North East Masters Athletics Association (NEMAA) Track and Field League Meeting 3 – 1st July 2024

by Geoff Hewitson

The third NEMAA Track & Field League meeting of the 2024 season took place last Monday evening at the usual venue of Monkton Stadium in Jarrow. The overall turnout from the club was 14 (9 in the mens team and 5 in the ladies). Most of these were the “usual suspects” but there was also a welcome return to NEMAA competition for Sharron Trevor, who reckoned it was about 15 years since her last appearance at the Track and Field League! The men’s team accumulated another very healthy 120 points (the same as we scored at the previous meeting), which consolidated our 4th place in the current league standings. At the halfway stage it’s already looking like a straight fight between Jarrow and South Shields for the Men’s title, whilst 3rd place would appear to rest between ourselves and North Shields Poly. We outscored them by 27 points on Monday night to move within 12 points of 3rd place – equivalent to just one additional competitor scoring average points at one meeting, so it’s all to play for. Team Grand Prix for Men

Our five ladies collectively scored a very respectable 65 points in the league, which sees them remain in 5th place. However, they scored more points than both of the clubs directly above them (Elvet Striders and North Shields Poly) to move within a single point of 4th place and 17 points adrift of 3rd. So, as with the men’s team, a 3rd place finish in the league remains a realistic possibility. Also noticeable from this meeting was that only five clubs had complete ladies teams (minimum 3 competitors) so the likes of Blyth, Heaton, and Tyne Bridge Harriers failed to score any points in the league. Team Grand Prix for Women

The field events (and in particular the throws) are proving to be a rich source of points for our competitors. In the hammer competition all of our athletes scored the maximum 6 points, the only exception being Andy T who scored 5 by virtue of being in the same age category as Mark S. The winning distances were as follows: Joe Hall 13.23m, Mark Standbridge 17.95m, Andy Turnell 16.74m, Ken Cawkwell 13.53m, Mel Riley 15.50m, Laura Newby-Higginbottom 14.91m, Sharon Bridge 17.02m, and Heather Jones 17.26m. It was a similar story of good points across the board in the javelin, with Heather (10.83m) and Ken C (17.33m) each gaining the maximum 6, Geoff H (18.13m), Mel R (8.68m) and Sharron T (8.90m) gaining 5 points, and Joe H (17.60m), Andy T (15.97m), Laura N-H (9.50m), and Sharon B (10.70m) taking 4 points each.  The jumps likewise resulted in a healthy points tally for the men’s team. Phil Healey produced what I think were a couple of PBs in the long jump (3.16m) and high jump (1.05m) to take a maximum 12 points. Paul Campbell also took maximum high jump points with a clearance of 1.30m, whilst Mark S and Geoff H both scored 5 points. Paul C scored another maximum 6 points in the long jump (3.54m), Peter Coser (3.39m) and Joe H (2.79m) scored 5 points each, whilst Lee Newby-Higginbottom had the longest Crook AC jump of the night (4.14m) to earn 4 points. We had no male competitors in the various heats of the 3000m, but our three ladies all performed with great credit. Laura N-H had a great run, finishing 2nd in her heat in a time of 13:16.9, which was worth 5 points, whilst Mel R (16:15.3) and Sharron T (16:33.3) both produced gutsy runs to pick up 5 and 3 points respectively. The situation in the 100m was the opposite of the 3000m, with 3 male competitors and no ladies. Lee N-H and Peter C both clocked identical times (a very speedy 13.8s) to collect 4 and 6 age-category points respectively, whilst an injured Ken C still managed to complete in 31.3s to pick up another useful 5 points. Last event on the track was the 400m, in which we had 6 competitors spread across the various heats. Competition is particularly strong in this event, and none of us were age-category winners, but nevertheless we still managed to pick up decent points. Peter C had a particularly impressive run, clocking 66.4s to finish 2nd in his age category. Paul C (71.6s) was 3rd, and picked up 4 points, whilst Geoff H (82.0s), Mark S (82.2s) and Phil H (83.0s) earned 3, 2 and 2 points respectively. Sharron T was our only lady representative and her time of 1:43.4 was good enough for 3rd place (4 points) in her age category.  Overall, the top points scorers for the men’s team were Ken C (17), Peter C (16), Joe H (15) followed by Phil H and Paul C (14 each). All the ladies scored double figures, with Mel R continuing her fine season and leading the way with 16 points. Laura N-H scored 15 points, whilst Sharron T contributed a very valuable 12. Heather J and Sharon B are limited to competing in the two throwing events, with Heather scoring a maximum 12 points available and Sharon picking up 10. After three meetings the Individual Grand Prix competitions are starting to take shape, and we have a number of athletes who are currently leading their age category in the various disciplines.  The next league meeting takes place on Monday 15th July. Events are 200m, 300m, 800m, mile, triple jump, high jump, shot and discus. Online entries will close at 5pm on Friday 12th July – I’ll put a reminder out nearer the time. Geoff H