THE region’s indoor enthusiasts made a beeline for the Northern two-day senior, junior and under-17 Championships in Sheffield with many returning home as proud medallists. On the opening day Gateshead duo Leighton Barber and Joy Eze both topped the podium in their respective under-20 60 metres final. Barber, a former North Shields Poly athlete, recorded an impressive 6.92secs while World Junior representative, Eze, in her first outing of the winter, was equally stunning to claim gold in 7.37s, which was a shade quicker than the senior women’s championship gold medallist. To give the Tyneside club’s supporters plenty to cheer about, Beni Ayuk finished in third place behind Barber in a new pb of 7:12s – team-mate Joshua Hickson also made the final and finished in eighth place in 7.25s - and it was a similar situation in the female race where Susan Folorunso also produced a pb of 7.68s to claim the bronze award. English Schools’ multi-event champion and international, Luke Pichler, came almighty close to joining the Gateshead pair on the top of the podium despite producing two new lifetime bests in the 60m hurdles and long jump. Competing in the under-17 section Pichler recorded 8.50s in the 60m hurdles before putting a mark in the sand at 6:44m which was the same distance as Regan Corrin of the Isle of Man with the result determined on countback leaving the Blyth athlete in second place. There were silver medals for Birtley’s Chris Perkins in the Under-20 1500m (4:00.11) and for Darlington’s Charlotte Rutter in the senior women’s 60m hurdles (9.14s). Bronze awards went to Gateshead’s Shona Haston in the senior women’s 1,500m (4:47.71) – Jarrow and Hebburn’s Alexis Dodd was fourth in 4:50.00 – Tynedale’s Jess Sails was third in the under-20 1500m in 5:00.48; Middlesbrough Mandale’s Charlotte Kelsey was third in the under-20 400m (58.45s); Morpeth’s Charlotte Earl was third in the under-20 triple jump (11:32m); Blyth’s Sadie Parker was third in the under-17 long jump (5:46m) and Ashley Watson (Hartlepool) was third in the under-20 60m hurdles in 8:91s. A not so-strong turnout from the region on the second day of the championships but nevertheless those that travelled to Yorkshire still did the North East proud. Chris Perkins earned his second silver medal of the championships adding the 3,000m to the 1500m from the previous day in recording 8:51.51 while in the same under-20 age group, Hartlepool’s Scott Temple claimed the runner-up award in the 800m after clocking 1:56.18. There were bronze medals for Middlesbrough’s Eden Creasey in the under-17 800m (2:13.93); for North Shields Poly’s Jackie Penn in the senior 3,000m (10:14.27) and for her Poly team-mate Anna Fitzpatrick who cleared 1:63m for third place in the under-20 high jump. There were many more notable and pb performances throughout the two-days of competition which is commendable considering the lack of top-class facilities here in the North East so, to everyone who competed, you may not have made it onto the podium but hopefully, you enjoyed the experience of lining up in a major championship. Well done. |
AuthorBill McGuirk is the North East's top athletics correspondent. NECAA Chairman and official, Bill can be found at all local athletics events supporting the sport he loves. Archives
January 2023
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