The third and final round of the NI Youth League took place on Sunday 6th August at the Mary Peters
Track in Belfast. Once again a lot of the club’s young athletes were on holiday, leaving a
fairly depleted entry. Nonetheless, those who competed for the club put in great
performances.
The first event featuring a club athlete on the track was the u17 boys’ 1500m where Chris
Belshaw came 3rd in the A race in a PB time of 4.44.4, and Cameron McCracken (practicing
for the forthcoming multi-events) came 1st in the B race in 5.19.6. Next up was the u15
boys’ 1500m, where despite running with a heel injury, Ethan Constable came 5th in the A
race in 5.16.2. In the u13 girls’ 150m Nyla Hughes was 5th in the A race in 24.00. Next were
the 200m races. In the u15 girls Ruby Sterrett was 4th in the A race in 29.5, whilst Caoimhe
Fenlon was 2nd in the B race in 31.1. Then in the u17 girls the always reliable Anna Moran
was 3rd in the A race in 29.7. Finally, in the u17 boys Curtis Hughes was 3rd in the A race in
24.00 and Ryan Hamilton was 3rd in the B race in 25.17.
The 800m races were next. In the under 13 girls Coco Smith came 3rd in the A race in 2.57.3
whilst Caitlyn Dickenson was 1st in the B race in 3.15.2. Then in the u13 boys Carter Rolston
came 2nd in the A race in 2.32.1, whilst Seb Mair was 1st in the B race in 2.41.5. Finally in the
u17 boys’ 400m, Conor Adair continued his great form by finishing 2nd in the A race in 52.78.
There was also plenty of field action. In the u13 boys’ javelin Seb Mair and Charlie Patton
put Paddy McGrattan’s training to full use by winning the A and B competition respectively.
Seb threw 17.72m, whilst in his League debut, Charlie threw 16.23.m. In the u13 girls’ long
jump, Nyla Hughes was 3rd in the A competition with a jump of 3.42m and in the u15 girls’
long jump Caoimhe Fenlon was 4 th in the A competition with a jump of 3.81min. However,
Anna Moran was 1st in the u17 girls’ long jump with a jump of 4.41m. Anna also took part in
the javelin coming 2nd in the A competition with a throw of 19.63m, whilst Alexia Hughes
was 1st in the B competition with a throw of 14.31m. The busy Caoimhe Fenlon also took
part in the u15 girls’ shot putt, where she was 2nd in the A competition with a throw of
8.46m. Finally, the talented Cameron McCracken finished 2nd in the A competition of the u17
boys’ high jump with a jump of 1.55m.
The competition finished with the 4 x 100 relay races. The club only managed to get one
team out for this meeting, with an u17 boys’ team of Conor Adair, Curtis Hughes, Ryan
Hamilton and Cameron McCracken. Unfortunately, due to a mix up with the baton at a
changeover, the team did not finish.
A big thank you to all the parents who helped with the officiating for this series and to Jonny
McWhinney who did a great job as announcer/commentator for the final round.
