The addition of technology to Bede Academy’s annual festival of sport, held at Monkton Stadium, in Jarrow, brought both a bird’s eye and an athletes’ eye view of the action.
Investment in a drone to hover above the running track and go-pro cameras attached to students as they ran added to the excitement of the event for students from the academy in Blyth.
And students rose to the occasion with a staggering 29 new records set on the day.
Athletes smashed the previous best performances across the events with Year 9 girls and Year 10 boys in particular setting new high standards.
In Year 7, records fell in the javelin with Molly Burt and Ethan Alia stretching the previous best.
Ellie Morris was the toast of the Year 8 girls posting new record times in the hurdles and high jump, while Josh Leddy set a new record of 26.59 in the 200m.
Sprinters led the way for the Year 9 girls with Oswald house’s new record in the 4 x 100m relay adding to best performances by Hollie Sharples in the hurdles and high jump, Olivia Quinn in the 100m and Scarlett Carling in the 200m. Robyn Weir also set a new record in the javelin.
Aidan house’s performances in the boys’ 4 x 100m for both Year 9 and Year 10 were new records, with Elliot Cook adding an individual record of 1.53 in the Year 9 high jump.
Year 10 student Ellie Burt made it a hat-trick of shot put records, her performance adding to her records set in Year 8 and 9, as well as setting a new standard in the triple jump.
The list of record breakers among the Year 10 boys included Liam Watson in the hurdles, Ryan Hull in the 100m, Cameron Moore in the 400m and high jump, Nicky Richmond in the shot and Harry Sawyer in the triple jump. Taylor Glover took the 800m record for the second year in a row and confirmed his total dominance of the 1500m, having broken the academy record every year from Year 7-10.
In their penultimate year at Bede, Rebecca Douglas broke the girls’ Year 12 100m record and Tyler McGowan set new standards in the javelin and high jump. For the boys, Adam Simmons broke the high jump record and Liam McNally won the triple jump.
Director of Sport Simon McAree said: “Sports day gets more competitive every year as our talented athletes push themselves to achieve their very best, loudly supported by their houses. All the competitors should be very proud of their performances.
“The fact that the students broke even the record for the most records broken in one day reflects the continued improvement in standards at Bede Academy. The Year 10 boys setting nine new records highlights their strength as a team, which saw them win the county round of the ESAA Track and Field Cup and qualifying for the North of England finals this year.”