MCCAULEY & KELLY IMPRESS AS LOCAL ATHLETES SECURE NATIONAL MEDALS IN ATHLONE

Anna McCauley cleared 1.60m for 1^st place in the Under 18 High Jump, while in the Under 19 Shot Putt (6kg), James Kelly eased to victory with a 16.03m throw for 1^st place.

In the competitive relay competition, Finn Valley AC’s Under 12 Girls edged a fiercely contested 4 x 200m event, winning in 57.38 (1^st place). In the Under 15 4 x 200m race, Tir Chonaill AC’s Girls broke the beam first in 1:49.55 (1^st place).

There were also medal winning performances from a number of other Northern Ireland and Ulster athletes.

Joshua Knox (City of Lisburn AC), Niamh McCorry (Annalee AC) and Owen Johnston (Ballymena & Antrim AC) picked up individual silver medals.  Finn Valley AC’s Under 14 Boys claimed silver in the 4 x 200m, while in the Under 16 4 x 200m competition, Shercock AC’s Boy’s also came away with silver medals.

Annalee AC’s Roisin Kellegher secured a podium place and the associated bronze medal.  There was also a bronze medal for the Tir Chonaill AC Under 12 Boys 4 x 100m relay team.

Full results for the event are available HERE.  Photo from Irish Life AAI National Juvenile Indoor Championships by Athletics Ireland.

Elsewhere this weekend…

Nearly 1,800 competitors took on the Omagh Half Marathon (Saturday 7^th April 2018). 

Stephen Scullion picked up what would be the first of two top prizes in as many days, breaking the tape in 1:07:01 for 1st place.  Declan Reed (City of Derry AC) crossed the line in 1:07:55, a new personal best, for 2nd place, while fellow Spartan Greg Roberts completed the top three in 1:11:24 (3rd place).

In the ladies race, Ann-Marie McGlynn (Letterkenny AC) showed her class with a dominant performance.  Following her recent 10k road personal best of 33:50 in England, Ann-Marie clocked a massive new 13.1 mile personal best of 1:14:28 for 1st place.

This performance was within the Athletics Ireland consideration standard (at half marathon distance) for the European Athletics Championships Marathon Cup in Berlin this Summer, should Ann-Marie have ambitions of stepping up to the marathon.

Behind, the fast improving Nakita Burke (Letterkenny AC) claimed 2nd place in 1:21:17, before another in-form athlete, Gerrie Short (Beechmount Harriers) covered the distance in 1:24:56 for 3rd place.

There was also success for Northern Ireland based athletes in the mountains and trails of Ireland this weekend, with a strong contingent taking on the Maurice Mullins Wicklow Way 51k and 25k Mountain-Trail Races (Saturday 7^th April 2018) and the Munster Mountain Running Association (MMRA) Slievenamon Mountain Race (Sunday 8^th April 2018).

Both events were used as trial races for upcoming major international races, the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) Championships and the European Athletics Mountain Running Championships.

In Wicklow, Newcastle AC’s Mari Troeng won the 51k (with 1940m of ascent), while Eoin Lennon (Carnethy HRC) and Martsje Hell (North Belfast Harriers) took the top prizes in the 25k (with 971m of ascent), which was the WMRA trial race.  Ian Bailey (Newcastle AC) claimed 2^nd place in the 25k.

Meanwhile, in Tipperary, Newcastle AC’s Seamus Lynch all but marked his own name on the team sheet for the European Championships with a sensational run to lead the field home, over the 9.5k course (with 500m of ascent). 

Zak Hanna (Newcastle AC) finished just outside the podium place in 4^th place; this should still be enough to see Zak selected. In the associated Junior races, St Malachy’s AC pair Conall McClean (2^nd place) and Tony McCambridge (3^rd place) secured podium places.

Official results for the events are currently not available – they will be posted HERE when available.