Six Medals for NI Stars at World Para Athletics Junior Championships

07 August 2017

Six Medals for NI Stars at World Para Athletics Junior Championships

Northern Ireland’s Jack Agnew (Torque Racing / Heather Ardis) and Eve Dann (North Down AC / Roger Sexton) produced outstanding medal winning performances over a busy weekend of action at the World Para Athletics Junior Championships in Switzerland.

In total, Jack has picked up four medals and Eve has claimed two, showing their class on the World Para Athletics stage.

Under 20 competitor Jack led the field home in all of his five races, with the RAZA points system (details HERE) dictating the final positions. 

The Torque Racing athlete secured gold medals in the T53-T54 1500m in 3:35.21 and the T53-T54 800m in 1:46.37.  He also achieved a silver medal in the T52-T54 400m with a finish time of 52.68.  Jack recorded a 200m (T52-T54) personal best when taking bronze in 27.53.  Despite crossing the line first in the T52-T54 100m, the up and coming star was awarded 4th place with a time of 15.90.

Fellow NI athlete Eve Dann claimed two gold medals in the Under 18 competition, completing a 100m / 200m double.  In the T35-T38 100m, Eve clocked a new personal best of 15.09.  She completed an impressive double when taking top honours in the T35-T38 200m in 32.04.

 

NI & Ulster pair represent Ireland at IAAF World Championships in London:

UCD AC athletes Ciara Mageean and Mark English are part of a strong Ireland team currently competing at the ongoing IAAF World Championships in London.

Ciara was the first of the pair to take to the famous 2012 Olympic track, but the Portaferry woman suffered disappointment as she claimed 13th place in the high-quality 1500m heats (Friday 4th August 2017).  Ciara’s time of 4:10.60 was unfortunately not enough to qualify for the semi-final.

The European Championships medallist, who was making her senior debut at the World Championships, made no excuses in her post race interview, telling Athletics Ireland, “Everything has been going good.  I don’t know what the story is.  I’m not looking for an excuse and I knew I could make it through that round so I’ve no excuses for that.”  The talented athlete and multiple NI record holder added, “I just couldn’t get my legs to wake up after two laps.”

Letterkenny man Mark missed qualification for the 800m semi-finals by less than a second when he took 5th place in the heats, clocking 1:48.01 for the two laps.  After the race, Mark told Athletics Ireland, “I've had a nerve issue. Preparation hasn't been perfect but I had to go out there and give it a shot.”

 

Local athletes help Ireland to Celtic Games International victory:

Gold medals from NI & Ulster athletes Jade Williams (Shercock AC), Anna McCauley (City of Lisburn AC), Lauren Roy (City of Lisburn AC), Iarlaith Goulding (St Colman’s AC), Rachel McCann (North Down AC) and James Kelly (Finn Valley AC) assisted Ireland in securing the overall team title at the Celtic Games at the Morton Stadium in Dublin (Saturday 5th August 2017).

Ireland finished on 188 points overall to top Scotland and Wales on the podium. Jade Williams was one of the stars of the day as she broke the Celtic Games record whilst throwing her way to victory in the Under 18 Hammer competition, finishing on 61.09m (1st place).

Hurdlers Anna McCauley and Iarlaith Goulding both topped the podium, with Anna winning the Under 18 100m hurdles in 14.43 (-1.7) and Iarlaith breaking the beam in the Under 16 100m hurdles in 13.58 (-1.9).  Under 18 athlete Lauren Roy sprinted to victory in the 100m, clocking 12.27 (-0.4).  Both Anna and Lauren were part of the Ireland 4x100m relay team who claimed 1st place in 47.47.  Rachel McCann also achieved gold in the relay competition – the North Down AC athlete was part of the 4x400m mixed relay team who won in 3:51.47.

Finn Valley AC’s James Kelly continued his excellent season with a comfortable win in the Under 18 Shot Putt (5kg) – James landed an 18.12m effort to win by over two metres. 

 

Gold for Ciaran Doherty at the European Masters Athletics Championships:

Letterkenny AC's Ciaran Doherty starred as Northern Ireland & Ulster athletes enjoyed an excellent weekend at the European Masters Athletics Championships in Denmark. The County Donegal man secured Vet40 gold and the European title in the 3,000m Steeplechase, running 9:34.60 for 1st place.

Former Masters World Champion Kelly Neely (City of Lisburn AC) also excelled, with a silver medal in the Vet35 800m.  Kelly recorded 2:12.58 for 2nd place.

 

Newcastle AC’s Ian Bailey represents Ireland at WMRA Long Distance Championships:

In Italy, Newcastle AC’s Ian Bailey represented Ireland at the famous Giir di Mont Skyrace, which incorporated the WMRA Long Distance Championships (Sunday 6th August 2017).

The race covered 32k in distance with 2,900m of ascent as part of the, and Ian secured a very credible 51st place in 3:59:49.

Source: NiRunning