As the first NEYDL meeting at Whitley Bay was cancelled, this third meeting at Morpeth was to be the final league meeting in this series. It took place on a hot, sunny Saturday 17th of July which, of course, coincided with the first weekend of the school holidays for many, so numbers were depleted slightly compared to the usual turnout. But those who were there competed with the usual spirit and enthusiasm of the Darlington/Allerton team; here’s a rundown on how the day went…..
Under 13 Boys
It was great to see Oscar Fluen back again in what was his first competitive event this year. First up was the 100m as the B-string runner. He won his race comfortably by a margin of nearly 3 seconds in an excellent time of 13.5s, which was only 0.1s behind the fastest U13B today. He was back again later for the long jump with another top performance, taking 2nd place with a best of 3.73m. There were more impressive performances in the 1500m from Rowan Steel and Finn Pentland-Rice. For Rowan, this was his first official 1500m; an increase in distance from his usual 800m. It was a great debut finishing in 3rd place in a time of 5:30.10. Finn wasn’t far behind in 5th place, crossing the line in 5:42.60. Excellent running from two boys who are still in their first year at U13’s. Tomos Cowell was back again for his second NEYDL this season, and he’s showing real progress with his throwing. He tried out the Javelin for the first time and took 5th place with an excellent 11.28m. In the Shot Put he impressed with some excellent throws and was the clear winner with a best of 6.96m. Finally, he smashed his PB in the Discus with a new best of 16.04m for his second win of the day! Well done to all our U13 boys!
Under 13 Girls
Kicking things off for the U13 girls was Chloe Graham in the 70m Hurdles. She was so close to beating her PB last time out, but this time she managed it after an excellent run setting a new PB of 14.9s. In the 100m Chloe was back again, along with DHAC team mate, Elizabeth Clay. Sprinter, Elizabeth, pulled off a terrific performance as the A-string runner; she was just beaten into 2nd place with a new PB of 13.9s (AAA Grade 3.) Chloe continues to improve with her sprinting and produced her second PB of the day. She crossed the line in an excellent 15.7s, an improvement of 1.1s on her previous best! Later, Elizabeth was back again for the 200m. Frustratingly she was just beaten into 2nd place again, but another impressive run dipping over the line in an excellent 30.3s (AAA Grade 4.) Lucy Oliver was in action today, taking on the 800m and the Long Jump. She ran a fabulous 800m as the Darlington/Allerton B-runner, winning her race in an excellent time of 2:42.60; a new PB and actually the same time as the A-string 2nd place which shows what a great time it was! In the long jump she produced her second PB of the day jumping 3.42m taking 1st place B-string and 5th overall. Chloe was back again in the afternoon in the 1500m. Another strong performance from Chloe brought her home in 3rd place overall in a time of 6:24.50. Well done to our three U13 girls!
Elizabeth changes up a gear in the 200m and 4 x 100m relay!
Under 15 Boys
We just had three U15 boys competing today; Thomas Hill, Ashton Harrison and Elwood Kelley, and it was Thomas and Elwood who were up first in the 800m. Although Elwood is a bit of an old hand at the 800m, this was his first attempt at the distance this season, but it didn’t show. He ran with the old confidence that we’ve seen many a time before, and he crossed the line with a new PB of 2:20.20 to take 3rd place overall (1st B-string.) For Thomas, who’s turning into a bit of an all-rounder, this was his first official 800m. He ran very well considering this was his debut and clocked a time of 2:36.70; a great effort and something to aim for next time! He was back again in the 100m where he finished as the 4th B-string after some excellent sprinting and a new PB of 14.3s. For his third event of the the day, he was joined by Ashton in the Long Jump. On the back of his recent appearance at the English Schools finals, Ashton’s confidence was high so he was hoping for a good result today, which of course, was realised. He smashed his PB with a jump of 4.76m; an improvement of 45cm and enough to take 2nd place. Thomas also jumped well and took 2nd place B-string, with a best of 4.18m, just a few centimetres off his PB. Towards the end of the day, old team mates Ashton and Elwood were up against each other in the 300m. For Elwood, this was his first crack at this difficult to master distance ; Ashton had one 300m race under his belt before today so he knew what to expect! The two boys couldn’t have been closer, taking it to the line with Elwood finishing 2nd in 42.9s and Ashton in 3rd (1st B-string) with a new PB of 43.2s. Overall, a terrific performance from all three, well done lads!
Under 15 Girls
Tori Buckley got things off to a cracking start for the U15 girls in the 75m Hurdles. She’s been getting quicker and quicker over the jumps as she continues to refine her technique, and today Buckers knocked another 0.6s off her PB! She crossed the line in 12.6s (AAA Grade 3) to take 3rd place A-string, 4th overall. Onto the straight sprints and it was great to see Jessica Sweet back again for her third NEYDL. Like Tori, Jess has continued to improve as the season’s progressed and once again we found her at her best. She had a terrific run setting a new PB of 12.8s (AAA Grade 2) to take 4th place, which was actually the same time as 3rd place! Jess returned for her first ever 200m along with Ruby Diment who was making her debut for DHAC today. There was some top sprinting from the girls against some tough competition with Jess taking 3rd place A-string in a time of 27.4s (AAA Grade 4), and Ruby finishing as 4th place B-string in 31.1s. Tori took to the track for the 300m for the second time this season. Once again she showed great strength and stamina, improving her previous best by 1.3s; she finished as 3rd place A-string with a new PB of 45.6s (AAA Grade 4.) Libby Hammond was our only U15G middle distance runner today, taking on the 1500m. It was a small field of 6 athletes, and Libby produced another impressive performance, finishing as 1st place B-string, 3rd overall, in an excellent time of 5:25.50. Onto the field events and Jess was back again for her third event of the day, the Long Jump. She produced another impressive performance finishing as 3rd place A-string, 4th overall, with a new PB of 4.19m. Tori was in action once again, this time in the Javelin, and as usual put in some excellent throws. Her best today was 23.07m which was enough to take 3rd place A-string, 4th overall from a field of 10 throwers. New member, Ruby Birkett was back again for her second NEYDL of the season; once again she focussing on her throwing, taking part in the Discus and the Shot Put. In the Discuss she had a fantastic competition finishing as 2nd place A-string, 3rd overall, throwing a new PB of 14.9m. In the shot she was joined by debutant and namesake, Ruby Dimet. Both girls performed really well with Ruby D finishing in 8th place, just ahead of Ruby B not far behind in 10th, the girls throwing 6.91m and 6.63m respectively. Some great athletics from our U15 girls, well done!suerin
Under 17 Girls
Suerin Park was back again for her second NEYDL as well, and produced two very strong runs. First, in the 800m where she finished in 7th place and managed to sneak a new PB of 3:01.5. Then a debut in the 300m saw her take 3rd place, crossing the line in exactly 57.0s. Emily Vest stepped down in distance from her usual 1500m to try her hand at the 800m for the first time this season. This turned out to be a great move; she had a fabulous run, finishing stong in 2nd place with a new PB of 2:33.00! Another top performance came from fellow middle-distance runner, Macy Kelly in the 1500m. She ran with great confidence and determination, looking strong from start to finish; she crossed the finish line as the clear winner with a new PB of 5:02.5! Finally, Krista Bissett-Brown, took on two field events for the first time today; the Javelin and the Shot Put. Could this be an indication that she’s considering combined events? Whatever her reasons she produced a great effort in both disciplines, throwing 14.22m in the Javelin and 6.15m in the Shot. Well done to our fab four U17 girls!
…..and to finish the day off, the 4 x 100m relays. Here’s how our teams got on: –
Under 13 Boys 1st place 60.90s
Under 13 Girls 2nd place 59.20s
Under 15 Boys 3rd place 53.70s
Under 15 Girls 4th place 55.70s
And in the overall team placings, the Darlington/Allerton team finished in 4th place today. A fabulous effort from all who took part and a great result from a depleted team, well done everyone! #UTH!
Full results can be seen at https://necaa.weebly.com/neydl.html