LEON REID SMASHES HIS OWN NI 200M RECORD AS NI ATHLETES CLAIM BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALS

02 July 2018

LEON REID SMASHES HIS OWN NI 200M RECORD AS NI ATHLETES CLAIM BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALS

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Leon Reid (Birchfield Harriers / James Hillier) twice bettered his own Northern Ireland 200m record on his way to a podium finish at the British Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England (Saturday 30th June and Sunday 1st July 2018).

Megan Marrs (City of Lisburn AC / Jerzy Maciukiewicz) also picked up a silver medal at the event, which incorporated Great Britain & Northern Ireland trials for the upcoming European Athletics Championships in Berlin and this summer’s Athletics World Cup.

Man of the moment Leon Reid again showed his class when he clocked a new Northern Ireland record of 20.27 (1.4) to emerge from the 200m heats as the fastest qualifier. 

In the final race of the day at the Alexander Stadium, Leon again beat his previous 20.38 personal best and NI record, when he crossed the line in 20.31 (0.2) for 3rd place.  The race was won by Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (Newham & Essex Beagles AC) in 20.24.

After the event, Leon took to social media to express his delight, posting “Happy to have ran a 200m PB in 20.27. Then 20.31 in the final for third again. Two @AthleticsNI records too!” He added, “Next up, British League then Lezurne.”

British 60m hurdles indoor Champion Megan Marrs kicked off the event for the local athletes and again impressed with a medal winning performance.

Following on from an excellent performance at last week’s Belfast International, Megan qualified for the final after clocking 13.37 (3.1) in the heats.  In the final, the City of Lisburn AC star claimed 2nd place and the associated silver medal in exactly the same time of 13.37, but this time with a legal wind reading of 0.5. The gold medal was won by Alicia Barrett (Chesterfield AC) in 13.28.

Fellow Northern Ireland athlete Mollie Courtney (Cheltenham AC / David Warner) was also in action in the 100m hurdles.  Mollie narrowly missed qualification from the heats with a 13.87 finish.

Great Britain & NI junior international Ben Fisher (City of Lisburn AC / Femi Akinsanya) finished in 10th place in the competitive Long Jump event.  The NI & Ulster medallist leaped to 7.18m (1.0) - Liverpool AC’s Tim Duckworth won with 8.00m.

Full results for the event are available HERE.

Elsewhere this weekend…

Four Northern Ireland based athletes were part of the Ireland team who impressed at this weekend’s European Mountain Running Championships in Skopje, Macedonia (Sunday 1st July 2018).

Newcastle AC pair Zak Hanna (Richard Rodgers) and Seamus Lynch (Kookie O’Hagan) were in action in the Senior Men’s 11k race, which incorporated 700m of ascent.

Zak produced the performance of his life to secure an excellent top twenty finish, crossing the line in 51:45 for 19th place.  Seamus also ran well, taking 44th place in 55:30.  Their team mates Mark Ryan (54:16) and James Kevan (58:19) finished in 39th place and 55th place respectively, with the team finishing in 10th place in the team standings.

In the Under 20 race, which covered 6k and incorporated 365m of ascent, Tony McCambridge (St Malachy’s AC) excelled with a 14th place finish in 27:40.  His club mate Conall McClean also impressed, crossing the line in 29:47 for 30th place. Their team mates Ruairi Long (29:03) and Iosac Coleman (31:43) secured 25th place and 42nd place respectively, ensuring that team finished inside the top ten, in 7th place.

Full results for the event are available HERE.

Closer to home, there was also impressive performances and medals for Northern Ireland junior teams at the Inter-Counties Fell Running Championships in England (Saturday 30th June 2018).

Grace Carson (Mid Ulster AC) and Sorcha Mullan (Omagh Harriers) picked up individual silver medals, with the Under 19 men's team (Jared Martin, Miceal McCaul and Tom Magee) picking up bronze and Under 17 ladies team (Sorcha Mullan, Ella Quinn and Rebecca Magee) claiming silver medals in the team competition

Full results for the event are available HERE.

Northern Ireland and Ireland international’s Stephen Scullion (Clonliffe Harriers / Stephen Haas) and Emma Mitchell (QUB AC / Eamonn Christie) ran course records on their way to victory at the Newell 10k road race in Coalisland, County Tyrone (Friday 29th June 2018).  Stephen led the field home in 30:12, with Emma winning the ladies race in 34:59.

At the Brussels Grand Prix in Belgium (Saturday 30th June 2018), Northern Ireland’s Jason Harvey (Crusaders AC / Paul McKee) recorded a season’s best of 51.84 to finish in 3rd place in the 400m hurdles.

Also, this weekend, the Northern Ireland Masters Athletics Association (NIMAA) hosted their annual Track & Field Championships at Mary Peters Track (Saturday 30th June 2018).  Results for this event are on the website.