Start Fitness North East Harrier League ( 3 )
Saturday 26th November 2011
Report

Start Fitness North East Harrier League ( 2 )
Saturday 29th October 2011
Report

Start Fitness North East Harrier League Sherman Cup / Davison Shield
Saturday 22nd October 2011
Report

Start Fitness North East Harrier League ( 1 )
Saturday 8th October 2011
Report

Start Fitness North East Harrier League ( 4 )
Saturday 11th February 2012
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 Senior Men continued their fight at the top of Division 1
by finishing third from the Division on the day behind Sunderland and Gateshead.
They now lie in second place, and one point behind Gateshead,
with Sunderland Harriers further adrift by five points in third.

Thomas Straughan, having his first Harrier League outing,
excelled in finishing in sixth place from the Slow Pack, and led the Morpeth squad home.
He now finds himself promoted to the Medium Pack for the remainder of the season.

Another Morpeth Harrier who sees himself promoted is John Woods,
who came home in tenth place from the Slow Pack,
and the same applies to Morpeth Harriers third finisher Mick Thomsen,
who came home in 21st place from the Slow Pack.
Just missing out on a promotion is Morpeth's fourth finisher Stephen Bradley,
who finished 33rd from the Slow Pack.
Alistair MacDonald was the clubs fifth finisher
in 90th place overall from the Slow Pack,
and the Morpeth Harriers scoring count was completed
with Mike Hegarty coming home in 127th place from the Medium Pack.

Other Morpeth Harriers Senior Mens performances were as follows
Paul Waterston (154th) (Fast Pack), Les Cavill (195th) (Slow Pack),
Richard Kirby (201st) (Slow Pack), and Chris Waugh (209th) (Medium Pack).

In the Senior Womens event, Morpeth Harriers Gemma Floyd
and Jane Hodgson both produced outstanding runs.
Gemma, running from the Slow Pack battled throughout
on this her first Harrier League outing, to finish an excellent second.

Meanwhile Jane pulled out all the stops, to once again
clock the fastest time of the day when placing fourth.

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.

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Start Fitness North East Harrier League ( 3 )
Saturday 26th November 2011
Talented Irish import and Northumbria University student Eoin Everard
certainly marked his Morpeth Harriers debut with distinction,
when he easily clocked the days fastest time in the Senior Mens event
at the third Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League meeting held
at Shibdon Pond, Blaydon on Saturday 26th November.

On a slightly heavy surface, and giving five minutes to a good
proportion of his opponents as a result of his Fast Pack start,
he literally carved through all but thirty of the record 419 strong field,
to emerge as a very worthy fourth counter for his new club,
who finished as second team behind Gateshead Harriers.

Within this performance he also showed to his new clubmates
that Morpeth Harriers have acquired a very useful
talent potentially worthy of International status.

Morpeth were led home by Veteran Phil Walker,
who when finishing tenth fom the Slow Pack,
showed that he is getting back to somewhere very near his best form.

Only two places behind Phil was his Morpeth clubmate Chris Waugh,
who also came through from the Slow Pack.

Another man certainly returning to near his better form is Gary Jones,
and his run from the Medium Pack saw him finish a very creditable nineteenth.

Next home was the aforementioned Everard,
and the Morpeth Harriers scoring count was completed by the
excellent runs by Nick Swinburn (37th) (Fast Pack),
and Gordon Dixon (52nd) (Slow Pack).

What is very creditable about Morpeth Harriers Senior Mens
overall performance on the day, is that in addition to the scoring six,
another five from the club managed to finish inside the first 150.

In addition to Everard, Morpeth Harriers also produced the
fastest performers in another three events on the day.
Notable of these was Philip Winkler, who worked his way
through from the Fast Pack to finish fourth, and led his
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.

Ashley Gibson marked her Morpeth Harriers Harrier League debut
by posting the fastest Senior Womens time to come through to finish eleventh,
and led her club to second team place in Division 2.
Further team support came from excellent runs by Jane Hodgson (15th) (Fast Pack)
and Emma Pearson (41st) (Fast Pack).

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.

Click here for complete Male Results

Click here for complete Female Results

Return To 2011/2012 Reports Index

Start Fitness North East Harrier League ( 2 )
Saturday 29th October 2011

Having a total of nine finishers inside the top 80 of a 370 plus strong field,
saw Morpeth Harriers Senior Men achieve an outstanding result in the Division 1
Grand Prix standings, at the second Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League fixture,
held at Farringdon College, Sunderland on Saturday 29th October.

Those nine included their new signing Graeme Taylor,
who was a non counter on the day, owing to his recent
transfer from Jarrow and Hebburn.
Taylor is indeed a key signing for Morpeth,
having established an early lead in the individual standings,
after his run at the first meeting at Cramlington at the beginning of the month,
where he finished as fastest on the day in 23rd place.
On Saturday he emerged as seventh fastest in 54th place overall from the Fast Pack.
He was however behind five of his new clubmates, who all performed exceptionally.

First of those was Ian Harding, whose run from the Medium Pack,
with a two and a half minute handicap against the majority of the field,
came through to finish a well accomplished fourth,
and clocked the third fastest overall time of the day.

Second home for Morpeth Harriers was North of England
10,000metre Track Champion Peter Newton,
whose form continues to prosper with each run.
Peter's run from the Fast Pack, giving five minutes to the majority of the field,
saw him place an excellent 23rd, and as second fastest on the day,
and only 13 places, and only 76 seconds adrift of the fastest man,
the guesting Yarod of Bradford and Airedale.

Not far behind Peter, Morpeth Harriers saw their third counter
Chris Waugh place 42nd from the Slow Pack.
Fourth counter was Steven Bradley, who is showing great improvement
since joining the club this Summer, and his run to finish 45th overall
from the Slow Pack clearly testifies to his blossoming abilities.

Next home for Morpeth came Michael Dawson in 53rd place,
coming through as sixth fastest on the day from the Fast Pack,
and one place of the aforementioned Taylor.

This made Neil Gunstone as Morpeth's closing counter,
finishing in 67th place overall from the Slow Pack.

However other Morpeth Harriers who produced creditable runs on the day
were John Woods who finished one place behind Gunstone, also running from the Slow Pack,
and the clubs Road and Cross Country Team Manager David Swinburne,
who again put in one of his exemplary performances when finishing in 72nd place from the Fast Pack.

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.

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.

Jane Hodgson showed that her recent Marathon has not taken its toll
when she finished in 12th place in the Senior Womens event.
Running from the Fast Pack, she was the third fastest overall on the day.
Morpeth Harriers other runner in this event was Emma Pearson,
who also ran well from the Fast Pack to finish in 39th place out of a 153 strong field.

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.

Return To 2011/2012 Reports Index

Start Fitness North East Harrier League Sherman Cup / Davison Shield
Saturday 22nd October 2011
A good club turnout, laced with a number of excellent individual performances,
saw Morpeth win the Davison Shield, and finish runners up in the Sherman Cup,
at Temple Park, South Shields on Saturday 22nd October.

In the Sherman Cup (Mens competition), unless there are any further result revelations,
Morpeth just lost out by a mere point to arch rivals Gateshead Harriers,
despite having enjoyed a team win by their Under 13 Boys,
and second placing on the day by their Senior Men and Under 17 Men.

The Davison Shield (Womens competition) brought a surprise,
however very much welcome team victory on the day by their Under 13 Girls.

On the individual front, there were excellent individual victories by Jonnie Nisbet (Under 17 Men),
and Sarah Wilkinson (Senior Women), however in Wilkinson's case it all came about as a surprise,
as she was unaware that long term leader Danielle Hodgkinson of Wallsend had in fact gone off course,
and had lost so much ground, she ended up in tenth place overall.
Afterwards, Wilkinson was honest enough to feel some remorse for her unfortunate rival,
and claimed that she had definitely done enough to have won the race comfortably

To gain success in these competitions clubs have to ensure full turnout in all four races by each gender.
In the Sherman Cup, only two other clubs apart from Morpeth Harriers achieved this,
Gateshead and Sunderland Harriers, however in the Davison Shield,
Morpeth were the only club to fully compete.

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.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.

Morpeth Harriers Senior Men finished in second team place to Gateshead,
and were led home by a much rejuvenated Matt Nicholson,
who came through well to finish third.
Good supporting counts came from Michael Dawson (7th),
and their Road and Cross Country Team Manager David Swinburne,
who produced one of his best performances for some time, when finishing fifteenth.

Finally on the Male side, 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).

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).

Morpeth Harriers Senior Women finished as fourth team on the day,
being led home by the winner Sarah Wilkinson,
with excellent further support coming from Kate Chapman (18th),
and newcomer Abi Bagshaw, whose debut performance
to finish 30th in a field of 117 finishers, opened a few watching eyes.

It was good and refreshing to see Club Secretary Mike Bateman's efforts
to turn out a team of Under 17/Under 20 Women pay off,
as they added to the club success on the day, by finishing as fourth team.
They were led home by Ailsa McGregor, who despite a lack of recent competitive activity,
came through well to finish in eighth place.
Further excellent team support came from Lucy Shuttleworth (11th), and Polly Jeffrey (25th).

Other Morpeth Harriers 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)

SENIOR MEN
Gary Jones (17th),
Paul Waterston (28th),
Tom Brookes (36th),
John Woods (80th),
Rob Hancox (140th)

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

SENIOR WOMEN
Marie Drosdowicz (34th)

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.

Click here for complete results from the Sherman Cup

Click here for complete results from the Davison Shield

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Start Fitness North East Harrier League ( 1 )
Saturday 8th October 2011
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 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 Senior Men finished in third team place on the day,
and were second in Division 1 on the day.

They were led home by the ever improving Mike Hegarty,
who is certainly finding the recent work he is doing
with Coach Chris Waugh proving to be a valuable asset.
Hegarty finished fifth overall from the Slow Pack.

Next home was John Butters, who having returned to the sport,
is enjoying the experience immensely.
Butters was a good youngster with the club in the late eighties,
and his placing of 24th from the Slow Pack, also owes a great deal
to the work he has been doing with Waugh on a Monday evening.

Next home was Michael Dawson, who was second fastest on the course,
when placing 29th from the Fast Pack.
Fourth Morpeth Harriers finisher was Waugh himself,
who finished 45th from the Slow Pack.
Waugh is also in the middle of his second spell with the club,
having been a successful Junior in the late seventies and early eighties
before work commitments took him South.

Morpeth Harriers scoring count was completed by John Woods (49th) (Slow Pack),
and Stephen Bradley (65th) (Slow Pack).
With these results at the first meeting, and further input expected from the rest of the squad,
a good seasons result is very much in prospect.

Another good Morpeth performer on the day was Paul Waterston,
who although not amongst the clubs scoring six,
managed to finish as second fastest in the League's Veterans Grand Prix standings,
when finishing 117th from the Fast Pack.

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).

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.

Even more disappointingly, the cub failed to turn out a single athlete
in the combined Under 17/Junior and Senior Womens event.
Hopefully that problem will prove to be rectified as the season progresses.

Click here for complete Male Results

Click here for complete Female Results

Return To 2011/2012 Reports Index

2011 StartFitness North Eastern Harrier League Annual Awards !

The StartFitness North Eastern Harrier League 2010/11 proceedings
were drawn to a close at the sponsors premises in Newcastle,
on Thursday 14th April 2011, when the annual awards presentation took place.

Unfortunately North Eastern Counties Chairman Bill McGuirk was unable to attend due to ill health,
and Morpeth Harriers Press Officer George Patterson stepped in to open the awards ceremony
by firstly paying tribute to Bill in his absense, and then to the sponsors,
the officials, the clubs, and all of the athletes who had turned out for their co-operation.

Amongst the individual awards were four Morpeth Harriers.
Matt Nicholson had again won the Senior Mens Grand Prix,
however he was unable to be present to accept his award,
due to being out of the country, and second placed Senior Man
and clubmate Peter Newton stepped up to receive the award on his behalf,
along with his very own award for second place.

The Senior Womens award once again went to Jane Mooney,
and Morpeth Harriers also claimed a first and second individual
success in the Under 17 Mens section, courtesy of Jonnie Nisbet and Philip Caldwell.

On the team front, Morpeth Harriers best success came in the Senior Mens section,
where they finished second on countback to winners Heaton Harriers.
The clubs Under 17 Men, and Under 17/ Under 20 Women finished third respectively.
In the Under 13 Boys and Under 15 Boys competition Morpeth Harriers finished fifth on both counts,
and the clubs Under 13 Girls, and Under 15 Girls ended up in sixth position.

Despite Jane Mooney's aforementioned individual victory,
it had been a disappointing season for Morpeth Harriers Senior Women,
who had finished as low as sixteenth.

Return To 2010/2011 Reports Index

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 6 )

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.

Highlights of the days performances for Morpeth Harriers
were the individual wins by Jane Mooney and Ian Harding,
and the on the day team success of their Under 17 Men,
amongst a number of other good individual efforts.

It was indeed icing on the cake for Jane Mooney,
when she won the Senior Womens event from the Fast Pack,
despite giving four minutes and two minutes start to a good proportion of the field.
She won with nine seconds to spare over Emily Collinge of Gosforth Harriers,
to whom she had given a two minute start, on the toughest of Harrier League courses.

This win certainly confirmed her victory in the Senior Womens Grand Prix stakes for the season.
Morpeth Harriers other runner in this event was Claire Bruce, who placed 39th from the Slow Pack.

Another 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.

What should have been a possible first Senior Mens Division 1
Championship victory for Morpeth Harriers, turned out to be a
disappointing loss at the final hurdle on countback to Heaton Harriers,
who by comparison were blessed by an excellent commitment by their athletes on the day,
whilst Morpeth were sadly let down in depth by some with other priorities.

Nevertheless, a few die hard members from the club did turn out to lend support,
and their excellent performances did see them finish in second place overall,
and only a mere twenty two points adrift of winners Heaton.
Sadly giving Heaton an advantage on the day, tipped the scales in favour
of the Newcastle club to take the Championship trophy,
by virtue of having victory at more meetings than Morpeth.

As aforementioned, the athletes who did turn out for Morpeth Harriers gave their all,
and their required six counters all figured inside the top seventy on the course.
They were led home by Ian Harding, who used his Slow Pack start to establish a very early healthy lead,
which he never relinquished, and came home, despite going slightly off course near the end,
to win by a comfortable margin of three minutes and thirteen seconds over his closest rival.

He was also the second fastest on the course, his time only bettered
by Heaton Harrier James Buis by thirteen seconds,
who had given him a five minute start, by virtue of his Fast Pack status.

Second home for Morpeth Harriers was Terry Wall,
who finished third overall running from the Medium Pack.

Ross Floyd, who has enjoyed a superb cross country season in the Morpeth colours,
was third home for his club, finishing ninth from the Fast Pack, and was third fastest overall.

David Swinburne, Morpeth Harriers Road and Cross Country Team Manager,
produced yet another exemplary performance, when coming home as the clubs
fourth counter in 32nd place from the Fast Pack.

Another excellent performer was John Woods, who worked
his way through in the Medium Pack, to finish in 46th place.
Morpeth Harriers scoring count was completed by Rob Hancox,
who battled hard on a tough course, to finish in 69th place from the Slow Pack.

Other Morpeth Harriers Senior Men who gave their commitment on the day were
Mike Winter (139th) (Medium Pack)
Richard Kirby (186th) (Slow Pack)
and Stewart Bruce (279th) (Slow Pack).

As a plus point, without having to run on Saturday,
Morpeth Harriers Matt Nicholson and Peter Newton have
finished first and second in the Senior Mens Grand Prix rankings for the season,
and their performances throughout had been very contributory to their clubs near win in the Division.

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.

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.

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.

At the presentation at the end of proceedings,
it was also confirmed that Morpeth Harriers were winners
of the Sherman Cup and Davison Shield competitions,
that had been incorporated into the previous fixture at Blaydon,
and the club were presented with the respective trophies.

Main Grand Prix awards were also announced,
however presentations of these awards will take place
on Thursday 14th April 2011,
at Start Fitness' Main Store on Pilgrim Street, Newcastle.

Matt Nicholson, Peter Newton, Jane Mooney,
Jonnie Nisbet, and Philip Caldwell of Morpeth Harriers
are amongst those in line for awards.

In a closing speech given by the Chairman of the North East Counties Bill McGuirk,
he thanked all those involved with the organisation of the league,
and praised them for their efforts in a season that had required
a fair amount of decision making with regards to weather conditions etc,
and the fact that the only meeting lost had been the normally
separated Sherman Cup and Davison Shield events,
a great deal of understanding and co-operation by the clubs had been achieved,
and he thanked everyone for this.

Return To 2010/2011 Reports Index

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 5 )

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, and Senior Womens sections.

On to league events themselves, and Morpeth Harriers Senior Men,
despite losing out on the day to Sunderland Harriers,
maintained their status at the top of Division 1 by one point over Heaton Harriers,
who finished as third on the day, with the Wearsiders now lodging themselves into third place,
and still worthy of a realistic challenge for the team title.

Morpeth were led home by Neil Wilkinson from the Medium Pack,
who managed to catch all but three of the Slow Pack athletes who had
a two and a half minute start on him, to finish in a well accomplished fourth place.

Meanwhile matters were really hotting up behind him,
as his club colleagues Peter Newton and Matt Nicholson had
been locked into a tremendous Fast Pack battle with
Sunderland Harriers Jack Martin and Mark Hood.
Eventually Martin emerged with the fastest time of the day when finishing fifth,
however it was Newton who came home as Morpeth's second counter in seventh place,
with Nicholson twelve seconds adrift in ninth place.

Nicholson still however heads the Senior Mens Grand Prix standings,
with Newton close behind in second place, and in third place is Ross Floyd,
who when finishing 37th from the Fast Pack,
was Morpeth's fourth counter, and was sixth fastest overall on the day.

At the time of going to press, Nicholson is one point ahead of Newton,
with Floyd a further six points adrift.

Next home for Morpeth Harriers was their Road and Cross Country Team Manager David Swinburne,
who worked his way doggedly through from the Fast Pack to finish in 48th place,
and was eighth fastest on the course.

Having his first run in the Blue and White of Morpeth,
Neil Gunstone, formerly with Dundee Hawkhill, distinguished
himself well, when finishing 55th from the Fast Pack.

Unfortunately his clearance for team competition has not yet been confirmed,
so he was unable to be part of Morpeth Harriers team count on the day.

The clubs team count was completed by Slow Packer Rob Hancox,
who ran well to finish in 117th place.
Other Morpeth Harriers competing on the day were John Woods,
who ran well to finish 131st from the Medium Pack,
and Stewart Bruce who placed 294th from the Slow Pack.

So it is all down to the final meeting on the traditional tough and testing course
at Prudhoe at the end of the Month, for the Division 1 title race,
and the tremendous battle for individual supremacy in the Senior Mens Grand Prix
standings for three Morpeth Harriers, exciting stuff.

Another Morpeth Harriers in line for an award and many plaudits
at the end of the Harrier League season is Jane Mooney.
Having clocked the fastest times at three of the five meetings so far,
she has now established a virtually unbeatable
lead at the top of the Senior Womens Grand Prix rankings.

On Saturday at Blaydon her contribution not only as an individual,
but also as a superb team player and leader was immense.
After giving two and four minutes start to 93 of her competing opponents,
she worked her way through to finish second,
and led her club to an excellent team victory on the day ahead of Heaton and Wallsend.

Good team support came from Kate Chapman (6th) (Slow Pack),
and Claire Bruce (25th) (Slow Pack).
Other good runs on the day were had by Lucy Sill (53rd) (Slow Pack),
and Collette Jewell (103rd) (Slow Pack).
Collette had taken much pleasure earlier in the day by watching
her daughter Charlotte 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.

Return To 2010/2011 Reports Index

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 4 )

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.

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.

Matt Nicholson showed he had recovered well from his
previous weeks exertions at Alton Towers, where he finished 35th,
when he worked his way through to second place from the Fast Pack,
by clocking the fastest Senior Mens overall time of the day,
and was closely followed in third place by his Morpeth Harriers clubmate
Peter Newton, who was second fastest on the day from the Fast Pack.

Morpeth Harriers eventually finished as second team on the day,
to their Division 1 rivals Sunderland Harriers, which means that in the Grand Prix stakes,
they are equal top currently with Heaton Harriers, who unfortunately on the day
took a bit of a nosedive by placing fourth in the Divisional count.

Meanwhile Nicholson had also added greatly to his chances
of retaining the individual Senior Mens trophy that he won last year,
and he and Newton look good prospects to compete well for the region
at the Inter Counties Championships, scheduled to be held
at Cofton Park, Birmingham, this weekend.

Further excellent Morpeth Harriers team counts came from
Paul Waterston (14th) (Medium Pack), Michael Dawson (22nd) (Fast Pack)
Ross Floyd (28th) (Fast Pack), and Alistair MacDonald (57th) (Slow Pack)

Jane Mooney bounced right back to the top of the leaderboard
in the Senior Womens Grand Prix standings by running the days fastest time,
when coming through to place third overall with a superb performance.
She will also on current form, prove to be a very valuable asset when
representing the region in Birmingham this weekend.

Morpeth Harriers only other finisher in this event was Claire Bruce,
who placed 45th from the Slow Pack, which disappointingly once again
meant there was no team challenge by the club.

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.

Return To 2010/2011 Reports Index

Start Fitness North East Harrier League ( 3 )
In very much mudbath conditions, several athletes from Morpeth Harriers
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.

Most notable were the runs by Jane Mooney, Peter Newton and Jacob Hopkins.
Fresh from her exertions from the previous weeks Northern Cross Country Championships,
Jane Mooney bravely battled her way through from the Fast Pack to win the Senior Womens race outright.

She also led her club to seventh team place, with supporting runs
coming from Emma Pearson (27th) (Fast Pack), and Claire Bruce (54th) (Slow Pack).

Peter Newton was the days fastest performer in the Senior Mens event,
when he also came through from a Fast Pack start to finish third,
and the second and fifth fastest performances belonged to his club colleagues
Ross Floyd and Michael Dawson, who finished fourth and seventeenth respectively.
With further Morpeth Harriers team support coming from Gary Jones (55th) (Fast Pack)
Rob Hancox (94th) (Slow Pack), and Peter Scaife (143rd) (Slow Pack)
the club finished as sixth team on the day,
but still maintain their seasons fight for Division 1 supremacy.

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.

Return To 2010/2011 Reports Index

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League (3)
The Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League fixture
which was due to have taken place on Saturday 27th November,
at Shibdon Pond Blaydon was cancelled due to inclement weather
and heavy overnight snow, and for safety reasons.

The League Committee will work with Blaydon the host club
to look at possible dates to re-schedule the event in the New Year.

Return To 2010/2011 Reports Index

Start Fitness North East Harrier League (2)

An upbeat David Swinburne, Morpeth Harriers Senior Mens Road
and Cross Country Team Manager, described his squads performance
at the second Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League meeting
held at Farringdon College, Sunderland on Saturday 30th October
as a superb workmanlike effort, and he felt assured that there was
depth within the ranks, to maintain a positive challenge
for the league title in the fixtures that remained.

He also singled out the individual performance of Matt Nicholson,
who for the second meeting in a row, clocked the fastest time,
and also looked set for retaining his hold on the seasons
best performers title for another year.

Although a little reticent in self praise of his own efforts,
Swinburne must take some applause for the fact that
he led his team home with a solid run from the medium pack,
on a course with less passing places,
and that he managed to channel his way through to twelfth place,
clocking what became the tenth fastest time in a field of 367 finishers.

Morpeth Harriers Senior Mens team dominance was further confirmed,
when alongside Swinburne's effort, the other five counters
managed to get within the top thirty finishers.

These five were headed by the aforementioned Nicholson,
who had a blistering run to come home two
places behind his Team Manager in fourteenth spot.
He had spent most of the race trying to fend off the
close attentions of clubmate Nick Swinburn,
whom he eventually dropped on the final lap of the three large, and one small lap contest.
Nicholson's fastest time was sixteen seconds faster than the second fastest man,
who just happened to be another Morpeth Harriers clubmate Peter Newton,
who had come through superbly to nineteenth place,
to just outpace Swinburn, who finished twentieth.

The final two Morpeth Harriers counting places also came
from Fast Pack runners Ross Floyd and Michael Dawson,
who with excellent runs came through to twenty ninth
and thirtieth places by clocking the fourth and fifth fastest times.

With those individual performances Morpeth Harriers
were easily the best Senior Mens team performers by
a margin of thirty points from Division 2 rivals Durham City,
with their nearest Division 1 challenge coming from Sunderland Harriers,
who took third place overall on the day,
albeit sixty two points adrift of Morpeth.

Further down the field and nevertheless creditable
Morpeth Senior Mens runs came from Ben Newman,
on his Harrier League debut, who finished 48th from the Slow Pack,
Chris Sharp and Matthew Boyle, also having their first taste of Harrier League action,
who finished 155th and 165th from the Slow Pack,
and evergreen Veterans Archie Jenkins and Tony Ward
who finished 190th and 341st from the Slow Pack.

Another 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.

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 Senior Womens event, new signing from Chester Le Street Maxine Czarnecka,
marked an excellent debut in the Blue and White of Morpeth Harriers,
by posting the second fastest time of the day,
and came through nicely from the Fast Pack to finish 14th
and two places and eighteen seconds ahead of her new club
colleague Jane Mooney, who was third fastest in the total field of 147 finishers.
Emma Pearson finished 66th from the Fast Pack.

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.

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.

Return To 2010/2011 Reports Index

Start Fitness North East Harrier League (1)
Matt Nicholson, Nick Swinburn, Morag Stead,
Jonnie Nisbet, and Alison Brown all produced excellent
performances at the first Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League,
held at East Cramlington Nature Reserve on Saturday 23rd October.

On the team front, Morpeth Harriers managed to finish
second in the Under 17 Mens event, and third from
Division 1 in the Senior Mens section.

It is hoped however that they will fare better in their
other age groups as the season progresses.

In an action packed Senior Mens event that was won
by Sunderland Harrier Mark Hood, taking full advantage
of his Slow Pack start, running from the Fast Pack,
Matt Nicholson tracked Elswick's Ryan McLeod for
a good way during the early stages, however settled
to finish two places down on him in ninth place,
and was second fastest of the race,
just outpacing his club colleague Nick Swinburn
by six seconds, who finished tenth.

The Morpeth Harriers Senior Mens team count was further
enhanced by the performances of Ross Floyd and Michael Dawson,
whose Fast Pack efforts saw them finish in twenty ninth
and thirty first places as sixth and seventh fastest performers on the course.
Alistair MacDonald (41st) (Slow Pack), and Peter Scaife (174th) (Slow Pack)
completed the Morpeth scoring sextet.

Making her Morpeth Harriers Harrier League debut,
after her transfer from Chester Le Street, Morag Stead
(formerly McDonnell), produced an excellent fastest performance
to finish seventh of a 117 strong Senior Womens field,
after giving a four minute handicap start to the majority.

Clubmate Emma Pearson, having her first competitive
outing since her World Triathlon performance in Budapest,
also produced an excellent run to finish thirtieth,
after also giving four minutes start in the event.
She was sixth fastest overall for her efforts.

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.

Return To 2010/2011 Reports Index

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League (6)
Although already assured of outright victory in their respective Grand Prix
sections of the Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League,
Morpeths Jane Mooney and Jonnie Nisbet capped what has been
an absolutely excellent Cross Country season for them, by taking superb
victories in the Senior Womens and Under 15 Boys events at the final meeting,
held on what is well known as the toughest of courses at Prudhoe on Saturday 27th March.

The strong swirling wind did nothing to deter the North Eastern Counties
Silver and Gold Medallists as they both claimed emphatic victories,
after giving several of their rivals a handicapped advantage
of three minutes and one minutes thirty seconds respectively.

Mooney's efforts over the season may well be a record for the league,
because she has competed in all five of the meetings
that were held, and has been the fastest in each of them.
Her outstanding run on Saturday saw her win with sixty five seconds
to spare over her closest rival, and seventy five seconds faster than
Chester Le Street's Angela Hunter who was the second fastest overall on the course.

Morpeth Harriers other competitor in the Senior Womens event was Emma Pearson,
who also produced a strong run from the Fast Pack to finish in 44th place overall,
and as fourteenth fastest on the day.

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.

Despite only being able to field the required six counters,
Morpeth Harriers Senior Men managed to finish seventh on the day from Division 1,
and as a result finished third for the season behind Sunderland Harriers and South Shields.

First home for Morpeth was David Steel, who finished sixth from the Slow Pack.
Further supporting counts were provided by John Woods (11th) (Slow Pack)
Mike Winter (26th) (Slow Pack), Gary Jones (41st) (Fast Pack)
Adam Sample (106th) (Medium Pack), and Peter Scaife (246th) (Slow Pack)
In Scaife's case, he deserves much praise for his efforts in turning out at
short notice when recovering from injury, and for his outstanding clubmanship
in helping to ensure that the club tent was carried the extra mile and a half to
reach the start point, and helped to return it back to base after the event.

An added success for Morpeth Harriers was Matt Nicholson's win
in the Senior Mens Grand Prix, where he scored
maximum points in three of the four events that he ran.

Return To Reports Index

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League !

After excellent performances at the fifth Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League
meeting held at Temple Park, South Shields on Saturday 20th February,
four athletes from Morpeth Harriers have definitely put themselves
in the frame for individual honours at the end of the competition.

Jane Mooney once again headed a strong field of Senior Women,
having also won the week previous at Wrekenton.
Matt Nicholson finished third in the Senior Mens event as the fastest finisher.
North Eastern Under 15 Boys Cross Country Champion Jonnie Nisbet
produced another superb run to finish fourth,
and being the fastest in the age group by twenty nine seconds.
Philip Winkler was the fastest Under 13 Boy,
when he came through to finish third in a field of 49 finishers.

Giving three minutes away to a good proportion of the 112 strong field of Senior Women,
Jane Mooney took her second victory in succession, by a margin of twenty two seconds over her closest rival,
and was a further two seconds clear of her fellow Fast Pack rival Claire Simpson of Chester Le Street.
This result puts Mooney in an impregnable position at the head of the events Grand Prix rankings for the season.
Morpeth Harriers other athlete in the Womens event was Aiveen Fox,
and she came through strongly in the Fast Pack to finish tenth, and was the fifth fastest in the race.

Matt Nicholson led Morpeth Harriers Senior Men to third team place on the day in Division 1,
which puts them in second place behind untouchable Sunderland Harriers
with one meeting remaining at Prudhoe at the end of March.
Further Morpeth Harriers team support came from Kristian Forster (20th) (Fast Pack)
Paul Waterston (29th) (Medium Pack), Alistair MacDonald (30th) (Slow Pack)
John Woods (41st) (Slow Pack), and Rob Hancox (79th) (Slow Pack).

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.

Return To Reports Index

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League !
The superb individual wins by North Eastern Counties Cross Country silver medallists Philip Winkler
and Jane Mooney, were the major talking points behind Morpeth Harriers performances, at the fourth
Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League meeting held at Cardinal Hume School in Wrekenton,
Gateshead on Saturday 13th February.

Giving 80 seconds away to more than half of the Under 13 Boys 49 strong field of finishers,
Winkler 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.

Jane Mooney proved beyond all doubt that she is definitely a girl in form as she claimed a
fifty second marginal victory in the Senior Womens event after giving a hefty margin
of three minutes to more than half of the 107 strong field of finishers.
She eventually grabbed the lead on the second of the the two long laps
and was also the fastest performer by a margin of eighty six sconds over third placed Angela Hunter
of Chester-le-Street, unfortunately Morpeth Harriers could not close as a team here,
with Emma Pearson being the clubs only other finisher in 27th place from the Fast Pack,
and twelfth fastest on the course.

Unfortunately Morpeth Harriers Senior Men failed to capitalise
on their slender lead at the head of Division 1 of their event.
This was despite Matt Nicholson clocking the fastest time of the day,
when coming through from the Fast Pack to finish sixth overall.
Morpeth finished as fourth team in the division on the day,
with further team support coming from Michael Dawson (20th) (Fast Pack)
Kristian Forster (48th) (Fast Pack), David Swinburne (49th) (Fast Pack)
Adam Sample (72nd) (Medium Pack), and Rob Hancox (138th) (Slow Pack).

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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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League !
Thankfully the heavy overnight snow that hit the region in the early hours of Saturday 30th January
proved to be no match for the officials at Elswick Harriers,
who were responsible for hosting what was tabled as the third meeting
of the Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League, at Newcastle's Town Moor.

The second meeting, which was due to be held at Cramlington on Saturday 9th January 2010,
had to be cancelled due to the snowy conditions, and if this meeting had not gone ahead,
it would have meant yet another week of local Cross Country inactivity,
and the last fixture to go ahead in the region had been the North Eastern Counties Championships,
as far back as December 12th 2009 at Darlington.

So the decision that this event could go ahead, despite the snow underfoot,
was welcome to all, including several athletes from Morpeth Harriers,
who were more than ready for action.

In the Senior Mens event, Morpeth's Matt Nicholson more than made up
for his poor run at Edinburgh in early January, when he finished as second
fastest on the day to Sunderland Harrier Gavin Massingham,
and led his club to second team place by finishing fifth.

Matt was also well supported by Ross Floyd, who after a superb run
in last weeks Northern Championships at Blackburn, showed his appetite,
and his tremendous current depth of good form, to finish as third fastest in ninth place.
Other good supporting counts came from Gary Jones and Adam Sample,
who finished in 17th and 19th places respectively, running from the Medium and Slow Packs.

Morpeth's scoring count was completed by Veteran duo
Paul Waterston and Gordon Dixon, who had also competed at Blackburn.
They finished in 31st and 37th places from the Medium and Slow Pack respectively.

It was also a superb day for the Weightman family, with Laura and Connor both managing victories,
and younger brother Adam, also playing his part in a Morpeth Harriers team victory.
Giving some of her rivals 2m40s start, Laura crowned her first Cross Country outing of the winter,
which she testified to enjoying, by clearly winning the Under 20 Womens event
by a good two minutes over her closest rival, who just happened to be her Morpeth
Harriers clubmate Rachel Steel, who was first Under 17, running from the Slow Pack.
Unfortunately Morpeth lacked a third runner who would have easily brought them a team win.

Connor Weightman did however spearhead 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.

Giving three minutes start in the Senior Womens event,
Morpeth Harriers very much in form Jane Mooney battled tremendously to
come home in second place overall, and very clearly as fastest performer on the day.
Morpeth clubmate Emma Pearson also had a superb run
when finishing third from the slow pack, in fourth place overall.
Again lack of a third runner denied Morpeth of what would have been a clear team victory.

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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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League (1)

An opportune run from the slow pack saw Morpeths Terry Wall
snatch a six second marginal victory in the Senior Mens event
at the first Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League meeting
held at Farringdon College, Sunderland on Saturday 28th November.

After contentedly sitting behind Elvet Strider's Phil Sanderson
on the first of three 1.8k circuits, the former North of England
Cross Country Silver Medallist eventually drew level after just
under a quarter of the second lap had been completed,
and drew away to a convincing victory, and it was only in the later stages
that young Jason Waite of Sunderland Harriers closed in, after he had passed
the early leader Sanderson approaching the final downhill section of the course.

Further joy for Wall came as he learned that he had led his club
to an excellent Mens team victory on the day from former
Champions Sunderland Harriers in the Division 1 section,
with Heaton taking third spot.

Wall was helped in the team effort by excellent runs by Ross Floyd (5th) (Medium Pack)
Mike Hegarty (20th) (Slow Pack), Richard Teasdale (22nd) (Medium Pack)
Matthew Nicholson (27th) (Fast Pack), and Peter Newton (33rd) (Fast Pack)
Nicholson, Floyd and Newton clocked the top three fastest times of the day.

Another fastest Morpeth Harriers performer on the day was Jane Mooney,
who smoothly moved through the majority of the field to
whom she gave a three minute advantage to,
to finish in fifth place overall, and led her club
to second team place behind Tynedale in
the Senior Womens two lap event.

Further team support here came from Emma Pearson (12th) (Slow Pack)
and Aiveen Fox (23rd) (Fast Pack).

Laura Weightman of Morpeth Harriers can also feel well pleased
with her first outing of the winter campaign as she finished fifth in
the Under17/ Under 20 Womens event, and she was the fastest performer
on the course, giving three minutes to most of her rivals.
She was second counter for her club who finished
second to Shildon by a five point margin.

Hannah Rank used her Slow Pack advantage to come home in third place overall,
and the Morpeth count was completed by Catriona MacDonald
who finished in twentieth spot from the Fast Pack.

Morpeth Harriers failed to field a team in the Under 17 Mens event,
however Harri Dunn can feel well pleased with his individual
effort, where he finished in ninth place from a heavily weighted Slow Pack.

Sarah Wilkes was Morpeth Harriers leading finisher in the
Under 13 Girls event in 18th place from the Fast Pack,
where her club finished as fourth team, with further support coming from
twin sisters Molly and Rosie McDonald, who finished 21st and 24th
respectively from the Slow Pack.

Morpeth Harriers finished as fifth team in both the
Under 13 and Under 15 Boys age group events.
Philip Winkler led the Morpeth contingent home from the Fast Pack,
and his sterling effort to finish in 15th place, saw him also earn
the accolade as fastest performer on the day.
Team support came from Andrew Allan (17th) (Slow Pack)
and Joe Elder (35th) (Fast Pack).

In the Under 15 Boys event, Morpeth were led home by Connor Weightman,
who finished in 16th place from the Slow Pack, and
further team support came from Jonnie Nisbet (19th) (Fast Pack),
and Henrik Paulsen (33rd) (Slow Pack).
Unfortunately Nisbet only missed out by a mere four seconds
to the event winner Callum Mitchell of Tynedale, in the fastest time stakes.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League
( Sherman Cup and Davison Shield Match )
Report

Intermittent blustery showers failed to dampen the spirits of athletes
who took part in the first meeting of the Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League
held at Temple Park, South Shields on Saturday 24th October.

The opening fixture, which now traditionally accommodates
the Sherman Cup (Mens) and Davison Shield (Womens) competitions,
saw Gateshead Harriers win the former, and Morpeth Harriers
were once again winners of the latter.

Top performers on the day for Morpeth Harriers were
Jonny Nisbet and Matt Nicholson in the Mens section,
and Jane Mooney in the Womens section.

On a day when the Morpeth Men took Silver Medals,
and the Women took Gold, all three managed to gain
themselves individual medals into the bargain, as a result of their performances.

Nisbet just managed to gain the nod from the judges for third place
in the Under 15 Boys event as he crossed the finish line at
exactly the same time as Jarrow and Hebburn's Tristan Peel.

After a tense and close three lap battle with Elswick's Phil Hurst,
Matt Nicholson eventually finished second in the Senior Mens event.

Jane Mooney finished an excellent second to Chester Le Street's
Sarah Wilkinson in the Senior Womens event, and nearly a minute
clear of Gateshead's Kim Simpson, herself a former
Davison Shield Senior Womens competition winner.
Mooney's was one of a good number of determined Morpeth efforts
on the day that saw them retain the Davison Shield by a margin
of five points over Gateshead, who were the only other team
to close over the four events to count.

Despite not winning a Womens team count Morpeth Harriers
still managed to win by the narrowest of margins.

Their best results came from the Under 15 Girls
and Under17/Junior Womens events.
Carley May Webster led the Morpeth squad home in the
Under 15 Girls event, and only just missed out on an
individual medal spot by seven seconds when she finished fourth.
The combined placings of Miriam Inverarity (12th),
and Lucy Shuttleworth (15th), added to that of
Webster saw Morpeth finish second to Sunderland.

Morpeth also finished second to Gateshead in the
Under 17/Junior Womens event courtesy of
Rachael Steel (7th), Hannah Rank (10th),
and Catriona MacDonald (20th)

Alison Brown (7th), was first home for Morpeth Harriers
in the Under 13 Girls event, which saw them finish as fourth team,
with further support coming from excellent runs
by Sarah Wilkes (9th), and Rebecca Dodds (23rd).

Fifth place was gained by Morpeth Senior Women led by the
aforementioned Jane Mooney, with Claire Bruce (14th)
and Shuna Rank (39th), providing the supporting counts.

In the Mens events, Morpeth's best result came from
their Seniors who won by eight points from Gateshead.
Led by the aforementioned Nicholson,
Morpeth also saw good efforts by Neil Wilkinson (4th)
and Mark Davies (13th) give them an excellent result.

Next best for Morpeth were the Under 15 Boys, who were led
home by Nisbet, with excellent supporting runs by Philip Caldwell (12th),
and Sam Hancox (29th), seeing them home to third team place.

Morpeth's Under 17 Men finished in fourth team place,
and were led home by Philip Shuttleworth (11th), who just
managed to outsprint his clubmate Harrison Dunn (12th),
and Tom Brookes completed the Morpeth count when finishing in 15th place.

Martin Hood led Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys home
to eighth team place when he finished fourteenth.
Further team support came from Andrew Allen (21st), and Ben Steel (23rd).

Unfortunately this squad were shorn of the services of Philip Winkler,
and Joe Elder due to injury and illness respectively, and they
lost Tom Fisher, who took ill during the event,
otherwise they most certainly would have obtained a better result.

The divisional Harrier League programme commences
on Saturday 28th November with the meeting being
held at Farringdon School, Sunderland.

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