Reports from NECAA Open & Caitlin @ York

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).