Midland League 2008

Newport Harriers Midland Athletics League

Midland League Division 4 - Match 2 Leamington 7th June

Newport Harriers Senior Men and Women

Newport move up in Midlands League

In a closely fought match at the Royal Leamington Spa track, Newport repeated their 4th place in the opener. However, due to the  turnaround in fortunes of some of the other clubs, we have moved up to 3rd place in the league. As expected we suffered from the fixture clash which deprived us of some juniors and most of the senior ladies.

Senior Men -Records smashed by Matthews

Jacob Matthews is one of the country’s most promising under 20 athletes. In the last few weeks he has set an astonishing 6 Club and Regional records at U20 and one at senior level. Along with his teammates in hammer and javelin one could joke “on training nights at Spytty stadium (Tuesdays and Thursdays) don’t cross the Infield unless you are wearing a hard hat” A joke it may be but in all seriousness don’t as you are liable to be killed.

Jacob turned his attention to the Senior Discus Club record in Leamington during the Midlands League match on 7th June. With a throw of 41.48m Jacob consigned a record set back in 1978 by M Johnson to the history books, he is also closing in on the Shot record with his 1st place this time round.

Tom Kivell continued his excellent run of form in the two horizontal jumps with two more wins, Tom also chipped in with a stunning 2nd place in the high jump, and then showing just how versatile he is, Tom anchored home the 4x100m relay despite picking up as small strain winning the Triple Jump.

Another of our promising Juniors made his debut in the 800m, Jonathan Morgan took out the pace early on and forced the others to produce something special to be him. Jon was rewarded with 2nd place and a PB in what was widely recognised as the best race of the day. Jon rounded off his day by running one of the quickest legs of the 4x400m relay team as they took 4th place. Lee Richards supported Jon's efforts in fine style, proving too strong for the opposition in the B string and finishing as an easy winner after leading almost all the way.

Our junior sprinting duo found the opposition a bit too hot to handle on the day, but despite being out of the frame Oliver and Ed managed to turn in some fast times that show promise for when they do become seniors. Oliver was just outside his PB in 100m once again.

Senior Women

The ladies were always going to struggle due to the fixture clash with the UK League, as a result the girls really suffered with too many gaps in some key events.

The starlet of the day was undoubtedly Kathryn Davies who chalked up two wins in two quite diverse events. Kathryn totally dominated the 400mH race winning it by over 3 seconds, but then she went on to win the Shot Putt but over half a metre. Who knows what this young lady will turn her hand to next.

Lisa Boswell also had a busy day, starting with some excellent throwing in the Hammer which was a high standard hard fought competition. Lisa's next event was the B string Shot which she duly won with the 3rd best overall throw. Following on closely behind that event was the ladies discus, and this time Lisa placed 5th in the A string. Finally she wound the day up with 4th place in the A Javelin.

Another of the up and coming juniors is Bridget Eades, Bridget is a tough young lady who always gives of her best over her favoured distance of 400m. She didn't disappoint either, she had her team mates on their feet shouting her on again taking 2nd place in the A string event. Bridget then moved onto the High Jump for another 2nd place showing just how competitive she can be.

Match result

Men's Results

Women's Results

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