Lucas was our sole athletes at the July Funetics meeting at Chester-le-Street. He competed in the 75m, standing long jump, howler and 600m - setting high standards in all events. Well done Lucas!

The NEYDL season came to a close on sunday at Whitley Bay, with our brilliant team of athletes showing real grit and determination to finish the season on a high. 

U14 Boys
We had 10 boys taking part in this age group, which was fantastic to see. Jamie Jones made his club debut, and took the win in the javelin. It was great to see Alex return, and he performed well in the high jump.  Our regular athletes Harry, Michael, Richard, Elijah, Jacj, Dylan, James and Sam all competed in multiple events, producing countless PB's, and also a club record for Harry in the 200m Hurdles. It was great to also get a 4x100 relay team out!

U14 Girls
Casey, Chloe, Lili and Eliza all competed in a mix of field, sprint and endurance events, once again proving a formidable squad. There were many PB's, and big point scores from the girls

U16 Boys
James Cox made a great debut, competing accross multiple events, whilst James Lloyd made his first appearance of the season. Ben had a perfect day, taking 3 wins, 3 pb's and 3 club records as he closed on the 60m barrier in the hammer.

U16 Girls
Our team of 8 girls were in sparkling form. Didi took 3 wins, whilst Kimi took 1st in the HJ. Safia, Aman, Charlotte, India, Maisie and Lucy all produced great performances across their events, before the 4x100 team took a stunning relay win!

U18's
Dexter and Katy were our only U18's, with a highlight for Dexter being a big 400m PB, whilst Katy recorded a stunning wind assisted 14.69s in the 100m Hurdles.

We finished the fixture in a strong 4th place, and end the season in 5th overall, equal on match points with Gateshead but slightly behind on league points. This was a fantastic performance from our young Blyth squad, alongside the small handful of Alnwick athletes that competed this year - special note to Alicia Purvis who took countless wins in the field.

This was our best ever league finish in the top division, and sets us up fantastically for next year.

A huge thanks to team manager Nigel, and all the officials, parents, helpers, coaches, and of course the 49 Blyth athletes that competed over the course of the year.

A brilliant Wednesday night at Monkton, with our athletes taking advantage of the great conditions to record some fine times on track.

George Bryce - 3000m 9:02.27
Liliana Lopez - 800m 2:33.05 PB
Daisy Pratt - 200m 27.14s PB, 800m 2:25.5 PB
Lilia Purvis - Shot 9.67m
Alastair Johnston - 3000m 9:08.74 PB
Dexter Heatley - 800m 2:04.42
Charlotte Hartley - 200m 28.15s, 800m 2:41.90 PB

On Saturday, a number of our juniors took part in the NOTAN Summer Grand Prix at Whitley Bay. Alba was in fine form despite being taken unwell during the event. She managed an excellent 3.52m long jump, the biggest of the day, and a 2:42 800m.  Alex and Harry went in the Y6 boys event, with both recording excellent consistent performances across all the events. Lucas also put in 4 very strong events in the Y5 age group, as he developed his skills, whilst the clear highlight for Harris was a fantastic 1:52 600m, and he also recorded the fastest sprint time.

Often regarded as the peak of junior athletics, the ESAA Track and Field Championships, with over 2000 athletes, and thousands in the grandstands at the Alexander stadium, provided a memorable weekend for Team Blyth athletes representing their county at a scorching Birmingham. Activities started on Thursday, as our 9 athletes who had been selected to represent Northumberland (7), Durham (1) and Cleveland (1), travelled on their respective team coaches down to Birmingham for an overnight stay ahead of the commencement of track and field action on Friday.

Day 1 - Friday
Sprint Hurdles action kicked off the weekend, with Faith and Katy going in the inter girls 100m hurdles. This was an incredibly competitive event, with both girls knowing they would likely need to PB to progress to the final. Faith produced a consistent run into a strong headwind, with her time just outside of 15s not being enough to progress. Katy also had to work hard into the wind, but was able to get within 2 tenths of her PB with 14.79, but just failed to qualify.
Didi Ojigbani was making her debut at the these champs, and acquitted herself superbly in her 100m heat, running one of her fastest ever times as she gained valuable experience and will no doubt be back next year. Out in the field, Ben Compton looked to build on his bronze medal from last year, but it was always going to be tough as he was at the lower end of his age group, throwing a heavier implement than is normal due to peculiarities with the age group changes. Nonetheless, he secured a 9th place finish with a best of 48.38m. Fearne was also looking to build on her superb debut last year, and in an incredibly tight field just missed out on the top eight by 21cm, with a best throw of 47.07m. 

Back on track, it was Luke Pichler's moment to step onto the start line in the senior 110m hurdles. This was to be his final ESAA race, and Luke wanted to go out in style - and he did just that! He produced a stunning run from the outside lane and produced a committed final run to the line to snatch bronze by 0.01s with a time of 14.89s (-2.5m/s). After heartbreak last week at England Champs, this was the perfect response and capped a stunning ESAA career for Luke. Senna concluded day 1, and she was also in her final ESAA Championships with one goal in mind - to become champion. She lined up knowing that she would need to beat the athlete that had pipped her to a medal the previous week at England Champs, and she learned from her experience there to produce and incredible final hurdle and run to the line to secure the English Schools Senior 400m hurdles title in 62.81s. There were tears of joy from Senna as she became the clubs first ever ESAA Champion in an individual event. 

Day 2 - Saturday
A quieter day on Saturday for individual events, but we had relays and athletes parades and fantastic action in the track and field to look forward to. Hollie-Anne Sudder was first up on track in the 200m, with it being a huge achievement just to be on the start line after a rehab from injury. She finished a strong 6th in her 200m heat in the senior girls commpetition. Bella Rose was making her ESAA debut in the junior girls hammer, and provided one of the best performances of the weekend, although it ultimately ended in heartbreak. She produced an incredible series of throws, with each one being bigger than the last. In the final round she launched the hammer out to 43.10m, her 2nd best throw ever - however this was just 11cm shy of the mdeals, and Bella had to settle for 4th place. Despite the understandable disappointment, Bella should be so proud of her performance!  In the relays, Didi was in the junior girls mixed relay for Northumberland, whilst Senna handed over to Luke in the senior mixed relay, although neither team was able to make the final. Finally on Saturday evening, after relentless sunshine and +30 degrees temperatures, it was time for the long journey home. Memories were made, new friendships were forged, and hopefully the desire to continue to work hard and develop as athletes was reinforced.

A number of our juniors took on the DK Mile on the 3rd July, with them all showing a great turn of speed over the 1610m course!

Meanwhile, the previous weekend, Daisy raced at the Top Flight Races at Jarrow, recording a massive new U14 Club record of 2:27.93s

3 of our athletes travelled to a scorching buy windy Bedford, to compete amongst the best athletes in the country.

Competing on Friday was Lauren, who went in the U20 800m heats. Going up against some of the best U20's in Europe, Lauren went with the early pace as she aimed to qualify for final. The race became stretched on lap 2 as the pace picked up, with Lauren not quite being able to keep with the leading group, but she should be proud of her committed race strategy.

Luke Pichler had high hopes going into the U20 Mens decathlon, with a gruelling schedule which include a very late start/finish on the Friday. He started superbly with a 100m win, however absolute disaster struck in the long jump with 3 fouls, resulting in no points in what should have been his highest scoring event. This effectively ended Lukes medal hopes - but he then attempted a seemingly impossible recovery. The shot put was solid, but things got back on tack with a massive 1.88m high jump (1s), and he finished day 1 with a fighting 400m time of 51.6s. Day 2 starts with a storming sub-15s win in the 110m hurdles, and then came a genuine highlight with a new PB in the discus, with 2of his attempts well over 35m. The gap was closing, albeit slowly, to the athletes in front after the pole vault where he cleared 3.90m before the increasing winds causing a sensible retirement.  The javelin was Lukes last chance to make further inroads towards the medals, but he was not able to throw to his best, leaving just a bit too much to do in the 1500m. Nonetheless, he went with the early pace in an attempt to force the issue and make up the massive 55 second points gap to bronze, but it was just a step to far. Luke finished the decathlon in 4th place, but knows it would have been at least silver if not for his long jump disaster. Nonetheless, a proud performance!

Senna opened her 400m Hurdles campaign on Saturday with 2nd place in her heat, as she got the chance to get a feel for the new Bedford track surface. Her finishing position in her heat ensured she would get one of the best lanes for sunday's final, and indeed she had lane 4 with all of her main competition in sight outside of her. Senna produced a sensational first part of the race, getting herself right in the mix. Coming into the home straight, she was right on the heels of the athletes in 2nd and 3rd, and looked as though she was going to battle her way to a medal. However, a slight clip of the last hurdle just cost her the tiniest amount, and she finished just 0.1s behind 3rd place. Nontheless, 4th and a massive PB of 62.60s saw Senna absolutely over the moon.