Northern Athletics Indoor Championships,
English Institute of Sport Stadium, Sheffield,
Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th January 2020
With well over 500 individuals entered the Northern Athletics indoor championships promised its usual high level of competition with many athletes using it as a springboard for the major national & international events to come later in 2020. As usual the impressive English Institute of Sport indoor arena played host to the event and a good cross section of runners, jumpers & throwers from Kingston upon Hull AC made the journey down the M18 to test out their winter preparations in what proved to be a successful weekend for many of the area’s leading performers. Kingston athletes, won a total of 10 medals, over the course of the weekend.
Andrew Morgan-Harrison, took the under 23’s 200 metres gold medal, and the 60 metres silver, Shaun Kerry was the gold medallist, in the under 20’s 6kg shot, and he also took the bronze, in the senior men’s 7.26 kg shot. Archie Yeo, was the gold medallist, in the under 20 men’s long jump. Holly Adams took the gold medal, in the under 17 women’s shot final, with her season’s best throw of 13.02 metres, the medal will sit well, along side, the shot gold she won at, the 2019 Northern track & field Championships. Jodie Martin, took the silver medal, in the under 20 women’s 400 metres. Clare Blunt, was the silver medallist, in the senior women’s pole vault, picking up the twelfth Northern Championships medal, of her career. David Morgan-Harrison, took two bronze medals, in the under 20 men’s 60 metres, and the under 20 men’s 200 metres finals. Adam Coles, was the bronze medallist, in the under 20 men’s 60 metre hurdles final.
17 year old Jodie Martin has focused her attention on the indoor circuit for the first time this winter despite having achieved considerable success at both cross country and road running in previous years. She opted for the under 20 400m championship after having made her debut at the distance at the same venue in a low-key meeting just before Christmas. With only the winner of each heat guaranteed a place in the final Jodie’s tactical awareness gained from her 800m running came into play and after tracking the early leader, 2019 English School’s Championship finalist Holly Murray (Stockport) took up the running with 150m to go to cross the line in first place in 57.51 sec – a new club record, 0.04 seconds quicker than that set in 2017 by Amelia Robinson. Lining up in the final later in the afternoon an even bigger challenge emerged in the shape of another Stockport athlete, Great Britain junior international Natasha Harrison, a sub 54 second performer last season. Unsurprisingly Harrison led the race from the gun closely followed by Liverpool’s Steph Driscoll – 1 400m hurdles specialist – with Jodie running well in third spot. In one of the tightest races of the day the order remained unchanged until about 30 metres from home when Jodie moved through to snatch the silver medal smashing her 2 hour old club record by a huge margin with a time of 56.76. 19 year old Harrison retained her title with a time of 56.42 sec while Driscoll took the bronze medal in 56.89 sec.
Adam Coles went into the under 20, 60m hurdles as the reigning champion, having taken the title by just 0.03 sec in 2019. With a series of niggling injuries having hampered his preparations in his new training environment in Leeds where he is now studying Adam knew that holding on to his title would take an outstanding performance with long-time rival Oliver Dakin (Chesterfield) lining up against him. A bad start gave the rest of the field an early advantage which despite his best efforts the lack of technical work went against him and Adam had to be satisfied with a bronze medal – his time of 8.86 sec being a season’s best and just enough to grab a place on the podium ahead of Gateshead Harrier’s Oliver Lewis with a photo finish being required to separate the pair by only a few thousandths of a second! A personal best of 8.57 sec gave Dakin the title with David Naylor (Crewe & Nantwich) taking silver in 8.76 sec. Adam then moved to the sand pit, firstly contesting the triple jump where another season’s best of 12.57m brought him a creditable 5th place in what is still a new event for the 18 year old all-rounder. The following day saw Adam take on a strong field in the long jump. Club mate & under 17 champion from 2019 Archie Yeo opened his season’s campaign with a 6.90m leap to take the title while Adam although struggling for consistency also went over 6 metres, his 6.10m leap giving him 6th place to end a busy weekend for the former Wyke College student.
Daisy Logan took on the sprint double of 60m & 200m in the under 17 age group. Large fields necessitated semi-finals being run and Daisy did well reaching that stage in both events. She clocked 8.15 sec to gain automatic qualification in her heat of the 60m and followed this up with an 8.16 sec clocking for 5th in her semi-final. Both races were won by last season’s English School’s champion Joy Eze (Gateshead Harriers) who went on to comfortably take gold in the final in 7.54 sec – faster than the winner of the senior 60m title. Daisy also gained automatic qualification from her heat of the 200m clocking her second fastest ever indoor time of 26.68 sec. Unfortunately she couldn’t quite match this in her semi-final and a 4th place finish behind the eventual champion Success Eduan (Sale Harriers Manchester) meant an end to her weekend’s competition.
Amelia Proctor is experiencing indoor competition for the first time this season after having previously enjoyed success outdoors at county and area level over distances ranging from 100m to 300m. Her first event in Sheffield was the under 17 300m where she just missed out on an automatic qualification for the semi-final. However her 3rd place time of 43.57 sec was sufficient to gain her one of the fastest loser slots and she proceeded to finish 6th in her semi-final in 44.38 sec. The following day Amelia returned for the 200m where she also made the semi-final after finishing in third place in her heat with a time of 27.46 sec. Her time of 28.24 sec brought her home in 5th place, not quite enough to give her a place in the final.
Andrew Morgan-Harrison, saw his first action, of the weekend, in Saturday’s 60 metres sprints competition. He was drawn in the first of the heats, where was the race winner, running a new PB of 6.85 sec shaving 0.06 sec, off his old best. He was drawn in the second of the semi finals, where he was the winner of the race, running a new PB, of 6.84 sec, shaving 0.01 sec, off his heat time. The 60 metres final, saw a mighty tussle, between Andrew, and James Williams, of Liverpool Harriers, both sprinters were neck and neck, and crossed the line together, both running the same time, of 6.79 sec. The official result saw the Liverpool athlete awarded the gold medal. With Andrew, taking the silver medal.
Joe Cooper, also competed in Saturday’s 60 metres sprints. He was drawn to run in heat 4, where he took a 4th place finish, running his season’s best time of 7.16 sec, which gained him qualification, to run in the second of the semi-final races. He took a 5th place finish, in the semi, running a new season’s best time, of 7.08 sec, but missed the cut for the final.
Sunday’s, competition, saw Andrew Morgan-Harrison back on the track, in the senior men’s 200 metres sprints. He was drawn in heat 2, and got off to a good start, winning the race, running a time of 22.14 sec, moving forward confidently, into the first of the semi finals, He was the winner of the race, qualifying for the final, with his run of 22.31 sec. In the 200 metre final, he took the gold medal, running a new PB of 20.95 sec, slashing 0.24 sec, off his old time.
David Morgan-Harrison, was also in competition, on both days of the championships. Day one, saw him begin, his 60 metres sprints campaign in the under 20 men’s event. in the first round, he was drawn in heat 2, where he was the winner of race, running a new PB of 7.18 sec, shaving one hundredth off his old time, and qualifying for the semis, where he ran he ran in the second semi final, taking a 2nd place finish, running another new PB of 7.11 sec an improvement, of 6 hundredths, on his heat time, securing a place in the final, where he took the bronze medal, posting a time of 7.12.sec. On to Sunday, and the under 20 men’s 200 metres competition, he was drawn, in heat 4, where he was the winner of the race, running his season’s best time of 23.14 sec. He qualified for semi final 2, taking a 2nd place finish, running a new season’s best time of 23.08 sec, to qualify for the final, where he ran, another new season’s best time of 22.66 sec, securing the bronze medal, his second of the weekend.
Archie Yeo, who is currently ranked no.8 UK, won his 4th consecutive, Northern indoor, long jump gold medal, at this Championship meeting, where he put in his season’s best jump of 6.90 metres.
Shaun Kerry, was in competition, on both the day’s, of the championship meeting. Saturday saw him, in the throwing circle, competing in the under 20 men’s, 6kg shot putt, where he took the gold medal, throwing a new PB of 14.32 metres, an improvement of 20cm. On the Sunday, he was in further action, this time in the senior men’s 7.26kg shot, where he was the bronze medallist, throwing a new PB of 13.07 metres, 66 centimetres beyond his old best.
Tijesu Akeredolu, was in action in the senior men’s 60 metres hurdles final, where he took a 4th place finish, running a new PB of 8.90 sec, shaving 5 hundredths off his old mark.
Combined eventer, Oliver Adnitt, was in action in three competitions. all of which took place on the Saturday. In the under 17 men’s, 60 metres hurdles, he was drawn in the first heat, where he took 4th place in the race, and established a PB of 9.17 sec, and qualified for the final, where he took an 8th place finish, with his run of 9.37 sec. He was also in action, in both the long jump and triple jump finals, taking 12th spot in the long jump, leaping to a new PB of 5.55 metres, 23cm beyond his old best. In the triple jump final he took 6th place, and established a PB of 10.91 metres. Jack Singleton, was also in competition, in the under 17 men’s 60 metres hurdles, he ran in heat 2, taking a 3rd place finish, with his season’s best run of 9.36 sec, but missed the cut for the final.
Emily Dye, ran in the under 20 women’s, 60 metres competition, drawn in heat 2, she took a 7th place finish, running a new PB of 8.48 sec, taking 0.12 sec, off her old best. She was also in action, in the under 20 women’s long jump final, taking 10th place, with her season’s best leap of 4.88 metres. Alanah Thoresby, also ran in the under 20 women’s, 60 metre heats, she went in heat 1, taking a 7th place finish, running her season’s best time of 8.54 sec.
Gabriel Li La-Vigars, was in competition in two events, the under 17 men’s 60 metres, and the long jump final. Drawn in heat 2 of the 60 metre sprints, he took an 8th place finish, running a new PB of 8.21 sec, taking 0.13 sec, off his old best mark.
