Jack Tallentire took his first NE track gold medal and there were medals and personal bests aplenty for the Harriers contingent at the North-East Championships at Gateshead last weekend.

Tallentire took the U-20 5,000m crown with a well-judged effort, judging his effort to perfection to move away from his closest rival in the second half of the race to win in 16:35.77 on his debut over the distance.

In the middle distances, Jess Fox bagged a brace of medals and personal bests, clocking 2:21.79 to take bronze over two laps, before returning 24 hours later to place third in the metric mile with another PB of 4:51.77, a six second improvement.

Eve Quinn dug in tenaciously in her U-17 1,500m final, and her strong finish over the final half-lap was rewarded with an eight second PB of 5:03.30 in 5th place, with the promise of sub-5:00 to come later in the season. Eve finished 7th over 800 on Saturday with a time of 2:31.04.

Lydia Stoker finished 16th in the U-15 race in 5:53.81.

Mark Smith made a bold bid for victory in the men’s U-20 800m on Sunday, taking the lead with a decisive move just after halfway only to be overhauled by the outstanding Sam Day of Middlesbrough, who had won the 400m the previous day, but Smith dug in tenaciously in the home straight to finish third in a PB of 1:57.05, an agonising five one-hundredths of a second off silver. In fifth place Ben Craig ran 2:00.56 to scythe three seconds off his previous best and edge ever closer to the two minute barrier. Jack Smith’s 2:13.61 in 11th was also a new PB.

Sean Mackie finished 6th in the U-17 800 with 2:07.67, whilst in the Senior Men’s event Liam Roarty’s 2:06.57 saw him in 7th place. Earlier Robert Dunlop had clocked 2:19.68 in the Boys U-15 800, placing him 10th, another big personal best.

Conditions the previous day had been far from ideal but the strong wind couldn’t blow Sarah Knight off course in the U-17 3,000m as she took 11 seconds off her previous best time with 11:14.73.

In a slow, tactical, wind-affected U-20 men’s 1,500m, Mark Smith was caught napping by Joe Armstrong’s strong finish but recovered to finish 4th in 4:13.77, whilst Jack Tallentire, warming up for his 5000m, clocked 4:30.55 in 7th. The men’s race was a disappointing affair, however Liam Roarty was nonetheless close his best in 4:24.63 in 9th, two places ahead of Jake Jansen’s 4:29.79.

New personal bests weren’t confined merely to the younger generation at Gateshead however, as Andy Powell, in his first ever track 5000, and Steven McMahon both recorded their best ever times over the distance. After running 15:42.69 for a gutsy 5th place, Powell commented, “I think I’ve found something I hate even more than cross-country” whereas McMahon, who stopped the clock at 15:51.84 in 9th place, is already planning more outings on the 400m oval.

In the sprints, Declan Murray (11.83) and Reece Carroll (11.93, yet another personal best) placed 5th and 6th respectively in the U-17 men’s 100m, with Murray returning to qualify for the 200 final 24 hours later, clocking 24.48 in 6th place.

In the women’s U-20 100m Hollie Lancaster made a welcome return to form, running her fastest time for three years, 13.41 into a stiff breeze, to finish just outside the medals.

Anna Smith was slightly below her very best in the women’s long jump, but her leap of 4.19 was still good enough to secure the silver medal.

Although still early in the season, the level of performances from the Royal Blues on show was encouraging; in more favourable conditions, with better competition and more sharpening there is still a lot of improvement to come from the whole squad on show over the weekend.