Four of our junior Harriers were selected to take part in the Northern Athletics Inter Counties T&F Championships last weekend.
Emma Hart, Megan Noble, Charlotte Rutter and Darcey Garbutt were representing the North East Counties as part of a team taken from the NECAA clubs of the region.
They were competing against teams from Cumbria, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Humberside, Lincolnshire and Cheshire, with some of the country’s best young athletes; so a day of tough competition lay ahead!
Unbelievably, the heat wave continued, and another blisteringly hot day ensued (not that anyone was complaining!)
It was a fantastic day of athletics for the Under 15 and Under 17 competitors, each trying to gain maximum points for their team.
Under 17 Women’s 800m
There were 12 athletes competing, split into two heats. Megan Noble was in the second heat where she ran an excellent race against some quality athletes, eventually finishing 5th, in a time of 2:35.98.
Great effort, Megan, well done.
Under 17 Women’s 3000m
Again, the 3000m was split into two races. Any distance running is tough in the sweltering heat and today was no exception, but Emma Hart’s made of tough stuff and she managed to finish her race in 2nd place, crossing the line in 11:19.06.
Well done Emma, excellent performance.
Under 17 Women’s High Jump
Although she’s still classed as Under 15, Charlotte Rutter was competing in the older age group in the high jump, but she didn’t let this disadvantage put her off and continued to jump well.
Her best on the day was 1.40m, just 5cm off her PB.
Great effort, Charlotte, well done.
Under 15 Girls 200m
It was an excellent run from Darcy Garbutt in the 200m; not her preferred event (100m) but she finished a commendable 5th in her group.
Not bad considering she was the youngest member of the North East team……and only 0.09s outside her PB with a time of 27.25s.
Great stuff, Darcey, well done!
Under 15 Girls 75m Hurdles
Back in the right age group, Charlotte put in a top performance in the 75m hurdles. In the faster of the two heats she crossed the line in an excellent 4th place, finishing in 11.68s, only 0.28s behind the winner; so that shows how close things were.
Tremendous hurdling, Charlotte, well done!
Bottom: a busy day for Charlotte Rutter as she competes in four events!
Under 15 Girls Long Jump
It was a busy day for Charlotte as she was back in action again in the long jump. This time, she finished a fantastic 3rd in her group, with a best on the day of 4.47m.
Well done Charlotte, a great effort!
Under 15 Girls 4 x 100m Relay
Charlotte and Darcey were joined by Joy Eze (Gateshead Harriers) and Afoma Ofor (Middlesbrough Mandale) to form the 4 x 100m relay team.
On paper they looked like a really strong team with all four of them established sprinters in their own right, but would they work well as a team?
Well, the short answer is a resounding YES!
It was a close finish but they crossed the line in 1st place in a time of 49.88s, which ranks them 5th in the UK.
Tremendous sprinting girls, well done!
A fantastic performance from our four junior girls…..full marks to all!
Their efforts contributed towards the North East Counties finishing in 3rd place overall, only beaten by Yorkshire and Lancashire.
Fantastic stuff!
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