Darlington Harriers
Sprinters excel at Gateshead
Harriers' junior athletes put in some great performances at the North-Eastern Counties AA Indoor Championships at Gateshead last weekend.
The sprinters were in particularly good form, with Faye Bowles winning the U-17 women's 60m A final in 7.98 secs, with Lorna Goldsmith second (8.13 secs). Kate Blaylock was second in the B final, recording 8.32 secs and was also runner-up in the 60m hurdles.
Harry Harris won the U-17 men's 60m with 7.30 secs, Paul Jefferson finishing sixth in 7.60 secs. And Joe Kiribige won the U-20 men's 60m final in 7.10 secs.
Jemma Archbold, competing in her first-ever championship, qualified for the final of the U-13 girls' 60m. She finished sixth in 9.10 secs, which was down on her PB of 8.7 secs but still a fine achievement for an U-11 competing in the older age group.
Tara Kennedy also had a successful championships, winning the U-20 women's long jump in 5.01m and finishing second in the high jump after clearing a height of 1.55m. Sister Leah was sixth in the U-17 women's long jump.
In the penultimate minor athletes grand prix meeting at Monkton Stadium, Jemma Archbold resumed her keen rivalry with Stephanie Addison. The girls were tied on 24 points going into this event and both qualified quite comfortably for the 60m final, Jemma running 9.1 secs to Stephanie's 9.0.
The final was a repeat of last month's meeting with Jemma winning in a time of 8.7 secs, equalling her PB. Stephanie was just a tenth of a second behind.
In the longer distance race of 600m, it was close with just 1.3 seconds separating the first four. Steph was second in 2:20.1 and Jemma was third in 2:20.2. This was nearly eight seconds down on the times the pair ran last month.
Jemma, however, had been off colour for two weeks with a chest infection and was always going to struggle in the longer race. The pair are still tied on points with 36 apiece.
However, Jemma has three wins to her name compared to Stephanie's one.
Meanwhile, the club's cross-country enthusiasts travelled to Whitby for the fifth round of the North Yorkshire and South Durham Harrier League. A strong wind was blowing across the hilltop course at Caedmon School, but thankfully the rain held off.
The organisation by Whitby and Loftus AC was excellent, with a particularly good selection of after-race cakes in the café. So it was disappointing to see low race numbers.
Rosie Clark and Beth Ward are NYSD cross-country regulars, however, and both ran well in the U-15 girls race, finishing seventh and 12th respectively. Francesco McNeilly was sole Harrier in the U-13 boys race, finishing in 12th place, and Fiona Dewar flew the flag in the U-13 girls race, finishing eighth.
Harriers were down to five senior men for their three-lap race of around 9kms. Graham Bell was first home for the club in 43rd place, followed by Nigel Wilkinson in 49th position. Kevin Grainger was 55th, Geoff Ward 70th and John Brant 87th.
Sue Philips was the only Harrier in the senior women's race, finishing in an excellent eighth place.
Six seniors ran in the Old Monks multi-terrain race at Hartlepool over six miles. Paul Kelly finished 20th in 37 mins 40 secs, followed by Jo Short in 36th place with a time of 40:49.
Brian Hannah was 58th in 44:26, Jeremy Shaw was 70th in 48:49 and Lindsay Ogle was 86th in 50:24. Marion Bynoe was 845th in 53:14.
Jeremy Shaw also competed in the Nine Standards fell race at Kirkby Stephen, finishing in 81st place with a time of 90 mins 46 secs.
This weekend several athletes are taking part in the popular Brass Monkey Half Marathon organised by Knavesmire Harriers at York.
11:56am Wednesday 16th January 2008
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