North Down AC held its annual Track & Field Awards Night at the Sportsplex on Thursday 14th September. Athletes, coaches, parents and club members assembled to celebrate superb local, district, national and international performances across a wide range of age groups and disciplines. The nominations were prepared by the coaches. and NDAC Vice chairperson Jamie Stevenson reminded club members of the continuing need for more coaches, read out the nominations from coaches, and club president David Seaton presented the prizes. Thanks also to David McMeechan for the photographs of the prize winners.
FUNdamental Girls
This athlete is very focused, listens intently, and throws herself into every challenge – always with a smile on her face! She has enormous potential, is a pleasure to have in the FUNdamentals group and the coaches looked forward to a very promising future in T&F! The FUNdamental Girls award goes to Cara Keag.
FUNdamental Boys
This athlete finishes every session at FUNdamentals out of breath and soaked in sweat! He puts his all into every activity and is fast developing into a fine athlete with lots of potential. We, as coaches, are keen to watch his athletic development and thoroughly enjoy having him in the group. The FUNdamental Boys award goes to Finn Dooley.
Primary School Girls – No nomination
Primary School Boys
The great form that this athlete demonstrated over the cross-country season continued into the summer. He competed in a number of events and had some great results. In Round 1 of the NI Youth League he was 2nd in the 1500m A race and in the final round finished 2nd in the 800m A race. At the Daphne Hamill Memorial meeting, he was 3rd in the 800m. In the Fab 5 series meeting he finished 3rd overall in the 800m at the 1st meeting, 2nd in the 1000m at the 3rd meeting, 3rd in his 800m at the 4th meeting and topped off a great season by winning the mile race at the 5th & final meeting. The Primary School Boys award goes to Carter Rolston.
U13 Girls
This athlete was another cross-country award winner who continued to perform well on the track. In Round 2 of the NI Youth League, she won the 1200m A race and helped make up the U15 relay team that finished 3rd. She qualified for the Ulster Schools, where she finished 8th in the 800m and at the Daphne Hamill Memorial meeting, she was 1st in the 70m hurdles, 2nd in the 800m and 3rd in her heat of the 200m. At the NI Age Group Championships, she finished 5th in her 800m race and won bronze in the 1500m but was unfortunately unable to compete at the All-Ireland championships as she was away at the time. The U13 Girls award goes to Isla Wiltshire.
U13 Boys – No nomination
U15 Girls (O’Boyle Accounting Cup)
This athlete’s successful season started with a trip to Athlone in March for the NI Age Group Championships where PB’s in the semi-final and final saw her take bronze in the 60m hurdles in 10.32s. She also secured bronze in the long jump from a field of over 20 athletes and another PB of 9.09m in the shot secured a third bronze, repeating the achievement she also accomplished in 2022.
In June’s outdoor championships, she improved her shot PB to 10.19m to win the NI U14 title, and added bronze in the 75m hurdles with a PB of 12.79s. She was ever-present on the NI Club League team, even helping the u17 relay team in Rd 1, and performed well in both track and field at several of the Lagan Valley open meets. The U15 Girls award goes to Caoimhe Fenlon.
U15 Boys
A dedicated and hard-working athlete who has more than one string to his bow, being a good middle-distance runner and long jumper. He had a great indoor season winning the 800m, in spectacular fashion, at the NI Indoor Age Group Championships followed by bronze in the long jump.
In the first round of the NI Youth League he was 4th in the 800m A race and won the high jump. In Round 2, he was 2nd in the 1500m A race, 2nd in the long jump and helped the under 17 boys team finish 2nd in the 4x100m relay. In the final round, despite injury, he competed in the 1500m A race, finishing 5th and at the Daphne Hamill Memorial meeting, he was 3rd in the long jump.
At the NI Age Group Championships, he was 3rd in his 800m race and, later the same day, won bronze in the long jump and went on to finish 11th in the long jump at the Irish Age Group Championships. The U15 Boys award goes to Ethan Constable.
U17 Girls (Daphne Hamill Shield)
This athlete has competed in a wide range of events including sprints, jumps and throws.
In the sprints, she finished 3rd in the 100m at one of the Lagan Valley Fab5 meets and 3rd in the 200m at two rounds of the NI Club League.
In long jump, she won the District schools, won one round of the NI Club League & finished 2nd in another and finished 3rd at the Daphne Hamill T&F meet.
In shot, she won the Daphne Hamill meet, finished 3rd at the NI U16 Age Group Championships and won a round of the NI Club League & the Fab 5 meets, while in javelin, she came 2nd at one round of the NI Club League & one of the Fab 5 meets. The pinnacle of her season came at the NI Combined Event Championships where she earned a silver medal in the U16 age group. The U17 Girls award goes to Anna Moran.
U17 Boys (Brannigan Cup)
This athlete is a talented multi-eventer, with seemingly boundless energy, who is always the life and soul of training, which basically means he never stops talking, however, he has also achieved some fabulous results across a range of events. Even a broken wrist sustained while dipping at the finish line to win the U16 200m title at the NI Indoor Age Championships, didn’t dampen his spirit.
Having fully embraced the 100m Hurdles, this year, he won 4 out of 7 competitions (namely the NI Club League, Lagan Valley Fab5, NI Age Group Championships and UUJ indoors). He was also selected to compete in the 100mH for the Ulster Schools Interpro team and looks set for a very promising future in the event.
His coaches, training partners and mum can all agree he likes to talk, a lot, but he also has a passion for athletics that can only be commended. The U17 Boys award goes to Cameron McCracken.
U20 Girls
This athlete is another all-rounder who primarily throws & jumps. She won the javelin at the Team Trophy as well as the Senior Girl’s javelin at the District Schools, followed by gold at Ulster Schools, 4th at Irish Schools, culminating in bronze medals at the Irish Age Group Championships & NI Senior Championships.
She won the Senior Girls pole vault at the Ulster Schools, was 6th at Irish Schools, won the NI U20 Age Group title with a new PB, won bronze at the Irish U19 Age Group Championships and finished 4th at the NI Senior Champs. The U20 Girls award goes to Morgan Wilson.
U20 Boys
This athlete started off the year with a bang, winning the U18 60m title at the NI Age Groups followed by gold at the the Irish Age Groups, where he just missed the CBP but set a new club record of 6.86s.This good form continued into the outdoor season where he repeatedly ran sub-11 for the 100m, winning gold at the Team Trophy & Ulster Schools as well as bronze at the Irish Schools and 4th at the Irish Junior Championships.
As a result of these consistently quick times, he was selected to represent NI at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad & Tobago where, despite the hot, humid conditions, he finished the season by lowering his PB to 10.88s when placing 3rd in his heat of the 100m before finishing 5th in his semi-final. The U20 Boys award goes to Jamie Moffat.
Open Ladies (O’Neill Cup)
This person ended the summer with one of the highest racing tallies of any athlete, with a total of 21 races across the track season, the highlights of which were three club records and two medals at the NI Senior Championships.
She kicked off the season by breaking Jessica Craig’s 5000m club record and narrowly missed going sub 17mins with 17:01.54. In May, she improved her own 1500m club record with 4:23.24 at the Belfast Milers Meet and finished off the season with yet another pb and third club record, this time with 4:52.00 at the Stirling Monument Mile Meet. These fast times were also accompanied by some successful championship racing, with gold in the 800m and silver in the 1500m at the NI Senior Championships, followed by 4th place in 1500m at the Irish National Senior Championships. The Open Ladies award goes to Rachel Gibson.
Open Men (Hamill Cup)
In contrast to Rachel, this athlete raced sparingly in 2023, but put down some big performances over 3000m & 5000m. He improved his own club 5000m record to 14:24.95 in April’s North Belfast Harriers Afternoon of 5000s before setting a 3000m pb of 8:25.40, in June and finished 4th in the 5000m at the NI Senior Championships, narrowly missing out on a medal in a hotly contested but somewhat tactical race. The Open Men award goes to Craig McMeechan.
Masters Ladies – No nomination
Masters Men
The winner of the Men’s Masters category showed an amazing range of ability over the course of the 2023 track season, racing well from 400m up to 5000m and setting pbs at 800m, 1500m, 3000m & 5000m. He topped off a great season with double gold in the NI Masters championship over 800m & 400m, the latter in a nifty 56.70 age group PB. The Masters Men award goes to Jack Russell.
Moffitt Cup for throwing
This athlete just missed the Inter Boys District Schools javelin record, but followed up with an emphatic win at the Ulster Schools & a silver medal at Irish Schools. He won the NI U19 Age Group title & took silver at the Irish Age Groups. He won another silver medal at the Irish Junior Championships and finished a remarkable 5th at the Irish Senior Championships. He also gained the qualifying standard for English U20 Championships, but picked up an unfortunate toe injury in the warm-up and finished 10th. The Moffitt Cup for throwing goes to Charlie Lawden.
Claire Scarth Trophy for Jumps – Andrew Bown
Throughout all the years this athlete has been competing, he has shown tremendous dedication to training and continues to make good progress in various disciplines. This year he has competed at both local & national level across multiple events, achieving some great results. He finished 2nd in Senior Boys pole vault at the Ulster Schools, 7th at Irish Schools and won the U20 NI Age Group title. In triple jump, he finished 4th NI Indoor Championship & 5th at the Irish Indoor Age Groups. He also finished 5th at the NI Outdoor Age Groups & won a bronze medal at the Irish Age Groups. He won a silver medal in the Senior Boys javelin at the Ulster Schools as well as a bronze in the NI Age Groups. The Claire Scarth Trophy for Jumps goes to Andrew Brown.
Weglarz Trophy
Coco Smith – this athlete missed a lot of last season due to illness, but certainly made up for it this season. She took part in a large number of events and tried out a range of disciplines. In the first round of the NI Youth League she was 4th in the 800m A race and was a member of the club’s relay team that finished 3rd. In the final round of this competition she went one better by finishing 3rd in the 800m. In the Daphne Hamill Memorial meeting she was 4th in the 800m, 1st in the high jump and 4th in the long jump. In the 1st Fab Five meeting she finished 3rd in her heat of the 100m and 4th in her heat of the 800m. In the 2nd she was 3rd in her heat of the 200m, 6th in her heat of the 1500m, 5th in the high jump and 12th in the long jump. In the 3rd Fab 5 meeting she was 6th in the 70m hurdles, 6th in the 1000m and 2nd in the high jump. In the 5th and final Fab 5 meeting she was 5th in the mile race.
Seb Mair – this athlete competed in a range of events over the season, and whilst he is primarily a middle-distance runner, having trained with Paddy for a while, had a go at the javelin in the final NI Youth League meeting. In the first round of the NI Youth League he won the 1500m B race and also won the 800m B race in the final round of this competition. However, he won the overall javelin competition in this round despite never having competed in this discipline before. In the Daphne Hamill Memorial meeting he was 6th in the 800m. In the 1st Fab Five meeting he finished 7th in his heat of the 100m, 1st in his heat of the 800m and 10th in the long jump. In the 2nd Fab 5 meeting he finished 4th in his heat of the 1500m, whilst in the 3rd meeting he was 3rd in the 1000m. Then in the 4th Fab 5 meeting he finished 5th in his 800m race, whilst in the 5th and final Fab 5 meeting he was 5th in the mile race.
Caitlyn Dickenson –
A highly reliable athlete who always makes the most out of training sessions and can always be relied upon to make up a team. In the first round of the NI Youth League, she was 1st in the 800m B race and was a member of the club’s relay team that finished 3rd. In the final round of this competition she finished 1st once again in the 800m B race. In the Daphne Hamill Memorial meeting she was 6th in the 800m and 4th in her 200m race. In the 2nd Fab Five meeting she finished 9th in her heat of the 1500m, whilst in the 3rd meeting she was 8th in the 1000m. In the 4th Fab 5 meeting she was 5th in her heat of the 200m and 5th in her 800m race. In the 5th and final Fab 5 meeting she was 11th in the mile race.
Joshua Liggett –
Having only started multi-event training this year, Joshua has shown admirable dedication. Consistently listening, taking advice and working hard to improve his performance, he’s an absolute pleasure to coach and his determination to be the best athlete he can be, suggests he’s an exciting talent for the future.
Despite having limited training experience, he has shown improvements week-on-week in long jump (which he had only tried a couple of times in school) as well as hurdles & high jump (which were both totally new events for him) culminating in him competing in, and winning, the U15 Pentathlon at the NI Combined Championships.
Outstanding Female (NDAC Shield) – Rachel Gibson Outstanding Male (Weir Trophy) – Jamie Moffat
President’s Trophy acknowledges the club’s top track & field athlete (regardless of gender or age) – Jamie Moffat
[Coach Roger Sexton & Jamie Moffatt]