NI & Ulster athletes set for Irish Life Under 23 & Junior Championships

Aaron Sexton (North Down AC), Davicia Patterson (Beechmount Harriers), Sommer Lecky (Finn Valley AC) and James Kelly (Finn Valley AC) are expected to lead the charge for local honours at the event.

Aaron Sexton set his junior 100m (10.52) and 200m (21.12) records at the same venue earlier this month and the North Down AC man will be chasing gold in the 200m competition this time around.

Davicia Patterson has enjoyed a sensational season so far and will line up in the 200m and 400m just one week after an eye-catching performance in Germany, where she clocked a new Irish Under 20 record of 52.88 over 400m

After leaping to 1.83m at this week’s Belfast International, Sommer Lecky will go into the High Jump competition with confidence and should take the gold; the ambitious young athlete will also be focused on bettering her outdoor best of 1.84m and overall personal best of 1.86m (indoor).

Likewise, fellow Finn Valley AC athlete James Kelly will be looking to better his 16.55m personal best in the Shot Putt as he aims for a podium topping performance.

Conall Kirk (Annadale Striders) and Lauren Roy (City of Lisburn AC) both impressed at the Belfast International this week and will hope to take that form into these championships, with Under 23 athlete Conall running in the 800m and Under 20 competitor Lauren set to take on both the 100m and 200m.

Ellen McCartney (City of Lisburn AC), Michael McAuley (Ballymena & Antrim AC), Fintan Stewart (City of Derry AC) and Anna McCauley (City of Lisburn AC) should contest medals in the Under 20 category, while in the Under 23 programme, Craig Newell (Ballymena & Antrim AC), Mark Burton (QUB AC) and Ryan Keenan (City of Lisburn AC) should be amongst the local athletes who make the podium.

A full start list and timetable for the event are available HERE.

Also taking place in Tullamore this weekend (Sunday 1^st July 2018) is the Juvenile Games and Under 12 / Under 13 Field Events and Inter-Club Relays.  A host of Northern Ireland and Ulster clubs will be represented at the event.  Start lists and a timetable are available HERE.

Elsewhere this weekend…

British Athletics Track & Field Championships 2018:

Local athletes are expected to be in action at the prestigious British Athletics Track & Field Championships at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham (Saturday 30^th June and Sunday 1^st July 2018) – with places on the Great Britain & NI team for the European Championships and Athletics World Cup up for grabs, competition is set to be fierce.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Leon Reid (Birchfield Harriers) and current British indoor 60m hurdles Champion Megan Marrs (City of Lisburn AC) are both expected to compete.

Leon will more than likely line-up in both the 100m and 200m events, with Megan, who missed the NI 100m hurdles record by a mere 0.3 of a second at the Belfast international, will again go over the 100m hurdles.

Leon and Megan will be joined by fellow Northern Ireland athletes Mollie Courtney (Cheltenham AC) and Ben Fisher (City of Lisburn AC), with Mollie competing in the 110m hurdles with Megan and Ben taking on the Long Jump.

European Mountain Running Championships:

Four local runners are part of an Ireland team who will compete at the European Mountain Running Championships in Macedonia this weekend (Sunday 1^st July 2018).

Newcastle AC’s Seamus Lynch and Zak Hanna will compete in the senior event, while St Malachy’s AC pair Tony McCambridge and Conall McClean will line up in the junior race.  A start list for the event is available HERE.

Northern Ireland Masters Athletics Association (NIMAA) Track & Field Championships 2018:

Closer to home, the Northern Ireland Masters Athletics Association (NIMAA) will host their annual Track & Field Championships at Mary Paters Track this weekend (Saturday 30th June 2018).

Former Masters 800m World Champion Kelly Neely (City of Lisburn AC) will headline and is due to compete over 800m once again as she prepares for the upcoming World Masters Championships in Spain this September.

Catherine Diver (Beechmount Harriers), Keith Shiels (Foyle Valley AC), Denise Toner (Clones AC), Cathal McLaughlin (Derry Track Club) Trevor McGlynn (Omagh Harriers), Shane King (Clones AC), Elaine Connor (Derry Track Club) and Gemma McDonald (Ballycastle Runners) are expected to be amongst the star performers on what should be an excellent day of competition.

Star-studded line up set for Newell 10k Road Race:

A star-studded field is expected to take part in this weekend’s Newell 10k road race in Coalisland (Friday 29^th June 2018).

European Athletics Championships bound trio Stephen Scullion (Clonliffe Harriers), Emma Mitchell (QUB AC) and Laura Graham (Mourne Runners) will join well-known competitors Conor Bradley (City of Derry AC), Paddy Hamilton (Armagh AC) and JP Williamson (City of Derry AC) in what should be a competitive night of racing over a flat and fast 10k course.