North Eastern Counties Track & Field Championships !
Sixteen Championship medals were won by Morpeth Harriers Young athletes
at the North Eastern Counties Track and Field meeting held at Gateshead's
International Stadium over Saturday and Sunday 10th/11th May.
Apart from the medals, five of which were Gold, six were Silver
and five were Bronze, a host of new personal bests were achieved
in what could only be described as perfect conditions,
with both days being blessed with dry, warm sunny weather.
On Saturday Laura Weightman was the first Morpeth athlete to
strike Gold in what could only be described as a fairly
competitive combined Under 20 and Senior Womens 800m.
The 2007 Under 17 Champion shared most of the early pace
with former Morpeth athlete Nisha Desai, now running for Trafford,
and with 200m remaining Weightman decided to take up the gauntlett
only to be chased all the way to the line by her fierce rival Stacey Smith,
formerly Tynedale, now with Gateshead.
Sensing danger from Smith, Weightman injected yet another surge
of power with 40m remaining and crossed the finish line in 2m08.20s,
knocking a whole three seconds off her previous figures for the distance.
By finishing in fourth place behind Desai, Morpeth's Natalie Young picked
up a Bronze medal by virtue of being third Under 20 in 2m23.5s.
Another Morpeth Gold medallist on the Saturday was Hannah Rank,
who easily won her very first Under 15 Girls 3000m in 11m15.1s.
Hannah's training partner and clubmate Rachel Denton opted to
give the Under 15 Girls 800m a miss on the Saturday, however
turned up on the Sunday to put in an outstanding performance
to take Gold in the 1500m in 4m51.99s, and bettering
her previous figures by around three seconds.
Morpeth's Joe Robertshaw more than made up for his narrow
defeat in the Under 13 Boys 100m on the Saturday,
where his clocking of 13.7s was exactly the same as the winner
Matthew Routh of Middlesbrough, by breaking the Championship
record in the heats of the 200m on the Sunday with his time of 27.38s,
and then went on to win Gold in the Final in a slightly faster 27.21s
against the same Middlesbrough athlete, however the sweetness
was slightly taken away by the fact that the Wind Gauge had ruled
his time ineligible for ratification to a better figure.
Nevertheless Joe had worked hard for to retain his hold on the title that
he won in 2007, and more than deserved this particular victory alone.
Morpeth's fifth Gold of the weekend came on the Sunday
where Alan Richmond won the Under 20 Mens Hammer with a best of 34.53m.
This was Richmond's second medal of the weekend having taken Bronze
on the Saturday in the Discus with a little below par best of 29.12m.
Chris Sampson just lost out to New Marske's Dominic Shaw in
a hard fought Senior Mens 5000m, where he clocked 15m09.56s.
Clubmates Dan Samuels and Ross Floyd finished fourth and seventh
in respective times of 15m44.88s and 16m06.69s.
Deborah Oakley picked up a well deserved Silver medal
in the Under 17 Womens 3000m with a finishing time of 11m37.74s.
On Sunday Natalie Young added a Silver medal to the
Bronze medal she'd won on the Saturday when finishing
second in the Under 20 Womens 1500m in 4m51.41s.
Also on Sunday Martyn Cairns secured Silver in the
Under 20 Mens 5000m where he clocked 17m45.08s.
Morpeth's other Silver medals came in the Field events
with Rachel Moody taking second in the Under 17 Womens Javelin
on the Saturday with her best of 17.05m .
On Saturday Alistair Douglass secured a well earned Bronze medal in the
Under 17 Mens 1500m where he clocked a brand new lifetime best of 4m17.08s,
and on the Sunday he very nearly added a second Bronze
in the 3000m where he clocked an excellent 9m31.30s.
Morpeth's Jack Hepple finished third in the Under 15 Boys 400m in 68.45s.
One Morpeth athlete who performed superbly over the
two days was Jonny Nisbet who on Saturday won his heat of
the Under 15 Boys 1500m in a new personal best time of 4m45.74s,
and although he bettered that time again in the final,
just lost out for medals when he finished fifth.
Jonny returned on the Sunday to produce yet another personal best
in the heats of the 800m where his 2m18.69s saw him finish fourth
in his heat, to go through to the final as a fastest loser.
However 2m18.84s in the Final was just not quite good
enough to get him amongst the medals.
Despite clocking excellent new personal bests of 4m19.23s
and 2m04.72s in the Under 17 Mens 1500m and 800m events,
Morpeth's Marcus Cram found himself outside the medals,
however as a first year in this age group there is certainly more to
come from the son of the former World Mile Record Holder.
Other excellent Morpeth performers other than medallists were
Shannon Henley who made it through to the finals of both the 100m
and 200m in the Under 13 Girls age group and finished fourth in the Long Jump,
Daniel Hedley who got through to the Final of the Under 17 Mens 200m,
Andrew Toothill who finished fourth in the Under 20 Mens Discus,
and Liam Brooks who just lost out on countback for
a Bronze medal in the Under 13 Boys High Jump.
The profile of the North Eastern Counties Championships certainly
reached a new high with a good deal of competition in Track events,
however there is still a good deal of work to be done
to ensure popularity within the Field events.
Certainly medal presentatations done in front of a watching
crowd added some spice to the occasion.
Many thanks must go to Gateshead Council
for their efforts in promoting the event.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !
There were some fine performances from our young athletes
at the second Start Fitness North eastern Athletics League held at
Gateshead's International Stadium on Wednesday 28th May.
The event also incorporated a series of BMC 800m events
which saw Rachel Denton produce a new personal best of 2m21.82s
to capture an excellent victory over Middlesbrough & Cleveland Senior athlete Abby Smith.
In the league events, the performances of Marcus Cram,
Alistair Douglass and Joe Robertshaw clearly stand out for merit.
In the 800m A race where he was seeded against more Senior athletes,
Cram achieved a brand new personal best of 2m02.57s.
Clubmate Martyn Cairns can also feel well pleased with a
personal best of 2m08.13s which saw him take the B race.
Alistair Douglass ran a superb 3000m to finish third against
more Senior rivals in a time of 9m25.7s.
Another Morpeth young athlete in the 3000m was
Jordan Scott who finished 10th in 9m39.4s
Joe Robertshaw just missed his personal best when he
triumphed in the Under 13 Boys 200m in 27.29s.
Jonny Nisbet gave good account for himself when he finished second
in the Under 15 Boys 200m in 27.4s and fifth in the 800m in 2m18.50s.
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League ( 1 )
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !
Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman showed that she is now virtually
back to her sparkling best as she knocked a whole three seconds
off her personal best time in the 1500m at the first Start Fitness
North Eastern Athletics League meeting held at a rainswept
Monkton Stadium, Jarrow on Wednesday 30th April.
She certainly took every advantage when running as the only Female
against older Men and Boys, to cross the finish line in an excellent 4m23.4s.
Another good Morpeth performer on the night was Joe Robertshaw,
who won the Under 13 Boys 100m in 13.5s.
Other Young Morpeth Athlete performers on the night were
Katie Plant Under 15 Girls 75m Hurdles (16.0s) and 100m (14.5s)
Daniel Hedley (18.1s) Under 17 Mens 150m and (39.7s) 300m,
Martyn Cairns (4m35.4s) Under 20 Mens 1500m,
Deborah Oakley (5m49.1s) Under 17 Womens 1500m.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
On Camp with Kelly !
Laura Weightman recently spent 10 days in the company
of Great Britain's double Olympic Gold Medallist Kelly Holmes,
courtesy of the Norwich Union funded scheme that Holmes
had masterminded in 2004 in order to help prepare athletes
that had been pinpointed for future stardom as British Champions.
Laura was one of 40 youngsters who had been handpicked
to take part in the educational camp at Loughborough University,
and here she describes her unique experience day by day as it happened for her.
On Camp with Kelly – 1st – 10th April
When I arrived on Monday 31st I didn't know what to expect.
We were told to pack as if we were going abroad on an aeroplane.
So when I arrived, they weighed my suitcase and took it off me.
I was just left with my VERY under prepared hand luggage.
Tuesday 1st April
Today was the first day of ‘On camp with Kelly’ I was really
excited but I was nervous as I didn’t know what to expect.
By this time I still had still not received my luggage.
We were told that they were in ‘Spain’.
We were welcomed to the camp and we meet Kelly.
We also did team building tasks. My team won!!!!!
We did are first training session:-
Grass track session. 10min warm up and cool down jog,
with drills and stretches. (1000m, 500m, 500m) x2.
This was a really hard session, Kelly also did the session with us.
Wednesday 2nd April
I had only just received my bag after it was found in ‘Spain’ !
We had talks on Hydration, Nutrition; these were very interesting talks I learnt a lot.
We also had a talk on the importance of goal setting.
We were up at 7:30am to do a run. I did a 27min run;
It was enjoyable to do it at this time of the morning, with all the girls.
We then all did aqua jogging. This was really enjoyable as I had never done it before.
It’s good when you are injured as it is none weight bearing and you are
able to replicate your track sessions in the pool.
We did:-
5min warm up and cool down
2min, 60s, 30s, 15s
2min, 60s, 30s, 15s, 15s
75s, 60s, 45s, 30s, 15s, 15s
The recovery was the same as the effort, slow jogging.
This session was really hard but I really enjoyed it.
Thursday 3rd April
We went to stay a Welbeck 6th form college. This was a military base.
There were 15 of the old girls that came and 15 new boys.
We began the day by doing team tasks which were really fun;
we had to jog everywhere with heavy and annoying army helmets on!!
Today we did are first session on the track. We did a 10min jog warm up.
Then we did drills but we were getting filmed so that they could
see what we need to improve on. In my case a lot!
We did:-
2 x 6 x 300m with 2min recovery and 1 lap between the sets.
50s- 47s for each of the efforts.
Then at the end we did 6 x 40m.
This session was really fun as I love running 300m reps
and it was nice to have the other girls there pushing you along.
Also it was good to have Kelly running them with you.
Friday 4th April
Today was the day that I was not looking forward to, as we were doing circuits.
We started at 10am. We did a 10 min warm up jog and stretch.
Then we did 1hour 30min of very hard circuits.
We had 5 min breaks, as they changed around the circuits.
This was really hard but I have learnt ways I can do my own circuit without equipment.
We also had talks from the doctor on injury, allergies, asthma and stress fractures.
This was really interesting as I have problems with a lot of what he talked about.
Saturday 5th April
Today we had a race. We could run either 600m, 800m, 1000m or 1500m.
But I decided to do the 1000m just as I had never done one before.
I won in 2:57.85. The day was fun as they told us we were in Poland
at the World Junior Championships.
So they had Polish signs everywhere.
The starter even said ‘on your marks’ in Polish.
There was also a mixed zone at the finish of the race
with loads of reporters waiting to interview you.
Then as you went inside there were UK Sport doping control.
I was asked to do a drug test, I was quite nervous as I had never done one before.
But they just wanted to show you the procedure of what it would be like.
This was a good experience so I now know what to expect in the future.
Sunday 6th April
When I woke up it was white!! There was snow everywhere.
We went out for a 40min run at 7:30am. I loved it in the snow,
this made it harder but it was very much fun.
Today we had a talk on 100% me. This was all about drug testing
and what you can and can’t take at a championship.
Then we met Margot Jennings (Kelly’s Coach).
She was amazing so inspirational. We had a talk with her on mental techniques.
I learnt a lot from her, she gave you so many tips.
Monday 7th April
Today we did a track session with Margot.
The session was really interesting as I had never done anything like it before.
We did:-
1 mile (we had to pick are time and run it –
no faster than 6min – I pick 6:17.5
and you had to take of your watch)
I ran 6:15.5. A lap jog.
Then 3 x 400M with 70 sec recovery. A lap jog.
Then 10 x 80m with 20 sec recovery
Then 2 x 80m, 2 x 60m, 2 x 40m and 6 x 20m.
All with 15sec recovery.
This session was really hard, but I especially loved the short sprints at the end.
We also had a talk on nutrition, what is good to eat before and after a race/training.
Tuesday 8th April
We were up at 8am to do a fartlek session with Kelly.
We did a hard 15min warm up and cool down.
Then 15 minutes of hard fartlek. On a hard hill loop,
increasing speed and decreasing speed on the whistle.
This was hard but you were kept on going by the other girls.
Also today we were very lucky to have an hour physio screening with a top physio.
This was really good to help me strengthen my weaknesses.
I was seen by Alison Rose. It hurt at times though!!
Wednesday 9th April
Today we did aqua jogging again.
This time we did:-
10 min warm up jog and 5 min of water drills; they were very hard to do.
5 x 3 min with 90sec jog recovery.
Then 8 x 1 min with 30 sec jog recovery.
This session was hard but I managed to get used to the technique of aqua jogging.
We then did a 30min run with Kelly.
Kelly also showed us some medicine ball circuits we could do.
Thursday 10th April
Today was the last day. By this day we were all a bit tired.
But we were up at 8am, to do a 30min run with Kelly.
I had an amazing time. I have learnt so much that I have taken away with me.
The training was hard but it was a good kick start to the track season.
Watch Video of On Camp with
Kelly.......
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Gateshead Harriers Track & Field Meeting
!
Sarah Wilkes of Morpeth Harriers began her Track and Field season
with great determination and success when she competed in
Round 1 of 5 Rounds in the Gateshead Harriers Young Athletes
meetings at Gateshead International Stadium on Sunday 20th April.
She cleared 3.40m to win the Under 12's Long Jump,
she won her heat in the 60m in 9.8s
and finished third in the final in 9.6s.
Sarah went on to finish 4th in the 600m in 2m17s,
and 4th in the Javelin with 6.5m.
All of these efforts gave her a total of 14 Grand Prix points
placing her second overall after one round.
Gateshead Harriers also held their Medal Track Meeting
alongside the Young Athletes meeting,
and two of Morpeths Young athletes produced prominent performances.
Daniel Hedley finished fifth in the Under 17 Mens 100m
in 12.5s and fourth in the 200m in 25.1s.
Rachel Denton had an excellent run of 2m26.18s
to finish second in the Under 15 Girls 800m.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
London Mini-Marathon !
In the London Mini Marathon on Sunday 13th April,
Morpeths Laura Weightman finished fourth in the
15 to 17 year old girls category in the Non London Borough event.
In addition to Laura Weightman, eight other Morpeth Harriers
took part in the series of Mini Marathons that accompanied
the 28th running of the Flora London Marathon.
Natalie Young and Claire Pitt finished 54th and 67th
respectively in the 15 to 17 year old Girls event
that saw Laura finish fourth, although Laura finished up fifth
in the result sheet purely down to the chip recording system.
In the Boys 15 to 17 year age group, Jordan Scott and
Alistair Douglass finished 62nd and 73rd respectively.
Rachel Denton and Hannah Rank finished 14th and 34th
in a quality filled 13 to 14 year old Girls event.
In the 11 to 12 year old Girls event Adele Stewart finished in 63rd place.
Reece Ramsay finished 67th in the 11 to 12 year old Boys event.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Cyril Elliott Memorial Open Track & Field Meeting
!
Morpeth Harrier Jordan Scott produced an excellent performance to finish
second in the 3000m at the Cyril Elliott Memorial Open Track & Field Meeting
at Claireville Stadium, Middlesbrough on Saturday 29th March.
Jordan clocked 9m46.2s putting him 26 seconds adrift
of race winner Andrew Wills of Gateshead Harriers.
Other Morpeth Young athletes to feature at the meeting
were Daniel Hedley and Greg Swinburn.
Hedley finished fourth in the Under 17 Mens 100m in 12.9s,
and fifth in the 200m in 26.0s.
Swinburn finished seventh in the Under 20 Mens 400m in 57.0s,
and second in the 200m in 24.1s.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Indoor Standards Meeting !
At the final Indoor Standards Meeting held at Gateshead Stadium recently,
Morpeth's Joe Robertshaw triumphed in the Under 13 Boys 60m in 8.63s.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Elswick Harriers Good Friday Road Races !
At the annual Elswick Harriers Good Friday Road Races,
held at a cold and blustery Newburn Business Park,
Morpeths Young athletes had some noteable performances and victorys.
Morpeth's Under 13 Boys squad won their event,
and had the pleasure of seeing North East Cross Country Champion
Adam Harrington claim individual victory in 9m46s,
with Jonnie Nisbet finishing in second place in 9m50s.
The winning team score was closed with Jack Hepple
coming home in eleventh place in 10m45s.
Other Morpeth finishers in the Under 13 Boys event were
Jonny Anderson (17th) 11m06s, Liam Brooks (19th) 11m09s,
Ben Steel (33rd) 12m13s and Matthew Denton (38th) 13m10s.
Rachel Denton scored a superb individual victory in the Under 15 Girls event.
She won with seven seconds to spare over Gosforth's Rosie King with her time of 10m16s.
Morpeth unfortunately just missed out on team success to Gosforth despite
an excellent third place by Hannah Rank in a time of 10m34s.
Rachael Steel closed Morpeth's scoring three with
an excellent run to finish seventh in 11m26s.
It was on a countback situation that Gosforth won,
with both clubs being all square on points.
Other Morpeth finishers in the Under 15 Girls event were
Ailsa McGregor (11th) 12m05s and Catriona MacDonald (19th) 13m15s.
Another individual victory on the day came in the
Under 15 Boys event where Marcus Cram won with twenty
two seconds to spare over his closest rival Jake Archer of Sunderland Harriers.
It was at the point where the runners had the wind to their backs that Marcus
took off in search of victory, and he crossed the finish line in 11m54s.
Unfortunately Morpeth could not field a scoring three here,
as Philip Shuttleworth produced an excellent run to finish eighth in 12m55s.
Sarah Wilkes led Morpeth's Under 13 Girls home to fifth team
place when she finished 14th of 28 in 12m20s.
Further team support came from Carley Mae Webster (16th) 12m36s
and Francesca Price, in her first competitive outing, (18th) 12m53s.
Another Morpeth runner in this event was Rachael Todd who finished 24th in 13m38s.
Alistair Douglass was Morpeth's lone Under 17 Mens runner,
and he ran excellently to finish 8th in 12m18s.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Inter Counties Cross Country Championships !
At the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships held at
Wollaton Park, Nottingham on Saturday 15th March,
Morpeths young athletes in the North East team performed well.
Marcus Cram of Morpeth gave an excellent performance in the
Under 15 Boys event to finish as second counter for
the North East in nineteenth place of 281 finishers.
Click Here For Photos From Under 15 Boys Race.......
Morpeth's Marc Cochrane repaid the faith of the selectors
to finish as fourth counter in 91st place for a North East
Junior Mens squad that finished in tenth team place.
Click Here For Photos From Junior Mens Race.......
Another North East squad that finished tenth were the Under 13 Boys,
and three Morpeth Harriers played their parts excellently.
Superb runs by Jonny Nisbet and North East Champion
Adam Harrington saw them finish in 35th and 37th places
respectively and only a second apart in the final run in
that saw them as first and second counters.
Lewis Coyle produced an excellent performance to come
home as fourth counter in 80th place out of 298 finishers.
Eighth and final finisher for the North East
was Jack Hepple who placed 181st.
Click Here For Photos From Under 13 Boys Race.......
Morpeths Rachel Denton led the North East's Under 15 Girls squad
home to 13th team place when finishing 58th in a field of 274 finishers.
Clubmate and training partner Hannah Rank was
a non scorer as fifth from the region in 95th place.
Click Here For Photos From Under 15 Girls Race.......
The North East's Under 17 Womens squad who were hit by the loss of
former Inter Counties Champion Laura Weightman,
finished in sixteenth team place.
Natalie Young of Morpeth produced a superb performance to come
home as second counter in 70th place out of 240 finishers.
Click Here For Photos From Under 17 Womens Race.......
Although a non scorer, Morpeth's Jordan Scott answered his late
call up to the North East's Under 17 Mens squad by finishing 145th of 258 finishers.
Click Here For Photos From Under 17 Mens Race.......
Morpeth's Laura Dixon finished 111th in the Junior Womens event.
Click Here For Photos From Junior Womens Race.......
Its thought that the North East Counties may have won
the overall trophy by completing as a prominent team
in all of the ten events to count in the competition.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
2008Scottish Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships !
Competing in the Boys 15 to 17 year age group, Morpeth Harrier Marcus Cram
led his Fettes College of Edinburgh team - mates to fourth team place in the
Scottish Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships held in Irvine on Saturday 8th March.
Marcus finished eighth and was thirteen seconds adrift of a Bronze medal.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
2008 English Schools Cross Country Championships !
Eleven Morpeth Harriers competed for Northumberland at the
English Schools Cross Country Championships held at
Sefton Park, Liverpool on Saturday 8th March.
On a day when the county certainly underperformed,
there was brightness in the individual performance of Rachel Denton,
and the best team performance being achieved by
the Intermediate Boys who finished eleventh.
In Denton's case she ran very competitively to come home in 24th place
and led Northumberland's Junior Girls home to 22nd team place.
Other Morpeth Harriers amongst the counters in this age group
were Hannah Rank (135th) and Rachael Steel (225th),
who were third and sixth for the county.
The Intermediate Boys were helped in their eleventh placed effort by
Morpeth's Alistair Douglass, who in finishing 139th was fifth counter.
Although Laura Weightman's form is still a worrying factor,
she managed to lead Northumberland's Senior Girls home to
20th team place with her individual placing of 22nd.
A lack of regular racing this winter did not daunt Natalie Young
when she came home as third counter in 101st place.
Northumberland's Intermediate Girls finished in 22nd team place
and were helped by Morpeth's Claire Pitt (187th) (4th counter)
and Zoe Armstrong (218th) (6th counter)
Although not a counter Deborah Oakley
competed well to finish in 236th place.
Northumberland's Junior Boys finished in 25th team place with
Morpeth's Jonny Nisbet being their fifth counter in 161st place.
Jordan Scott of Morpeth was second counter for
the Senior Boys who finished in 30th team place.
His individual placing was 145th.
Recent rain had made the Sefton Park course a little tricky in places,
with tightness of space also being experienced in several cases by athletes.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
2008 English National XC Championships !
In terms of individual performance, Adam Harrington's placing of seventh in the Under 13 Boys
event at the Saucony sponsored English National Cross Country Championships,
held at Alton Towers in Staffordshire on Saturday 23rd February,
was the most outstanding from any Morpeth Harrier on the day.
The North East Champion went off strongly from the gun,
and held himself prominently throughout, and was only a
mere eight seconds adrift of a Silver medal at the finish line.
Northern Champion Fergus Roberts of Richmond and Zetland
had stolen well away to claim another Gold Medal victory.
Morpeth Harriers finished eighth in the team competition in this event
with Harrington's excellent run being well supported by Jonny Nisbet (26th)
Jack Hepple (84th) and Reece Ramsey (157th).
Sixth team place against some strong opposition was a
good result for Morpeth's Under 17 Women.
Despite another slightly jaded performance by her own standards,
Laura Weightman led the Morpeth quartet home by finishing in seventeenth place.
Second counter home was Natalie Young, who like brother Jonathan,
was making a competitive comeback after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Natalie finished in 60th place.
Third counter was Zoe Armstrong, who had begun strongly,
but slipped a little in the later stages to eventually finish 92nd.
The scoring count was completed by Deborah Oakley who finished 103rd.
Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Girls finished as 16th team.
They were led home by Rachel Denton who finished in 25th place.
Hannah Rank was second counter in 79th place.
The Morpeth team counts here were completed by
Ailsa McGregor (183rd) and Catriona MacDonald (258th).
A bit of in house competing between Karl Taylor and Jordan Scott
led Morpeth's Under 17 Mens squad home to 21st team place.
After Scott had gone slightly ahead of Taylor at the end of the first lap,
Taylor chased him home and caught him just ahead of the finish line
to finish in 83rd place, with Scott finishing in 85th spot.
The scoring counts were completed by Alistair Douglass (96th)
and Daniel Hedley who finished 290th.
On a note of credibility, Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Girls squad
performed excellently to finish as 35th team.
Bearing in mind all of this squad are in the first year of their age group,
and will all be eligible to compete at the same level again next year,
their performance holds a great deal of promise for the future.
They were led home by the "mighty atom" tactics of tiny Sarah Wilkes,
who battled the tough natured course to finish in 229th place.
Excellent further support came from Adele Stewart (240th)
Stephanie Purvis (289th) and Eve Shashova (310th).
Back to individual performance, and Marcus Cram produced
a sound run to finish 28th in the Under 15 Boys event.
Unfortunately Morpeth could not close as a team in this event,
and other club finishers were Tom Brookes (292nd)
and an injured Philip Shuttleworth (330th).
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
English Schools XC Championships Selection
!
The following Young Athletes from Morpeth Harriers have been
selected by Northumberland to represent the county at the
English Schools Cross Country Championships, which are
being held at Sefton Park, Liverpool on Saturday 8th March
Junior Boys
Jonny Nisbet.
Intermediate Boys
Alistair Douglass
Senior Boys
Jordan Scott
Martyn Cairns
Junior Girls
Rachel Denton
Hannah Rank
Rachael Steel
Intermediate Girls
Zoe Armstrong
Claire Pitt
Deborah Oakley
Senior Girls
Laura Weightman
Natalie Young
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
2007/2008 Winter Cross Country Series !
Three young Morpeth Harriers have been achieving success in the
2007/2008 Winter Cross Country Series run in the Scottish Borders.
Over a series of six events that took place in Norham, Dunbar,
Galashiels, Peebles, Spittal and Lauder.
Sarah Wilkes, Steph Purvis and Eve Shashova( Pictured above )
overcame the challenge of 34 other competitors
in total in the Under12 Girls age group to
finish first, second and third respectively in the series.
The events took place between November 2007 and February 2008.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Laura Weightman On Camp with Kelly !
Morpeths Laura Weightman has been chosen to join
double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes’ exclusive
monitoring initiative for young female middle distance runners.
Laura will join the Norwich Union-supported On Camp with Kelly,
after impressing Dame Kelly at a strenuous selection day
at the UK Athletics High Performance Centre in Birmingham.
She was one of 13 athletes aged between 15 and 19 who
were selected after coming through various tasks, including
determination tests, team challenges and a session on goal setting.
Laura was also assessed on her attitude, determination and
willpower by Dame Kelly with the assistance of On Camp
with Kelly staff and representatives from UK Athletics.
Though the competition for places was gruelling,
it is no surprise to see Laura make it through.
Her athletic performances over the past 12 months stand out,
with her being the current English Schools’ intermediate 1,500m champion.
Laura, coached by Morpeth Harriers Club Secretary Mike Bateman,
with a great deal of input coming also from the
Club's Head of Coaching Tony Ward,
also won the 1,500m at the UK School Games.
To show she is equally at home racing on the country,
Laura recently landed the Northumberland Schools’ title.
16-year-old, Laura will now attend a Norwich Union-funded
On Camp with Kelly Educational Camp at
Loughborough University for 10 days from April 1-10 where she
will learn all about what it takes to become a world- class athlete.
After successfully completing the camp, she will become a full member
of the OCWK and will be able to benefit from regular get-togethers,
exhibition races, financial and medical support
and mentoring from Dame Kelly herself.
The Olympic 800m and 1,500m champion,
who started the OCWK ball rolling in 2004,
said: “I was very impressed by the performances of Laura
at the Selection Day and am delighted to welcome her to On Camp with Kelly.
“There is no doubt Laura is a very talented young athlete
and I hope that being involved with OCWK will help ther to
develop her athletics career and to achieve her full potential.”
Tanya Veingard, Head of Sponsorship at Norwich Union,
added: “As the team behind UK Athletics we are proud to
be able to offer support for all levels of athletics,
from grassroots through to elite.
“Our support for On Camp with Kelly helps to nurture and develop
talented girls into world-class athletes that Britain can be proud of
and we are delighted to be making it easier for Laura to achieve her dreams.”
Morpeth Harriers sincerely wish Laura all the best on this
latest venture, for which she has worked hard and long to achieve.
Adapted from an article that appeared in the
Newcastle Evening Chronicle on 14/02/08,
and written by Bill McGurk
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
UK Inter Counties XC Championships Selection !
The following Young Morpeth Harriers have been selected by the North Eastern Counties
to compete for the region at the UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships,
which incorporates the World Cross Country Trials, and the final of the UK Cross Challenge,
to be held at Wollaton Park, Nottingham on Saturday 15th March 2008.
Under 17 Men
Karl Taylor
Under 15 Boys
Marcus Cram
Under 13 Boys
Adam Harrington and Jonny Nisbet
Under 17 Women
Laura Weightman and Zoe Armstrong
Under 15 Girls
Rachel Denton and Hannah Rank.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Castle Morpeth Sports Council Awards !
At what could be the very last ever Castle Morpeth Sports Council Awards
ceremony. held at the Riverside Leisure Centre, on Friday 25th January.
Morpeth Harriers were honoured in two categories.
Laura Weightman was presented with the Hilder Rose Bowl
for Junior Female for both her tremendous achievements in 2007
on the Track and on the Cross Country circuit.
She had comfortably won the Northumberland Schools
Senior Girls Cross Country title, and then had recovered from
a nasty spike injury sustained in the North of England Cross
Country Championships to finish fifth in both the English Schools
and Home Countries Championships, added to that she had a superb
Track season at her favourite distance 1500m, by winning the North Eastern,
North of England, Northumberland Schools, English Schools
and International Schools titles before capping her season in great style
by retaining the UK Schools games title, the only female athlete to achieve such a feat.
The clubs Under 13 Boys Cross Country squad received certificates
of achievement for their overwhelming victory in the North Eastern Championships,
where they also had the Gold and Silver Medallists in Adam Harrington and Jonny Nisbet,
they came sixth and only fifteen seconds adrift
of medals at the English Cross Country Relay Championships,
and are currently four points clear in the title race at the North Eastern Harrier League,
added to which, the aforementioned Adam Harrington
is the leading individual performer with two meetings remaining.
Click Here to See Video of Awards Night Presentation.......
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Northern Inter Counties Schools XC Championships
!
Although Northumberland could only manage one outright team victory
at the Northern Inter Counties Schools Cross Country Championships
held at Acklam Grange School in Cleveland,
on Saturday 2nd February there were a number of good individual
performances from athletes connected with Morpeth Harriers.
This was the last stage of competition that would give selectors
their chance to view who were going to make it on the team bus
for the English Schools Championships,
due to be held at Sefton Park in Liverpool in March.
Pride of place in those performances must go to Dame Allan's pupil
Rachel Denton who claimed an outstanding victory in the Junior Girls
event by showing a clean pair of heels to her nearest rival
by a margin of nineteen seconds.
The result in this event, where Northumberland finished as third team,
reflected well on Morpeth Harriers, as Denton was obviously leading counter,
her clubmates Hannah Rank (7th) and Rachael Steel (17th)
finished as second and third counters.
Other Morpeth Harriers competing in this event were
Ailsa McGregor (31st) (8th counter)
and Steph Courty (39th) (11th counter)
Denton, Rank and Steel, should all be on the
Northumberland team bus for Liverpool.
Another Morpeth Harrier who secured his spot for Liverpool was Jordan Scott,
who can feel well pleased with his effort to finish fourth in the Senior Boys event,
and led Northumberland home to third team place.
His club colleague Martyn Cairns came home in 23rd place as sixth counter.
Running against older boys in the Junior event, did not prevent
North Eastern Counties Under 13 Boys Cross Country Champion
Adam Harrington turning on the finest of performances
to finish in twelfth place as second counter for a
Northumberland squad that narrowly missed out on victory
to North Yorkshire by the margin of two points.
Sixth counter for the county was Harrington's club colleague
Jonny Nisbet who competed well to finish in 18th place.
Eighth counter was Jack Hepple of Morpeth who was 26th overall.
Another excellent Morpeth performer was Alistair Douglass
who came home as third counter in seventh place for a
Northumberland squad that finished second to Durham.
The Preliminary Boys event saw Morpeth Harriers Reece Ramsay
and Ryan Dodds finish ninth and thirty sixth respectively.
Northumberland's only team victory came in the Senior Girls
where Morpeth's Natalie Young finished as fourth counter in ninth place.
Eighth counter and a non scorer was her club colleague
Laura Dixon who finished 18th overall.
The Intermediate Girls event saw Morpeth's Zoe Armstrong finish as
fourth counter for Northumberland in twelfth place overall.
There was a strong presense of Morpeth athletes in this event
with Armstrong being accompanied by Claire Pitt (18th) (7th counter)
Deborah Oakley (20th) (9th counter), Stevie Goodfellow (39th) (11th counter)
and Louise Cairns (40th) (12th counter)
Northumberland finished as second team to Durham in this event.
Adele Stewart and Eve Shashoua of Morpeth Harriers were
fourth and fifth home respectively for a third placed
Northumberland Preliminary Girls squad when finishing in
seventeenth and nineteenth place overall.
Final team selections for the English Schools Championships
will be made known on the 17th February.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
2008 North of England Cross Country Championships
!
Despite the heavy overnight winds, conditions were near perfect
for the athletes who took part in the North of England Cross Country
Championships, held at Roundhay Park, Leeds on Saturday 26th January.
Morpeth's North East Under 13 Boys Cross Country Champion
Adam Harrington certainly showed his full potential
when he finished third to take a Bronze medal in his 3k event.
With around 800m remaining Harrington had slipped back to fifth,
however he summoned all of his reserve on the final
steep uphill to regain a medal placing,
and only just ran out of ground to take Silver.
Harrington's individual effort very nearly spurred team Bronze for Morpeth,
as they were just sixteen points adrift of third placed Warrington.
Excellent efforts by Jack Hepple (30th), Lewis Coyle (44th)
and Reece Ramsay (62nd) were the supporting counts.
Other Morpeth efforts worthy of praise in this event were
from Jonny Anderson (79th), Ben Steel (149th) and Joe Elder (159th)
Unfortunately Morpeth's Laura Weightman experienced breathing
problems in the Under 17 Womens 4.5k event, and
was disappointed to come home in seventh place.
Morpeth finished as sixth team here with good supporting runs
coming from Zoe Armstrong (39th), Deborah Oakley (60th)
and Stevie Goodfellow (82nd)
Another Morpeth athlete to suffer breathing problems was
Marcus Cram, who was forced to slow down after being in
the top ten in the early stages of the Under 15 Boys 4k event.
He eventually slipped back to 52nd place.
Morpeth's only other runner in this event was
Philip Shuttleworth who finished 95th.
Despite having been ill in the few days leading up to the event,
Morpeth's Rachel Denton still managed to work her way
through to finish 13th in the Under 15 Girls 4k event.
Morpeth finished as eighth team with further excellent team support
coming from Hannah Rank (22nd), Rachel Steel (63rd)
and Catriona MacDonald (128th)
Louise Cairns finished two places behind Catriona.
A freak head injury sustained in an accident just prior to the event,
forced Morpeth's Karl Taylor to withdraw during the Under 17 Mens 6k.
This left the club without the scoring four which was unfortunate
because Jordan Scott and Alistair Douglass finished in
42nd and 61st places respectively,
and Daniel Hedley came home in 161st place.
Morpeth could not turn out a full team in the Under 13 Girls 3k event.
Steph Courty was first home for the club in 95th place,
and Carley May Webster and Sarah Wilkes
finished in 133rd and 137th places respectively.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
2008 Northumberland County Schools XC Championships !
Having being out of action since November, Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman
bounced back into winning form at the Northumberland Schools Cross
Country Championships held at Kirkley Hall on Wednesday 16th January.
She won the Senior Girls event with thirty eight seconds
to spare over her nearest rival.
Fellow Harriers Natalie Young and Laura Dixon also ran well
to finish in third and seventh places respectively.
Another Morpeth Harrier winner was Adam Harrington.
The North Eastern Under 13 Boys Champion won the
Junior Boys event by a margin of six seconds.
Fellow Harriers Jack Hepple, Jonny Nisbet and Lewis Coyle
finished in seventh, eleventh and fourteenth places respectively.
Rachel Denton made it a hat-trick of Morpeth winners when she
won the Junior Girls event, with her clubmate Hannah Rank
coming home in second place.
Other Morpeth Harriers in this event were Ailsa McGregor (9th)
Steph Courty (13th) and Rachael Steel (14th)
Stephanie Purvis finished second in the Minor Girls event,
and fellow Morpeth Harrier Eve Shashoua finished seventh.
In the Intermediate Girls event Deborah Oakley, Claire Pitt
and Zoe Armstrong finished fourth fifth and sixth,
and Jessica Caldwell came home in fifteenth place.
Robert Balmbra finished fifth in the Senior Boys event,
and fellow Morpeth Harrier Martyn Cairns came home in eleventh spot.
Reece Ramsay and Joe Elder finished
second and twelfth in the Minor Boys event.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
2008 Great Edinburgh XC Meeting !
Marcus Cram of Morpeth Harriers produced an excellent run to finish
second in the Under 15 Boys event at the
Great Edinburgh Cross Country meeting on Saturday 12th January.
Cram only missed out for victory by two seconds at the finish line.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
NECAA 2008 Indoor Track & Field Champs !
Morpeth Harrier Joe Robertshaw showed the opposition a clean pair of heels
when he retained his Under 13 Boys North Eastern Indoor 60m title
at the Championships held at Gateshead International Stadium
on Saturday and Sunday 12th and 13th January.
He clocked an excellent 8.70s which bettered his 2007 figure of 8.97s.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Tesco Junior Great Winter Run !
Morpeth Young Athletes Sarah Wilkes and Stephanie Purvis
made very fruitfull journeys to Holyrood Park in Edinburgh
on Saturday 12th January when they finished first and third
respectively in the Under 14 Girls Tesco Junior Great Winter Run.
It was particularly successful for Sarah as she was defending the title
that she had won 12 months previous at the same venue,
and she now holds five Junior Great Run titles.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
East Northumberland Schools XC Champs !
Several of our young athletes were prominent amongst the leading finishers
at the East Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships
held at Queen Elizabeth Park, Ashington on Wednesday 9th January.
Zoe Armstrong won the Intermediate Girls event with Deborah Oakley
finishing second, Claire Pitt third and Louise Cairns fourth.
Hannah Rank won the Junior Girls event and Rachel Steel finished third.
Adam Harrington won the Junior Boys event with Jack Hepple
and Jonny Nisbet claiming the minor placings.
Philip Shuttleworth, coming back from illness and a leg injury,
finished sixth in the Intermediate Boys event.
The conditions were extremely difficult
with strong winds prevailing throughout.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Scottish East District XC Country Championships !
Morpeth Harrier Marcus Cram finished an excellent second
in the Under 15 Boys event at the Scottish East District Cross
Country Championships held at Stirling University on Saturday 8th December.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races !
Morpeths Young Athletes had three individual and one team victory
at the annual Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races which
were held within the Newcastle Exhibition Park
and Town Moor pathways on Sunday 11th November.
Zoe Armstrong wrote herself into the history books as recording
a hat-trick of wins at Heaton, having won both of her years in the
Under 15 age group she triumphed in the Under 17/ Under 20 Womens 5k
event by the handsome margin of 2min14secs
over Gateshead's Under 20 athlete Lindsey Dodsworth.
Zoe's finishing time was 20m22s which would have placed
her seventh in the accompanying Under 17/Under 20 Mens event.
Morpeth Harriers as the only club to finish with three qualifying athletes
in the Under 17/Under 20 Womens event won the team race with
support coming from Stevie Goodfellow (4th) 23m36s and Sarah Bewick (6th) 28m13s.
Hannah Rank won the Under 15 Girls 5k event by the margin
of five seconds with her finishing time of 11m40s.
With a time of 4m02s giving her a five second cushion,
Morpeth's Sarah Wilkes won the Under 11 Girls 1k event.
Joe Elder and Ben Steel ran well in the Under 11 Boys event
finishing third and fourth in times of 3m59s and 4m00s respectively.
In the Under 13 Boys 3k event Morpeth's Joe Robertshaw finished seventh in 13m10s.
Stephanie Purvis and Katie Tiffin of Morpeth finished ninth
and tenth respectively in 13m52s and 14m35s in the Under 13 Girls 3K event.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
UK Challenge XC Series !
Some of our Young Athletes produced excellent performances
at the prestigious International Cross Country meeting held
at Gateshead's Riverside Bowl on Saturday 10th November.
The meeting which formed the first of the four in the
UK Challenge XC Series attracted some top class athletes
who all expressed delight at the Gateshead Council organisation,
and it was only the weather at times that failed to behave itself.
The Under 17 Womens 4.5k event provided the perfect platform
for Morpeth's Laura Weightman to shine amongst some of her feared
opponents, and she did so with distinction.
Finishing second and only nine seconds adrift of Lincoln Wellington's
Blue Haywood was indeed a fine achievement, and clearly portrays
that the Duchess High School pupil has every opportunity to pick off
some valuable titles during this forthcoming Road and Cross Country season.
One young Morpeth Harrier who is certainly firing on all
cylinders at the moment is Adam Harrington.
After an excellent run at Mansfield the previous week that saw him
come home in sixth place on first leg, and as eleventh fastest overall on the day,
Harrington can feel absolutely delighted with his sixth place in the
Under 13 Boys 3k event and only forty one seconds adrift of the winner.
He was also only two seconds adrift of his Gateshead Harriers rival Barry Maskell.
Maskell had denied Harrington of a Silver medal in the 800m
at the North Eastern Track and Field Championships at Gateshead in May.
Equally pleasing in the Under 13 Boys event were the performances
of Harrington's Morpeth clubmates Jonny Nisbet and Lewis Coyle.
Nisbet placed 12th with Coyle not far adrift in 17th place.
Morpeth's Sarah Wilkes finished 27th in the Under 13 Girls 3k event.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
2007 Saucony National Cross Country Relays !
Although Morpeth Harriers had no medals to show from their exploits
at the Saucony sponsored English National Cross Country Relay
Championships held at Berry Hill Park, Mansfield on Saturday 3rd November,
they can feel justly proud of the efforts put in by some of their younger athletes.
The clubs best performers were undoubtedly their Under 13 Boys,
who were very much spurred by the first leg efforts of Adam Harrington,
who clocked the days eleventh fastest time of 7m02.60s
over the 2k course to place them in a superb sixth place.
Second leg runner Jonny Nisbet certainly had them very much
in a medal challenging position when he rose up to fourth with
an excellent top twenty clocking of 7m07.20s.
This saw Morpeth only three seconds adrift of second and
third placed clubs Shaftesbury and Chiltern Harriers,
and seven seconds adrift of long term leaders Coventry Godiva.
A lot rested with the legs of final and third leg runner Jack Hepple,
who had unfortunately felt ill just before the competition.
Despite giving his all, Hepple unfortunately found some faster legs
around him as the lead changed with pre-race favourites
Aldershot and Farnham going to the front for glory courtesy
of an athlete who clocked the days third fastest time.
Shaftesbury stayed in second and East Cheshire
Harriers & Tameside came through from eighth to third.
Jack battled gamely with the athletes of Chiltern and Coventry,
however had to settle for sixth with his clocking of 7m24.30s.
This squad certainly hold a lot of promise for the foreseeable future,
with another couple of good athletes sitting in the wings also awaiting their chance.
Morpeth's Under 17 Men finished in twentieth place.
Jordan Scott continues to make great strides in this age group,
as his clocking of 9m51s on first leg for 3k where he finished 34th clearly testifies.
Alistair Douglass gained two places on second leg with his clocking of 10m04.80s.
Karl Taylor on the final leg clocked 9m43.40s
to take them to their final placing of twentieth.
Morpeth's Under 15 Boys squad finished 44th
out of 75 finishing teams in their 3x2k event.
Steven Harrogate on first leg clocked 8m15.10s,
however Marcus Cram's 6m28.20s, which was just outside
the top ten best saw them rise to 64th.
Final leg runner Philip Shuttleworth battled relentlessly and gained
another twenty places with his excellent 6m55.80s.
Best Morpeth female performers were the Under 17 Women
who completed their 3x2.5k event in a total time
of 28m40.35s to finish thirteenth overall.
With 10m22s on leg one Stevie Goodfellow came home in 48th place,
however her battling had left leading light Laura Weightman
with plenty of runners within catching distance.
Weightman soon started to overturn opposition and by the time
she had reached the changeover line in 8m50.30s,
which was just outside the top ten best, she had got her club up to 14th place.
Final leg runner Zoe Armstrong battled hard and managed to
claw back another place as she got round in 9m28.05s.
Morpeth's Under 15 Girls squad battled well to finish in
seventeenth place overall in their 3x2k event.
Rachel Steel's first leg clocking of 8m15.35s saw them in 62nd place.
However the experience of firstly Hannah Rank (7m42.40s) (41st)
and Rachel Denton (7m10.30s) saw them through to a very respectable finish.
Denton's clocking was just outside the top ten of the day.
Morpeth's young Under 13 Girls squad battled well to finish 44th.
Carley May Webster's 8m18.45s saw her finish in 43rd place
and Sarah Wilkes (8m42.90s) and Steph Purvis (8m53.10)
only saw them drop one place throughout.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championships Under 17 Men/Women
!
The final events in the series of Young Athletes Road Championships
organised by Morpeth Harriers took place on
Lancaster Park on Monday night ( 29th October ).
On this occasion it was the turn of the Under 17 age group,
and Zoe Armstrong powered her way round the 1.30 mile cicuit
to eventually come home as winner of the Womens event.
Her winning time of 8m17s was superb and put her over a minute
clear of her nearest rival Stevie Goodfellow who clocked
9m20s, however it was a good run for Stevie who has battled injury in recent times.
Third place went to Deborah Oakley who clocked 9m38s.
The two lap Under 17 Mens Race was won by Craig Rowley in 18m19s.
Craig went through halfway in 9m00s.
Second and third places went to Daniel Hedley and Stephen Bewick
who clocked identical times of 20m33s.
Other finishers were
GIRLS RACE
Lindsay MacDonald (4th) 9m58s
Martha Bostock (5th) 10m15s
Sarah Bewick (6th) 10m32s
Eve Farrelly (7th) 11m11s.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
ERRA Young Athletes Road Relays !
An excellent run by Marcus Cram saw him finish fourth on the
first leg of the Under 15 Boys event at the Young Athletes Road Relays
held at Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield on Sunday 21st October.
Cram's 12m34s also proved to be the sixth fastest on the day,
but unfortunately he had no one to share his efforts as
Morpeth Harriers failed to field a full squad to support him.
That wasn't the same however for clubmate Rachel Denton who
clocked the thirteenth fastest time of of 14m12s to come home in
a final 17th place after Rachel Steel's 16m28s and
Hannah Rank's 15m15s to secure a team finish for the clubs Under 15 Girls.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championships Under 11 Boys/Girls !
With a clocking of 9m38s, Sarah Wilkes was a clear winner
of Morpeth Harriers Under 11 Girls Road Championship held
on Lancaster Park on Monday night.( 15th October )
Not only was Wilkes a clear winner of the Girls event,
she was also a good way faster than any of the Under 11 Boys
on the road in their Championship, which was won by Ben Steel in 10m20s.
The closest Girl finisher to Wilkes was Annabelle Young
who clocked 11m06s for to take the Silver Medal, and Ella
Brookes clocked the same time for Bronze in a very close finish.
Second place in the Boys race went to Joseph Elder (10m26s)
with Matthew Denton claiming third place in 11m05s.
Other finishers in the events were as follows
Girls
Rhianna Fenwick (4th) 11m42s, Celine Bradley (5th) 13m03s
Catherine Simpson (6th) 13m32s, Fiona Matthewson (7th) 13m41s
Lauren Havery (8th) 14m10s, Cally Pringle (9th) 14m13s
and Jasmine Gibson (10th) 14m16s.
Boys
Joe Beeby (4th) 12m51s
and James Piet (5th) 18m06s.
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championships Under 13 Boys/Girls Report
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championships Under 15 Boys/Girls Report
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Nicol Hunter Cross Country Relays !
Rachel Denton was by far the fastest performer in the
Under 15 Girls event at the Nichol Hunter Cross Country Relays
held at Shibdon Pond, Blaydon on Sunday 14th October.
Rachel anchored her club home
to second place with her clocking 7m35s.
The earlier legs of Rachel Steel (8m59s)
and Hannah Rank (7m59s) (4th Fastest)
had seen them rise from eighth to third.
Morpeth's young Under 13 Girls squad finished fifth courtesy
of good performances by Carly May Webster (8m49s) (12th Fastest)
Sarah Wilkes (9m34s) and Eva Shashova (10m08s)
Elske Simpso ran for the incomplete B team clocking 10m26s.
With 7m59s, Tom Brookes was Morpeth's fastest performer
in the Under 15 Boys event in a squad who finished seventh
with further good legs coming from Matthew Timmins (8m11s)
and Steven Harrogate (8m43s)
In the Under 13 Boys event Morpeth had an incomplete team,
however Joe Robertshaw (8m27s) and Ben Steel (9m57s)
can feel pleased with their performances.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
North of England Young Athletes Road Relays !
Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Women and Under 17 Men
were the pick of the clubs team performances at the
North of England Young Athletes Road Relays held at
Croxteth Park, Liverpool on Sunday 7th October.
After Stevie Goodfellow had the Under 17 Women set in a very
handy position of eighteenth on Leg one with her clocking of 14m32s,
Junior Great North Run Champion Laura Weightman's clocking of 12m30s,
which proved to be the second fastest of the day overall,
only bettered by Lincoln Wellington's Blue Haywood's 12m03 on the final leg
which gave them victory, was strong enough to lift
them a mammoth ten places to eighth on Leg Two.
Zoe Armstrong's excellent final leg of 13m20s, 7th fastest,
got them up to a final placing of fifth.
A similar pattern was followed by Morpeth's Under 17 Men where
Jordan Scott on Leg One had them sitting in 18th place with his clocking of 12m07s.
Alistair Douglass ran an excellent seventh fastest time of
11m48s on Leg Two to take them up to eleventh.
Final leg runner Karl Taylor ran an equally excellent fourth
fastest final leg time of 11m38s to finish eighth.
Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Girls finished in thirteenth place.
Mariska Simpson came home in 34th place
on leg one with her clocking of 13m43s.
Hannah Rank ran the ninth fastest Leg Two time of 12m15s
to take the squad up to 24th, and Rachel Denton's sixth fastest final leg time
of 11m25s gave an excellent finale to finish 13th.
Morpeth's young Under 13 Girls squad finished 29th courtesy
of Carley Mae Webster (13m42s), Sarah Wilkes (13m38s) and Stephanie Purvis (14m51s)
A good solid performance by Morpeth's Under 15 Boys squad
comprising Philip Shuttleworth (11m17s), Tom Brookes (11m52s)
and Matthew Timmins saw them finish in 13th place.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Junior Great North Run Update !
Further to our report on Great North Run exploits
by several Morpeth Harriers, we can now also reveal some
excellent performances by some of the clubs younger element
in the Under 13 section at the Junior Great North Run.
Sarah Wilkes (13th) Stephanie Purvis (19th) and Eve Shashova (26th)
can all feel well pleased with their efforts.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
2007 Junior Great North Run !
Laura Weightman of Morpeth Harriers repeated her 2006 victory
in the 13 to 16 year old Girls event at the Tesco Junior
Great North Run on Saturday 29th September.
Fellow clubmate Zoe Armstrong also got on the podium by finishing third.
Zoe had finished second in 2006 ahead of Dundee's Elish McColgan,
daughter of former Great Britain International Liz.
This time round McColgan took second spot.
Other notable Morpeth performers were Marcus Cram (6th)
in 13 to 16 Boys race and Jack Hepple (7th) in 9 to 12 Boys race.
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championships Under 15 Boys/Girls !
Philip Shuttleworth and Hannah Rank were respective winners
in Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Road Championships
held on Lancaster Park on Monday night ( 1st October ).
Shuttleworth won with twenty five seconds to spare over
nearest rival over Jake Smith in the Boys racein a time of 7m57s.
Thomas Beattie came home in third spot a further five seconds adrift.
In the Girls event Rank clocked 8m31s, which gave her a
forty six second cushion over closest rival Rachel Steel,
who produced an excellent run for second place,
with Mariska Simpson claiming third place in 9m23s.
Further Results
BOYS
Oliver Craig (4th) 8m46s, Tom Brookes (5th) 9m00s,
Alistair Titchmarsh (6th) 9m09s, Stephen Harrogate (7th) 9m26s,
Thomas Herbert (8th) 10m14s and Andrew Richardson (9th) 10m57s.
GIRLS
Louise Cairns (4th) 9m42s, Georgia Clavering (5th) 10m00s,
Jessica Caldwell (6th) 10m16s, Lauren Sainthouse (7th) 10m22s,
Ellen Welsh (8th) 10m53s, Catherine Lake (9th) 10m56s,
Melissa Adamson (10th) 11m15s, Katie Plant (11th) 11m47s,
Abby Williams (12th) 12m36s, Ismay Kitson (13th) 13m41s
and Kay McDonald (14th) 13m49s.
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championships Under 13 Boys/Girls Report
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championships Under 11 Boys/Girls Report
YOUNG ATHLETES PAGE INDEX
Running In The Dark !
