AROUND the time Calum Johnson was crossing the line after ploughing through the mud to claim the National Cross-Country title fellow Gateshead athlete Joy Eze was also celebrating after winning the under-17 60 metres contest at the English Indoor Championships in the warmth of the English Institute of Sport Arena in Sheffield.
Joy, the reigning Scottish and Northern 60m champion, had something to prove after being disqualified in the same final last year and she showed that she had no intention of that happening again. Joy glided through her heat as the fastest qualifier (7.69secs) but had to survive two false starts by her rivals to win a nervy semi-final in commanding style (7.59secs).
Racing against the top-five ranked performers in the UK in the final, including the UK and European leading performer, Joy produced a superb performance to maintain her 100% indoor record and in doing so lifting her first National Indoor title in a new personal best of 7.51secs.
Joy, of course, wasn’t the only athlete from the region to finish top of the podium with no less than another three claiming victory over the two-day championships.
Despite the lack of indoor facilities in the North East two of the region’s middle distance runners left the Yorkshire venue with gold medals round their necks. Houghton’s Henry Johnson, who mixes running on the boards with outings over the country, won a slow, tactical under-17 men’s 1500 metres in 3min 57.94s to add to his runners-up silver medal from the Northern Championships held the previous month at the same venue.
The under-17 women’s 1500 metres was also a straight final and it proved benefical to Chester-le-Street’s Lucy Scothern who was having her first indoor outing in three years. Once again it was a tactical affair but Lucy managed to win comfortably by over a second in 4:50.86, a time well outside her pb of 4:35.87.
The final athlete from the region to top the podium was Gateshead’s Jack Halpin, the current Northern and North Eastern Counties champion. Jack left it late to take control of a hotly-contested shot put event. Behind his season’s best efforts, Jack kept all his supporters on tenter-hooks until the fifth round, where he re-established his dominance, heaving the shot beyond 15 metres to take the lead. He then settled everyone’s nerves in the final round when he powered ahead of the early leader with a put of 15.74m to consolidate his gold medal winning performance and improve on his silver medal from last year.
While it’s always nice to report on athletes from the region claiming national titles it’s great to see so many gaining experience at the highest level away from home.
In the under-15 girls 60mHannah Buckton (Gateshead) in her first year in the age group rubbed shoulders with the best in the UK and performed well running  8.42secs in her heat while in the same age group the North Eastern and Northern Champion, Joel Brown King also of Gateshead, looked at home at this level finishing second in his heat in 7.48secs but couldn’t quite repeat that performance in the semi-finals in clocking 7.62secs.
In the under-17 women’s 60m Darcey Garbutt, a Scottish and Northern finalist, flew to a new personal best in the heats clocking 7.90secs. This proved her best of the day as she went out of the competition in a very high-quality semi-final. Darcey also lined up in the 200m and was rewarded with a time of 26.28secs while North Shields Poly’s Stella Perrett clocked 26.32secs in her heat of the 200m. Ashley Watson (Hartlepool Youth) gained much valuable experience when recording 8.32secs in the heats.
Matthew Lumb, the Scottish and North Eastern under-17 60m qualified comfortably from the heats after recording 7.24secs. Unfortunately the Gateshead athlete picked up a hamstring injury in the semi-final which resulted in him missing out on a place in the final.
In the under-20 women’s 60m Gateshead’s newest recruit, North Eastern champion, Rachel  Bennet, achieved a new lifetime best of 7.6 secs in qualifying for the final where she achieved a very creditable fifth place. North Shields Poly also had two under-20s in the 60m with Lucy Errington and Jessica Lively going out in the heats despite clocking 8.26secs and 8.24secs respectively.
Gateshead had four athletes contesting hurdle events with Hannah Buckton lining up in the under-15 girls race where she reached the semi-final after recording 9.82secs.  
In the under-17 men’s championship Arron Lillistone, the North East champion and record holder, locked horns with the country’s best hurdlers and can be delighted with his efforts. He battled hard to run near his personal best of 8.36secs in making it through to the semi-final where a 8.40 secs performance ensured a final appearance. Aaron rose to the challenge and finished in sixth place
In the women’s under-17 event Philippa Ellis, the North East Champion, unfortunately bowed out of the heats after catching the first flight after an excellent start. Her Indoor campaign continues with the Multi-events National Championships in March. However, both Amy Lott (Morpeth) and Darlington’s Charlotte Rutter both made the final, Amy just missing out on a podium spot finishing in fifth place in 8.86secs after posting a pb of 8.80secs in the heats while Charlotte crossed the line in eighth position recording 8.93secs, a fraction slower than her new pb of 8.85secs she ran in the semi-final. Tynedale’s Kate Smith just failed to join them after finishing fourth place in the semi-final in 8.90secs.
Oliver Lewis, the North Eastern under-20 champion, acquitted himself well achieving a season’s best of 8.90sec in a quality heat. He will now turn his attention to the Scottish Championships next month.
Former Morpeth athlete Andrew Knight, now based in the south finished runner-up in the under-20 men’s shot put, his best effort being 17:66 metres. 

AFTER deliberating for nearly three hours, the county selectors have named strong squads for the UK CAU Inter-Counties Cross-Country Championships on Saturday, March 4 which return to Pretswold Hall, Loughborough once again.
 Twelve months ago the North East had two individual champions in Wallsend’s Sam Charlton and Darlington’s India Pentland and both will don a county vest once again albeit in an older age group.
As well as celebrating two gold medallists the region also had a silver medallist- Rory Leonard (Morpeth) – and a bronze medallist in Middlesbrough Mandale’s Josh Cowperthwaite.
However, while it’s not all about making it onto the podium, it will be great experience for many who will be making their county debut.
Team managers’ Stewy Bell and Lynn Cooper are cautiously optimistic on how their charges will perform on the big stage though many of the senior athletes have experienced the Inter-Counties on numerous occasions.
Bell, a NE representative many times, had this to say after the teams were finalised: ‘’It’s a great honour to represent your county in, what I believe is the major cross-country championships of the year. While we have a strong senior men’s squad with Carl Avery and Calum Johnson, the NE and Northern champions respectively, leading the way it’s to the younger age groups who I think have the best chance of success.’’
Women’s team manager Cooper was equally excited about the prospect of seeing the region’s top youngsters perform against the best athletes in the country. ‘Enjoying the experience is vitally important which, of course, could be the stepping stone for greater things in the future,’’ said Lynn. ‘’We have some very talented young athletes in the North East and lining up in the Inter-Counties is invaluable if they want to go on and achieve greater things.’’
The senior women’s team has a good chance of also making it onto the podium with seasoned international Kate Avery (Shildon) currently heading the UK Cross Challenge and she will be joined in the team by NE champion Sonia Samuels (Sale)  and former Elswick athlete Philippa Williams who now competes for Sheffield AC and will be making her NE senior debut. 
*Would-be spectators are more than welcome to make the trip and support the teams. There is an overnight stay leaving Newcastle at 5pm on Friday while a second coach sets of from Newcastle on Saturday morning at 6.30am. Both coaches have pick-up points on the A1 corridor. The price of travel is £10. Anyone interested please get in touch with either Stewy Bell or Lynn Cooper.
 
HOW THE NORTH EASTERN COUNTIES WILL LINE UP
SENIOR WOMEN (10,000m): Sonia Samuels (Sale), Philippa Stone (Midd/Mand), Catirina McDonald (Morp), Kate Avery (Shild), Philippa Williams (Sheff), Danielle Smythe (Heat), Georgia Campbell (J&H), Amy Fuller (Elsw) and Hannah Plaschkes (Darl).
JUNIOR WOMEN (6,000m): Chloe Wellings and Amy Baker (both Gates), Eva Hardie (Hough), Laura Havis (Midd/Mand), India Pentland (Darl), Eve Sothern (Birt), Abigail Anderson (Birt) and Eve Quinn (Sund).
UNDER-17 WOMEN (5,000m): Emily Chong (Ch-le-St), Ines Curran (Gates), Tess Graham (Birt), Anna Pigford and Amy Leonard (both Hough), Holly Peck (Morp), Cecelia Reid (Blay) and Kate Salthouse (Tyned).
UNDER-15 GIRLS (4,000m): Katie Francis (Birt), Elle van der Mere and Holly Waugh (both NSP), Millie Breese (Alnw), Lucy Scothern (Ch-le-St), Erin Keeler-Clarke (Hough), Abigail Leiper (Morp) and Marissa Boon (Darl).
UNDER-13 GIRLS (3,000m): Zara Jones (Darl), Sophie Quinn (BillMHse), Eden Creasey (Midd/Mand), Charlotte Dillon (DurC), Poppy Old and Poppy Wilde (both Elsw), Annabel Milburn (Gate) and Annie Hutchinson (Gosf).
SENIOR MEN (10,000m): Carl Avery and Alex Brown (both Morp), Calum Johnson (Gate), Jack Willis and Greg Jayasurya (both M&C), Carl Smith (TyneBr), Cameron Allan (Hough), David Green (NSP) and Kieran Walker (Midd/Mand).
JUNIOR MEN (8,000m): Charlie McMillan (Gate), Sam Charlton (Walls), Daniel Dixon, Daniel Melling and Ross Charlton (all Morp), Josh Cowperthwaite, Jake Creasey and Daniel Currie (all Mid/Mand).
UNDER-17 MEN (6,000m): Archie Lowe (Midd/Mand), Henry Johnson and Will Bellamy (Both Hough), Rowan Bennett and Dylan Gooding (both Morp), Ethan McGlen and Charlie Daley (both Gate) and John Russell (Darl).
UNDER-15 BOYS (4,000m): Chris Perkins (Birt), Josh Blevins, Oliver Douglas and Zak Old (all NSP), Joe Dixon and Ryan Davies (both Morp), Will Collinson (Blay) and Tom Slane (BhillBnds).
UNDER-13 BOYS (3,000m): Alex Bowyer and Harry Lyons (both Darl), Theo Dragio and MatthewDas (both Gate), Zac Brannon (NSP), Matthew Downs (NewMsk), Ethan Marron (Midd/Mand) and Oliver Tomlinson (Morp). 

FOLLOWING on from a hugely successful Scottish Indoor Championships were North East athletes returned triumphant after trawling a large number of medals it was the turn of the multi-eventers to take their chance in Glasgow’s Emirates Arena.
Just five of the region’s youngsters made the trip but, once again, there was plenty to celebrate as two of those competitors came out on top in their respective pentathlon.
And it was something special in the under-13 contest where North Shields Poly’s Emily Bond not only scooped up the gold medal but her total of 2,968 points is a UK All-time record for an indoor pentathlon in her age group!
That didn’t really come as a surprise however, for Emily was in sparkling form throughout the day as she set new pbs in all five disciplines with two of those, the 60m hurdles and high jump, moving her to lead this year’s Individual rankings, with her 60m hurdles time also taking to the top of the all-time rankings.
Emily’s excellent day’s workload was: 800m, 2:33.84; 60m hurdles, 9.43s; HJ, 1:50m; LJ, 4:78m; Shot, 7:68m.
The North East’s second gold medal came in the under-15 girls section which saw four of the region’s athletes taking part and, just like the younger age group the newly-crowned champion, Gateshead’s Georgina Mabbutt produced life-time bests in all five disciplines.
In the 800m, Georgina posted a time of 2:29.66; she recorded 9.43s in the 60m hurdles; a clearance of 1:49m gave her good points in the high jump as did her long jump effort of 4:97m and her shot put mark of 9:49m which gave her a total of 3,176 points, over 150 points clear of her nearest rival.
Rebecca Harrison can really claim to be an all-round athlete for, before embarking on her pentathlon journey, the South Shields Harrier had finished 128th in the Northern Cross-country Championships in Bedale.
Rebecca showed no signs of wariness as she finished in 11th place (2,238pts) while setting four new pbs in the 800m (2:40.81); 60m hurdles (10.48s); long jump (4:07m); and the shot (6:08m).
Blaydon’s Jessica Doyle finished on 2,153 points for 13th place after setting a new pb of 2:15.3 in the 800m while Jarrow and Hebburn’s Grace Arthur scored 1,979 points for 21st place despite failing to finish in the 800m. Grace did, however, have some compensation for she set a new pb of 10:36s in the hurdles phase.
The North East had two representatives in the under-17 women’s pentathlon, Darlington’s Charlotte Rutter and Lily Cassidy of Gateshead and it was Charlotte who came closest to making it onto the podium where she had to settle for fourth place after accumulating 3,059 points just nine points adrift of the bronze medal winner. Charlotte did have the consolation of setting two new pbs, a clearance of 1:51m in the high jump and a put of 5:09m in the shot phase.
Lily, meanwhile, finished in 20th position after totalling 2,213 points and she was rewarded with a 60m hurdles pb of 10:49s.
Once again superb results for the region’s youngsters and their coaches which augurs well for the future.

THE region’s youngest competitors – under-13 and under-15 – were in superb form at the Northern Athletics Indoor Championships in Sheffield.
 No less than 10 medals – six gold, four silver and one bronze – were plundered together with a host of athletes setting new pbs, making it a great day, not just for the athletes but for the many parents and coaches who travelled to the Yorkshire venue.

Pride of place has to be the under-13 girls 60m final where Blyth Running Club supporters celebrated wildly when they saw their athletes’ race to a superb one-two finish. Victory went to Millie Wilkinson in 8.33s – she had posted a pb even quicker of 8.31s in the heats – with team-mate Maya Ellen Turner claiming the silver medal in 8.38s after running a new pb of 8.35s in the heats. Just to show the all-round strength of sprinting in this age group, North Shields Poly’s Millie Baker just failed to take her place in the final after clocking a pb of 9.02s in the early rounds. Later in the day Millie had another reason to be excited when producing a season’s best of 4:93m in the shot put.

Still with the under-13 girls, it was another top-of-the-podium finish for a Blyth athlete in the 200m. Once again the East Northumberland club had two athletes in the final and it was Hannah Wilson who claimed the gold medal after posting a new life-time best of 27.05s. Team-mate Sadie Parker finished in fifth place in 29.28s, in what was her slowest time of the three rounds having posted 28.83s in the heats and 28.91s in the semi-final. Abigail Huntly recorded a PB in her heat, and also contested the high jump where the Blyth athlete finished in fifth place with a season’s best clearance of 1:30m. In the shot put competition Alnwick’s Leila Thompson missed out on the gold medal by a matter of just four centimetres after posting a new pb of 9:35m, victory going to Wirral AC’s Zara Ogedengbe.

The North East had only one medallist in the under-15 girls section with Gateshead’s Lexi Ellis finishing runner-up in the shot put contest with a put of 9:93m after having posted a season’s best of 10:03m in the qualifying rounds.

Despite picking up the solitary medal there were numerous pbs on show. In the 60m, Tynedale’s Katherine Bell finished sixth in the final in a time of 8.40s after recording a pb of 8.29s in the earlier rounds and there were pbs for Gateshead’s Fawzie Obeyele (8.74s) and Durham City’s Lucy Aston (8.80s). Katherine also lined up in the long jump where she put a mark in the sand at a season’s best 4:27m.

In the 200m Darlington’s Kate Williams just missed out for a run in the final after posting a season’s best of 27.26s. There were new pbs for Gateshead trio Fawzie Obeyele (30.37s), Madeleine Liddell (27.63s) and Charlie Watson (30.09s).

In the 800m Chester-le-Street’s Ella Jones ran a pb of 2:37.0 while there was a season’s best for Katie Joslyn (North Shields Poly) of 2:33.33. Hannah Buckton (Gateshead) made it through to the final of the 60m hurdles where she finished in sixth place in a new pb of 9.85s.

In the under-15 boys section, there were two top podium places for Gateshead athletes with Joel Brown-King claiming the 60m sprint gold medal and Thomas Mann doing likewise in the shot competition. Joel posted a new pb of 7.44s while Thomas’s winning put of 10:80m was a season’s best. Birtley’s Fynn Errington also contested the shot finishing in sixth place with a. season’s best of 8:25m.
 
In the 800m, Gosforth’s Ethan Bond finished fourth in the final in 2:10.83 while Blyth’s Connor Taggart posted a pb of 2:21.34 in the heats. Connor set a second pb in the long jump with a leap of 4:39m. Also, in the long jump Connor’s team-mates Joshua Crisp and Chris Bradley-Njai both had season’s bests of 4:84m and 2:43m respectively.

In the under-13 boys section only two competitors took their place in the shot put contest and they were both from the North East! The gold medal was won by Birtley’s Joe Perkins with a new pb put of 8:86m while Blyth’s Luke Pilcher posted a season’s best of 7:47m to claim the silver medal. It was a busy day for the Blyth athlete who also set a new pb of 28.94s for fourth place in the 200m after finishing seventh in the long jump with a leap of 4:21m.

The region’s final medal came in the 60 metres when Gateshead’s Matthew Inman claimed a superb third place in a time of 8.41s.
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*The majority of the young athletes who competed in Sheffield will be in action at the North East Counties Championships at Gateshead on Saturday/Sunday, February 15/16 with spectators welcome.