory over Birtley's North Eastern Champion
Lydia Turner in the Under 13 Girls race.
In this her first Harrier League outing, Morrison soon had the bit between her teeth,
and used her eighty second advantage of a Slow Pack start to good measure as she
drew well clear of the chasing masses, and it was only Turner who looked
like robbing her of certain victory in the closing stages.
Morrison not only won the race, but was also rewarded with the days fifth fastest time,
plus the added news, that on the day she had superbly led her Morpeth Harriers clubmates
to team victory on the day over Birtley, which in turn assured
them of winning the Under 13 Girls team championship for the season.

The supporting counts on the day came from Alison Brown (8th) (Fast Pack)
and Josie McReton (9th) ( Fast Pack)
Not far behind Brown and McReton were Sarah Wilkes (10th) (Fast Pack)
and Molly McDonald (12th) (Slow Pack)
The runs of Brown, McReton and Wilkes gave them sixth,
seventh, and eighth fastest times respectively.
Rosie McDonald, also running for Morpeth finished 24th from the Slow pack.

Morpeth Harriers most disappointing result featured their Under 13 Boys,
where the lack of a third finisher rendered them unable to score on the day.
Had they scored on the day, they would have added more silverware to the
Morpeth Harriers haul by winning the team championship.
Instead they lost out by one point to Gateshead, with Tynedale a close third.
The on the day efforts by Philip Winkler and Joe Elder are to be applauded however,
as they finished third and seventeenth from the Fast Pack,
and Winkler can take some consolation for the team loss,
in that he won the overall Grand Prix standing for the season.

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English Schools Cross Country Championships !
Several of our young athletes represented Northumberland
at the English Schools Cross Country Championships,
held at Heaton Park, Manchester on Saturday 20th March.

The clubs best individual performances belonged to Jessica Morrison,
who led the county's Junior Girls home to 43rd team place,
and Philip Winkler, who led home Northumberland's Junior Boys squad to 25th team place.
Jessica, who finished in 131st place, had additional support from two other
Morpeth Harriers in Sarah Wilkes (280th), and Alison Brown (282nd). as third and fourth counters.

Winkler had a superb run to finish as first counter for Northumberland in 92nd place,
and Connor Weightman's 250th placing saw him finish as sixth counter for the county.

North East Cross Country Champion Jonny Nisbet,
produced an excellent run in the Intermediate Boys,
to finish as third counter in 168th place.

In the Intermediate Girls event, three Morpeth Harriers
helped Northumberland to 33rd team place.
Hannah Rank (195th), Ailsa McGregor (245th)
and Rachael Steel (258th), were 4th, 6th and 7th home for the county.

Catriona MacDonald finished 228th in the Senior Girls event,
and was sixth home for Northumberland.

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Brough Law Fell Race !
Twenty four hours after competing for Northumberland in the
English Schools Cross Country Championships in Manchester,
Morpeths Rachael Steel celebrated her sixteenth birthday,
by running for her club in the tough Brough Law Fell Race on Sunday 21st March.

She finished as first Junior Lady, and in fourth place in the Ladies section,
in 48mins 46secs on a 5mile plus course of 1250ft.
It was also her debut on the Fells.

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UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships !
At the McCain sponsored UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships
held at Birmingham's Cofton Park on Saturday 13th March.
Some of our young athletes were in action.

Morpeth's Jonnie Nisbet was the North East's first counter
in their Under 15 Boys team that finished nineteenth.
Jonnie finished in 61st place.

The regions Under 13 Boys squad competed well to finish as seventh team,
and Morpeth's Philip Winkler was fourth counter in 62nd place just behind
fellow North Easterner Luca Irvine of Sunderland Harriers, by a margin of one second.

In the Under 17 Womens event the North East finished in seventeenth team place,
Morpeth Harrier Rachael Steel ran very well, but was unfortunate not to be amongst
the four scoring counters when she finished in 211th place overall.

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English National Cross Country Championships !
At the Saucony sponsored English National Cross Country Championships,
held at a cold and damp Roundhay Park, Leeds on Saturday 27th February,
our young athletes braved the cold damp conditions.

Jonny Nisbet in action at Leeds on Saturday
North Eastern Cross Country Gold medallist Jonnie Nisbet
still maintained his mantle as first from the region, when he led
Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys squad home to 29th team place in their 4.5k Championship.
Jonnie finished 49th, and further team support came from Philip Caldwell and Sam Hancox,
who battled well to finish 183rd and 246th respectively,
and Henrik Paulsen who ensured he finished in 373rd place to complete the count.

Hannah Rank in action at Leeds on Saturday
Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Women finished 15th in their 5k Championship.
Hannah Rank battled hard throughout to come home in 78th place,
and Jessica Caldwell, Catriona MacDonald, and Louise Cairns
gave support with their respective placings of 143rd, 160th, and 170th.

Alison Brown led Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Girls
squad home to 41st team place in their 3k event.
She finished 150th in a 417 strong field of finishers,
and good team support came from Josie McReton (164th)
Sarah Wilkes (249th), and Molly McDonald (386th).

Philip Winkler in action at Leeds on Saturday
Unfortunately Morpeth Harriers couldn't field a full scoring
squad in the Under 13 Boys 3k Championship.
Despite tiring in the closing stages, North Eastern Cross Country
Silver Medallist Philip Winkler led the squad home by finishing in 31st place,
and again proved to be second from the region behind Middlesbrough's
Ben Spencer who on this occasion finished eighth.
Other Morpeth performances came from Joe Elder and Andrew Allan,
who finished 172nd and 252nd respectively.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League (5)
At the fifth Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League
meeting held at Temple Park, South Shields on Saturday 20th February,
our young athletes were in action and competing successfully.

Jonnie Nisbet's run helped Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys to third team place on the day,
it also further cemented their cumulative lead at the head of the table for the season.
Team support came from superb runs by Joe Robertshaw (15th) (Slow Pack), and Philip Caldwell (17th) (Fast Pack)
Although they were non counters, the runs by Sam Hancox (18th) (Fast Pack)
and Henrick Paulsen(19th) (Slow Pack) deserve creditable mention.

Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys are involved in a very tight battle for league supremacy with Gateshead,
and on Saturday they finished third on the day, being led home by Philip Winkler in third place from the fast pack,
with excellent supporting runs coming from Andrew Allan (26th) (Fast Pack), and Ben Steel (39th) (Fast Pack)
who battled bravely after originally not being able to run, and was called in because of runner shortage.

Currently Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Girls lead their league cumulatively,
and on Saturday they finished fourth, being led home by Molly McDonald,
who finished fourteenth from the Slow Pack.
One place behind Molly came her club colleague Sarah Wilkes who was running from the Fast Pack.
Morpeth's team count was completed by Molly's twin sister Rosie, who was 24th from the Slow Pack.

In the Under 17/ Under 20 Womens event Morpeth's Hannah Rank ran excellently
to finish third from the Fast Pack, and her club colleague Catriona MacDonald finished twelfth from the Fast Pack.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League (4)
At the fourth Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League meeting
held at Cardinal Hume School in Wrekenton, Gateshead on Saturday 13th February.

Philip Winkler giving 80 seconds away to more than half of the Under 13 Boys 49 strong field of finishers,
worked his way through to take the lead with around a quarter of a mile left to complete,
and won with eleven seconds to spare over his closest rival,
and was the fastest performer by a margin of fifty five seconds.
Morpeth took second team place to Gateshead in this event,
with further good supporting runs coming from Tom Fisher
(8th) (Slow Pack), and Joe Elder (23rd) (Fast Pack).
Elder was also ninth fastest on the course.

Morpeth Harriers provided the day with a fourth fastest finisher,
when North Eastern Counties Under 15 Boys Cross Country Champion
Jonnie Nisbet finished in fourth place running from the Fast Pack.
Nisbet was twenty seven seconds clear of his closest rival
Tristan Peel of Jarrow & Hebburn, who finished fifth.
However Jarrow did beat Morpeth in the team race,
as the good supporting runs of Philip Caldwell (11th) (Slow Pack)
and Sam Hancox (14th) (Fast Pack), saw them finish second.

In the Under 13 Girls race, Morpeth Harriers finished as second team to Gateshead.
An excellent run by Alison Brown from the Fast Pack,
saw her finish in fifth place, and as fourth fastest on the course.
Morpeth also had good supporting runs coming from
Josie McCreton (12th) (Fast Pack), and Sarah Wilkes (14th) (Fast Pack).

Morpeths Philip Shuttleworth made a long awaited comeback from injury in the
Under 17 Mens race and will be well satisfied with his second place from the slow pack.

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Northern Inter Counties Schools XC Championships !
Several Morpeth Harriers will have caught a positive eye from the
Northumberland English Schools selectors following their performances
at the Northern Inter Counties Schools Cross Country Championships
held at Meadowfield, near Durham on Saturday 6th February.

Jonnie Nisbet was first home for the county,
when he placed seventh in the Intermediate Boys event.
Philip Winkler (10th) and Connor Weightman (11th),
were the first two home for Northumberland in the Junior Boys event.

In the girls events, Jessica Caldwell was 6th from Northumberland,
when she finished thirteenth at Senior Level.
Hannah Rank, Ailsa McGregor and Rachael Steel
finished 9th, 13th and 14th as fourth, sixth and seventh
counters for Northumberland in the Intermediates.

Alison Brown and Sarah Wilkes
both had positive runs in the Junior Girls event.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League !
At the Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League, at Newcastle's Town Moor
on Saturday 30th January some of our young athletes were in action.

Connor Weightman spearheaded a Morpeth team victory in the Under 15 Boys event,
which he won by a margin of one second over his fellow clubmate Philip Caldwell,
running off level from the Slow Pack, and North Eastern Champion Jonny Nisbet
ran the fastest time of the day, to work his way through to fifth, to close the Morpeth count.
Sam Hancox of Morpeth also did well to finish as seventh fastest overall in 14th place.

Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys squad also enjoyed a team victory,
being led home by Philip Winkler, who clocked the fastest time of the day when finishing fourth.
Good team support came from Andrew Allan (5th) (Slow Pack) and Adam Weightman (7th) (Slow Pack)
Morpeth Harriers other runners in this event, Joe Elder and Martin Hood
also gave creditable performances to come through to 16th and 24th respectively
by running eleventh and fourteenth fastest times in a field of 41 finishers.

Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Girls squad finished in second team place behind Gosforth,
being led home by Josie McCreton, who finished third from the Slow Pack.
Debutant Alys McKee was second counter when placing seventh from the Slow Pack,
and Sarah Wilkes closed the Morpeth count when placing 14th from the Fast Pack.

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2010 Northumberland Schools XC Championships !
Several Morpeth Harriers competed in the Northumberland Schools
Cross Country Championships, which were held on a makeshift course
at Blyth's South Beach on Tuesday 19th January,
after the intended Kirkley Hall course was declared unraceable.

Best performances in the Boys events came from Philip Winkler, (2nd Junior)
Adam Weightman (3rd Minor) and Jonny Nisbet (7th Intermediate)
and in the Senior, Intermediate and Junior Girls events,
there were excellent third places respectively for
Zoe Armstrong, Hannah Rank, and Sarah Wilkes.

There were a good number of other performances of note,
from Alyson Brown (7th) in the Junior Girls,

Ailsa McGregor and Rachael Steel (8th) and (14th) respectively in the Intermediate Girls,

Catriona MacDonald (7th), Louise Cairns (10th) and Jessica Caldwell (11th) in the Senior Girls,

Andrew Allen (14th) in the Minor Boys, and Connor Weightman (8th) in the Junior Boys.

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BUPA Great Winter Run !
Despite the tricky wintry conditions, Cross Country running did go ahead
at Holyrood Park, in Edinburgh on Saturday 9th January
and young Morpeth Harrier Sarah Wilkes certainly made her intrepid
journey North worthwhile when she claimed a superb victory in the
Under 14 Girls 2.6k event, which was part of the BUPA Great Winter Run meeting.

Sarah won her event in 8m51s, which gave her a three second cushion
over her closest rival Chloe Cowan of Glasgow, and she was delighted
to share the podium places amidst the company of International stars
such as Tirunesh Dibaba, and the likes of whom were taking part in the televised Elite events.
This win also added to the previous Great Winter Run victories
that Sarah had experienced in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

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Running In The Dark !
Reflective Vest
Pavements or footpaths should be used if provided.
Where possible, avoid running next to the kerb with your back to the traffic.
If you have to step into the road, look both ways first.
If there is no pavement or footpath, run on the right-hand side of the road
so that you can see oncoming traffic.
You should take extra care and be
prepared to run in single file, especially on narrow roads or in poor light
keep close to the side of the road.
It may be safer to cross the road well before a sharp right-hand bend
(so that oncoming traffic has a better chance of seeing you).
Cross back after the bend.
Help other road users to see you. Wear or carry something light coloured,
bright or fluorescent in poor daylight conditions.
When it is dark, use reflective materials (e.g. armbands, sashes, waistcoats and jackets),
which can be seen, by drivers using headlights, up to three times
as far away as non-reflective materials.
BE SEEN IN THE DARK; WEAR SOMETHING REFLECTIVE !
Reflective Vest

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