The Irish Age Group Championships continued with days 2 & 3 of the competition taking place in Tullamore over the weekend (Sat 23rd & Sun 24th)
Having only recently taken up the hammer, Amy Kimber continues to improve and threw 21.13m in the third round to set another PB and finish 10th in the U16 girls. In the javelin she qualified as part of the top 8 for three additional throws, her best being 22.76m in the third & fifth rounds which placed her 8th overall.
Competing in her first year at Irish Age Groups, Katie Kimber was unfortunate not to make the final of the U14 girls 80m because although she ran a PB of 10.79s, it was only good enough for 5th in her heat but would have made her an automatic qualifier in any other heat. In the 200m she also set another PB in her heat finishing 5th in 27.91s.
In a hotly contested U16 girls 100m heat, Rachel McCann ran well with 13.27s to take 5th place, only just missing out on a place in the final. In her stronger 200m, Rachel qualified for the final where she was just outside her best when running 28.87s (-0.6w) to finish 7th.
Despite suffering from a virus during the week, Murphy Miller lined up in the U15 girls 1500m, however, it was clear from start that she was struggling. This wasn’t helped by the cool, damp conditions and she had to withdraw with breathing problems after only two laps.
Highlight of the weekend was Aaron Sexton’s performances in the U17 boys 100m & 200m. On Saturday he cruised to victory in the 100m and despite running into a slight breeze still managed to break the championship record with a time of 11.03s (-0.5w). He went even better in the 200m on Sunday when he annihilated the previous championship best of 22.25s by running 21.67s (+1.3w) which was not only a new PB but also a new Northern Ireland U18 record.