TWO of the region’s leading young middle distance athletes came up trumps after squeezing in two races in different parts of the country inside eight hours.
Morpeth’s Jonathan Taylor and Lewis Moses (Darlington) lined up in the 1,500m in the UK Challenge Final at Crystal Palace and though both athletes failed to set personal bests, they were rewarded for their third and fourth place in 3min 48.35sec and 3:55.83 respectively.
The duo then headed north to Stretford for the British Milers’ Club Grand Prix meeting and, despite the exertions of the travelling and a previous race, they lined up in the 800m in one of their final races of the season and were ecstatic to run faster than they had ever done before.
This time Moses got the better of his Teesside-based rival by one tenth of a second, crossing the one in second place in 1:51.6, with Taylor just a stride behind in 1:51.7.
Meanwhile, at Crystal Palace, Gateshead’s Kieran Flannery finish second in the 800m in 1:49.74, while among the field events North East Counties indoor champion Chris Kirk won the long jump (7:60m) and Teesside’s Leslie Richards finished third in the discus after a throw of 53:06m.
Other local athletes who travelled to Manchester for the BMC meeting included Durham City’s Sean Moralee, who finished runner-up in the 800m B race in 1:52:6, and Elswick’s Ryan McLeod, who also finished in second place in the C race in a time of 1:54.4, which is a personal best for the distance for the Loughborough-based athlete.
Gosforth’s Drew Graham continued his good run of form by winning the 1,500m in 3:52.4.
