NYSD Track & Field Shildon - 25th July 2004

There were nineteen athletes from Richmond and Zetland Harriers competing at Stadium 2000, Shildon, on Sunday 25th July in the penultimate NYSD T&F League fixture and they collected fourteen wins between them. In the Under 11 events, Marc Scott won the boys 75m sprint and the 600m race, his brother Rob Scott won the long jump and Charlotte Dinsdale won the girls long jump. In the Under 13 girls high jump, Alice Morrison came within 14 cm of Debra McIlroy’s 14 year-old Club Record with a 1m30 clearance and

Jo Adams

Jo Adams was less than half a metre off her season’s best (and Club Age Group Record) in winning the Under 15 girls discus and claiming the NYSD title. In the Senior events, both Jon Orange and Louise Jackson won their respective 1500m races, Matt Prosser won the 110m hurdles and veteran thrower John Wild won both the hammer and the discus, and the NYSD title which went with the latter. The three remaining wins all went to Fiona Hughes, a season’s best in the 100m hurdles, equal best in the high jump and another season’s best and the NYSD title in the discus.

RZH results: U11G - Charlotte Dinsdale 75m 12.0, 600m 2:07.6 & long jump 3m32; U11B - Marc Scott 75m 11.4, 600m 1:54.8 & long jump 3m44; Rob Scott 75m 11.5, 600m 2:06.4 & long jump 3m52; U13G - Brogan Fraser 100m 14.1; Ruth Hill 100m 14.0 & high jump 1m15; Alice Morrison 100m 15.3 & high jump 1m30; U13B - Tom Osborn 100m 15.6 & 1500m 5:18.5; U15G - Jo Adams 1500m 5:30.1 & discus 23m67; Rosie Adams 1500m 5:38.2 & discus 16m23; Leanne Shaw 100m 13.5; Jane Thornton 75m hurdles 20.8; J/S/VW - Jenny Fenwick JW 100m 16.1 & 1500m 6:35.0; Fiona Hughes SW 100m 15.4, 100m hurdles 22.4, high jump 1m20, triple jump 7m86 & discus 15m14; Louise Jackson SW 1500m 4:56.1; J/S/VM Jon Orange SM 1500m 4:09.0; Edd Richards JM 1500m 4:20.0; Matt Prosser JM 110m hurdles 21.1; John Wild VM discus 33m66 & hammer 35m30.

There was only one hiccup during a fine afternoon of athletics when Jane Thornton hit the second of eight hurdles in her first event and “bit the dust”. Pale as a ghost but brave as a lion, Jane got up to finish the race before going for an X-Ray. A broken wrist and a cracked bone in her elbow! The hospital put a lightweight cast on her lower arm and advised her she could train but not race.

The Females scored 86 points and finished 3rd, the Males scored 41 points and finished 5th and, with one fixture remaining, the Club are in 4th place overall, only 2 points behind Darlington but 15 and 21 points behind M&C and Billingham.

Northern T& F League Eastbourne, Darlington - 31st July 2004

The Senior athletes were back in action on Saturday 31st in their last fixture in Division 4E of the Northern T&F League, a double-header with teams from Division 3E at Eastbourne Sports Complex, Darlington. Starting the day with a 2 point lead at the top of the League, the Club made promotion a certainty with their third win in four fixtures, winning 33 out of 57 A and B-string events and amassing 324 points, more than double the 161 points total of second place Tynedale. The Men had a 13 to 5 advantage in numbers over the Women and outscored them 160 to 134 but none could match the determination of Fiona Hughes - seven events; four A-string wins, a second and a third plus one B-string win, 42 points in total, outscoring even Tynedale’s Richard Hunter.

RZH results: Women - Jenny Fenwick long jump 2m97, 100m 16.3, 3000m 14:27.0 & 400m 81.8; Sarah Gregory hammer 12m05, 3000m 13:04.0, 1500m 6:09.5 & shot 5m73; Fiona Hughes 400m hurdles 84.8, long jump 3m80, 800m 2:52.4, high jump 1m10, 100m hurdles 22.3, 200m 32.5 & triple jump 7m72; Louise Jackson 100m 14.6, 400m 69.4, discus 14m30, 1500m 4:53.0, 200m 30.2 & javelin 17m52; Sharon Powell hammer 29m34, discus 21m96, shot 6m53, triple jump 6m70 & javelin 17m39: Men - Dan Brooks 400m hurdles 74.0, 3000m steeplechase 13:07.1 & 110m hurdles 23.4; Ken Harker 800m 2:02.4 & 1500m 4:16.0; Richard Hunt 5000m 16:12.3; Charlie Lawrence long jump 5m64 & 400m 54.0; Matt Prosser hammer 15m88, 400m hurdles 69.7, 110m hurdles 21.1 & shot 7m72; Simon Raseru 100m 12.2, long jump 5m32, triple jump 11m34 & 200m 25.8; Taff Rogers 3000m steeplechase 12:01.1; Edd Richards 800m 2:06.2; Ian Scott 5000m 17:40.9; George Vesi javelin 39m00; Scott Wardman 400m 53.0; John Wild hammer 33m19, discus 34m48, shot 9m77 & javelin 31m48; O’Neill Wolfe 100m 12.0, discus 21m87, triple jump 11m20 & 200m 24.7: 4 x 100m relay 48.8 and 4 x 400m relay 3:38.9.

Two items that don’t appear in the results. The first is Jon Orange’s 1500m race. Having stopped the clock at 4:09.0 six days earlier at Shildon, Jon knew that, given the right race, he was in the right shape to break his 4:06.8 PB. The combination of a fine afternoon and competition from Division 3E athletes including Rickie Wilson of Scarborough was ideal. Lapping in around 65 seconds and through the bell in 3:02, Jon waited until the 1200m mark to make his move, opened-up a 20m lead by the top bend before disaster struck - his hamstring cramped-up and literally stopped him in his tracks. Jon stepped off the track and could only watch as the race was won in 4:06 and maybe he could’ve run 4 or 5 seconds quicker. The second item not to appear is the track comeback of Club Captain, Shaun Purkiss. After a busy year with more-than-enough commitment to family and work, Shaun opted to run as a guest in the 5000m and finished in a creditable 18:40 - welcome back!