2019 has been an amazing year for athletics at the academy. Students have competed in a variety of competitions and achieved more PBs than ever before.

2019 has been an amazing year for athletics at the academy. Students have competed in a variety of competitions and achieved more PBs than ever before.

There were a high number of students who qualified to represent Middlesbrough at the Cleveland Schools. Thirteen of these students then qualified to represent Cleveland at the Inter Counties. Four of these students achieved PBs in their events, a further three equalled their PB. At a high level of competition, this reflects a remarkable level of effort and achievement.

Lois Creasey and Eve Robson will be representing Cleveland at the English Schools competition in Birmingham this month. It is a national competition, where the best students from across the country have to gain a qualification time to be selected. It is an amazing achievement and well deserved, given how hard both of these girls train in their own time. There were also several students who missed out by the tiniest of margins so it is hopeful that they will qualify next year. Watch this space!

In the Track and Field Cup the academy entered teams in both the junior and intermediate section for both boys and girls. In some extremely poor conditions in round one the intermediate boys were successful and smashed the competition. This saw them qualify for the North East A final. This round has proved heartbreaking in the past, where Macmillan has narrowly missed winning. Not this year though; the boys again pushed themselves to their limits, breaking their personal bests and winning the competition.

These students will be competing in Chelmsford in the National Final this weekend.

The PE department are thrilled with the achievements of these students and say they "cannot fault the effort these students have put in". Mrs Richardson proudly explained, "Although athletics isn't all of their first sport, they have stayed back nearly every night to practise and spent time with coaches from local clubs to continue to improve. No matter what the outcome in the final, the PE department couldn't be prouder of the hard work and dedication of these boys."

Finally, Macmillan was also successful in the Annual Middlesbrough Championships, winning several year group trophies, overall girls and overall boys. We were delighted to be crowned overall Middlesbrough Champions!