Over the last two days, 5 of our athletes competed at the historic ESAA track and field championships in Birmingham.

On a weekend full of ups and downs, moments of joy and tears, it was Luke Pichler (Northumberland) who came away with a brilliant podium placing in the 100m hurdles against the best athletes in the country. Luke was only 0.03 away from 2nd, which would have secured an England call up. Sadie Parker (Northumberland) was also achingly close to international honours, but should be proud of her 5.61m best in the long jump to take 5th place, just 5cm off 2nd. Sadie also helped the mixed 4x100 team to a 5th place finish. Amber Wright (Durham) also competed in the long jump, recovering from 2 fouls on her first two attempts to secure a 15th place finish on her ESAA debut.

Hannah Wilson (Durham) produced a superb run in her 200m heat on Saturday to qualify for Sundays final, where she finished in 8th place. This was her 3rd consecutive top 8 finish at these champs - a fantastic achievement. Senna Gorvett (Northumberland) qualified with ease for the 300m hurdles final with 2nd in her heat, before lining up for the final on Sunday morning with high expectations. Sadly the race didn't go to plan, and it was a 7th place finish for Senna, but she will bounce back.

The ESAA Championships are full of history and tradition, with athletes travelling with their county teams the day prior to the event, and spending the weekend together throughout. It is an immense achievement to just get selected for these champs, and there is the opportunity to take part in an Olympics style "athletes parade" where all 1800 athletes parade around the stadium in their county colours.
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An incredible weekend, with our athletes doing themselves and their counties proud.

It was an action-packed weekend of action for Blyth’s young athletes – our round-up starts on Saturday at the Northumberland Schools Minors Champs
 
Ben Compton took the win in the Y8 hammer, also scoring a massive PB of 9.47m in the shot put.
India Gorvett took a fine win in the Y7 Hurdles, and 2nd in the high jump
Fearne Bell scored a 100m PB as she qualified for the final, and she also just missed out on a place in the 200m f
Martha Lorimer scored a personal best to take a brilliant 2nd in the Y6 long jump with 3.43m
Alexander Robson-Lamb took the title in the Y6 boys high jump with a 1.35m clearance          
Liliana was 5th in the Y6 800m, with a time of 2:50.4
Charlie Makepeace was a fine 4th in the Y7 boys 800m, finishing in a time of 2:36.2
Elliot Summers finished in 11th in the Y6 boys 800m with a time of 2:47.0
Joseph Hickey had a strong run in the Y7 1500m final, with an 8th place finish
Imogen Hearn raced in the Y8 800m, finishing 6th in a fine 2:44.2

Results
  
On Sunday, our biggest ever team assembled at Whitley Bay for the NEYDL meet as we looked in ignite a championship charge!
 
U13 Boys
Harry Ross smashed is 100m PB, before taking a huge 2 seconds off his 200m as he picked up massive sprint points. Oscar Valentine-Beech also ran in the 200m a picked up great points. In the 800m, Charlie Makepeace scored a PB to take 2nd place, whilst Oscar produced a really strong run. Alex Robson-Lamb made his outdoors hurdles debut recording a superb 13.15s to take 2nd place. He followed this up with a Long jump PB of 4.37m for the win, and he also scored maximum points in the high jump. Harry and Oscar also took park int the long jump, leaping out to great distances. Charlie took a fine win in the javelin with 16.99m, also taking 2nd in the shot put.
 
U13 Girls
There was a 100m PB for Lilian, with Megan Onsworth absolutely smashing it on her debut for the club over the same distance. In the 200m India was a fraction outside her PB, with Megan and Amelie Hall also running strongly over the distance. Liliane took 3rd in the 800m, with  Amelie also running well. There was an outdoor PB in the long jump for India, with Amelie just outside of her PB. India Gorvett took 2nd in the shot put, with a PB for Liliana. Amelie, India, Megan and Liliana teamed up to take 3rd in a thrilling 4x100m relay to end their day.
 
U15 Boys
Jacob Robertson scored a PB for 3rd place int eh 100m, whilst Dexter Heatley took a fine 2nd place with a huge PB in the 800m. Lucas Johnson also raced in the 800m, and was just outside of his PB. George Bryce was 3rd with a superb PB in the 1500m, whilst Jacob Robertson took the win in the high jump with a PB of 1.57m. George an Dexter both picked up massive points with javelin PB’s, with Ben taking the win in the discus on his event debut. There was yet another hammer PB for another victory for Ben, and he completed a trio of wins as he took 1st in the shot put. In the long jump Jacob Robertson set a high standard, picking up big points, with George and Lucas jumping well.
 
U15 Girls
Izabela Walton smashed her 100m PB, with Aman also setting a new best. Over 200m, Caitlin ran a fantastic bend to take 2nd in the 200m. Aman took a huge personal best for 2nd in the 75m hurdles, with Fearne just a fraction outside of her PB. In the long jump, Izabela and Amna were both close to 4m and scored strong points, with Izabela and Fearne both clearing close to their PB’s in the high jump. In the shot put Fearne put in another strong performance, before She teamed up with Caitlin, Izabela and Alicia from Alnwick to take 3rd in the relay.
 
U17 Women     
There was a new PB for Talia in the 100m as she took 2nd place, before Hollie-Anne Sudder took a strong win in the 200m with Isla and Talia just behind. Beth Munro made a fantastic debut in the 300m, scoring big points for the club. Hollie-Anne matched her hurdles PB to take a commanding win, with Isla in 2nd. Amber worked hard on a new run-up to take the long jump win with 5.03m, Talia jumped well but sadly was just over the board on all attempts. Isla showed great consistency and took victory in the high jump, with Hollie-Anne taking her 3rd win of the day in the javelin. Amber took 2nd in the shot put, before joining forces with Hollie-Anne, Isla and Xara from Alnwick to take a fantastic win in the relay.
 
We finished the day in a fantastic 1st place – meaning that we have an outside chance of promotion heading into the final fixture in 3 weeks time.

Results 

It was a scorching hot weekend in Doncaster as 13 Team Blyth juniors proudly put on their county vests to take on a weekend of combined events competition against the best multi-event athletes from across the North, with many hoping to qualify for national finals.

Junior Boys Pentathlon
Jacob Robertson and Ben Compton joined forces with friends Jacob (NS Poly) and Oscar (Gateshead) to form a fantastic team that built in confidence and camaraderie throughout the day. Ben produced a really solid series of performances including PB's in the 80m hurdles and a huge high jump PB to record an overall pentathlon PB of 1370pts to take 10th. Jacob was superb in his first ever hurdles race, set a big new high jump PB, and debuted superbly in all his other events to finish a fine 7th with 1633pts. The team finished with a strong total of 4847pts, to finish 2nd to North Yorkshire.

Junior Girls Pentathlon
The action kicked off on Sunday morning for our junior girls Caitlin, Amara, Fearne and Izabela, who were competing in an incredibly strong competition. The hurdles started the day. Everyone navigated the barriers safely with a new PB for Fearne. Shot put was next, with Izabela and setting Amara new life-time bests. The high jump saw the athletes gain great points, with another PB for Fearne and Caitlin, Amara and Izabela all slightly below their PB's. As the temperature ramped up there were some sizzling long jumps, with Caitlin producing a fantastic final round and there were big PB's for Amara and Izabela. The 800m took place in oppressive heat, with Amara sadly not able to finish. Izabela set a huge personal best, as did Fearne, with Caitlin storming home to take 15th overall in the competition, with the other girls just behind. There were huge overall pentathlon PB's for Caitlin, Fearne and Izabela. The team finished in a fantastic 6th, with a significant improvement on their points total from last year.

Intermediate Boys Octathlon
Luke Pichler led by example as always, producing a fantastic series of performances whilst very much keeping his eye on the bigger goals ahead. Day 1 was hugely consistent, with great performances in a combined events context in the long jump, discus, javelin and 400m. Day 2 started in style with a rapid 13.50 PB in the 100m hurdles, the 3rd fastest in the UK this year. This was followed by a new high jump PB of 1.86m, to keep Luke in contention against fierce competitor and friend Ruben from South Yorkshire. Luke's shot put was again consistent, before he finished in the baking heat with a committed 1500m. Luke took 2nd overall with a Northumberland Schools Record 4967pts to seal his place at nationals in September.

Intermediate Girls Octathlon
Senna, Isla, Sadie and Abi made up the Northumberland team, with Hannah and Amber forming the Durham team alongside Tilly from Gateshead. Day 1 started with the hurdles, which were very safely navigated by all athletes. High Jump was next up - with Hannah moving into 1st place after her 1.59m clearance, and Senna set a PB of 1.56m. Shot put was next up, with some big throws incoming. Senna smashed her club record with 10.92m, with Hannah, Sadie, Amber and Abi also setting PB's. Day 1 concluded with the 200m in fantastic conditions, with Hannah fastest of all and very close to her PB, whilst Sadie went sub-26 and Senna set a new PB, whilst Abi's fastest ever run was +2.1 wind assisted.  Day 2 began in the long jump, with the athletes taking advantage of near perfect conditions. Amber recovered well from two no jumps to record a committed valid mark in her final attempt, whilst Hannah, Isla and Abi all recorded solid jumps. Senna summoned the support of the crowd to leap to a huge PB of 5.14m, as did Sadie who set a long-overdue new PB of 5.72m to set a new club record and move her into a great position in the competition overall.

Javelin was next up - there were PB's here for Hannah, Isla and Senna, and this set the scene for the final event - the 800m. The heat made conditions so challenging, with Amber choosing just to start the race to ensure her Durham team were classified. Isla put in a storming and well paced run to match her PB and help maximize Northumberland's points. Abi had not completed an 800m for 3 years - despite many attempts, so the grit and commitment she showed to get over the line must be commended and was a great achievement. This left Hannah, Sadie and Senna battling right at the front in the home straight, trying to eke out every last ounce of speed. They all crossed the line around 2:28 in the blazing heat. Sadie took the overall title in a Northumberland Schools record of 4631pts, with Senna setting a massive overall PB of 4410pts for 2nd place, just a few points ahead of Hannah in 3rd, with Isla and Abi rounding out the top 10 and Amber not far behind despite not finishing the 800m.

The Northumberland Inter girls team qualified for nationals with a fantastic team win, ahead of Durham in 2nd, with Hannah also going through as highest scoring individual not in the winning team.

All athletes should be immensely proud of themselves for such an incredible weekend of competition - training for and competing in combined events takes massive commitment. A huge thanks to the support team (parents) who have provided amazing support over the weekend.

Results

Representing your county is always a proud moment, and yesterday Team Blyth had 10 athletes representing Northumberland and 3 Durham at the Schools Intercounties Championships on what was a fanatstic day of athletics at Gateshead.

For Durham, Hannah won her 200m heat with Hollie-Anne producing a season's best also over 300m. Amber took 2nd in the Long jump with 5.18m.

For Northumberland, Luke took the win in the long jump and 2nd in the hurdles after a dramatic finish. Ben made his Northumberland debut, taking a brilliant win in the hammer with a PB of 23.97s. George was 5th in the 1500m with a strong run. Caitlin scored massive points for the county, completing her 300m in between long jumps, whilst Millie Train jumped 10.82m in the triple jump.

Senna Gorvett smashed her own Northumberland Schools record to take 300m hurdles victory in 44.61s, and 2nd in the high jump. Abi was 3rd in a fast hurdles race, also competing in the 100m. Sadie took victory in the long jump, also setting a PB in the shot put, with Talia producing a really strong long jump on her Northumberland debut. Isla Bell was 5th in the 300 hurdles, also throwing really well in the shot put.
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The day finished with some fantastic mixed 4x100m relays. Well done to all the athletes, with lots more county representation ahead for many in the coming weeks.

It has been an incredibly busy weekend of action, and we will start our round up on Saturday at Monkton, where the Durham Schools Champs took place.

2 of our young athletes were in action. Hollie-Anne Sudder made her return after an injury lay-off, and did superbly to qualify for intercounties with a strong run in the 200m. Amber Wright produced a stunning new personal best of 5.32m in the long jump to become county champion, and secure her place at intercounties.

At the Northumberland Schools Champs, Ben Compton became junior boys champion with a 21m+ throw in the hammer, whilst there was a Blyth 1-2 in the 300m hurdles with Senna and Isla making the best of the oppressive wind. Also on track, Abigail Huntly took a brace of wins in the 100m and 80m hurdles, whilst George Bryce was involved in a titanic battle and took 2nd place in the 1500m, with Dexter Heatley 10th. Caitlin Creaby secured a brilliant win in the 300m to become county champion, and also took 2nd in the junior girls long jump. In the inter girls long jump, Sadie took 1st place with Talia taking 2nd with a massive personal best. Isla took the title in the shot put and Talia was 3rd in the 100m. Luke Pichler was in dominant form, securing the win in both the 100m Hurdles and also the Long Jump. Millie Train was just pipped in the final round in the triple jump, with a best of 10.77m.

Northern Championships @ Middlesbrough
Senna takes gold in the u20 400m hurdles with a time of 64.31s. Aged just 15, Senna was running up an age-group and she produced a sensational finish to take the gold and become Northern champion.

Millie Train scored an outdoor PB of 10.87m to take an excellent bronze in the U20 Triple jump. It was a very tight contest, with Millie not quite able to break the 11m mark to get amongst the major medals.

Its has been a hugely busy month of May so far, with Team Blyth Juniors setting incredible standards in track and field competitions all over the North of England. Here is how things have unfolded!

York Summer Meet, Bank Holiday Monday
5 Team Blyth athletes travelled to York on Bank Holiday Monday to take part in a brand new combined events meet, designed to give athletes great preparation and event practice ahead of a busy championship season. Fine conditions greeted our athletes, with Fearne Bell going in the U15 Pentathlon. She produced a solid series of performacnes in a high quality field, with the undoubted highlight coming in the final event of the day, the 800m, where she knocked well over 10 seconds off her PB to help secure an overall pentathlon PB. Older sister Isla took part in the U17 pentathlon, and started with a heat win and PB in the hurdles. There were plenty of up and downs throughout the rest of the day, and Isla eventually finished in 4th place with a solid points total. Luke Pichler took the opportunity to take part in the unique U17 mens quadrathlon, and he secured PB’s in the hurdles and Javelin, although his breakthrough performance was without doubt his 400m  as he lowered his PB to 52.76s. Luke topped the podium at the end of a fine day. Hollie-Anne Sudder and Hannah Wilson went in the U17 quadrathlon with Hollie-Anne producing big PB’s in the Hurdles, Javelin and Long Jump as she put together a great comp. Hannah had a consistent day, with strong performances across all the event and she finished with a win in the 200m. Hollie took a fine bronze medal in a top quality competition, with Hannah taking 4th.

Results

NECAA Track and Field Championships 11th & 12th May @ Middlesbrough
Day 1 at the NECAA Track and Field Champs - what a sizzling day!
Sadie Parker takes gold in the U17 Long jump with a Championship Record 5.65m
Lianne Slater takes senior discus gold
Millie Train secures u20 long jump silver with a new PB 4.97m
Abigail Huntly takes silver in the 80m Hurdles with a thrilling 12.15s PB.
Amber Wright takes u17 long jump silver with 5.19m, and bronze in the 80m hurdles with a new PB.
India Gorvett takes silver in the u13 Hurdles and makes the 200m final
4th for Ben Compton in the shot put, with a throw equal to the third best finisher. A huge PB in the 100m.
George Bryce sets a massive PB in the 1500m 4m33 for 5th
Adam Swalwell sets a 100m PB 11.35 in a sensational men's final.
Great performances in the javelin, 200m and Hurdles for Aman Sanghera
5th place for Isla in both the 80m Hurdles and long jump
Caitlin sets a new PB on her way to the U15 200m final, with a solid javelin also.
Fearne Bell sets a big new 200m PB.
Hollie-Anne produces a superb controlled run to win her u17 200m heat in a season's best - sadly injury prevented her from taking her place in the final and we wish her all the best.

Day 2 at the NECAA Championships and it was another scorcher – with Team Blyth athletes setting an incredible standard once again.
Senna Gorvett started the day in style as she retained her 300m hurdles title with a big seasons best, before claiming bronze in the shot put. Liane Slater claimed her 2nd gold of the weekend in the senior women's shot put with a new club record 11.06m, whilst Sadie Parker also won her 2nd gold of the weekend in the high jump.
India Gorvett secured a superb gold in the U13 high jump with a PB of 1.31m, also smashing her PB to claim shot put silver. Alfie Ward brought home senior mens long jump gold, whilst Millie Train was pipped for gold in the final round of the U20 triple jump, and had to settle for silver. Ben Compton just missed out on a long jump medal, before taking silver in the hammer on his debut in the event.
Adam Swalwell was 5th in the senior mens high jump, with Caitlin Creaby also 5th in the U15 girls long jump. Fearne Bell ran by far her fastest ever 100m, and also performed admirably in the long jump. Isla Bell suffered heartbreak in the 300m hurdles – after running an incredible race, she fell at the final hurdle whilst lying 2nd – a tough moment for Isla but she will come back fighting.
Despite this being our smallest team for several years, the standard of performance was incredibly high and all athletes should be proud of what they achieved, with 7 gold, 7 silver and 2 bronze medals hard-earned over the weekend.

Results

Senior League 18th May @ Whitley Bay
Hannah, Senna and Millie helped our senior league to another strong finish in the top division at a sunny Whitley Bay. Hannah took another win in the high jump with a 1.55m clearance, also picking up bing points in the long jump. Millie missed out on the win in the triple jump on countback, and pulled out a superb final round long jump to take 2nd , before sneaking in a single valid javelin throw. Senna made her debut in the 400m hurdles, producing a superbly paced race to take 2nd place, smashing the club record with a time of 64.21s.

Results

NEYDL 19th May @ Shildon

NEYDL meet 2 @ Shildon - a superb 3rd place finish for our combined Blyth/Alnwick team!
It was great to see so many league debuts from our endurance squad - Amelie, Lucas, Oscar, Charlie and Arlo - they were all fantastic!
Luke smashed the league record in the 100m hurdles, with Sadie, Amber, Senna, Ben, Jacob, India and Abi all securing impressive wins as we racked up 14 event wins on the day. Fearne, Isla, Oscar P, Izabela, Liliana and Harry all set PBs in at least one event, capping a brilliant day.

Results

The long indoor season finally came to an end on Sunday, as Team Blyth athletes went up against athletes from the North East and all over the UK at a sell-out NECAA Indoor Pentathlon. Here is how the day unfolded

U13's
India Gorvett began the day with a solid hurdles, before smashing out a big new personal best in the shot put. The long jump proved to be the most challenging event of day for India as recorded a pair of fouls, but she bounced back in the high jump with a 1.28m clearance. This set her up for a grand finale, with a chance of bronze medal. Sadly it wasnt quite to be, despite running a brilliant PB in her 60m she missed out on bronze by the smallest of margins. Meanwhile, Alex Robson-Lamb was embarking his first pentathlon. He produced a consistent series of perfomances in the hurdles, high jump and long jump, and set a new personal best in the shot put. He headed into the 60m in 2nd place, and held on to this position to take a well earned silver medal.

U15's  
Caitlin Creaby, Aman Sanghera and Fearne Bell all began with the hurdles - with Caitlin knockong nearly a second off her previous best, and Fearne completing her first U15 race safely. The long jump was solid, if not spectacular for the girls, as they started to accumulate solid scores. In the shot put there were big new personal bests for Caitlin and Fearne, whilst the high jump provided one of the most stressful moments of the day as Caitlin failed her first two attempts at her opening height, before clearing on her first attempt. Aman had a superb high jump, setting a new personal best to move up the rankings. In the 60m, Aman and Fearne finished their comps strongly to set overall pentathlon PB's, whilst Caitlin stormed to victory in her heat to take a superb silver medal.

U17's 
Talia Green, Amber Wright and Isla Bell went in the U17 event, and all safely navigated the hurdles with a new PB for Isla. She continued this PB form in the long jump leaping to a new best of 4.46m, whilst Amber and Talia were both not far off their best, and racked up great points. In the high jump, Talia cleared her 2nd highest height ever, with Amber delighted with 1.49m. Isla continued her amazing start to the comp with another PB and her first time over 1.40m. Sadly Talia then had to withdraw due to an injury concern, whilst Isla and Amber moved onto the shot put which was slightly below expectation for both. Heading into the 60m, the girls were in the top 2 positions and produced fine runs, with Amber becoming NECAA Pentathlon champion and Isla taking silver, both with huge overall PB's for this event.

It was another fantastic combined events comp for our young athletes, as they once again showed great passion spirit and determination.

Results

The England Athletics Combined Events Championships took place on the weekend of the 9th and 10th March 2024, with three of our athletes competing against the best multi-events from England, Scotland and Wales. On Saturday, Luke Pichler kicked off this Heptathlon campaign in stunning fashion with big PB's in both the 60m (7.28s) and Long Jump (6.66m) to take an early lead. Another PB followed in the shot put, and he ended the day with a solid high jump to put him in a strong leading position heading into day 2.

Senna Gorvett and Hannah Wilson's U17 Pentathlon took place on the Saturday, with both girls looking to finish their indoor seasons strongly in a high quality field of 32 athletes. It was a great start to the day in the hurdles, with Hannah very close to her PB in her first hurdles race of the winter, whilst Senna Gorvett produced a fine PB (9.40s). Up next was the high jump, with 1.50m being the key height - Senna sailed over on the 2nd attempt which was a solid result, whilst Hannah produced a clutch 3rd time clearance to stay in the comp before going on to a superb clearance at 1.59m to move up the overall rankings. The shot put saw both our girls save their best to last with fired up performances, Hannah with a new PB (9.84m) and Senna very close to 10m. Event 4 was the Long Jump - and this was likely to be a crucial event thanks to the big points differential on offer. Hannah again saved her best for last, exceeding the 5m barrier despite not hitting the board, with Senna also board-shy as her best was somewhat below expectations.

Heading into the 800m, Hannah was very much in with a chance of a bronze medal, along with a number of other athletes. Senna knew that a strong run could move her up the rankings, possibly into the top 10. Senna was up first and ran a brilliantly paced race, before moving into the lead and winning her heat in a massive PB of 2:27.71. This moved her up into a brilliant 10th position, with a massive points PB of 3174pts. In the next heat, one of the athletes in contention for a bronze put in a superb run, giving Hannah and the other athletes in the final heat a real target to aim for. The race went at a steady pace, and Hannah was near the front throughout. The pace quickened on the final lap and Hannah stayed strong to finish in 2:32.89, which gave her a final points total of 3335pts, which gave her 6th place, just 57pts off bronze. Nonetheless, she should be very proud, and has scored the highest ever points total by a North East athlete in an indoor pentathlon.

Luke concluded his Heptathlon on Sunday, with the hurdles first up. An equal PB was a brilliant way to start the day, especially on legs that already worked very hard the previous day. In the pole vault, Luke's aim was to maintain as much of a lead as possible, as this was a stronger event for other athletes. His best of 3.00m was a little below his best, but nonetheless he went into the final event the 1000m with on paper, a strong points lead. However, with athletes behind him having faster PB's, he knew he'd have to run to his very best to stand a chance of taking the title.

As the race progressed, one of Luke's challengers for Gold Ruben Stovell was putting in an incredible run, and went on to finish in 2:36.63. Luke ran his heart out and crossed the line in what would have been a massive personal best, but not quite enough to win the gold. Sadly, it was not even going to be a silver medal for Luke , as he was given the devastating news by the officials that he had been disqualified for taking a couple of steps outside of track on one of the bends mid-race. Despite passionate pleas and appeals, the officials would not change their decision and the DQ from the 1000m stood. Luke therefore finished in 11th place, an absolutely heartbreaking finish, and a cruel blow after such a minor infraction after 2 days of superb competition. 

So a weekend full of emotion, PB's, drama and everything else. Our athletes will have learned so much from the experience that they can take forward into the months and years ahead.

Results