Record-breaking season for RGS athletics

Record-breaking season for RGS athletics

From record-breaking performances and county titles to outstanding team success, 2025–26 has been one of the finest athletics seasons in RGS history. PE teacher JO BINKS looks back on a remarkable year on the track and field

THIS has been another outstanding year for athletics at RGS,

Throughout the year, RGS has participated in 12 athletics fixtures, providing students with numerous opportunities to compete and develop. In addition, over 100 students have attended athletics club this year.

Our first competition of the season took place at RGS against Queen Ethelburga's and Outwood. Over 70 students competed in the team competition, with RGS delivering a dominant performance and finishing as overall winners in every age group.

At the English Schools Athletic Cup qualifying round, RGS achieved excellent results across all age groups:

Junior Boys – Champions

Junior Girls – 2nd Place

Intermediate Girls – 2nd Place

Intermediate Boys – 7th Place

Every year group successfully secured qualification for the regional finals.

At the Regional B Finals, featuring schools ranked 9th–16th across the North East of England, both the Junior Girls and Intermediate Boys competed brilliantly:

Junior Girls – 2nd Place

Intermediate Boys – 5th Place

Top performers included:

Jay Swaine – outstanding performance in the 1500m

Isaac Greveson and Kelichi Ejiogu – strong performances in the 800m

Helanna Bailey and Esme Fearnley – highest scorers for the Junior Girls team

The Intermediate Girls and Junior Boys qualified for the Regional A Finals in York, featuring the top 8 schools in the North East of England.

Despite the Intermediate Girls team being significantly depleted due to a school art trip, they performed exceptionally well to secure 5th place overall in the North East

The Junior Boys team delivered one of the standout performances of the year, finishing 3rd overall, just 14 points behind the eventual champions.

A new addition to the athletics calendar this year was the RGS Pentathlon Championships, the first time this event has been held at the school.

Athletes competed across five disciplines:

Hurdles

High Jump

Long Jump

Shot Put

800m

The event proved to be an excellent evening of competition, with leaderboard positions constantly changing throughout the event. As is often the case in multi-event competitions, the overall results came down to the final 800m race.

The Pentathlon Champions were:

Year 7 Girls – Aurora Wild (1294 points)

Year 7 Boys – James Hallam (903 points)

Year 8 Boys – Henry Tyler (1653 points)

Year 8 Girls – Esme Fearnley (1875 points)

Year 10 Girls – Izzy March-Shawcross (1235 points)

Year 10 Boys – Kelichi Ejiogu (1519 points)

All champions established the first official school Pentathlon records.

Qualification for the Area Championships took place at South Craven, where RGS took over 60 students to compete in the qualifying rounds.

This proved to be another hugely successful event, with 52 students qualifying for the Area Finals — the highest number of qualifiers RGS has ever achieved for this competition.

Unfortunately, due to the summer heatwave and exceptionally high temperatures, the Area Athletics Finals were cancelled, preventing many athletes from competing after working hard to qualify.

Another highlight early in the season was the Yarm Invitational Competition, we were the only state school in the competition

For many students, this represented their first experience of competitive athletics, making the event an important part of their development as athletes.

The team results reflected the strength and depth across the squad:

Junior Boys – 5th Place

Intermediate Boys – 5th Place

Both the junior girls and senior girls’ teams delivered particularly dominant performances, both being convincingly crowned champions on the day.

Overall, it was a fantastic team effort, with every athlete contributing to what proved to be one of the standout competitions of the season.

The season concluded with strong performances at the County Championships, where RGS athletes were crowned County Champions in six events:

Holly Nash – 400m Hurdles

Beth Takkiedine – 100m and 200m

Simon Bordewich – 400m

Ollie Deavin – 3000m

Pip Robinson – Pole Vault

Record-breaking performances

One of the defining features of this year’s athletics season has been the exceptional number of school records broken across both track and field events, highlighting the remarkable standard of performance being achieved by athletes throughout the school.

On the track, Beth Takieddine continued her outstanding athletics career by setting new records in both the Girls’ 5th Year 100m (12.8s) and Girls’ 5th Year 200m (25.8s), further cementing her place as one of the school’s most accomplished sprinters after holding records across multiple year groups.

Simon Bordewich also enjoyed a remarkable season, rewriting the record books with new performances in the Boys’ 5th Year 200m (26.4s) and Boys’ 5th Year 400m (50.4s), continuing the progress he has shown over recent seasons as one of the school’s leading track athletes.

In field events, Pip Robinson made school history by becoming the first female athlete to represent RGS in Pole Vault, before setting a new Girls’ 3rd Year Pole Vault record of 2.60m, one of the standout achievements of the year.

Orson Wilkinson added his name to the record books with an excellent throw of 34.90m to claim the Boys’ 3rd Year Javelin record, while Mya Broadbent established a new Girls’ 2nd Year High Jump record of 1.45m.

Distance running also saw history made, with Ollie Deavin setting a new school benchmark in the Boys’ 6th Form 3000m, recording an outstanding 9 minutes 35.5 seconds.

This year also saw the introduction of the inaugural RGS Pentathlon Championships, creating a completely new set of school records for the event. The first athletes to establish these records were:

Aurora Wild – Girls’ 1st Year Pentathlon (1294 points)

James Hallam – Boys’ 1st Year Pentathlon (903 points)

Esme Fearnley – Girls’ 2nd Year Pentathlon (1875 points)

Henry Tyler – Boys’ 2nd Year Pentathlon (1653 points)

Izzy March-Shawcross – Girls’ 4th Year Pentathlon (1235 points)

Kelechi Ejiogu – Boys’ 4th Year Pentathlon (1519 points)

Sports Day

Sports Day once again provided an opportunity for every student to represent their house by competing in their chosen events. The atmosphere throughout the day was fantastic, with excellent performances, great sportsmanship and plenty of house pride on display.

Congratulations to Holland House, who were crowned overall champions after winning both the boys' and girls' competitions.

The standard of competition was exceptionally high, with five Sports Day records broken:

Brody Smith – Year 7 Discus – 21.83m

Rahul Sarkar Matasovsky – Year 7 Triple Jump – 10.20m

Arthur Mars – Year 7 High Jump – 1.35m

Charlotte Jackson – Year 7 Javelin – 22.91m

Betty Olumide – Year 9 Discus – 20.23m

Even more impressively, Brody Smith, Rahul Sarkar Matasovsky and Arthur Mars all established new all-time school records in their respective events, an outstanding achievement and a fitting way to conclude another memorable Sports Day.

In total, 18 new school records were set during the 2026 season, an extraordinary achievement that reflects not only the talent within the athletics squad, but also the dedication, consistency, and commitment students have shown throughout the year.

The performances achieved this season have helped make 2026 one of the most successful and memorable years at RGS .

The continued growth of participation, the outstanding team performances, record-breaking achievements, and the commitment shown by students across all year groups highlight the strength of athletics within the school.

With participation numbers continuing to rise and performances improving year after year, the future of athletics at RGS looks extremely bright.

It now gives me great pleasure to announce this year's Athletics Award winners.

Female Athlete of the Year

The Female Athlete of the Year award goes to an athlete who has enjoyed a truly outstanding season. She has recently represented the school at the English Schools Championships. She is also the County Champion and now holds the RGS school record in the Pole Vault and High Jump.

Female Athlete of the Year Award goes to Pip Robinson.

Male Athlete of the Year

The Male Athlete of the Year award recognises an athlete whose commitment to school athletics has been exemplary since joining RGS in Year 7.

Through hard work, dedication and perseverance, he has improved his 1500m personal best by an incredible 15 seconds this season. As captain of the athletics team, he has led by example, consistently demonstrating commitment, encouragement and outstanding leadership. He is a fantastic role model for younger athletes and someone who embodies everything we value in RGS sport.

Male Athlete of the Year Award goes to Kelechi Ejiogu.