Fuelled by a Premier Inn breakfast the team was in high spirits and was looking to retain our unofficial title as loudest supporters from the BUCS indoors. A special shoutout to Jake, and Jonathon who all came down to support the team despite not competing.
Day one started with Newcastle inspired face paint and the 100m. Freshers Achim and Adain led the team with impressive performances that would set the tone for the weekend. The women`s heats were next with Jagoda and Alicia stepping up to the challenge. They continued the success by both achieving personal bests of 13.44 and 13.78 seconds, respectively. Then we eagerly sat whilst the 400m hurdles were set up and athletics captain Melissa raced at her first BUCS. Meanwhile, Nathan was cruising through the high jump heats to reach qualification height for the final. Next up was the 800m, with Harriet competing at her first BUCS and showing that a sprint finish is the Newcastle staple in every event. Antonia finished her 800m heat just one second off her PB, sustained by a competitive spirit to beat our rivals Northumbria in the same heat. Dan hit another PB in his 800m by six seconds, continuing his impressive performances this season and showing that it is never too late to start athletics because who doesn`t love an underdog! The last event of the day saw a quartet of incredible performances in the 400m. James narrowly missed the semi-final qualifiers with his PB time of 52.31, and Vice-President JC put in an electric sprint finish to come sixth in his heat. Athletics captain Asha flew through the 400m placing fourth overall going into the semi-finals and Hannah finished only one second off her PB at her first ever BUCS.
Day two arrived and was met with immediate success in the field events. Nathan achieved a PB in pole vault of 3.70m earning him 13th overall in the event. Adding to this was Adain scoring a 22cm PB in long jump against a -2.0 m/s headwind. The 400m semi-finals were next and Asha comfortably placed second against her Loughborough rival from BUCS indoors to qualify for the final. The hurdles were set up again, but this time for the 100m. Alicia took off on the track to achieve a two second PB of 19.63. Onto the 200m we had another spectacular quartet of sprinters. Emma and Lauren both overcame the BUCS pressure and put on a performance our supporters could sing to, with Lauren even getting a PB. Achim returned to the track refreshed and Seb debuted in the 200m with both fighting for times only 0.03 seconds apart. Then it was time for arguably the most fun part of track meets, the relays. Both our men`s and women`s 4x100m teams placed fifth in their heats, an exciting prospect for the season ahead. Our 4x400m teams fought valiantly against some tough opponents in their heats with immense support from all NUAXC present.
Day three offered a day of finals for us. Nathan and Asha were feeling great going into their high jump and 400m final after their makeshift ice baths the night before. Nathan impressed with a 1.94m jump which placed him sixth, scoring three points for Newcastle men`s team. Lastly, Asha powered through her 400m to also place sixth with a new PB of 56.11 causing multiple members to lose their voice from cheering. This gave our women`s team four points and ended our BUCS outdoor journey on a colossal high ready to face the last challenge of the five-hour bus journey home.