NI Athletes Shine at Schools Combined Events

Irish Schools Combined Events

Arnar who specialises in sprints and is ranked No.1 in the UK for U15 Boys 200m Indoors and No.2 in the U15 Boys 60m, started off the day with a personal best (PB) of 8.79 seconds winning the 60m Hurdles. Long Jump followed with another indoor PB of 5.85m. Despite some changes to the event timings, Arnar won the 200m just narrowly missing another PB with a time of 23.07 seconds. The weather conditions outdoors affected all the results with freezing wind and rain however 11.35m proved to be another personal best in the Shot. Arnar took out the first 600m in the lead but was overtaken by two other athletes going into the last 200m, with all the boys making it a thrilling race. Arnar caught one of his rivals down the back straight and then fought to the line catching the last athlete winning by a split second, in the race of the day with an outstanding 6 second PB of 2.08.37. His overall score of 3320 points was a PB winning Gold and breaking the Irish Junior boys record which was previously held by Daniel Ryan in 2013. He now holds the Minor and Junior Boys Irish Combined Events Records.

Brynja, Amy and Meabh competed in the Intermediate girls, which had a very competitive field with the top 10 girls all within a few points of each other. The first event was the High Jump with Meabh jumping 1.59m (PB), Brynja jumping 1.56m (seasons best) and Amy jumping 1.41m. Setting them up for the 60m Hurdles which was another very competitive race, Meabh ran 9.18 seconds (PB), Brynja 9.26 seconds and Amy 9.28 seconds. The top 7 girls had only 90 points between them, and the girls continued to produce consistent performances in the Long Jump with Amy jumping 5.17m, Meabh 5.12m and Brynja 5.11m. Despite the poor weather conditions Amy threw 10.60m, Meabh 10.18m and Brynja 8.79m. Going into the final event of the competition, the 800m where Amy ran 2.17.00, Brynja 2:26.51 (PB) and Meabh 2:27.27. The girls did excellently with Meabh coming 2^nd with 3457 points, Amy coming 3^rd with 3415 points and Brynja securing 4^th place with an overall personal best score of 3329 points.

Fintan Dewhirst was very successful in the Intermediate boys event. For his first event he threw 11.95m in the Shot Putt, following into the 60m Hurdles where he won in 8.28 seconds and the 200m where he won in 22.37 seconds. He then went on to jump 5.93m in the Long Jump and finished with a 2:05:97 800m. Fintan took a convincing win with a total of 3548 points, more than 400 points than the athlete in 2^nd place.

SIAB International Combined Events

Arnar who was competing for the Under 16 Ireland team at the SIAB International Combined Events in Glasgow started the Combined Events off with the 60m Hurdles in a time of 8.75 seconds. Followed by the Long Jump where he jumped 5.99m, beating his PB from the Irish Schools Combined Events a few weeks earlier. Next was the 200m which he won in 23.18m. Heading into the penultimate event of the competition where he threw 10.83m in the Shot Putt. Finishing off the day with a 2:10.09 800m scoring 3289 points which secured him a spectacular silver medal.

Heading over to Brynja, Amy and Meabh who where competing for Ireland in the Over 16 Girls category at the event. They started off with the Shot Putt with Amy throwing 10.29m, Brynja 10.12m and Meabh 9.53m. Leading onto the 60m Hurdles which Brynja ran in 9.28 seconds, Amy in 9.31 seconds and Meabh in 9.34 seconds. Followed by the long jump where Brynja jumped 5.34m, Meabh in 5.27m and Amy in 5.24m. Next was the High Jump where Meabh jumped 1.57m, Brynja in 1.54m and Amy 1.48m. Finally, the girls ran in the 800m to finish off the competition, Amy ran an impressive 2:17.37 with Brynja just ahead of Meabh in 2:26.84 and 2:26.97. Amy finished with 3479 points in 7^th, Brynja 8^th in 3442 points and Meabh 9^th in 3405 points.

Fintan started off his event with the 60m Hurdles running 8.11 seconds. Leading onto the Shot Putt where he threw 11.47m, following onto his 22.23 second 200m. His penultimate event was the Long Jump where he jumped 6m. Finally, he ran in the 800m in a time of 2:16.76. Fintan finished with 3473 points and a 3^rd place finish!