Three teams earn places at Nationals

MEDALS were hard to come by for the region’s senior squads who travelled to Sportcity, Manchester for the Northern Athletics Road Relay Championships.

In the senior men’s 6x6,400m stage relay, Morpeth held off Tyne Bridge by 20 seconds to claim the North East bragging rights.

Sam Hancox gave the Northumbrians a superb start, handing over in fourth place with the day’s 12th quickest time overall.

With a top-25 the target to earn an entry into the National Championships at Sutton Coldfield, competition was fierce - but it was no problem for Morpeth’s second-string, who claimed 25th place.

New Marske, who finished 14th, and Gateshead, who were just outside the top 25 but qualified due to the number of B teams ahead of them, also made it to the Nationals.

Missing out were Sunderland (50), Durham City (51), Birtley (65), and Blackhill Bounders who finished 98th from 128 teams who competed.

In the senior women’s 4x5,400m contest, Morpeth again led the region’s charge finishing 23rd – their B team ended up 53rd and their C quartet 82nd.

North Shields Poly were the only other North East team in action, claiming 46th pace out of the 97 groups to cross the finish line.

Birtley travelled with an incomplete team and were lying in second place at the end of the first stage, thanks to the fifth-fastest time of the day courtesy of Lydia Turner.