Youth Development League Round 1

The first round of the 2013 Northern Ireland Youth Development  League took place on Saturday at Antrim Forum,  the YDL having now replaced the Young Athletes League. North Down has in recent seasons had difficulty in the first round with many athletes unavailable but this time there was a better response.  There were still too many gaps, with only 3 U13 boys present but the girls turned out well at U13 and U15 levels. These are the key ages in the YDL as the U17’s in Northern Ireland, though competing at the same time are in a separate local league.  The  league includes a lot of events so there is plenty of scope in future rounds to plug the gaps.

Rebecca Webb and Molly Brown  were the pick of the young U13 girls well supported by Murphy Miller, Eiranne Gaffney and Grace Arnold.  Molly was an emphatic winner at 1200m with Murphy winning the B race for good measure. Both were inside the club U13 record. Rebecca won the long jump and was 2^nd and 3^rd at 75m and 150m. Johnny Moore and Aaron Tierney were also very young and may have been the only U13 boys we had but they competed to the max, Johnny winning three A events, sprints and long jump.

[Not a valid template]Full marks at U15 level to Ceara Harper and Oliver Wakefield, both  in rehab and unable to run or jump but who came along initially to support. Both became makeshift throwers with Ceara backing Megan Simpson in all 3 throws and Oliver 2^nd in the A shot.  Olivia Cumming won both 200m and long jump and there were strong performances from Saskia Greer, Lucy Martin, Alice Burton, Nia McNally and Isobel Meharg. They were a close 2^nd in the 4 x 100m relay.

The U15 boys were strong with wins coming from Aaron Sexton in both sprints, Charles McNutt at 800m and Michael Gaffney at javelin with a clear win in the 4 x 100m as well.  Plenty of additional points came from Reece Corbett, Craig McMeechan, Ben Stevenson and Jacob Cavanagh.

[Not a valid template]In the U17 league, numbers were short  but the athletes did well. Chloe Johnston easily won the 300m and the boys had numerous top 3 finishers from  Aaron Corbett, Craig McDermid,  Drew and Mark Buchan  Jamie McMeechan and  Ciaran Farren.

In the senior open events Rachel Gibson was the only girl in the 3000m and consequently isolated but she ran strongly and sensibly.  Sprints coach Roger Sexton did no harm to his street cred with his squad when he won the open 100m. His time of  11.91 sec demolished the club  veteran (O40) record, held since Roger’s teenage days by his then coach Steve Enright. As the race was into a two metre plus headwind, the new record is unlikely to last as long.

Results link 

North Down Results