Following on from last week’s County events, several of our Junior Harriers were in action again having qualified for the Inter-Counties match. They accompanied the region’s best young athletes as they battled it out in a bid for a place at the National Finals. Conditions weren’t the best; cool, breezy and damp – not ideal for athletics. You could win your race today but if your time/distance doesn’t meet the English School’s Entry Standard (or you haven’t already met the standard previously) then the chances are you won’t be going to the Finals. But as you would expect everyone gave it their all.
Junior Boys 1500m After a convincing win at the Durham Schools’ event, Adam Russell was back to take the region’s best in the 1500m. There was some tough competition and it lead to a close run race right to the wire! At 50m out Adam was in 3rd place, and it took a tremendous sprint finish to get him over the line in 1st crossing the line in 4:21.28. Well done Adam!
Junior Girls 100m There was some top sprinting action today, and Under 15 Harrier, Darcey Garbutt was in the thick of it! She put up a great fight today against the older opposition and crossed the line in 4th place, in a time of 13.26s. She also ran an excellent leg in the 4 x 100m relay, helping Durham to finish in 2nd place. Another great performance, Darcey, well done!
Junior Girls 75m Hurdles Our Under 15 hurdling expert, Charlotte Rutter was in action wearing the red and white vest of Cleveland. It was a fantastic race and so close it looked like a dead heat. In the end, she was just beaten into 2nd place by 0.02s!! Tremendous performance, Charlotte, well done!
Junior Girls 200m After an impressive qualifying run at Monkton last week, Logan Fawcett was back again in the 200m. After a great effort against some top opposition, she crossed the line in 8th place in a time of 29.06s. Along with Darcey, she was also part of the Durham team in the 4 x 100m relay. She ran an excellent first leg with Durham eventually finishing in 2nd place. Top sprinting, Logan, well done!
Inter Boys 1500m Steeplechase If you’ve been following the last few Junior Reports, you’ll know that Liam Brittle has only recently started competing in the steeplechase. But he’s certainly made his mark in the event, and today was another exceptional performance. He lead the race from start to finish, eventually beating his two Northumberland opponents, to cross the line in 1st place. An excellent time too; 5:01.26 which was 20 seconds ahead of 2nd place. Congratulations, Liam, on becoming Inter-County Champion!
Inter Girls 1500m After finishing a strong 2nd in the qualifying round, Under 17 endurance runner, Ellie Phillips was back for more. It was a close run thing with just over 6 seconds between the top 3, with Ellie taking 2nd place once again. An impressive time of 4:57.15; well done Ellie.
Inter Girls Javelin After dominating the Durham Schools’ Championships with some impressive throws, Jasmine Sharp was hoping to do the same here today. Up against some tougher competition this time, she managed to hold her nerve and still produced some fantastic throws. Her best on the day was 36.88m and enough to bag 2nd place. Excellent performance as ever, well done Jasmine.
The provisional list for the Durham County team has now been released. These are the athletes who will compete at the National Finals in Birmingham and we are pleased to say there are a smattering of Darlington Harriers amongst them. In fact, along with Gateshead Harriers, DHAC have the most selected from one club! So congratulations goes to: Darcey Garbutt JG 100m Adam Russell JB 1500m India Pentland IG 1500m Catherine Roberts IG 3000m Lucy-Erin Hunter SG 1500m Cleveland have different selection criteria than Durham, so there is a chance that Charlotte Rutter may still be selected to compete in the Inter Girls 75m Hurdles. We’re keeping everything crossed Charlotte!☺
For more photos of the event click here Full results are here