Track and Field Awards – North Down Athletic Club

This year’s track and field awards presentations took place on Thursday 7th September at the Aurora. The prize winners are as follows:

Fundamentals	Tilly McWhinney
Tilly has shown promise this year as an all-rounder but it is in throws where she has excelled. In Magherafelt in February she won the Under 12 shot at the NI and Ulster Indoor championships by over 2 metres with a throw of 8.69m. A few weeks later she travelled to the All-Ireland Indoors in Athlone, returning with a silver medal in the shot. In June she enjoyed a successful trip to Clones, Co Monaghan, winning both Under 12 shot and javelin at the NI and Ulster outdoor Under 12 championships. Other successes include wins for the winning NDAC Under 13 YDL team at shot and discus.
Fundamentals	Finn Moraghan
Having trained hard all winder, he entered competition season in good form. Finn has shown his potential in a very good season and has produced a strong all-round performance at the North Down Primary Schools series. His performances across the three meets saw him on the podium winning medals in sprints, long jump and throws. He also represented the club at the NI and Ulster outdoor championships in Clones in June, performing well against the best young sprinters in the province.
Primary Girls	Niamh Fenlon
Niamh is one of the most versatile young athletes in the club, and as well as competing in middle distance races over 800 metres, she can also sprint, hurdle, throw and jump to a high standard. At this year’s YDL final she picked up medals in the 800 metres, 70 metres hurdles and long jump, and in earlier rounds of the competition had top three finishes in the 75 metres, 150 metres, 800 metres, long jump, shot putt and relay. She has also competed regularly in the Firmus Energy meetings and the club’s open meetings, taking part in a range of events and always finishing in a high position. She also made the all-Ireland finals for her age group earlier in the summer, taking part in a number of events. To further demonstrate her versatility, last weekend she came third in the Northern Ireland and Ulster multi-events championships, which involved her taking part in hurdles, shot putt, long jump, high jump and 800 metres. She also managed to break the club record for her age group in this event – and still has another year to go in the under 13s.
Primary Boys	Charlie Lawden
Charlie is a talented and diligent young athlete within our club. He can be seen regularly getting in some extra training at the Sportsplex and he never misses an opportunity to compete. This year main achievements were a 3rd place finish at the NI and Ulster Championship Javelin with a throw of 23.84m which ranked him 1st in NI for U13 boys He also won 3 gold medals at The Firmus Super 6 series of competitions in the Shot and Javelin. He also took first place three times at the 2 YDL’s he took part in with the Discus and Long Jump.
U13 Girls	Sophie Hoey
Sophie Hoey only joined the club this year from Ballydrain and has proved to be a versatile all-rounder having competed in sprints, sprint hurdles, long jump, high jump & shot. She was a regular medalist in a variety of events at both YDL & Firmus meets, however her best event has been long jump at which she won the Mini Girls title at the Ulster Schools Championships & was 3rd at the NI Indoor Age groups at Magherafelt.
U13 Boys	Lexx McConville
Lexx continues the family tradition of multi events. He was the winner of various events at YDL over the summer which helped the club to reach the YDL finals in early July. Lexx also won the Mini Boys HJ at the Ulster Schools Championships representing Lurgan Junior High School. He also won the U13 HJ at the NI and Ulster Age Groups. At the NI and Ulster Combined Events Championships last weekend, he won Silver in the U13 Pentathlon. To cap it all off, Lexx also set new U13 club records for the 75mH and HJ.
U15 Girls	Katie Kimber
Katie is another good all-rounder who not only throws javelin but also excels at sprinting. Despite being only 14yrs old, Katie is currently the fastest 100m sprinter in the club. She won the U15 60m at the NI & Ulster Indoor championships and was 1st in the Minor Girls 100m & 2nd in the 200m at the Ulster Schools Championships. She continued to win honours for her school, Sullivan Upper, by coming 2nd in the 100m at the Irish Schools. She completed the U15 100m/200m sprint double at the NI & Ulster Age Groups which led to double bronze at the Irish Age groups. Katie has also been a regular winner at YDL & Firmus
U15 Boys	Zac Moraghan
When not coaching and encouraging his younger brother, Zac likes to hurdle and throw. As a stalwart of the U15 Boys YDL team, he has been a regular medallist across multiple events. At the NI & Ulster Age Groups, Zac was 1^st in the U15 80mH and 250mH and 2^nd in javelin. He then went on to come a deserving 5^th place in the javelin at the Irish Age Groups.
U17 Girls	Rachel McCann
We are in the fortunate position of having multiple athletes in this age group that are deserving of an award. However, Rachel’s dominance of the track this season makes her a worthy winner. Rachel is aged 15 and has just entered 5^th form at Sullivan. She made a very successful move up to 300/400m running this season with PBs of 58.1 for 400m and 40.23 for 300m. Rachel won a bronze medal for 300m at the Irish Schools championships and a silver medal at the U17 Irish age group championships and was subsequently chosen to represent Ireland at 300m in the International schools championships in Dublin, where she won a bronze medal as a member of the Ireland 4 x 300m team. At the Celtic games, she was a member of the winning Irish 400m relay team. Over the summer Rachel was selected to represent N. Ireland in the 4 x 400 at the Manchester International; to compete in the English age group championships at 300m and the School Games in Loughborough at 300m and 4 x100m. To cap it all off, Rachel has recently been selected to be a member of the NI youth academy.
U17 Boys	Troy McConville
There must be something in genetics, as we have another sibling winner with our next award. Troy is coached by his father Brendan and is another good multi eventer within the club. At Ulster Schools, Troy won the Inter Boys 100mH and HJ. He went on to win silver in the 100mH at the Irish Schools and came joint 6^th in the HJ. At the NI and Ulster Age Groups, he won the U16 100mH, HJ and LJ. He went on to the national competition and won the U16 HJ, and bronze in the 100mH and LJ. Representing Ulster at the Schools Interprovincial, he came 4^th in the 100mH and jt 6^th at the HJ. At last weekend’s NI & Ulster Combined Events Championships, he took silver at the U17 Octathlon.
U20 Male (note, no U20 female)	Aaron Sexton
Aaron began his season on a high note by equalling the Irish Youth 200m indoor record and setting a new U20 & Senior club record when finishing 2nd at the Irish Junior Indoor Championships. He completed the Inter Boys 100m/200m sprint double at both the Ulster & Irish Schools, setting new Irish Schools’ & NI Youth records in the process. After finishing 3rd in 100m at NI Senior Championships he won the 200m at the Irish Junior Championships and was selected to compete at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas. Despite the heat and very new surroundings, Aaron saw off strong opposition from Canada, Australia, Jamaica, New Zealand, Bahamas & Dominica to win the 200m and secure Northern Ireland’s first ever gold medal. Always one to support his club, Aaron arrived home from the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday, July 25^th and after a brief stop at the Dub, he came to our open T&F meeting to show his medal to us all and be briefly interviewed at the side of the track. He is a true inspiration to us all and a wonderful example to the younger members of the club. Unfortunately, Aaron can’ t be with us tonight as he has the honour of playing for the Irish Rugby 7s in the European 7s in Germany this weekend and in currently en route to Europe.
Open Female	Sarah Connolly
Sarah set new indoor club records for 60mH & Pentathlon along with outdoor records for 100mH & HJ. At the Irish senior champs she finished just outside the medals coming 4th in the LJ & 5th in the 100mH. Sarah is the club’s top female multi-eventer and was selected for Irish team to compete at European Combined Events Cup in Spain where she unfortunately suffered a concussion caused by a heavy fall in the 100mH and was unable to continue. She won a silver medal in the Senior Women’s Heptathlon and set new club records for the HJ and Heptathlon at the NI and Ulster Combined Events Championships last weekend.
Open Male	Ben Reynolds
Ben continues to train hard, both at home and abroad with his sights set on the Commonwealth Games to be held on the Gold Coast in Australia in 2018. Ben won the 60mH at the Senior Irish Championships and is ranked 5^th in the UK for the 100mH. He has achieved 3 commonwealth games considerations standards for the 110mH and we wish him the best of luck with a selection for this competition.
Veteran Female	Marie Devine
2017 started out with some difficulty for Marie as she had a few niggling injuries which held her back from the training she would normally do. With the World Transplant Games fast approaching, the injuries fortunately cleared up and she applied herself to the work required. It paid great dividends as she came away from the games with 2 gold and 3 silver medals. No mean feat given the hot temperatures and the close scheduling of her track races. Of course, being the modest lady she is, only Marie was surprised at her achievements. We all knew she would do so well! Not being content with all that bling, Marie then took herself off to the British Transplant Games in Scotland a few weeks later. There, she came away with 2 golds and 2 silvers. Perhaps the most surprising of all was a silver in the discus! Marie didn’t know she was entered for that competition, had to have a crash course in throwing technique and be reminded to take a discus into the throwing area with her. How many of us would have declined to compete? Not Marie. She took up the challenge as she so often does and proved what a true competitor she is. She is so deserving of this award and I hope there will be many more coming her way in the future.
Veteran Male	Francis Marsh
Another year of defying the ageing process has allowed Francis Marsh to once again put in a good summer’s racing on the track. Focusing mainly on 1500M and 3000M Francis had a seasons best run of 4:21:27 at the recent Firmus meet in the 1500M and 9:23:37 over 3000M at the ANI Open meet in May. In each of Francis’ track races this season, he has been first in his age category while competing with athletes a lot younger than himself. This is all while playing a very influential part in the organisation of our locally run Open track meets at the Sportsplex and coaching the remainder of his squad to quality racing.
Outstanding Female	Rachel McCann
As above
Outstanding Male	Aaron Sexton
As above
Throwing	Faye Nixon
Faye had a great start to the season winning gold and setting a new PB at the Age Group Indoors in February throwing 10.67m. She continued this form by setting a new District Schools record and PB with 10.83m then battling through illness to win Silver at the Ulster Schools. After picking up Gold at the NI Age Groups, Faye finished her season at the UK Schools Games I Loughborough setting a big PB with 11.62m, adding nearly 2m to her PB from the previous season.
Jumps	Megan Drummond
Megan is a sprinter and jumper who is currently the 2nd fastest 100m sprinter in the club. Megan, however, in her favoured event, the long jump, was virtually unbeaten throughout the season. She not only won the Ulster & Irish Schools’ titles but also the NI & Ulster U15 title along with YDLs & various open meets. Her only defeat came in the Irish U15 Age Groups where she still finished a very creditable 4th.
Weglarz	Murphy Miller
Murphy has had a fantastic track season in taking both the 800m and 1,500m Ulster U16 girls titles along with the All Ireland U16 1500m title, which earned her selection for the Ireland Development Team in the Celtic Games. Her track stats are impressive: of 19 races on Power of 10, she has won 11, had PBs in 8 races and has probably set her best PB over 800m in 2:14:63 – that is faster than any athlete aged 19 or younger in Northern Ireland in 2017. This is a remarkable achievement for a girl who is yet only 15.
Weglarz	Amy Kimber
In previous seasons, Amy had been concentrating on Javelin but this season her focus changed to the discus, picking up a bronze medal in both Ulster U18 and Irish Age Group Championships. After throwing well enough to be selected for the Tailteann Games and the UK Schools Games, it was in the former where she threw her PB of 29.35m, surpassing her old mark by almost 8m.
Weglarz	Rachel Gibson (senior)
For the fifth season in a row, Rachel was the club’s fastest female athlete over both 800m and 1500m. This year, Rachel went on to set her fastest time over 3000m when achieving her long sought sub 10 minute clocking 9:57:03 in our second open meeting in Bangor.
Weglarz	Craig McMeechan
Craig started off the season in solid form during the A Level exam period, and then had a flurry of great and mainly tactical races in the latter half of the season. His 3^rd place in the prestigious Junior Mile at the Dublin Morton Games was a step-up from previous 1500m results, while a thrilling and close win in the junior 3000m – held with the Irish Senior C’ships – consolidated Craig’s improved racing ability and finishing speed. A week later, Craig topped his season off by dipping under 2 mins for 800m for the first time (1:59:75), doing it the hard way off negative splits!!!
Weglarz	Isaac Hart
Isaac is 16 and has just entered lower 6th form at Sullivan Upper School. Isaac is a 53 second 400m athlete who achieved success over 200m this season. He won gold in the 200m at the Northern Ireland indoor championships in Magherafelt and a bronze in the Ulster Schools championships, where he set a PB of 23.77 secs. Isaac was chosen to represent Ulster at 200m at the schools interprovincial championships. Ever versatile Isaac competed last weekend in the Combined events championships picking up a bronze in the U17 mens Octathlon
Presidents Award	Aaron Sexton
As above
Outstanding Achievement	Eve Dann

Most of us have known Eve for many years, and her smiling demeanour is a familiar sight back at the track. Eve trains consistently throughout the year and her love for her sport is obvious to all. Eve’s achievements this season have led us to introduce this new award for an athlete who has achieved recognition on the world stage. Earlier this year, Eve was reclassified from T38 to T36 and was immediately invited by GB Athletics to a talent development weekend. She was then selected by the GB Team for the World Junior Para Champs where she went and won both the 100m and 200m U18 T35-38 classification.

Eve also won the U17 100m and 200m in T35-38 at the England Athletics Championships. In Loughborough earlier this month, she won the ambulant 100m and gained a silver in the ambulant 200m at the UK Schools Games.

Eve continues to bring honours to her family, club and country and it gives me tremendous pride to present this new award to her this evening.

T&F Award winners 2017