Primary School Mini-Meets – Event 2
The latest edition of North Down Athletics Club’s Primary School Mini-Meets took place at the Sportsplex on
Wednesday 28th May, with more than 200 children from both the surrounding area and
farther afield taking part. The event was so popular that entries had to be closed early
showcasing the demand for athletics in North Down & Ards!
A number of junior NDAC athletes competed across a range of sprint, middle-distance,
jumping and throwing events with a bunch of medals now proudly hanging on bedroom
walls!
From our FUNdamentals training group, the P5 Girls delivered several impressive
performances; Isla Little (St Comgall’s PS) completed the 60m sprint in a time of 13.5
seconds. In the 600m middle-distance event there was very little to separate Isla (2:26.4)
from clubmates Lucy Kane (Donaghadee PS, 2:30.8) and Orin Moorhouse (Ballymagee PS,
2:41.5). In the field events Isla added to her medal haul from Meet 1 by claiming bronze in
the sand pit, with a long jump of 2.69m. Orin finished just outside the medal positions with a
jump of 2.50m, and then ensured she also brought a medal home by finishing 2nd in the Shot
Put, with a throw of 5.09m.
In the P5 Boys events, Ezra Blanc (Ballyholme PS, 14.2 seconds), Matthew Belshaw
(Kilmaine PS, 14.7) and Josh Beckett (Crawfordsburn PS, 15.3) all lined up in the same 60m
heat. Staying on the track, Ezra and Josh again raced in the 600m event, with Ezra finishing
9th in a time of 2:17.6 and Josh, in his first attempt over this distance, fighting hard to edge
out a fellow competitor down the home straight to finish in 2:46.2 seconds.
In the long jump Ezra cleared 2.55m, while there were only a few centimetres to
separate Matthew (1.97m) and Josh (1.88m). In the Shot Put event Josh finished narrowly
outside the medal places with a terrific throw of 5.05m, with Matthew close behind in
4.89m.
Aria Wright (Model PS), Emily Jordan (Towerview PS) and Holly Shields (Ballyholme PS)
competed in the P6 Girls events, with very little to separate their performances. In the 60m
sprint, Emily (14.0 seconds), Holly (14.2) and Aria (14.3) were separated only by the blink of
an eye; with Emily also making her debut in the 600m event in a time of 2:49.1.
Holly took club honours in the sandpit with a jump of 2.50m, ahead of Aria (2.29m) and Emily
(1.82m). Moving across the track to the gravel arena, Holly narrowly missed out on a Shot
Put medal by finishing 4th overall with a throw of 4.7m.
In the P6 Boys section we had Dominic McClean (St. Comgall’s PS) and Woodie Cram
(Ballyholme PS) taking part; with Dominic finishing 2nd in his 60m heat in a quick time of 12.8
seconds. Both decided to avoid the gruelling 600m event, preferring to focus on the
field events. Both claimed a medal in the long jump, with Dominic clearing 3.40m for 2nd
place, and Woodie claiming the bronze medal with a jump of 3.02m. Dominic made it a pair
of silver medals, with 2nd place in the Shot Put (6.59m).
From the Junior Track & Field training group, P7 pupil Phia Johnston (Crawfordsburn PS)
raced in the 600m distance, finishing in a hard-fought 2:31.5. Phia went on to clear 3.15m in
the long jump, and capped off a fine evening’s work with a superb throw of 5.57m in Shot
Put.
Sam Beattie finished in 2nd place overall in the P7 Boys 100m sprint, with a rapid time of 15.2
seconds. Robert McCrea (Clandeboye PS) also took part in the event, finishing in a time of
17.0 seconds. Sam added a bronze medal to his collection in the long jump, with a distance
of 3.43m; while Robert narrowly missed out on a medal with a great clearance of 3.19m.
Finally Sam contributed to a Ballyholme 1-2-3 in P7 Boys Shot Put event, finishing with
another bronze medal (6.41m).
The Junior Middle Distance group also had a number of athletes competing. In the P5 boys
80m, Rory McCullough (Ballyholme PS) finished in 13.2 seconds, Casey Seaton (Glencraig
PS) in 13.3 seconds, Rory’s twin Finn (Ballyholme PS) in 13.4 seconds, and Thomas Close
(St Comgall’s PS) in 13.8 seconds. In the 600m Casey had a great run to finish 1st once
again in 2.00.7, whilst Finn was 3rd in 2.06.9, Rory 4th in 2.08.7 and Thomas was 6th in
2.13.3. It was a silver medal for Finn in the long jump where he jumped 3.09m, whilst Rory
picked up a bronze medal with a jump of 3.03m. In the same event Casey was 13th (2.61m)
and Thomas was 26th (1.86m).
In the P6 boys Daly Seaton (Glencraig PS) ran 12 seconds in the 80m, whilst Harrison Mair
(St Comgall’s PS) finished in 12.6 seconds. In the 600m Daly went one better than the last
meeting by finishing 1st in 1.53.5 and Harrison was 4th in 1.58.8. In the long jump Harrison
was 8th (2.75m) whilst Daly was 11th (2.72m), and finally in the shot put, Harrison was 13th
with a throw of 4.19m.
In the P7 girls it was another great evening for Rose Reavy of Towerview PS. She won the
long jump with a jump of 3.45m and was 2nd in both the 100m (14.8 seconds) and the 600m
(2.04.9). Her schoolmate Alani Santos also picked up a bronze medal in the long jump with a
jump of 3.37m. Alani also ran the 100m in 16.1 seconds and was 10th in the shot put with a
throw of 5.26m. Another Towerview athlete, Molly Rankin, was 4th in the 600m in 2.11.8, ran
the 100m in 16.5 seconds and was 15th in the long jump with a jump of 2.81m.
In the P7 boys, Ben Dumigan of Towerview picked up two gold medals by winning the 100m
in 14.7 seconds and the long jump with a jump of 3.68m. Ben also took part in the 600m,
finishing 4th in 2.01.9 and 8th in the shot-put with a throw of 5.29m. Another gold medal
winner was Casper Pike (Ballyholme PS) who won the shot put with a throw of 6.91m.
Casper also took part in the 600m, finishing 6th in 2.12.2, and the long jump where he was 8th
with a jump of 3.06m. The final medal winner of the evening was Logan Fowles (Donaghadee
PS) who was 3rd in the 600m in 2.00.2. Logan also ran the 100m in 16 seconds and was 7th
long jump with a jump of 3.08m. Also competing was: Reuben Dunne (Towerview PS), who
ran the 100m in 15.18 seconds, was 6th in the long jump (3.14m) and 9th in the 600m (2.29.9)
and shot put (4.82m); Lucas Mair (Killard House) who ran the 100m in 21.2 seconds, was
12th in the 600m (2.54.4) and 17 h in the long jump (1.65m) Jack Curry (Rathmore PS)
ran the 100m in 16 seconds and was 15th in the long jump (2.19m).
Finally, mention must go to Sara Donegan of Ballyholme PS and the daughter of the main
organiser of the mini-meets, Steven Donegan, who finished 7th in the P5 shot put with a throw of
3.84m. She was also 18th in the 600m in 2.57.5 and 20th in the long jump with a jump of 1.59m.
Slieve Donard Race, 31/05/25
ANI Open and Team Trophy Championships, MPT, 01/06/25
A large number of North Dowm AC’s T&F athletes represented the club at the Team Trophy on Sunday in some very changeable conditions at the Mary Peters Track. The NDAC team, which combined a mixture of youth and experience, finished runners-up, with the Women taking second and the Men taking third. Individual results below:
Izzy Cousley was 7th in the SW 200m in 29.17.
In the SW Long Jump Anna Moran finished 3rd jumping 4.75m. Eve Walsh-Dann was 7th in 3.73m.
Charlie Lawden won the SM javelin throwing 52.02m.
Abbie Irwin was 3rd in the SW discus throwing 19.16 and Ian McMullan also finished 3rd in the SM discus in 27.21m.
Ian went one place better to finish 2nd in the SM hammer throwing 23.95.
Roger McMullan was 3rd in the SM long jump with 6.16m.
Abbie Irwin finished 3rd with 9.55m, one place ahead of Izzy Cousley (9.43m) in the SW triple jump.
In the SM triple jump Harry Jackson’s 11.61m secured 1st place.
Anna Moran’s next event was the SW javelin where she finished 3rd with 27.81m
Izzy Cousley continued her busy afternoon with 5th place in the SW100m in 13.97. Niamh Isles was 8th in 14.49 and Eve Walsh-Dann 11th in 15.15.
Daniel Dines was 4th in the SM 1500m in 4:08.62 followed by Ethan Constable 10th 4:32.33 and John Ewing 12th 4:39:09.
Katie Moore won the SW 3000m in 10:28.99.
In the SM 300m Oliver Playfair took 2nd in 9:30.60 with Jamie McMeechan 8th in 10:00.65, Nick Irvine 9th 10:05.71, Francis Marsh 11th 10:12.07, Dennis Scott 12th 10:28.60 and Luke Dobson 13th in 11:04.10.
Tomas Montgomery finished 10th in the SM400m in 54:54.
The NDAC team comprising Daniel Constable, Cameron McCracken, Harry Jackson and Jamie Moffatt won the mens’ 4x100m relay in 54.54.
Tomas Montgomery, Curtis Hughes, Dean Varley and Daniel Constable made up the SM 4x400m team finishing 4th in 3:41:11.
In the SM800m Craig McMeechan was 4th in 1:59.92 followed by Josh McDowell 13th 2:09:41, Chris Moran 15th 2:09.66 and Dean Varley 16th 2:11:13.
Rachel Gibson won the SW1500m in 4:48.33 with Holly Blease finishing 2nd in 5:20.42.
https://ani.opentrack.run/en-gb/x/2025/GBR/team-trophy/event/T12/1/1/
