On Tuesday evening, the club held the first of four Open Track Meetings at Bangor Sportsplex in wall to wall sunshine, though it did get very chilly after sundown. A huge attendance resulted, not only from the club itself and neighbouring ones but from a wide area ranging from County Monaghan to the two major Derry clubs. In accordance with recent tradition, track distances were non-standard for opening event. On the track, there were 6 heats of 150m, 5 heats of 300m, 4 heats of 600m and 3 heats of 3000m. Races were very competitive with some top athletes involved, but there were personal bests everywhere.
Its very early in the track season but North Down athletes seem to have wintered well. Andrew Mellon and Adam McComb dominated the long sprints in Northern Ireland last season including the Championships and they faced off again at 150m and 600m with another 1 -2. Both had pbs but this time, it was Andrew who narrowly edged both races. However with 15 year old Aaron Sexton coming up fast and improving rapidly, the big two will soon become the Big Three 9or maybe triple A). Young Murphy Miller was also outstanding with a gun to tape win in the Womens Open 600m. All the sprint girls were in great form but perhaps the most pleasing thing from the North Down perspective was that the same names who dominated the Primary School Meetings over the last two seasons are now doing the same at U13 level.
It is impossible to run this type of meeting without a great deal of work from a great deal of people. A big thank you to all who contributed – the organisers, volunteers from the club and guest clubs, officials from ANI and stadium staff.
Other meetings will be on 12th May, 7th July and 11th August while meetings for Primary School children will be on 29th April, 20th May and 10th June. Details are on the Club Promotions page. Click here.