BAY OF PLENTY AT DRURIDGE
THE second fixture of the
Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League saw another huge turnout on a cold
but sunny Autumn day at Druridge Bay. Close on 1,500 competitors lined up with
many new faces testing themselves over a cross-country course for the very
first time and judging by the smiles after crossing the finish those debutantes will be back again though the weather may not be so favourable as winter draws
on.
UNDER-11 (1.5k)
Once again the Under-11
youngsters opened the day’s action in the ‘’Try Cross-Country” event and it was
a triumph once more for the Penfold household with Noah winning the boys
contest and Ada coming out on top in the girls race just as they had done at
the opening fixture at Wrekenton. In fact, in the boys’ event Low Fell’s
William McClean followed Noah home in second place at both Wrekenton and
Druridge Bay. Jarrow and Hebburn’s Jacob Hopper claimed the third place award
on this occasion after just missing out on a medal at Wrekenton. Meanwhile, in
the girls’ event Chester-le-Street duo Joy Hunter and Faye Evans followed Ada
home in second and third place respectively with Prudhoe’s Martha Carr, who was
runner-up at Wrekenton, just missing out on this occasion in fourth place.
There were 61 finishers in the boys race and a massive 82 in the girls event
which is 22 more than the figure for Wrekenton.
UNDER-13 BOYS (3.3k)
Victory went to Elswick’s Ethan
Eland who had a 15-seconds cushion over Morpeth’s Jacob Thompson at the line
with Thompson’s team-mate Evan Laude a further four seconds back in third
place. Fastest on the course, just as he was at Wrekenton, was Wallsend’s
Kasper Pearson who worked his way through the 65-strong field to finish fourth
from a 1min 40secs penalty. Morpeth came out on top in the team contest with
sixth-placed Liam Jackson backing up Thompson and Laude as Elswick finished
second ahead of Blaydon.
UNDER-13 GIRLS (3.3k)
Birtley’s Poppie Phillipson claimed a superb victory crossing the line 19 seconds clear after leading throughout the contest. Blackhill’s Annabelle Stead finished runner-up holding off Morpeth’s Zoe Tomlinson by three seconds. Phillipson’s 13:12 proved to be the quickest of the day with her Birtley team-mate Izzy Hall – winner at Wrekenton - second fastest after working her way through the 63-strong field to finish in sixth place from a 1:40 handicap. Third quickest was Durham City’s Ellie Bradley. Birtley won the team contest with 11th-placed Poppy Graham backing up Phillipson and Hall, while Newcastle outfits Elswick and Gosforth finished second and third respectively. After two fixtures Elswick lead with three points, Birtley are on five and Morpeth on seven.
UNDER-15 BOYS (3.3k)
Wallsend’s Joseph
Duthie-Brown took full advantage of a 1:40 handicap to claim the honours with a
16-seconds victory over Durham City’s Harry Mason as Finn Pentland-Rice
(Darlington) completed the one-two-three a further 10 seconds behind. Despite
posting the fastest overall time Gateshead’s Alfie Cook just missed out on a
podium place finishing in fourth place just three seconds adrift of
Pentland-Rice. Second and third quickest on the course was Freddie Palmer (Tyne
Bridge) with Tynedale’s Magnus Riddell next best. After two fixtures Heaton
head the table on four points, Tynedale are second with six and Tyne Bridge
third with seven.
UNDER-15 GIRLS (3.3k)
Another Phillipson
celebration, this time it was Niamh who claimed victory over 42 rivals taking
advantage of a 1:40 start as she was closed down all the way to the line by
Houghton’s Holly Robison who cut back the deficit to within 18 seconds of the
Birtley athlete. Morpeth’s Emma Tomlinson claimed the third-place award with
Durham City’s Grace Carter second quickest on the course and Anna Johnson
(North Shields Poly) third fastest. In the team contest North Shields Poly came
out on top with 17 points followed by Morpeth (35) and Durham City (39) with
the Poly heading the table after their second place at Wrekenton.
UNDER-17 MEN (4.7k)
Gateshead’s Sam Punn, winner
of the Gateshead 3k, claimed a 15-seconds victory over Morpeth’s Oliver
Tomlinson with Alnwick’s Jack Price completing the medal placings. From a 2:30
handicap North Shields Poly’s Ben Sproats worked his way through to seventh
place one place and one second ahead of Wrekenton runner-up Freddie Hall
(Darlington) with North Shields Poly’s Daniel Watson a further six seconds
adrift as the trio posted the fastest overall times. In a tight team contest
Gateshead came out on top (44pts) with Birtley (48) second and Morpeth claiming
third place on count back ahead of Gosforth who both accumulated 49 pts. After
two second places Birtley currently top the league table.
UNDER-17/20 WOMEN (4.7k)
Tynedale athletes were
visible amongst the leaders early on and Emily Lunn proved the strongest to
come home a clear winner. Newcastle Universities’ Imogen Dee came through in
the latter stages to claim second place and finish ahead of Tynedale duo Maria
Gaines and Esme Pugh, the Tynedale trio all contesting the younger age group
while Dee was the first under-20 to finish. Quickest under-17 on the course was
Gateshead’s Iona Johnstone who worked her way through the 43-strong field to
finish 12th from a 2:30 handicap while the quickest under-20 was the
Great Cumbrian half-marathon winner Elswick’s Imogen Bungay who finished one
place and two seconds behind her younger rival. No surprise Tynedale came out
on top in the team stakes with their second trio good enough to finish a
non-scoring second ahead of North Shields Poly and Gateshead.
SENIOR WOMEN (6.5k)
Having her first
cross-country outing in five years the undulating course proved no obstacle for
Sophie Pikett. The Elswick athlete has a string of victories on the roads since
her move to the North East and she showed she is no slouch over the country as
she produced a clean pair of heels to the rest of the 454-strong field. Always
at the head of affairs Pikett was well clear at the completion of the first circuit
and she continued to cut out a lone furrow to come home 22 seconds clear of
Durham City’s Louise Mitchell with the duo posting the two fastest overall
times of the day. Mitchell’s Durham team-mate Megan Finn finished in third
place while the third quickest on the course was Morpeth’s Jane Hodgson who,
from a 5:05 handicap. Worked her way through to finish in 19th
place. Durham City came out on top in Division One finishing one point ahead of
Morpeth in the four-to-score team race with South Shields edging out Elswick
for third place; Sunderland Strollers led the way in Division Two ahead of
Claremont and Ponteland Runners while Gosforth came out on top in Division
Three ahead of Prudhoe Plodders with Birtley finishing in third place. After
two fixtures Durham City head Division One on three points followed by Morpeth
on six and Jesmond on eight; in Division Two Claremont head the table with
three points followed by South Shields on five and Washington on six while in
Division Three Blaydon are leading with seven points Birtley have nine and
Prudhoe have 10 and Crook 11.
SENIOR MEN (9.9k)
Like the senior women’s race an athlete led from gun to tape and it was Houghton international Cameron Allan who led throughout extending his advantage over the three circuits with every stride to come home a comfortable winner by well over a minute Heaton’s Chris Larkin tracked Allan throughout to finish runner-up while Morpeth teenager William De Vere-Owen finished strongly to claim the bronze award.
It came as no surprise that Allan was overall quickest on the course with his Houghton team-mate Chris Coulson next best after working his way through the 551-strong field from a 5:00 handicap to finish in 14th place after getting away from Newcastle Uni’s Luke Davis on the final circuit as the student posted the third best time of the day seven seconds and one place behind Coulson.
In the six-to-score team contests Morpeth came out on top ahead of North Shields Poly and Birtley, in Division Two Heaton led the way ahead of Houghton and Elswick while in Division Three Newcastle Uni lead from Gosforth and Alnwick. After two fixtures Division One is extremely close with North Shields Poly leading with five points followed by Morpeth on six, Durham City on seven, Gateshead on eight and Elswick on nine; in Division Two Heaton and Houghton are joint leaders with four points followed by Low Fell on five and Elswick on nine while in Division Three Gosforth lead with three points followed by Newcastle University on five, Strollers on eight and South Shields on nine.
**Thanks go to Blyth Running Club for once again hosting an excellent day’s sport, to the First Aid team and to all the marshalls and technical officials, without them all we wouldn’t have the leading cross-country league in the country!
by Bill McGuirk
Photos: Stuart Whitman Photography
Timetable
WREKENTON HILLS AS POPULAR AS
EVER
THE wait was finally over -
cross-country was back on the agenda and the region’s club athletes turned out
in force for the Saltwell Harriers’ Start Fitness Harrier League fixture at the
testing Wrekenton course. Over 1,500 competitors lined up in the 11-race
programme eager to test themselves out in early-season competition and while
the senior men and women’s events produced a superb spectacle as they wound
their way around every yard of the course that can also be said for the
under-11s “Try Cross-Country” who were all roared on over their one mile event by
an enthusiastic crowd of parents and supporters despite occasional showers
threatening to dampen the enthusiasm of those lining the running line.
UNDER-11 – one mile
IT was a good day for the
Penfold family with Noah winning the boys contest for a second time and younger
sister Ada taking the honours in the girls’ event. Seventy-one youngsters
opened the day’s action with Noah coming home in 5min 56secs, 18 seconds clear
of Low Fell’s William McClean with North Shields Poly’s Tom Hale completing the
one-two-three a further six seconds adrift. Meanwhile, Ada led home a 60-strong
field to win in 6:28 and was followed home by Martha Carr (Prudhoe Plodders)
who is definitely not a plodder in recording 6:46, while Chester-le-Street’s
Faye Evans received the third-place award recording 6:59.
UNDER-13 BOYS – two miles
DARLINGTON’S Ollie Curran came
out on top of the 81-strong line-up after being pushed all the way to the line.
At the tape, reached in 9:32, Ollie had a four-second gap over Crook’s Matty
Richardson with Ollie’s team-mate Daniel Callaghan, easing home in third place
10 seconds back and holding off Henry Engelhart (Phoenix Flyers) by two
seconds. Fastest on the course (9:06) was Wallsend’s Kasper Pearson – third
last year running from the slow pack - who worked his way through to finish 14th
from a 1min 15sec handicap. Tynedale’s Wilfred Pugh and Ewan Line (Morpeth)
were second and third quickest respectively. No surprise Darlington came out on
top in the team stakes with seventh-placed James I’Anson backing up Curran and
Callaghan.
UNDER-13 GIRLS – two miles
BIRTLEY’S Izzy Hall was a
gun-to-tape winner against 57 rivals crossing the line in 10:19, a time which
proved to be the quickest of the day. Darlington’s Sasha Patterson finished
runner-up 14 seconds behind with Morpeth’s Lucy Raper eight seconds back in
third place. Second quickest on the course was Durham City’s Ellie Bradley
(10:30) with Sasha next best with 10:33. Elswick, led home by fourth-placed
Millie Robson, came out on top in team section ahead of Morpeth and Gateshead.
UNDER-15 BOYS – two miles
NOAH WILLIAMSON (North East
Project) headed the 53-strong field pulling away from his rivals to win in
8:55. North Shields Poly’s James Sturman claimed second place eight seconds
behind with Darlington’s Rowan Steel completing the podium places four seconds
back after holding off Heaton’s Alex Smith by just one second. After working
his way through to finish 11th from a 1:15 start, Tynedale’s Morgan
Vincent was quickest on the course (8:24) with Gateshead’s Alfie Cook and
William Jardine (Durham City) next best with 8:27 and 8:51 respectively.
Darlington led home by third-placed Steel, won the team contest ahead of Heaton
and Tynedale.
UNDER-15 GIRLS – two miles
IT was a Houghton one-two
with Holly Robison just getting the better of team-mate Kathryn Pye in the final
100 metres to win by five seconds after the pair had run shoulder-to-shoulder
from the off. Darlington’s Matilda Owens was rewarded with the bronze award
seven seconds behind Kathryn. The first three athletes’ home were also the
three fastest on the course which had 48 finishers. In a close team contest
Darlington came out on top with 30 points, North Shields Poly were second with
36 and Durham City third with 38.
UNDER-17 MEN –
three-and-a-half miles
NORTH Shields Poly’s Daniel
Watson cut out a lone furrow as he stormed home to win comfortably with the
fastest time of the day of 17:08. At the line Daniel had a cushion of 36 seconds
over Darlington’s Freddie Hall with Alnwick’s Liam McDonough finishing in third
place a further eight seconds adrift. There were 36 finishers with the Poly
clear winners of the team section ahead of Birtley and Low Fell.
UNDER-17/20 WOMEN – three-and-a-half
miles
DARLINGTON’S Freya Talman
just had enough in reserve to hold off the fast-finishing Charlotte Dillon to
win by six seconds. Charlotte was giving a 2min 30secs start to the winner but
just failed to reel in Freya after recording an actual time of 18:47 as
Tynedale’s Ania Stobbart completed the medal positions. Gateshead’s Aoife Bell
was second quickest (20:07) with Imogen Bungay (Elswick) third fastest with
20:09 from a field of 46. Darlington won the team section ahead of Tynedale
with Houghton third.
SENIOR MEN – six miles
MORPETH’S Joe Dixon, last winter’s Northern under-20 runner-up, led throughout taking full advantage of a start of 2:30 and 5:00 over the medium and fast packs respectively. New Gateshead recruit Shaun Hudson tracked him in second place for the first two circuits before James Largey (North East Project) reeled him in on the final lap to move into second place. However, Dixon, tackling senior opposition for the first time over the country, would never be headed and came home with nearly a minute to spare in 32:39, second-placed Largey recorded 33:26 and third-placed Hudson 34:13.
Sunderland’s Liam Taylor was the pick of the medium pack finishing in fifth place with an actual time of 33:18 while inform Chris Coulson (Houghton), another athlete still in the junior ranks, defied the five minute handicap to finish in ninth place with the fastest actual time of the day of 31:11.
Second quickest was Jarlath McKenna (Tyne Bridge) with 31:25 with
Dixon next best with his 32:39. With two of the region’s younger athletes in
the top three it gives the North East lots to shout about over the coming
months. There were 572 finishers with Durham City the early pacemakers at the
head of Division One ahead of near neighbours Elvet Striders in second place with
North Shields Poly third; in Division Two Low Fell set the pace ahead of
Houghton and Heaton while Gosforth lead the way in Division Three from South
Shields and Sunderland Strollers.
SENIOR WOMEN – four miles
MAKING her senior debut
proved not a problem for Houghton’s Anna Pigford who led throughout to win
comfortably in 25:57, from Heaton’s Jo Woodcock and Durham City’s Katie Iliffe,
the latter running from a 2:30 handicap. Fastest on the course was Morpeth’s Catriona
MacDonald who managed to work her way through the 465-strong field to finish in
ninth place in an actual time of 23:43. Second quickest was Gateshead’s Shona
Haston (24:33) with Morpeth’s Jane Hodgson next best with 24:41. North Shields
Poly head Division One from Durham City and Jesmond Joggers; Claremont lead
Division Two from Washington and Sunderland while Derwent Valley RC head near
neighbours Blaydon in Division Three with Blyth in third place.
**A HUGE thanks to Saltwell
Harriers for hosting an excellent event; to all the club’s marshals who
stirred on the fast and not so fast; to the First Aid crew who unfortunately
had their work cut out throughout the day and to all the technical officials
who were at their posts throughout the day. A special word of thanks to the HL
treasurer Alan Elders who has taken up the reins as the chip timing supremo,
thankfully his baptism went off relatively smoothly!
BILL McGUIRK
