Standing room and bulging car parks were the signs that the atmospere at Antrim Stadium was going to be electric on Wednesday evening. The occasion was the Brian Downing Memorial Meeting held in conjunction with the Pre-Olympic Games Training Programme. With Olympic Games bound athletes from four continents on show, stadium records were set to tumble and the young talent at North Down AC couldn’t wait to tap into the vibe.
[Not a valid template]Probably the two outstanding prospects of the club so far in 2012 both featured in the first track and first field events. Oliver Wakefield wanted a sub 12 sec 100m. He got it, winning the opening U15 boys 100m in a pb of 11.97 sec (+0.6). Alex Calderwood just wanted a return to form from a recent confidence-draining slump. She got it with a win in the U20 high jump with 1.63m. The rest of the club got the idea.
[Not a valid template]Kenny Elliott had niggles to face but got a pb of 11.10 sec in his heat of the open 100m and was to go on to finish 4th in the final. Matthew Martin won the open javelin and took his pb out to 63.73m with Matthew Stockton 5th. Kathy Hetherington, having passed the 40m mark at the recent Irish Nationals, took her pb out to 40.22m in the U23 discus and was 2nd with Beth Wilson 3rd. In the U17 800m reces, Ciaran Farren took 3 secs off his pb for 4th in the boys event and in the girls Katie Moore ran close to her best despite a recent prolonged absence.
[Not a valid template]Other North Down athletes included Alan Kennedy, 5th in a strong open long jump, Jordan Stokes with 7th in a very strong 1500m, Rachel Gibson and Chris Bryan at 800m, Gareth Lyness, 3rd in the B 400m when not officiating. Dennis Scott and Nick Irvine were in the 3000m, race in which Francis Marsh was top master athlete.
By the time the 3000m closed the track programme it was getting dark and cold. But for the girl discus throwers and their officials, the event was just starting and in the outfield the wind was biting. Full marks to Kathy and Beth for handling the conditions.