The first round of the Woodies DIY AAI National League took place in showery conditions in Antrim on Sunday, the day after the Senior Championships but at least it was a local venue. Both North Down teams finished third in their respective divisions, now both Premier League. This leaves the way to the Final open and was a satisfactory result, given both fielded weakened teams, the women from long lerm absentees and the men from competing events,The girls probably had more cause for satisfaction as it was their first season in the Premier Division and it was an ideal opportunity to bring in the youngsters.
Kerrie Craig, Katie Dickson and Sarah Newell all slotted effortlessy into the Senior team from Junior competition and as suspected Roberta Dornan was able to transfer her talent from road to track. Other bonuses were the continued availability of Melissa Free and the return of one long term absentee Alison Lavery who did the relays. Kathy Hetherington at discus was the only outright winner but consistently high placings meant they were always at the third team level.
The men by contrast had a very uneven day and struggled early on with Jeremy Harper“s win at discus and second at shot the high spots. The surge when it came could not have been better timed – close to 15 events in when we had an opportunity to jettison the bad scores. With 400m hurdles and javelin behind him and the 4 x 400m relay to come, James Budde won the steeplechase closely followed by a win at 800m from Niall Robinson and seconds from Kenny Elliott at 200m and Chris Summers at weight for distance. Francis Marsh ran a 2:55 min last km to get 15:29.05 min in the 5000m, only 4th because the field was better than normal, but an outright pb with a few decent scalps. Obviously a club vets record and 3rd on the senior all-time rankings behind Jordan Neil”s 15:22 & Ian Lyle”s 15:28.2. Anyway out went the 2″s and 3″s and we finished third, definitely a playable position.
Club Results
Women
| Event | Athlete | Pos | Time / Dist |
|
100m |
Kerrie Craig |
5th |
|
|
200m |
Natalie Steele |
5th |
29.21 |
|
400m |
Kim Shaw |
5th |
60.26 |
|
400m guest |
Nicola Simpson |
7th |
63.54 |
|
800m |
Lauren Scott |
3rd |
2:22.1 |
|
1500m |
Kerry Iveston |
5th |
5:12.00 |
|
3000m |
Roberta Dornan |
3rd |
10:52.50 |
|
100m H |
Katie Hewitt |
3rd |
16.47 |
|
400m H |
Katie Hewitt |
3rd |
68.9 |
|
1500m walk |
Janine Munnis |
2nd |
10:41.28 |
|
4 x 100m |
Lauren ,Natalie, A Lavery, Kim |
4th |
52.61 |
|
4 x 400m |
Aliso, Laure, Nicola Kim |
3rd |
4:15.01 |
|
HJ |
Kerrie Craig |
3rd |
1.55 |
|
LJ |
Katie Dickson |
4th |
4.69 |
|
TJ |
Katie Dickson |
3rd |
10.75 |
|
Shot |
Melissa Free |
5th |
7.52 |
|
Discus |
Kathy Hetherington |
1st |
31.60 |
|
Javelin |
Sarah Newell |
2nd |
28.46 |
|
Hammer |
Melissa Free |
3rd |
33.52 |
Men
|
Event |
Athlete |
Pos |
Time / Dist |
|
100m |
Stuart Brown |
dnf |
|
|
200m |
Kenny Elliott |
2nd |
22.67 |
|
400m |
Kenny Elliott |
4th |
51.89 |
|
800m |
Niall Robinson |
1st |
1:56.77 |
|
1500m |
John Carlisle |
3rd |
4:07.14 |
|
5000m |
Francis Marsh |
4th |
15:29.05 |
|
3000m S/C |
James Budde |
1st |
10:20.27 |
|
400m H |
James Budde |
4th |
61.15 |
|
3000m walk |
Jordan Stokes |
5th |
20:40.04 |
|
4 x 100m |
Stuart, Tyan, Jeremy,James |
6th |
47.73 |
|
4 x 400m |
James, Kenny, John, Niall |
5th |
3:36.45 |
|
HJ |
Ryan Crawford |
7th |
1.40 |
|
LJ |
Kenny Elliott |
6th |
5.65 |
|
TJ |
Stuart Brown |
7th |
7.44 |
|
Shot |
Jeremy Harper |
2nd |
13.19 |
|
Discus |
Jeremy Harper |
1st |
45.34 |
|
Javelin |
James Budde |
4th |
35.42 |
|
Hammer |
Chris Summers |
3rd |
35.53 |
|
56lb wt |