2017 Northern Track & Field Championships

Senior & Under 20 Athletes

‘Sportcity’ Manchester – Saturday 10^th & Sunday 11^th June

The Northern track & field championships the first major championship meeting of the 2017 season for athletes competing throughout the north of England took place over the weekend of the 10^th and 11^th of June at the ‘Sportcity’ stadium which is situated in the Etihad complex in Manchester. Athletes gathered in Manchester from all parts of the north which in athletic terms covers everything from the Scottish border down to Lincoln in the east and to the Welsh border in the west.

Fifteen Kingston athletes travelled across the Pennines over the two days of competition and they brought six medals back home with them five gold’s and a bronze.

The first three gold medals came in the early afternoon on Saturday’s first day of competition and they came in quick succession with Andy Morgan-Harrison storming to victory in the under 20 men’s 100 metres final where he clocked a new PB of 10.78 sec seven hundredths of a second below his previous best in a mighty impressive run. Charlotte Paterson was on next in the under 20 women’s 100 metre final and the old saying ‘anything the men can do’ came into mind as she put a superb run of 11.94 sec together in that style of hers that to the onlooker seems effortless but is so effective. While this and more action was taking place on the track, 19 year old Maggie Okul was out in the hammer circle in her first under 23 action back home in the UK. Her target this time was the senior women’s title, she didn’t quite find her best form but her best throw of the day one of 51.89 metres was enough to win her a 7^th consecutive Northern title having already won 2 gold’s at under 17 level and 4 at under 20.

The other three medals were won in Sunday’s competition which saw Clare Blunt make a successful defence of the title she won at the 2016 Championship event and the multi eventer collected what was her third Northern pole vault gold medal of her career in difficult conditions with swirling gusty winds, Clare had won her first title at the 2013 championships.

Another of the highlights of Sunday’s second day of competition came in the under 20 women’s hammer final where training partners Ollie Stevenson and Alice Barnsdale were both in contention for the medals. The honours on the day went to Ollie whose throw of 51.88 metres won her a 4th Northern hammer gold medal having previously won two at under 15 level and one at under 17 with Alice taking the bronze medal for the second year in succession with her throw of 43.50 metres and Liverpool Harriers Caitlin Price sneaked between the two girls for the silver.

World Masters 4 x 400 World record holder Lawrence Baird competed in the final of Saturday’s 400 metres race where he took a 5^th place finish and ran a time of 51.19 sec.

Another first year under 23 Harry Powell enjoyed a superb 2016/17 cross country season where his form earned him representative selection for the England North team, he was in action on the track in Saturday’s 1500 metres final where his run of 4:04.98 sec saw him take 8^th place in what was a strong field of competitors.

John Twiddle was in competition in three finals over the weekend starting off in the hammer throw on Saturday afternoon where he got close to the medals taking 4^th place with his throw of 39.08 metres later in the day he was in the shot putt circle where his throw of 11.44 metres saw him take 6^th place. Sunday saw John out in the discus circle where another 6^th place finish was taken with a throw 34.37 metres.

Amelia Robinson was in action in the Saturday morning session the County silver medallist was running in the under 20 women’s 400 metres final where she also put in an impressive performance taking 5^th place and recording a new PB of 57.55 sec clipping 0.56 of a second off her old best time.

On Saturday afternoon County discus champion Josh Tranmer was in competition in the under 20 men’s discus final where he put together a consistent set of throws which included a new PB of 42.78 metres a 15 centimetre increase for 4^th place.

Saturday afternoon also saw Baldvin Magnusson running in the under 20 men’s 1500 metres final where his run of 4:08.71 sec saw him get close to the medals finishing the race in 4^th place.

Sprinter Joe Cooper a first year under 23 athlete was in action on both days of competition on the Saturday morning he was drawn in the first of the heats of the 100 metres where he ran a season’s best time of 11.16 sec which was not sufficient to see him progress to the final. On the Sunday he went in the second heat of a very strong 200 metres event where he took 3^rd place and clipped 1.8 seconds off his best time setting a new PB of 22.23 sec but he narrowly missed out on the cut for the final.

Andy Morgan-Harrison began his Sunday campaign in heat 1 of the 200 metres and he made a promising start winning the heat and running a time of 21.82 sec to gain qualification for the final as one of the favourites for the title. He ran in the final but suffered a hamstring problem and was unable to finish the race.

Sunday’s men’s 400 metres hurdles final saw Dan Holiday within touching distance of the medals taking 4^th place with his run of 57.47 sec and Matt Elvidge took 5^th place in the men’s long jump competition with his best jump of the day a distance of 6.11 metres.