[Not a valid template]The Irish Senior Indoor Championships at the Odyssey were a big success with very slick organisation and some big guest stars and it has to be said they were also hugely successful for North Down. The big guns did their stuff but it was the strength in depth which took the eye and club results are below at the end of the report.
Eva Massey has had a rotten winter so far with a succession of illnesses and infections and, after only a couple of training days, as late as last Thursday it was touch and go whether or not she defended her Irish Championship. In the circumstances she was more than happy to finish 2nd to Rebecca Peake of Manchester but to retain the Irish title with 15.39m.
Amy Foster twice broke her pb in the 60m with 7.56 sec in the semi final and 7.55 sec in the final. Anyika Onuora of GB got off to a flyer and won in 7.38 sec with Ailis McSweeney of Leevale 2nd and Amy 3rd but 2nd in the Irish Championships. Hannah Lewis was fixed when a late timetable change caused a 200m and long jump clash but she was able to switch to a rare outing at 60m. She posted 7.79 sec in the heats making the semi final where she was 3rd in 7.74 sec. In some years that would have been a “B” final. Hannah had a consistent series in the long jump and had three jumps over 5.64m with 5.68m the best. She was 2nd to Kelly Proper all the way through to the 6th round but was pipped at the end by both Mary Devlin and Mary McLoone.
[Not a valid template]Ben Reynolds became the latest North Down athlete to clear two metres at high jump and the first since Darragh Murphy to do it indoors. The event was very tricky as the jumpers’ approach runs crossed the track and at that stage high jumpers had to mesh with major track finals, subject to strict TV requirements. Ben did very well with first time clearances all the way to 2.00m which resulted in him being the leading Northern Ireland jumper.
The seven runners from the senior endurance squad were on fire with outright pbs for John Carlisle, Niall Robinson, Lauren Scott, Jessica Craig and Nicola Simpson ( by huge chunks in the case of Lauren and Jessica), an indoor pb for James Budde and two finalists. Lauren was 6th fastest qualifier at 800m and made the final (the closing event) where she shaved another couple of seconds off her new pb and finished 5th. James also made the final and ran faster in the 1500m. Given the class of the finalists and the fact that he was isolated for more than a lap, James did brilliantly to maintain focus and break the club indoor record.
Spectators from the club on Saturday night were keenly interested in the polevault. Ben repeated his form in Sheffield and finished 4th with 4.15m while Brendan misjudged his opening height and didn’t record a result. Both leading girls in the womens’ even, Zoe Brown and Sara Semeraro have spent the winter training with the North Down multi event squad. Sara is the Italian girl who crashes cars and has been staying with relations. She was Italian Indoor Champion in 2004 but was subsequently injured for a couple of seasons. Both girls cleared 3.80m and failed 3.95m with Zoe taking the title on countback
Club results
| Ben Reynolds | PV | 4th | 4.15 | =pb; =Club U20 Indoor Record |
| HJ | 6th | 2.00 | =pb. = Club U20 Indoor Record | |
| Jeremy Harper | Shot | 5th | 14.63 | |
| James Budde | 1500m | 8th | 4:01.96 | Club Indoor Record |
| John Carlisle | 1500m | 10th | 4:06.15 | pb, Club U20 Indoor Record |
| Niall Robinson | 800m | 13th | 1:58.82 | pb |
| Francis Marsh | 1500m | 15th | 4:13.54 | |
| Philip Browne | 60m | 7.24 | ||
| LJ | 12th | 5.87 | ||
| Amy Foster | 60m | 3rd (2nd Irish) | 7.55 | pb, Club Indoor Record |
| Eva Massey | Shot | 2nd (1st Irish) | 15.39 | Irish Champion |
| Hannah Lewis | 60m | 9th | 7.79 | pb |
| LJ | 4th | 5.68 | Club Indoor Record | |
| Kiki Malomo Paris | 60m | 17th | 8.12 | |
| Lauren Scott | 800m | 5th | 2:19.69 | pb, Club Indoor Record |
| Nicola Simpson | 800m | 8th | 2:24.39 | pb |
| Jessica Craig | 800m | 9th | 2:24.65 | pb |
| Katie Hewitt | LJ | 9th | 5.04 | |
| Gemma McAnirn | Shot | 5th | 8.14 | Indoor pb |