The Harrier league season continued on Saturday 25th November, with Aykley Heads hosting the latest fixture. Amidst bracing conditions, it was wonderful to see such a fantastic attendance by Blyth juniors, with numerous Harrier League and club debuts.

In the U11 boys race, Ethan Hughes took a brilliant 12th place finish, with Richard Gormley also in the top 20. Next up was Jack Webster in 31st place, with Jack Ellis running well to record a time of 6:38. Just a few seconds behind was James Dunning, who record a 51st place finish on his debut. In the girls race, Liliana continued her fine form with an 8th place finish, whilst Charlie Joyce record a fine 13th place finish in the U13 boys race on his debut. In the U15 girls race Niamh ran from the fast pack and recorded the 15th fastest time, whilst Jasmine had a great run to finish in 19:19. Isla made her club debut, although sadly didnt finish, but was part of a fantastic team effort.

Results

Thornley Hall was the venue for this years NECAA XC Relays, with Team Blyth fielding a strong team in the U15 Boys race. Dexter Heatley kicked things off on leg 1, running a time of 11:13 to set the team up well. Dexter handed over to Jamie Floyd, who's 11:21 leg saw the team in 6th place heading into the final stages. George Bryce brought the team home in fine style, with an 11:04 leg and a brilliant 7th place finish. A huge well done to the boys!

Results

It was great to see 3 of our juniors at the Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races on Sunday. Richard Gormley completed the course in a fantastic 3:57 and was 7th U11 boy, whilst Ethan Hughes was not far behind, finishing in 4:12. Niamh Adams ran in the U15 race, finishing in 9th place in a time of 12:23. Well done to all!

​Results

The first indoor meet of the winter took place on Wedneday night at Gateshead, with a fantastic squad of Team Blyth juniors in action. Luke Picher was our only older athlete competing, taking advantage of the chance to compete in the pole vault. He cleared 3.00m, just outside his PB, also recording a 7.49s 60m run to open his indoor season.

Luke set a great example for two of our younger boys - with Ben and Alex performing superbly. Ben scored a massive high jump PB of 1.35m, as well as a 60m PB and a really positive first comp with the 4kg Shot Put. Alex equalled his high jump PB and set a new PB in the 60m, also making his debut in the shot put. 

Our girls were in positive mood throughout, and helped each other through the ups and downs of the evening. Aman and Fearne stepped up to the U15 age group, with both producing new PB's in the 60m, with strong long jumps as well. India waited until the final round to unleash a 3.47m long jump PB, also recording a new 60m PB. Martha Lorimer made her U13 debut, showing fantastic maturity to leap over 3m in the long jump, and set a 60m personal best. Well done to all!

Results

On Sunday, four of our juniors took on our "home" XC race at the picturesque Druridge Bay Harrier League event.

Jacob Martin showed great form once again, recording a 38th finish in the U11 race as he continues to grow and develop. Meanwhile, Liliana took another top 10 finish in the U11 girls race as she continues to show great consistency. 

Niamh Adams ran from the fast pack and took the 14th fastest time overall in the U15 girls race, whilst Ellie Allan continued her XC journey, showing genuine improvement in the U17 race. Fantastic work from all!

​Results

The iconic Kielder weekend is a fantastic occasion for runners of all ages, and its become a regular fixture for two of our juniors. Niamh Adams took a superb 3rd place in the U15 girls race in a time of 8:08, just a few seconds behind the winner. Evan Falkous has raced the junior distance in the past, but this year stepped up to the 10k, making his debut over this distance. He completed the course in a fantastic 53:33.

Well done to both Niamh and Evan on their fantastic performances!

Results Link

It was a night to celebrate for Ben Compton and India Gorvett, as they received awards for their performances at this years North East Grand Prix. Athletes scored points based on their performances over the 6 meetings throughout the summer season. Ben finished as U13 boys champion, after a season that saw him pick up ten age group wins. India took an excellent 4th in the U13 girls category, all the more impressive as she has another year in the age group. The top six athletes in each age group were awarded trophies, with Safia Diallo (8th U13) and Lauren Creaby (7th U17) just outside the top six.

​You can see the final grand prix standings HERE

It was a busy weekend of parkrun across the region, with our experienced juniors in action as well as a huge number of new young athletes taking part.

At South Beach, Ethan Hughes took 1st place on his debut at the event, with Richard Gormley 3rd and Elliot Harrison 4th. Dylam Oram was 7th on his first junior parkrun, with Beth Munro 2nd girl home on her event debut. Callum Codling secured a top 10 finish, with Grace Thompson doing a fantastic job once again as tail-runner, giving the runners her full support.

Rhys Evans took part in his first parkrun as a club member, setting a superb PB at Blyth Links over the 5km distance. At Whitley Bay junior parkrun, Alex Fielding took a top 10 finish whilst Liliana was 2nd girl home in 8:49. Further afield, Evan Falkous took a superb 3rd place at the Windy Nook Parkrun in 23:09.

Fantastic work from all!

We would love to have more reports from parkrun on our website in the future - if anyone would like to submit reports then please contact Dan
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South Beach Results
Blyth Links Results
Whitley Bay Results
Windy Nook Results

It was brilliant to see so many of our juniors giving it their all as the Harrier League XC season began at Wrekenton on Saturday. Our U11's started things off, with harrier league debuts all round for our young athletes. In the boys race Tom Flloyd recorded a time of 7:00 to finish in 18th place, with Jack Webster 34th in 7:18. Jacob Martin was superb on debut as he took 42nd place, with Jack Ellis in 57th. In the girls race, Liliana Meikle-Lopez was our highest finishing junior with a fantastic 6th place in 7:20 in the field of 60 athletes.

By now, the rain had started which made conditions tricky for our older athletes. Jamie Floyd, running from the fast pack, recorded a time of 10:05 in the U13 boys race. George Bryce took a top 20 placing in the U15 boys race in a time of 10:10, whilst in the girls U15 race Niamh Adams took a strong 22nd place running from the fast pack.

Finally, Ellie Allan made a welcome return to the club, 3 years after she last competed. Whilst previously she was more familiar with shot put and javelins, her XC debut saw Ellie finish with a big smile on her face and we look forward to seeing more races from her in the future. 

Results

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