The first EYAC was held in Tbilisi, Georgia from 14th – 17th July 2016 and North Down had two athletes in the 30 strong Irish team.
Craig McMeechan competed in the 3000M final which was on the first night of competition, allowing the sun to at least lower in intensity. With the race being led and ultimately won by Serbian Elzan Bibic, who pb’d in 8:01 earlier this year, the early pace was sharp. Craig went through the first kilometre in 2:47, equivalent to 8:20 finishing time, and eventually settled to finish in 8:37 and 10th place. The race won in 8:09 and an excellent top 10 finish for Craig.
Aaron Sexton contested his favoured 200M event, having also made the grade for the 100M. The were 5 heats on the 2nd day of competition and with Aaron running in heat 4 he comfortably made the top 4 automatic qualifiers for the semi finals with 22:18. The following day saw 3 semi finals with the top 2 finishers in each and the next 2 fastest qualifying for the final later in the day. Aaron’s time of 21:89 placed him 4th in his semi and just out of qualification with his time ranking him 12th overall in the event.
With only 5 athletes from Ulster making the Irish team, incidentally the other 3 coming from Finn Valley, it is a great achievement for the young men and also a positive reflection on North Down AC.