Chris just so Perk-y after medal glory at Nationals
JUNIOR ATHLETICS
THE region’s young athletes turned on the style at the England Athletics Indoor Age-Group Championships at Sheffield’s Institute of Sport, writes BILL McGUIRK.
Shot putters Andrew Knight and Jack Halpin topped the podium after seeing off the challenge of their rivals to claim gold medals.
Knight, competing in the under-17 age group, was ranked second in the UK going into the competition behind Lewis Byng.
However, the Paul Reed-coached athlete managed to get the better of his Stratfordupon-Avon rival to take the title with a put of 15:74 metres.
That only added three centimetres to his previous best - set outdoors last September but put him at the top of the UK listings.
Such is the current unbeaten form of the Morpeth athlete, Knight’s national title is his fourth gold medal this year - having topped the podium at the North East Counties, Northern and Scottish Championships.
While Knight may have been the underdog in his age group, the same cannot be said for Halpin - who went into the under-15 contest as the leading contender.
The Alex Giles-trained Gateshead Harrier did not disappoint his supporters and though he was slightly below his best he still managed to BIRTLEY’S Chris Perkins and Teesside’s Archie Lowe were the region’s outstanding performers at the National CrossCountry Championships at Parliament Hill Fields, London.
Competing in the under-13 and under-15 events respectively, both athletes made it on to the podium in bronze-medal position.
Perkins, the North East Counties champion and Northern bronze medallist, produced the run of his life to make it to the presentation ceremony.
After a good start, Perkins was in the mix at the head of affairs and as the three-kilmetre race unfolded was in a medal position as the near 600-strong field spread out.
Going into the second half of the race Perkins was running side by side with Poole’s William Rabjohns - the pair having opened up a 10-metre lead over their nearest rivals.
However, on a downhill section with around a kilometre to go, Rabjohns took a tumble – leaving Perkins out in front on his own.
Perkins said: “It was too far claim gold with a put more than two metres further than his main opposition.
Halpin, winner of the North East and Northern titles earlier in the year, triumphed with a put of 13:81m - and while it was down on his personal best of 14:79m he still heads the UK standings and, like Knight, is unbeaten this campaign.
Knight and Halpin were the region’s only medal winners from a small entry who travelled to Yorkshire for the two-day championship.
Birtley’s Molly Elliott, Alex Goodall (Elswick) and Shildon’s Rachel Bennett came close to joining the shot put duo on the podium - but the trio had to be content with fourth place in the under-17 pole vault, under-20 800m and under-17 200m respectively.
Elliott cleared 3:35m, just a few centimetres shot of her life-time best, Belgium-based Goodall recorded 1:56.1 and Bennett clocked 25.20secs.
Morpeth’s Amy Lott made the final of the under-15 60m hurdles, where she was sixth.
In the semi-final the Northumbrian had ended up in second place in 9.33s, while in the final she recorded a time of 9.40s. Athletics writer from the finish for me to push on so I slowed slightly to let him catch up.
“It was not that I did not want to win but I felt at that stage I might have blown everything if I had gone for glory.
“In the end I am pleased the lad managed to pick himself up and go on and win for he is a good runner, having won the Southern Championship.
“Saying that, I would have liked to have hung on to second place but the tough course took it out of me in the last halfmile.
“I have to be happy with third place in the National but it was one of the toughest courses I have ever run on.’’
Tom Slone of Blackhill Bounders was the next North East athlete to finish in 43rd – less than a minute adrift of Perkins.
Lowe, meanwhile, showed his Northern victory at Harewood in January was no one-off as he also mixed it at the head of affairs over a hilly four kilometres.
At the halfway stage the Middlesbrough runner was among the leaders, who included prerace favourite Mohamed Ali of the Ealing, Southall and Middlesex club.
It was the Southern champion, who finished 11th in 2017, who pulled away to win by four seconds from Aldershot, Farnham and District’s Will Barnicoat – Lowe a further six seconds adrift in third place.
Houghton’s Will Bellamy had the run of his life to finish in sevent.
The under-17 men’s championship proved a disappointment for Rory Leonard (left) and Morpeth Harriers, who were hoping for a team medal.
Leonard, the Northern champion, was in contention at the head of affairs in the early stages of the six-kilometre contest but took a tumble which knocked his chances considerable.
After getting back on to his feet and finding himself adrift of the top 20, he managed to work his way back through to the leading group – only to fall again.
Daniel Dixon was the first Morpeth runner home in 28th and, with Taylor Glover (42nd), Daniel Melling (53rd) and Ross Charlton (101st), the Northumbrians totalled 224 points for fifth place.
In the under-13 girls’ race, the first North East finisher was Birtley’s Katie Francis in 30th – just over a minute behind the winner, Maisy Luke of Cornwall.
Chester-le-Street’s Emily Chong was 22nd in the under15 girls’ four-kilometre championship.
Houghton’s Lydia James and Morpeth’s Holly Peck were also inside the top 50 in 43rd and 45th positions respectively.