The long track and field season finally came to a conclusion at the weekend, with our athletes comping at the ESAA national finals in Bedford, and the NECAA Pentathlon in Monkton. We start our round up of the action down in Bedford!

No fewer than five Blyth juniors qualified for the national finals, an unprecedented number. Our Intermediate girls Senna Gorvett, Sadie Parker (both Northumberland), and Hannah Wilson (Durham) were joined by Inter boy Luke Pichler and Senior Girl Millie Train (both Northumberland). For all five athletes, it was their first year in age group, so this was very much a learning opportunity in what would be a competition of the very highest standard.

Saturday began with the Hurdles for the girls as they commenced their Heptathlons. Millie Train produced a fine run, just outside her PB to start the day well. Sadie, Senna and Hannah were all a little below their best but put solid points on the board. The high jump followed, with Millie jumping 1.47m which was a seasons best, whilst our inter girls had mixed results. Hannah cleared a huge 1.59m, with Sadie setting a new personal best of 1.53m with a fine clearance. Senna struggled with her approach, battling to 1.44m which was below her usual standard. 

Luke had commenced his Octathlon in the long jump, getting points on the board early, before the first real moment of peril happened in the discus. Two no throws put pressure on Luke heading into the final round, and he ensured at least some points with a sensible and safe standing throw. Back over in the Heptathlon's, Millie's shot put was somewhat below her usual standard, but kept her in a strong position overall. There was a big seasons best for Hannah as she continued to build momentum, whilst Senna produced the highlight of her day 1 with a massive PB of 9.90m in the final round to kick-start her competition. Things didn't go to plan for Sadie - despite clearly having a big throw in the locker, fouls on the first two attempts applied the pressure. Her 3rd round throw stayed in the sector, but was way down on her usual distance.

Luke was looking to rebuild after the discus, and he absolutely did this in style, with the longest javelin throw of anyone, and a new PB of 45.34m The day finished with the 400m, where Luke finished strong in a very solid time. The 200m finished day 1 for the girls - sadly Sadie didn't start, whilst Senna recovered from a poor start to storm through on the home straight. Hannah produced a stand-out performance of the weekend to run a fully committed race and record an extraordinary PB of 25.23. Millie went out hard in her 200m, however coming onto the straight she was in clear discomfort, with cramp in her leg being a re-occurrence of what happened at regional qualifiers - however she would battle on despite the pain.

Day 2 started for Senna and Hannah in the long jump, with a solid 5.10m for Hannah, and Senna a little below her best with a new run-up. Millie was committed to getting through as much of the day as possible, and was rewarded with a stunning 4.78m long jump, only being denied a PB by the wind gauge. Luke produced a solid hurdles run, before a clearance of 1.77m to give him a solid start to day 2. In the Javelin, there was delight for all 3 girls as they all recorded strong PB's despite the tricky headwind on the javelin runway. Luke continued his steady day in the shot put, before the athletes prepared for the final event of the weekend. Millie Train sensibly elected not to take the start of the 800m due to the continued pain she was in,  but can be very proud of her performances amidst adversity, and she was lying in a superb 17th place after the 6 events. Senna was drawn into a slightly slow pace on lap 1, but showed good relaxation and made 2:34 look very easy, which should give her confidence for the future. Conversely, Hannah was drawn into a slightly fast pace than was planned, but showed great strength and commitment as she worked towards the Line. Luke finished his Octathlon in the 1500m, ending his season with a committed run.

It was an 8th place finish for Luke, a great learning opportunity that will give him encouragement heading into his 2nd year in age group. Likewise, Hannah (10th) and Senna (26th) did themselves proud after a long season. Millie and Sadie may not have made the finish, but both had highlights and some real learning opportunities from the weekend.

Whilst Bedford was blessed with hot conditions throughout, conditions were far worse at Monkton for the NECAA Pentathlon, with grey skies and a sodden track greeting our athletes.
 
Our U13’s gained valuable experience throughout the day – and its this experience which will stand them in good stead for future pentathlons in years ahead. Aman Sanghera put in a fine series of performances. There were big PB’s in the shot put (5.91m) , 70m hurdles (12.48s) and high jump (1.19m), whilst a solid long jump helped set-up a chance of a medal heading into the 800m. Aman gave it her best in her first race over this distance, but sadly fell just outside the medal places. Fearne Bell produced a really consistent series of performances, which is the key in a multi-events competition – Fearne can take the experience gained into the winter season as she moves up an age group. India Gorvett has another year in the U13 age group, but has racked up fantastic experience this year as she completed her 4th pentathlon. This was one that was filled with ups and downs, including a no height in the high jump. She showed resilience to bounce back, and complete the pentathlon with a  positive attitude.
 
Our U15’s had a similarly mixed day. Izabela’s day sadly ended early, after a fall during her hurdles warm-up resulted in a trip to first aid. Caitlin Creaby very much went through the pentathlon ups and downs. A definite highlight was the shot put, where she set a big new personal best. Solid performances in the high jump and long jump helped build her points total, whilst hurdles proved to be a work-in-progress still. Isla Bell’s standout moment was a brilliant win in her hurdles heat in 12.55s, and she was close to her best in both the high jump and long jump to help set-up a medal charge. Whilst her shot put was someway below her best, Isla was in with a chance of a medal heading into the 800m. Sadly it was not to be though, and despite a brave run Isla had to settle for 4th place. Hollie-Anne has had an incredibly busy end to the season, and she was looking to finish with a positive performance. It was not a day for PB’s for Hollie, but it was a day for a brilliantly consistent series of performances across all 5 events.  This resulted in a brilliant silver medal for Hollie, a fantastic end to her season.

ESAA Results 
NECAA Results

On Saturday, our juniors gave it their all as they participated in one of the worlds most famous racing weekends. The Junior Great North Run is something that inspires our juniors of all ages and abilities, and this year we had older athletes such as Evan competing for the last time, alongside more speed based athletes moving out of their comfort zone such as sisters Isla and Fearne, as well as younger juniors representing the club for the very first time at this event.

Check out our gallery below, and we would love to hear from those who took part, and share your experiences!

The Sprint Relays are always a fantastic end of season event, and once again Blyth juniors put on a great show, with all of junior teams shining brightly and delivering stunning results.

Things kicked off with a mixed team going in the U13 race. Alex and Martha stepped up and age group, alongside Ben and Amara as they concluded their time in the U13 age group. It was an assured run through of slick changeovers, with the team taking 2nd place in their heat as Martha stormed down the home straight, having been set-up superbly by Ben, Alex and Amara,

Later on, our scoring U13 girls team had their chance to shine. India kicked things off, before Safia, Fearne and Amara brought the team home to a thrilling 2nd place, scoring big points.

Our U15 girls team were in fine form - Caitlin, Hollie, Isla and Talia teamed up to deliver a race packed full of foot speed, with some slick changeovers. The team took a fighting 2nd behind a strong Hartlepool team, with Talia showing superb relaxation and form down the home straight.

The points kept on coming in the U17 race, and this time it was maximum points for our team of Sadie, Senna, Abi and Lauren. The girls produced a hugely committed performance, and would not let anything stand in the way of a deserved race win. The winning time of 51.20s is the new U17 club record and just two tenths off the outright club record.

It wasn't just the juniors in action, seniors were looking to rack up the points for the club as well. There was drama in the mixed 4x200, as coaches Dan and Nigel's changeover went disastrously wrong - with a dropped baton and a long inquest still going on.

Our 4x200 team of Isla, Abi, Hollie and Caitlin was non-scoring as it was not a mixed boys/girls team, but they produced one of the fastest times across the age groups in the 2 lap race, with a club record 1:51.94s for 4x200 U15 girls. A fine run! The evening finished with the 4x400 relays. Senna, Sadie and Lauren stepped up an age group to join Kandis in the senior race. As the girls had run as U17's earlier in the night, it meant that we would not score points, however it does not make the result any less impressive. The girls took approximately 37 seconds off the club record in a time of 4:04.75 to take a massive victory. It was a fine end to a brilliant evening. We only had 5 scoring teams in total, but finished in 7th place overall in the relay competition, which was a great result.

We look forward to more relays next year!

5 Blyth juniors started their XC seasons on Saturday in the junior races at the Farringdon XC Relays. Warm conditions greeted our young athletes, and they all performed superbly, with Jack and Tom starring in the U11 race. Jack took 12th place in 4m28s, whilst Tom was 16th in 4m33s. Jamie Floyd was our highest finisher of the day, in an excellent 7th place in the U13 boys race, recording a time of 11m27s. In the U15 boys race, George ran strongly to take 27th place in 11m53s, whilst Niamh represented the girls and was a fine 8th in 12m31s.

Well done to all!

Results are on this link. Photo credits Stuart Whitman.

It has been a busy bank holiday weekend of track and field action, and we will start our round-up of the action in Birmingham at the England Athletics Age Group Champs. 

On Saturday, Sadie Parker kicked her U17 long jump competition off in style with a 5.47m jump in the first round, putting her in early medal contention. She followed this with a series of 5 more valid and consistent jumps but was unable to improve her distance. In a very close competition, she eventually finished 5th and just 5cm outside of the medal positions. Lauren Creaby went in the U17 800m heats, looking to make the final. She made a break towards the front with 450m to go as the pace ramped up. She eventually finished in 4th place, just outside of the qualification places.

Cool and breezy conditions greeted our athletes on Sunday, with Hollie-Anne first up in the 200m. Sadly it wasnt her day, and she was unable to perform to her usual standard and did not progress to the semi-finals. Luke Pichler started a busy day in the long jump, starting his comp with a solid 6.33m. After 3 rounds, he was in 9th place and so just missed out on an extra 3 jumps. Shortly after he took part in the 100m hurdles heat, and was right in the mix before clattering hurdle 9 which prevented him from challenging for the qualifying places. Finishing the weekend was Abigail Huntly at her first English Championships. On paper, she had the slowest PB going into the 75m hurdles, but she rose to the occasion and produced a fine run in her heat, finishing in a very competitive 5th place. Her wind-assisted time of 11.97 was her fastest ever time, and just 0.3 off what was required to qualify for the final. Check out our video report below.

The brilliant Tartan Games took place at Gateshead on Sunday, with athletes competing in mixed conditions to say the least! Alex and Harry once again starred in the U11 events. Alex was 1st in the Standing long jump with 1.90m, also winning the howler with a 24.10m throw and he took 3rd in the 60m. Harry took a brilliant 2nd in the 60m in 9.59s, and produced solid performamces in the howler and standing long jump. Aman set a new personal best of 18.78m in the javelin, whilst she returned to form in the hurdles with 12.79 which was another PB. Ben took 3rd place in the 75m in a close race, and finished 1st in the shot put.  Izabela was 4th in the 75m hurdles in wet conditions just outside her personal best, and was just outside her PB's in Long jump and 100m. Well done to all who took part!

England Athletics Age Group Champs Results
Tartan Games Results

Five Team Blyth juniors will travel to the world-class Alexander Stadium in Birmingham this weekend for the national Age Group Championships. The qualification standards for this competition are extremely tough, so its testament to the progress of the club that we have more athletes taking part than any other North East club.

Abigail Huntly will be making her first appearance at this level, having achieved the qualification standard for the 75m hurdles last month. This will be a fantastic learning opportunity for her. Hollie-Anne Sudder has already competed over 200m at the English Schools Championship this year, and this is another opportunity for her to shine over the half-lap sprint.

Luke Pichler already has several national titles to his name, and will go up against competition of the highest standard in the 100m hurdles and long jump, as he looks to continue recent progress. Lauren Creaby goes into the 800m looking to finish her championship season on a high after a fantastic summer where she has excelled. Sadie Parker took silver at the corresponding indoor championships earlier on this year,  and will require a performance of equal quality to get amongst the medals in a loaded Long Jump field.

Saturday
Lauren U17 800m heat 1320 Final 1250 (Sunday)
Sadie U17 Long Jump 1000

Sunday 
Luke U17 Long Jump 1145, Hurdles Heat 1310, Final 1620
Hollie-Anne U15 200m Heat 1055, Semi-Final 1440, Final 1745
Abi U15 75m Hurdles Heat 1410, Final 1645

Day 1 Live Stream
Day 2 Live Stream
Results/Start Lists on ROSTER app or Here

Its been a busy day  athletes competing all over the North of England. Caitin Creaby was at the York Open, working on her new run-up in the long jump. She followed this with a strong 28.8s running over 200m which was 2nd fastest overall. Meanwhile, we had a big squad in action at Shildon at the NECAA Open. A huge thanks to Mairi Bell for the following report:

With no coaches at the NECAA Open event to sort us out, today was a good lesson in self-sufficiency. Parents and athletes alike quickly got up to speed with the Roster app to plan the day ahead. Individual coaching tips sent from Dan via Spond helped every athlete focus on what they needed to do in each event- like cryptic clues for greatness! 
 
First up were Isla in the long jump pit and Aman over at the high jump mats, competing through some very heavy late morning showers. Both girls put in steady performances with Isla pushing over the 4m mark on her final jump while Aman matched her PB with a jump of 1.10m.
 
Next the action moved to the track for sprints with our U11 boys first up. Alexander and Harry both took first in their 60m heats, - 9.73s for Alexander and 9.81s for Harry, with 1st and 2nd overall for their age group. Isabella took on the 100m with gusto, steadily building pace to finish first in her heat with a PB of 14.78s.
 
Next to the long jump were Fearne and Aman, with Aman jumping a steady 3.45m and Fearne achieving a PB on her first jump of 3.41m. The standing jumps followed at the long jump pits with Harry leaping an impressive 1.84m and Alexander jumping 1.95m, the longest jump of the day.
 
In the shot put, Isla had 3 good throws out of four, finishing with a solid 7.20m. Izabela achieved 4.09m with her first throw, her best of the day. Talia didn't manage to achieve her previous form in the event but put in a very convincing first throw at 5.20m. 
 
The sun came out and things stayed dry in the afternoon but the wind picked up, making  Fearne and  Izabela's high jump that bit more challenging. Fearne didn't manage to get the lift she needed to repeat recent successes while Izabela stayed on to jump a solid 1.20. 
 
More frustrations in the javelin as Talia and Isla struggled to achieve legal throws, competing in this technical event for the first time in breezy cinditions. Isla's first throw of 15.15m got her on the scoreboard. Aman achieved 3 good throws with the best a very credible 17.46m 
 
The track action ended with 200m heats.  First out was Isla - racing her sister Helen, running for Blyth seniors- and winning her heat with 28.11s. Fearne followed, giving her all round the bend and flagging a little on the straight- but securing a good PB with 34.12. Talia put in a solid performance in a very fast heat, just missing her PB with 29.92s. Rounding out the day, Milly G put in a 200m PB performance with 28.64. (Note- no wind indicator for all 200m heats).

At the final North East Grand Prix of the season at Monkton Stadium, our juniors produced solid performances. Ben Compton was just outside his PB in the 200m, and was 1st U13 in the shot put. Ben finishes the season as the U13 Grand Prix champion, having picked up a near perfect scorecard over the season. India Gorvett finishes the U13 girls competition in an excellent 4th place, thanks to a really strong hurdles race and a 1.20m high jump clearance. George Bryce was just outside his 3000m PB, whilst Hollie showed improvement in the 75m Hurdles and was just outside her PB in the shot put. Lauren Creaby was fastest female in the 800m, with yet another fast clocking. Senna Gorvett showed good development in aspects of her high jump even though the result was not what she wanted, but it was enough to finish 1st U17.

Results

At the Club's Summer Cup handicap race, Jamie Flloyd recorded a time of 17:17 which was the 12th fastest time overall.

Isla Bell and Amber Wright travelled to Manchester for the Alexander Vidal Sprint Series, which featured a Live DJ and street food! Amber raced well over 100m and 200m ,with Isla racing over 100m.
​

A squad of 13 Blyth athletes travelled to Middlesbrough for the Northern Championships over the weekend of the 12th and 13th August. Blustery and at times wet conditions greeted the athletes on Saturday, making for a challenging environment, but our athletes handled it superbly. 

First up, India Gorvett produced a consistent series in the U13 long jump, before older sister Senna cruised through her 300m hurdles heat as the fastest qualifier. Niamh Adams went in the 1500m final. She ran a strong first lap but was not quite able to maintain the pace and finished in 13th place.  Sadie Parker put some difficult recent competitions behind her in the long jump, and started to rediscover some accuracy on her approach in the blustery conditions. A fifth round leap of 5.33m was enough to secure silver in a very strong field. Hollie-Anne Sudder was involved in a close battle in the javelin, and whilst she did not reach her usual distances, she was still able to finish 5th, within centimeters of the medal placings. 

India produced one of the performances of the weekend in the shot put, throwing a massive personal best of 5.25m, before lining up for her 200m heat just minutes later. Senna Gorvett lined up for her 300m hurdles final, going out fully committed at the gun. She was engaged in a neck-and-neck battle with Lucy Salter of Stockport, with both girls pushing each other to the line in a thrilling battle. Senna maintained her form off the final hurdle, and produced a monster dip for the line to take the gold by just 0.06s. Her time of 44.00s was a huge PB, and is the 2nd fastest all-time by a North East athlete.

Sunday greeted our athletes with slighty more settled weather, and things started with a bang with 4 athletes in the long jump. Caitlin, Izabela and Abi did not quite hit there normal marks, however there was a big breakthrough for Talia Green as she leaped to 4.12m in the final round, a massive personal best and it secured her 2nd place in Pool B. Lauren Creaby negotiated her 800m heat comfortably, crossing the line first, whislt Luke started his day with a big personal best in the discus, exceeding 35m for the first time. Amber Wright took 6th in the high jump, with a best of 1.45m as she showed great composure. The 300m heats were up next, with Isla producing a huge PB of 43.04s to finish 4th in her heat, and qualify for the final. Caitlin also ran a massive PB of 44.34s, which was a brilliant performance. 

In the 100m heats, Izabela recovered from a poor start to finish well, whilst Talia set another personal best with a great run. Next up were the sprint hurdles heats. In the U15 heats, Izabela produced a strong run, maintaining her stride pattern all the way, whilst Isla was just outside her PB despite having barely recovered from her 300m heat. Abi has been in fine recent form, and took a controlled win in her heat to set her up for the final. In the U17 heats, Amber had a solid race but didnt progress to the final, whilst Sadie was 2nd in her heat and qualified for the final later in the day. Luke Pichler went in a straight 100m hurdles final, and whilst his run was far from clean, he battled through for a well earned bronze medal.

In the Javelin, Sadie was not quite able to replicate her warm-up throws in competition, whilst Senna produced 3 throws all in excess of her previous PB to leave her very happy. In the Long Jump, Luke was involved in a thrilling battle for Gold with Rhys Brunton of NS Poly. The title looked to be slipping away after Rhys took the lead in the 5th round, but Luke fully comitted to a max-attack final jump, launching himself to 6.19m which was enough to take gold by just 6cm. In the 200m, Hollie-Anne Sudder produced a run just outside her PB from the trick lane 2 to finish 3rd in her heat, just missing out on a place in the final by a tenth of a second.

The action was coming thick and fast towards the end of the day, with more medal prospects still to come. Lauren went in the 800m final. The first lap was ran at a relatively slow pace, with Lauren part of the leading trio. The pace slowly ramped up on the 2nd lap, with the big moves being made with 150m to go. In an intense battle down the home straight, Lauren gave it everything, just being pipped to 2nd place on the line, but it was a hard-fought bronze.

In the Hurdles finals, Sadie was first up and she produced a sensational start in a loaded field. At halfway, she sat in 2nd place, with athletes all around pushing her hard. Off the final hurdle she was just overtaken by athletes either side, but a 4th place finish in a big PB of 12.04s was a great result. In the U15 final, Abi recovered from a slow reaction to attack the first hurdle with great intent. As she battled to get into contention, she hit several hurdles hard, which eventually affected her rhythm and she finished 7th. The action concluded with Isla in the 300m. After fully committing in her heat, the final was always going to be hard work - but and 8th place finish at this level was a creditible performance.

It was a fine Championships for Team Blyth, with our athletes showing superb maturity, teamwork and athleticism throughout.

Results
Photo Credits Ross Pichler & Stuart Whitman

On Monday, Lauren Creaby travelled to Leeds for the  BMC meet. In windy conditions, she recorded a time of 2:15.43s. On Wednesday, Niamh Adams took on the iconic Gateshead quayside 3k Run. Niamh was 11th girl home, recording a time of 12:19. Well done girls!