Athletics NI Host NI & Ulster Indoor Age Groups in Abbottstown

Track Events Day 1

First on the track on Saturday was the 60m Hurdle competitions. In the U14 Girls, Veronica O’Neill (City of Derry Spartans) took 1^st place, with Eoin Boyle (Tir Chonaill AC) in 1^st for the U14 Boys and Niamh Moohan (Tir Chonaill AC) in 1^st for the U16 Girls, Ben Campbell (Tir Chonaill AC) won 1^st place in the Boys U16.

Erin Friel (Olympian Youth & AC) won 1^st in the U12 Girls 60m sprints; Mason McCreery (Loughview AC) took the title for the U12 Boys. Oriel AC’s Amy Jo Kierans took 1^st place in the Girls U14 and Finn Valley AC’s Blaine Lynch was 1^st in the Boys U14. The U16 competitions were won by Tir Chonaill Ac’s Lucy McGlynn and Ben Campbell, respectively.

After the break, it was the turn of the 600m finals, with Jamie McGinley (Lifford Strabane Ac) in 1^st place for the U12 Girls; Mason McCreery (Loughview AC) 1^st for the U12 Boys.

In the 800m finals, gold medals went to Amy Jo Kierans (Oriel AC) in the U14 Girls; Tom Doherty (Monaghan Phoenix AC) in the U14 Boys; Victoria Lightbody (City of Lisburn AC) in the U16 Girls; Oisin Kelly (Cranford AC) in the U16 Boys.

The 200m finals were won by Jenna Breen (City of Lisburn AC) in the U16 Girls and Ben Campbell (Tir Chonaill AC) in the U16 Boys.

The last event on the track for Day 1 was the Team Relays. Finn Valley AC took the U12 Girls and Boys titles with North Down AC the winner of the U14 Girls and Monaghan Phoenix winning the U14 Boys. Tir Chonaill AC rounded out a successful day for the club by winning the U16 Girls relay and City of Lisburn AC won the U16 Boys.

Field Events Day 1

The field events saw a great increase in numbers for this year’s competition, which started with the U12 Girls High Jump, won by Lauren Carroll of Finn Valley AC. Stephen Slevin (Finn Valley AC) won gold in the U12 Boys, while Tir Chonaill AC’s Eoin Boyle won the U14 Boys. The U14 Girls was won by Ashleigh McArdle (Lifford Strabane) with Cara Wilkinson (Finn Valley AC) winning the U16 Girls and Daniel Scott (City of Lisburn AC) winning the U16 Boys.

The Shot competitions saw gold going to: Alanah Anderson (Tir Chonaill AC) for the U12 Girls; Aron Laverty (Carrick Aces) for the U12 Boys; Veronica O’Neill (City of Derry Spartans) for the U14 Girls; Blaine Lynch (Finn Valley Ac) for the U14 Boys; Aoife Giles (Cranford Ac) in the U16 Girls and Johnny McGonagle (Tir Chonaill AC) in the U16 Boys.

There were some extremely competitive fields in the Long Jump, which saw Ava Colgan (City of Derry Spartans) take 1^st place in the Girls U12; Mason McCreery continued his winning streak to take 1^st place in the U12 Boys; Ella Costello (Lifford Strabane Ac) won the U14 Girls and Eoin Boyle (TIr Chonaill Ac) won the U14 Boys. The U16 Girls title went to Michaela Galvin of Letterkenny AC and the U16 Boys went to City of Lisburn Ac’s Finlay Stewart.

Track Events Day 2

Day 2 once again started with the 60m Hurdle competitions, where the top places were: Meabh O’Connor (St Gerards AC), with the NI & Ulster title went to Amy Timoney (Finn Valley AC). The Boys U13 title went to Ethan Dewhirst (Tir Chonaill AC) and the U15 Girls went to Aideen Drury (Shercock AC). The Boys U15 was won by Diarmaid O’Donnell (Lifford Strabane AC), Kate Donohoe (Annalee AC) won the Girls U17 and Nathan Fitzpatrick (City of Derry Spartans) won the Boys U17. The Girls U18 won was by Holly Mulholland (City of Lisburn AC), with Sorcha O’Neill (Monaghan Phoenix AC) winning the Girls U19 competition. Tir Chonaill AC’s Eoin Sharkey won the Boys U18 and Christopher Kearns (Finn Valley AC) won the Boys U19.

Next up was the 60m sprints, which saw an impressive number of heats happening across the age groups. The finals were won by: U13 Girls went to Riona Doherty (Finn Valley AC); U13 Boys was won by Nathan Russell (Lifford Strabane AC); U15 Girls, Lucy Kerr (North Down AC); U15 Boys, Daniel McHugh (Finn Valley AC); U17 Girls, Katie Monteith (City of Lisburn AC); U17 Boys, Oliver Swinney (Unattached); U18 Girls, Lauren Callaghan (Finn Valley Ac); U18 Boys, Louis Albrow (AthleticsNI Unattached); U19 Girls, Emily Brennan (Glaslough Harriers) and the U19 Boys was won by Connor Crowe (City of Lisburn AC).

Amy Greene (Rosses AC) took gold in the U16 Girls 1500m competition, with Cara Laverty (City of Derry Spartans) won the U17 Girls. The U18 & 19 Girls ran 1500m ran together, Aoife McGreevy (Lagan Valley AC) and Cassie Lagan (Finn Valley AC) won their age groups. The U16 & U17 Boys were won by Oisin Kelly (Cranford AC) and Sean McGinley (Olympian Youth & AC). The U18 & U19 Boys saw Ryan Miskelly (Lagan Valley AC) and Jack Moore (Carmen AC) top the podium.

After the break, it was time for the U15 and U19 Girls 1.2k walk. Ava McNally (Clones AC) won the U15 Girls, while Siobhan Doherty (Tir Chonaill AC) won the U19 Girls.

The U13 Girls 600m saw gold going to Cait O’Reilly (Annalee AC), and Eoin Sheridan (Monaghan Phoenix) taking the U13 Boys title.

The 200m Finals were up next and proved the standard of the young athletes. Katie Monteith (City of Lisburn AC/ U17); Tony Craig (Ballymena & Antrim AC/ U17); Bevan McCaffrey (Annalee AC/ U18); Louis Albrow (ANI Unattached/ U18); Rachel McCann (North Down AC/ U19) and Connor Crowe (City of Lisburn AC/ U19) all came out top in their age categories.

In the 800m time trails, Renee Crotty (Annalee AC) and Finn O’Neill (City of Derry Spartans) took the top spot of on the podium for the U15s. The U17 titles went to Cara Laverty (City of Derry Spartans) and Odhran Hamilton (Armagh AC), while the U18 titles went to Murphy Miller (North Down AC) and Matthew Willis (Lagan Valley AC). Aine Corcoran (Shercock AC) and Jack Moore (Carmen AC) took away the gold for the U19 competitions.

The penultimate track event of the weekend was the 400m competitions, which saw Finn Valley Ac’s Daniella Jansen take 1^st place in the U18 Girls and Ciaran Moore (Letterkenny AC) for the U18 Boys. North Down Ac’s Rachel McCann continued her winning streak to take gold for the U19 Girls and Austin Hargan (City of Derry Spartans) won the U19 Boys event.

Finally it was time for the Team 4x200m Relays Championships. Finn Valley walked away with the U13 Girls, U15 Boys and U19 Girls titles, while City of Derry Spartans took home the gold for the U17 Girls, U18 Girls and the U19 Boys. Tir Chonaill Ac won the U13 Boys relay, with Shercock AC winning the U15 Girls and the U17 Boys. Orangegrove AC were the triumphant winner of the Boys U18 relays.

Field Events Day 2

The High Jump events started the day with the U13 Girls. Meabh O’Connor (St Gerards AC) took the top spot, while Amy Timoney (Finn Valley AC) took the title. Adam McKeown (Tir Chonaill AC) won the U13 Boys; Tori Murchan (Tir Chonaill AC) the U15 Girls and Kurt Wright (Rising Stars) won the U15 Boys. Roisin Kellegher (Annalee AC) won the U17 Girls; Tom Poulter (Ballymena & Antrim Ac) won the U17 Boys; Mia Hamill (Carmen Ac) won the U18 Girls and Joshua Knox (City of Lisburn AC) won the U18 Boys. The U19 Girls title went to Caoimhe O’Hanlon (Monaghan Phoenix AC) and the U19 Boys went to Austin Hargan (City of Derry Spartans).

The shot had some impressive fields, with North Down AC’s Kate Fenlon winning the U13 Girls and Beth Hammond winning the U15 Girls. The U13 Boys saw Patrick Laverty (Carrick Aces AC) take the lead, while Tir Chonaill AC’s Kasper Adamski won the U15 Boys title. Innyvale AC’s Casey Mulvey was victorious in the U17 Girls and Ross Henderson (Lifford Strabane AC) won the U17 Boys. The U18 Girls was wo by Laoise McGonagle (Tir Chonaill AC) and James Hughes (Unattached) took the U18 Boys title. Glaslough Harriers pair Emily Brennan and Jacky Murphy won the U19 titles.

Meabh O’Connor (St Gerards AC) topped the podium for the Girls U13 Long Jump, with Finn Valley AC’ss Riona Doherty taking the NI & Ulster title. Nathan Russell (Lifford Strabane AC) won the U13 Boys with Niamh Fenlon (North Down AC) winning the U15 Girls and Daniel McHugh (Finn Valley AC) winning the U15 Boys. Finn Valley AC pair Lee Walsh and Lauren Callaghan won the U19 and U18 Girls, while Shercock AC’s Sean Harding and Thomas McAdam won the U17 and U18 Boys. Annalee AC’s Kate Donohoe won the U17 Girls and Donal Hughes (Olympian Youth & AC) won the U19 Boys.

The Triple Jump U18 Girls competition saw Orangegrove AC’s Anna McKinty taking the gold. Joshua Knox (City of Lisburn AC) won the U18 Boys; Emily Sweeney (City of Derry Spartans) won the U19 Girls and Christopher Kearns (Finn Valley Ac) won the U19 Boys.

Jack Murphy (Glaslough Harriers) won the U19 Boys Pole Vault competition, while Leah Doran (Ballymena & Antrim AC) won the U18 Girls and Erin Fisher (City of Lisburn AC) won the U19 Girls.

Full results can be found here.

Elsewhere this weekend…

City of Lisburn AC’s Anna McCauley competed at the England Athletics U20, U17 & U15 Indoor Age Group Championships in Sheffield. She ran a PB time of 7.70 secs in the U20 60m.

Podium Potential athlete Eve Walsh-Dann beat her 200m PB time in Dubai at the IPC Grand Prix, running a time of 30.70secs.