The ESAA National Championships were held on the 12th and 13th July at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham; the venue for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. They are the 4th largest athletics event in the world and West Yorkshire Schools was well represented.
Local club
Spenborough & District AC had 3 athletes as part of the team and 2 of them returned to Cleckheaton with Bronze Medals.
Natalie Groves won herself a Bronze medal in the Inter Girls 300m with a time of 40.51s, after qualifying 2nd in her heat.
Bayleigh Lawton picked up a Bronze Medal in the Junior Boys 4x100 metres relay.
Olivia Reah jumped her way through the first round to reach the final of the Inter Girls Triple Jump, with a best jump of 11.21m. She finished 11th in the Final.
Other medal winners from the West Yorkshire team were
Hakan Dalbal, who won Silver in the Senior Boys 200m Final with a time of 48.98s and
Leonie Ashmeade who won Bronze in the Senior Girls 100m Final (12.03s).
The Senior Girls 4 x 100m relay team just missed out, with a 4th position in the final and in the Inter Girls 100m
Tamara Miller finished 5th in the Final, after coming 2nd in her heat with a time of 12.33s. Other Track team athletes included Senior Boys
Matthew Hill (15th in 3000m) and
Miles Sizer (5th in 400m Hurdles) and Inter Girls
Isabelle Bloem who finished 7th in the 300m Final behind Natalie.
In the Field events West Yorkshire was well represented in Pole Vault.
Amy Hunt was 5th in the Junior Girls competition with a height of 3.10m, with sister
Erin Hunt finishing 11th.
Gabby Dyson finished 8th with a height of 3.20m in the Senior Girls event and
Alex Bostwick was 9th in the Junior Boys event. Other Field athletes included
Rhea Southcott (7th in Senior Girls High Jump),
Zara Tyas (10th in Inter Girls High Jump) and
Niamh Woodhouse (8th in Junior Girl Discus).
Aran Thomas finished 8th in the Senior Boys Javelin with a throw of 50.38m and
Zac Howson finished 7th in the Junior Boys Long Jump with a distance of 5.90m.
Full results can be found on the
English Schools Athletics Association website.