Senior League & NEGP Reports
A busy week of track and field action included plenty of involvement from our young athletes at the inaugural NESDL match, as well as at the NEGP on Wednesday evening. On Saturday, Amber, Hannah and Millie took part in the first ever North East Senior Development League match at Shildon. In superb conditions, they all came out as event winners on the day. Hannah took the win in the high jump with a best of 1.55m to open her outdoor season, whilst Amber started with a strong 100m and followed this with a superb long jump performance, leaping out to 5.08m to take the win. Millie Train was also involved in the long jump where she won the “B” event with a new PB of 4.94, before she scored a big PB in the Javelin. Victory in the triple jump with an outdoor PB completed a fine day. On Wednesday, we had large squad of juniors competing at the NEGP at Monkton Stadium. Ben Compton opened his outdoors season with a massive PB in the 75m, followed by a solid shot put. Fearne recorded an equal PB in the high jump, whilst George was just outside his PB over 1500m. India Gorvett set a new personal best over 75m, and produced a really strong shot put. Liliana set a fine pace on her 1500m debut, whilst Luke Pichler produced really strong performances in both the shot put and pole vault. Millie Train was in splendid form in the triple jump, with all 3 valid jumps exceeding her previous outdoor PB set on Sunday, whilst Caitlin smahed her PB in the 300m, whilst Isla’s performance was hampered by an extremely late start and tricky lane draw in the final race of the day, but she still put in a strong performance. Senior League Results NEGP Results
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Hazy sunshine and light winds made for good conditions for our NEYDL team to open their season at Monkton on Sunday. Alongside our Alnwick team-mates it was a fantastic day and we took a brilliant 3rd place. Thanks for all who were involved, including our athletes, officials, parents and supporters.
U13/U15/U17 Boys Its was a fantastic day for our 5 boys across the various age groups – Harry made his NEYDL debut and acquitted himself superbly in the U13 age group. He was a superb 4th in the 100m, and 5th in the 200m, whilst his 3.26m leap in the long jump gave him a brilliant 3rd place! Jacob Robertson was making his club debut in the U15 age group and took the win in the high jump with 1.45m, before a brilliant 3rd place in the 100m. Oscar Pichler was in sparkling form, with a huge PB in the long jump of 3.47m, and victories in the javelin and shot put. George Bryce continued his sensational outdoor season, taking over half a minute off his 1500m to take a superb 2nd place. In the U17 competition, Luke Pichler started the day with a solo high jump competition, which resulted in a superb new personal best of 1.85m. There was 2nd place in the 100m with another PB, and more great points in the 400m with 2nd place. U13 Girls We had 3 girls in the youngest age group, with India putting her experience to good use in her 2nd NEYDL campaign. She started with a fine PB for 2nd in the 70m hurdles, and followed this with a 200m PB and a win in the high jump. Martha was all smiles on her debut, and took 3rd place in the long jump with 3.28m. She smashed her 100m race, recording 16.34s to take great points, before she had another great run in the 200m. Liliana followed up her 800m debut from last weekend with a huge PB of 2:48.00 to take 3rd place. U15 Girls Amara had a great run in the 100m, with a superb start putting her at the sharp end of her heat. She backed this up with a 6.15m shot put to help the team to maximum points. Aman produced a brilliant run on her 75m hurdles debut to take 2nd place, and whilst her long jump was a little below her usual standard, she produced a fine performance on her debut with the 500g javelin. Caitlin Creaby was also in fine Javelin form, launching the spear to an enormous 23.53m for a massive PB. There was also a PB in the 100m ,and a 3rd place overall in the 300m. Fearne Bell scored an outdoor PB in the long jump, whilst her shot put produced a solid series of throws. Her 200m was fantastic – as she took a full 2 seconds off her previous best! Amara, Caitlin and Fearne teamed up with an Alnwick team-mate for the 4x100 relay, picking up superb points. U17 Women Our U17 girls were in dominant form, picking up a huge amount of points for the team. Abigail started the day in style with a superb win on her 80m hurdles debut with 12.52s, before smashing her 100m PB to take another win. Her long jump was a little more mixed, but she helped the team to maximum points. Senna took 2nd in the sprint hurdles, just outside her PB, before a reasonable javelin comp. Her main event though was the 300m hurdles, where she took victory in an English Schools qualifying time, despite a somewhat messy race. Isla Bell was 2nd in the 300 hurldes behind Senna on her debut, with 48.21 a fantastic time. Earlier on, she was 4th in the sprint hurdles and there was a superb 8.40m shot put PB for 2nd place. Sadie Parker had approach issues in the javelin and didn’t record a valid throw, but re-grouped for the long jump where she took the win with 5.35m, trying out a new run-up for the first time. Amber Wright continued a busy weekend, with a new PB for 3rd place in the 80m hurdles, before a solid shot put. In the high jump, she was in fine form, clearing 1.50m for the win. Finally, Hollie-Anne Sudder took victory in her 2 events, with a massive club record in the javelin of 32.87m, before a commanding 200m win. She teamed up with Senna and Isla to form part of the winning U17 4x100 relay team. 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 Sunday was packed full of action and adventures across the UK for our juniors. At the Birtley XC Relays, muddy conditions greeted our athletes! Our brilliant team in the U11 boys race started with Ethan Hughes (5:35), who ran the 5th fastest time overall on the day to put the team in 4th place after leg 1. Next up was Dylan Oram, who was 3rd quickest leg 2 runner (6:01) as the team placed highly heading into the final leg. Michael Mcpherson finished it off in style (6:05) to give the team an amazing 4th place! Well done to the boys. Meanwhile, in Manchester Caitlin looked to get an indoor 300m race under her belt before outdoor season. Sadly, the organisation of the meet left a lot to be deserved, and after being told to be warmed up and ready to race at 13:30 by the organisers, she didnt actually race until 16:00! This meant she wasnt able to run to the max of her abilities, but nonetheless took an U15 indoor 300m club record. Down in Loughborough, Amber, Sadie and Millie took part in an England Athletics pre-talent pathway workshop led by Jamie French. The girls had the chance to do full approach long / triple jumps, and made some great progress and changes to different parts of their run-ups, take-offs and landings. It was proper XC for our juniors at Alnwick, with a huge team of juniors out in force and giving it their all as the weather conditions worsened.
Our fantastic U11 boys team were magnificent. Ethan Hughes took 8th, just ahead of Richard Gormley (15th). Michael Mcpherson was 23rd, whilst Tom Floyd, Rhys Evans and Dylan Oram came through line astern in 27-29th place! Jamie Hughes was 34th, Sam Porter 37th, and Jack Ellis 48th with James Dunning 59th. This was probably the most athletes we have ever had in a single XC race in one age group! In the girls race, Liliana was a fine 13th, and Casey 23rd. In the U13 boys race, James Floyd ran from the fast pack and was 28th, whilst Geroge Bryce was a fantastic 5th in the U15 boys race, with James Green 26th. Jasmine was our representative in the U15 girls and finished in 25th. Well done to all the team! Results Millie Train capped her first indoor triple jump season in fine style as she became Scottish National U20 Triple Jump Champion on Friday night.
Grangemouth was the unusual setting for the national finals, with the Emirates Arena closed as it prepares for World indoors. Nonetheless, Millie brought fantastic energy to the competition and her first round jump of 10.73m was enough to win the competition by a considerable margin. Millie was not able to replicate her first round leap, as she started to feel the effects of a busy championship season - but stood proudly on the podium as she claimed her first Scottish National title. It was a dramatic day of action as three of our Team Blyth Juniors took on the English national age group championships in Sheffield on Sunday.
Hannah Wilson took on the 200m, looking to build on an encouraging season-opener 2 weeks prior. In her heat, Hannah out on a fine display to take an automatic qualifying place in 2nd, with a superb indoor club record of 25.67s. Later on, it was another strong run in the semi-final to take 3rd, but this was not quite enough to make the final. In the long jump, Luke produced a very consistent series of jumps, sitting around the medal placings for much of the competition. Heading into the final round in 4th place, he produced a superb competitive effort to leap to 6.57m, which was a personal best and enough to snatch bronze, and yet another national medal for Luke. Sadie Parker was involved in a similarly thrilling climax - although it was heartbreak rather than jubilation for Sadie. After leaping out to a massive 5.55m in round 1, Sadie sat in the bronze medal position all the way through to the final round. At this point, a competitor managed to move ahead of Sadie, meaning Sadie had one final jump to try and get back into the medal placings. Sadly, she fell slightly short and had to settle for 4th which is still a great achievement. A huge well done to our athletes for competing so strongly on the national stage. Saturday
Field events took centre stage on day 1 of the NECAA Champs, with Team Blyth’s athletes doing their best to make it an exciting atmosphere inside Gateshead College. Alexander Robson-Lamb was making his championships debut and had an incredible day. Firstly, he fought back in the high jump to take victory with a 1.38m clearance, a new personal best. Later on in the day he made huge strides in the long jump to take silver with another huge personal best of 4.26m. Fantastic work from Alex! In the U17 long jump, we had a huge Blyth presence. The first goal for our 4 athletes was securing a place in the top 6 after the 3rd round, to secure an additional 3 attempts – Abi, Hollie, Senna and Amber all achieved this goal, and the competition really came alive after that. Abi could not improve further, and finished in 6th, whilst Hollie-Anne improved to 4.68m which was her 2nd best ever jump to take 4th. Senna then took the initiative with her first ever jump over 5m, with a superb 5.03m in round 4. Amber responded in fine style in the final round to leap out to 5.07m to snatch the gold, with Senna taking silver. A brilliant event! Back over in the high jump, and Fearne was all smiles as she set a new personal best of 1.16m – which was her opening height and took real courage. India was imperious in the U13 competition, having 3 good attempts at a new PB, and she secured gold with 1.26m. In the U17 shot put there were PB’s all-round for Hollie, Isla, and Senna. Hollie produced a superbly consistent series and a new PB of 8.92m for 4th, whilst Isla Bell exceeded 8m for the first time ever to finish just behind. There were screams of joy from Senna, as her final through sailed out to 10.28, and she became the first Blyth female athlete ever to breach the 10m mark – securing her the bronze medal. In the U15 long jump, Fearne produced a superb final jump, which was just outside of her PB, whilst Caitlin nailed it in round 1 with a big PB of 4.50m. She produced further big fouls, and no other athlete was able to get close to Caitlins mark and she took her first ever NECAA title. In the U17 high jump, there were some mixed fortunes. Isla and Amber did not jump to their full potential at the end of a long day, whilst Senna delivered a superb championship performance to clear 1.51m to claim gold, with Amber and Isla competing the podium. In the U13 long jump, India was involved in an incredibly tight battle for the medals. Drawing motivation from hand claps, India leaped out to 3.52m in the final round to move in to 1st place, only to then be demoted to the silver medal position on countback as another athlete matched her mark. There was a final medal for India in the shot put, as she took silver with a 6m+ throw. Millie Train ended the day in the triple jump, and was engaged in a fascinating battle for gold. It was not to be on this occasion, and Millie’s final jumps fell just short but silver with 10.60m was still a fine result. Sunday It was another busy day on Sunday, with Talia and Izabela joining the action. Hurdles was first up, with India taking a fine U13 silver with her first ever sub-11 second race. In the U15 competition, Izabela showed great determination to qualify for the final, where she finished in 6th place. In the U17 event 6 of the 7 entrants were Blyth athletes, with the highlight in the heats being Talia’s superb debut hurdles run which saw her run well under 11 seconds. In the final, there was a thrilling battle for gold with our athletes just missing out. Senna and Amber took the minor medals with new PB’s, with Abi 4th, and Hollie and Isla 5th and 6th, both also securing PB’s on the day. Next up was the 60m sprint action to finish the champs. In the U13 event, India lowered her PB once again as she made the B-final. In the U15 event Fearne was just outside her PB in her heat, whilst Caitlin sailed through her heat, and was a whisker away from qualifying for the final after a strong semi. Mia Liddell has recently returned to the club and it was a joy to see her competing in the Blyth colours for the first time since 2019. In her first race of the winter in the senior 60m, she finished 5th in 8.25s, with lots to build on. In the U17 event, Isla Bell did well to qualify for the B-final after a hectic programme of events, whilst Hollie-anne sailed through her heat and finished the weekend in style with a magnificent silver medal in a new PB of 8.16s It was a fantastic weekend, full of ups and downs. Our athletes showed great maturity, belief and confidence throughout. There is one more indoor comp and Gateshead this winter – the NECAA Indoor Pentathlon in March. We hope to see lots of our athletes there! It was a sizzling night of athletics at the Gateshead Indoor open on Wednesday – with our round-up starting with the long jump where there were exceptional performances from every athlete.
Amber Wrights 5.29m leap was a PB by over half a metre, and was greeted with a scream of joy from Amber. Emily Bond opened her season with what was her first time over 5m for 4 years – her brilliant 5.02m in the final round was a special moment. Caitlin Creaby also produced final round fireworks with a big PB of 4.41m, whilst Talia Green produced a brilliant series to score a new PB of 4.14m, with Fearne Bell adding a massive 35cm to her PB with 3.76. In the High Jump, Hannah Wilson cleared 1.55m with a perfect card before heading to the 60m start where she was fastest lady. Senna and Emily both cleared 1.50m for the first occasion in some time whilst Amara added 9cm to her PB with 1.30m. India recorded an equal PB =1.30m, with Hollie and Isla having up and down comps. Sadie Parker was our only participant in the shot put and she recorded a new PB of 9.56m. On track, there was a PB for Fearne in the 60m, with Caitlin, Amara and Alex having positive runs, whilst in the hurdles Senna set a scorching PB to take U17 1st place ahead of Isla in 3rd, whilst Alex Robson-Lamb was superb on his hurdles debut and India took U13 2nd place. |
AuthorTeam Blyth HQ. Archives
April 2024
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