North East T&F League Match 3 – Morpeth

[13-Jul 14]

The third meeting of season looked set to be another washout thanks to atrocious conditions in the morning. However, but the time the competition got underway at Morpeth conditions were almost idea for the Blyth/Wallsend team

In the 100m our new sprint sensation Adam Wright continued his impressive progress to finish 4th in 11.8s. The slightly senior Dave Swalwell had a great run to 2nd place in the ‘B’ race despite injury concerns. Alice Dungworth showed her class to finish 2nd in the ladies ‘A’ race. These athletes also represented us in the 200m, with Adam 5th in the ‘A’ race, Dave 4th in the ‘B’ race, and Alice 2nd in the ladies ‘A’ race in a seasons best 28.0s

In the 400m Calum Storey put in a great run to get a big new PB of 61.8s. Erin Scott ran fantastically to finish 3rd in the ladies ‘A’ race in a PB time of 71.4s. In the 800m James Young literally gave everything and a bit more in his effort to get the club record. In the end, he finished in 2nd place in the ‘A’ race in 2:05.4, which equals Chris Lillico’s mark. Heather Christopher showed that it’s not only the youngsters that can go and run PB’s as she ran a lifetime best of her own in the ladies ‘A’ race. 2:42.4 is further evidence that she is one of the best veteran athletes in the country. Martin Scott was outside his season’s best but picked up crucial points in the 1500m, whilst Lauren Barrett ran a 5:47.5 PB in the ladies ‘B’ race for 3rd.

In the 3000m Emma James ran a PB 11:36.7 for a superb 3rd place in the ‘A’ race, whilst in the 5000m the stylish Jon French took 2nd place in the ‘B’ race, although the muggy conditions meant a PB was just out of reach.

In the sprint hurdles events I was the only Blyth representative, finishing 2nd in the ‘A’ races for both the 110m and 400m hurdles (61.8s new club record / PB). Lee Cuthbertson stepped up to the challenge and entered the 3000m steeplechase, finishing a very impressive 3rd and absolutely shattering the club record in 11:08.5.

Moving onto the field events, and myself and Calum both jumped 1.50m to pick up solid points although we were disappointed not to go higher. The men’s long jump competition was an extremely tight affair; with the top 4 being covered by just 8cm. Calum Storey achieved another big PB to finish 3rd in the ‘A’ event with 4.93m. Martin Scott showed he has plenty of spring in his legs to jump 3.50m in his first long jump comp. In the ladies long jump Alice & Erin were short of their season’s best, but picked up solid points. I’m sure Martin will be pleased to have jumped 1cm further than Erin!

In the men’s triple jump I finished 2nd in the ‘A’ event, missing out on a PB by 1cm. Calum continued his brilliant day with another PB, 10.11m to finish 2nd in the ‘B’ event. In the ladies event Erin jumped a big PB (7.61m) to score more good points for the team.

In the shot putt Dave Swalwell won the ‘B’ comp with a throw of 8.50m, whilst Sharon Richardson threw 6.03m to finish 4th in the ladies ‘A’ comp. Anne Craddock finished third in the ‘B’ comp with 4.63m. In the discus Martin Scott threw a big PB of 14.22m to finish 4th in the ‘B’ event. In the ladies discus Sharon & Anne finished 4th & 3rd respectively in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ events, picking up a good haul of points between them.

Earlier in the day the hammer competitions took place with Ralph Dickinson rolling back the years to secure a seasons best with 14.33m. Our elite female hammer duo of Sharon Richardson and Steff Ramsay picked up huge points, with Sharon throwing a PB of 19.87m to go 18th in the UK rankings in her age group, whilst Steff was short of her PB but still comfortably won the ‘B’ comp in 18.73m. Dave Swalwell launched the Javelin out to 27.93m for third place in the ‘A’ event. In the women’s competition Sharon & Anne were 3rd in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ comps, with Anne throwing a 10.66m PB.

The relays finished the day off, starting with the 4x100m. Alice, Erin & Charlotte Ramsay were the Blyth representatives and the ladies ran superbly to record a seasons best 57.5s and fourth place. The men’s team consisted of Adam, myself, Calum & Dave, and we also finished 4th in a big seasons best of 48.1s. One of the performances of the day came from the 4x400m women’s team which included Lauren & Charlotte. We led Morpeth for much of the race and in the end finished a magnificent 2nd in 4:34.0. This was 39 seconds faster than at the other two meetings this season! Finishing the day were James, myself and Lee, and we just lost out to Morpeth and NS Poly to finish 4th.

Wallsend Harriers provided a much stronger team for this event and the likes of Paul Corrigan, Michael Day & Amy Bannister amongst others multi-evented and picked up good points, although Kris Stobbs managed to miss start of both the 3000m s/c and 1500m!

Going into the final event we have an outside chance of promotion, and need to finish above Heaton Harriers/Tyne Bridge to avoid relegation otherwise it may be decided on ‘match points’. It is so crucial that we field athletes in every event, as every single point will count!

Morpeth	17pts	1145.5 match points
Houghton	12pts	976 match points
NS Poly	11pts	966.5 match points
Blyth/Wsnd	10pts	915 match points
HH/TB	9pts	873 match points
Chester-le-S	4pts	674 match points

Dan