As usual there was an impressive array of juvenile athletics talent on display at the GloHealth Irish Schools Track & Field championships held last Saturday in Tullamore and once again North Down AC athletes achieved a number of personal bests, medal winning results and even a record breaking performance.
There was an early start to the field events, with the Inter girls hammer starting at 9am. Unfortunately, Beth Crosbie(Strathearn) was unable to reproduce her qualifying form, throwing a below par 25.98m to finish 9th. In the Minor girls shotFaye Nixon (Bloomfield Collegiate), competing in her first Irish Schools, finished a creditable 5th with a putt of 9.32m. There was double success in the javelin, however, with Michael Gaffney (Campbell College) and Elleana Hull (Glenlola) both collecting medals in their respective age groups. Michael continued a successful return to form following a recent operation and went one better than his Ulster schools performance by winning gold in the Inter boys javelin with a throw of 54.70m. Meanwhile, Elleana improved her PB by over 4m when she threw 33.58m to take a silver medal in the Senior girls javelin which was later followed by 7th place in the shot with a putt of 8.58m.
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There was further success in the jumps when Rebekah Rutherford (Glenlola) cleared 1.60m to finish equal second in a highly competitive Senior girls high jump, claiming the silver medal on count back. Meanwhile, Sarah Connolly (Glenlola) produced a jump of 5.57m to equal her PB, winning a bronze medal in the Senior girls event. This was followed later in the day by the 100m hurdles, however, a poor start meant Sarah was unable to repeat her success, narrowly missing a medal and finishing 4th in with a legal PB time of 14.87. Also in the long jump, Ollie Wakefield (Priory Integrated College) who was contending with both injury and illness, managed to produce a consistent series of jumps culminating in a season’s best of 6.26m to claim the bronze medal in the Inter boys long jump. Unfortunately, as a result of his injury, he had to withdraw from the 100m hurdles final later in the day.
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First out on the track for NDAC was Murphy Miller (Strathearn) who once again proved herself to be a formidable opponent in middle distance when, despite illness, she lead from start to finish winning yet another gold in emphatic style in the Minor girls 800m with a time of 2.24.83. Reece Simpson (Bangor Grammar) ran a fraction outside his PB when competing in a strong Inter boys 800m finishing 8th in 2.08.97. Craig McMeechan (Bangor Grammar) put the disappointment of last year well and truly behind him. Running a gutsy final lap he left nothing on the track falling just short of the medal positions finishing 4th but being rewarded in the process with a PB and a first sub 9 minute time of 8.59.72.
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Once again Aaron Sexton (Bangor Grammar) dominated the sprints running PBs, winning gold and annihilating the opposition in both the Junior boys 100m & 200m. Aaron’s time of 11.06 in the 100m was just 0.06 outside the qualifying time for the European Youth Olympics and would have been a championship record but for a marginally illegal wind reading of +2.1. In the 200m, however, Aaron defended the title he won last year and went even better, running 22.47 and smashing the championship record of 23.2 set in 1976. Though Aaron was competing as a Junior in schools events, the time also broke the long-atanding North Down U17 club record.
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Aaron Blackmore (Bangor Grammar) made life difficult for himself with a slow start in the Inter boys 100m but ran well to finish 5th in a time of 11.44. It was a different story in the 200m where he ran a strong bend, entering the home straight in second place. Aaron managed to hang on to finish line in second and win the silver medal with a new PB of 22.80. Later in the afternoon Olivia Cumming (Glenlola) was unfortunately left in the blocks when she wasn’t able to hear the starting gun in the Inter girls 300m finishing 6th in 43.09.
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As ever the 4x100m relays brought the day’s proceedings to a close. Murphy Miller lead off the Strathearn Minor girls team that finished just outside the medals in 4th. Josh Majury had a strong lead off leg for the Bangor Grammar quartet and although Aaron Sexton wasn’t quite able to perform the same heroics that he produced at the Ulster Schools, he did manage to bring the BGS team from sixth to third on the anchor leg of the Junior boys relay to earn a bronze medal in a time of 48.24. Elleana Hull ran the second leg with Sarah Connolly on the anchor leg of the Glenlola Senior girls relay team that ran 50.90 to take a bronze medal.
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Final medal tally for the day was 4 gold, 3 silver & 4 bronze.
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Full Results can be found at: http://www.athleticsireland.
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YouTube coverage can be found at: http://youtu.be/gvvMWSnSC5Y
