NI and Ulster Juniors Shine at Age Group Championships

The junior athletes displayed some tremulous talent with a total of 29 athletes visiting the podium to claim double and triple medals.

On top of her game was Lifford Strabane AC’s Harriet McCrossan who topped the podium no less than 3 times making her a triple NI & Ulster Champion. The Ulster athlete first showed her form in the U15 Girls 250m Hurdles event, finishing in 38.70s, with North Down AC’s Niamh Fenlon close behind in 2^nd place in 38.94s. She then competed in the U15 Girls 200m finals, finishing in 26.97s to take 1^st place, before repeating her efforts in the U15 Girls 100m, finishing in 13.01s.

Her competitor, Niamh Fenlon went on to claim victory in the U15 Girls 80m Hurdles in a time of 12.91s and another silver in the U15 Girls Long Jump, jumping 5.00m, just behind Gold medal winner, Teresa Mullen (Cranford AC) who jumped 5.09m.

There were a number of triple medal winners, such as Ballymena & Antrim AC’s Toby Thompson who claimed 2 golds and 1 silver. Toby first claimed gold in the U14 Boys 75m Hurdles, finishing in 12.39s, just in front of second place, Eoin Boyle (Tir Chonaill AC) who finished in 13.65s. He then claimed Silver in the U14 Boys 200m final, finishing in 25.94s behind winner, Noah Johnston (Orangegrove AC) in 25.77s, before gaining another gold in the U14 Boys 80m, finishing in 10.17s, ahead of Noah who finished in 2^nd place in 10.34. Eoin Boyle (Tir Chonaill AC) claimed additional medals in the U14 Boys events, when he won the High Jump, clearing 1.45m, before gaining another silver in the Long Jump, where he jumped 4.48m, behind winner Michael Watters (Mid Ulster AC) who jumped 4.86m.

Amy Jo Kierans (Oriel AC) claimed gold in the U14 Girls 200m in a time of 26.70s, ahead of City of Derry Spartans’ Veronica O’Neill who finished in 27.22s, as well as Gold in the U14 Girls Shot, with a throw of 10.74m. She then concluded her podium visits, with a silver in the U14 Girls 800m, where she finished in 2:26.01s in her time trial, behind winner, Ferne Duffy (Shercock AC) in a time of 2:23.58s.

City of Derry Spartans’ Finn O’Neill also claimed 2 golds and a silver in the U15 Boys events. First up was the 250m Hurdles, finishing in 35.58s to claim gold, ahead of 2^nd place, Conall Mooney (Annalee AC) in 37.54s and 3^rd place Adam Courtney (Ballymena & Antrim AC) in 37.94s. Finn then continued his success in the U15 Boys 800m, finished in 2:05.22s to take gold, before claiming silver in the High Jump competition, where he cleared 1.54m, just behind Gold medal winner, Kurt Wright (unattached) who cleared 1.57m.

In the U16 Girls events, Adrienne Gallen (Lifford Strabane) and Niamh Moohan (Tir Chonaill AC) both lifted two golds as part of their triple medal collection. Adrienne claimed her medals in the U16 Girls throwing events, taking gold in the Shot, with a throw of 10.32m and a gold in the Hammer with a distance of 52.00m. She then claimed silver in the Discus, with a throw of 20.57, behind Ballymena & Antrim AC’s Ellen Madden, who threw 25.52m. Niamh claimed her first gold in the 80m Hurdle event, finishing in 12.00s, before her Long Jump victory of 5.13m. She then took 3^rd place in the U16 Girls 250m Hurdles in a time of 39.82s.

Ryan O’Kane (Finn Valley AC) won the U17 Boys Discus, with a throw of 32.91m, ahead of Lifford Strabane’s Ross Henderson, who threw 30.36m. Ryan then went on to claim another gold in the U17 Boys Shot, with a throw of 12.54m, ahead of Tir Chonaill AC’s Shane Breslin in 2^nd with a throw of 12.40m and Ross Henderson (Lifford Strabane), who claimed his second medal of the day, throwing 10.97m. Ryan then completed his podium standings with a Silver medal in the U17 Boys 100m, finishing in 15.73s, behind City of Derry Spartans’ Nathan Fitzpatrick who finished in 15.27s. Ross Henderson continued his successes by claiming 2^nd in the U17 Boys Hammer, with a throw of 46.37m, behind club mate, Jude McCrossan (Lifford Strabane) throwing 52.38m.

Lifford Strabane’s Ashleigh McArdle took home 3 medals, with a gold in the U14 Girls High Jump, clearing 1.25m; a silver in the Long Jump 4.57m, behind club mate Ella Costello (Lifford Strabane) who cleared 4.67m. Ashleigh then went on to add a Bronze to her collection in the 75m Hurdles, finishing in 12.30s, with Ella in 2^nd in 12.03s and Veronica O’Neill (City of Derry Spartans) adding to her medal total with a gold medal, finishing in 11.49s.

Blaine Lynch (Finn Valley AC) won the U14 Boys Javelin with a throw of 53.25m, before claiming two bronze medals in the 200m, finishing in 26.39s and the 80m in a time of 10.52s.

In the U15 Boys, Diarmaid O’Donnell (Lifford Strabane) took 2^nd place in the 80m Hurdles finishing in 12.61s, behind Ballymena & Antrim AC’s Adam Courtney who claimed the gold medal in a time of 12.48s. Diarmaid then added a silver in the Long Jump, jumping 5.32m and a Bronze in the High Jump, clearing 1.45m. Club mate, Una O’Donnell (Lifford Strabane) won the U15 Girls Hammer, throwing 37.51m, ahead of Beth Hammond (North Down AC) who came 2^nd, throwing 31.44m. The two girls then went head to head again in the U15 Girls Shot, where Beth took 1^st place, throwing 11.66m and Una took 2^nd place, throwing 11.49m. Una then collected the Bronze medal in the girls Discus, throwing 18.58m.

Unattached athlete, Kurt Wright added to his Gold field medal by collecting Gold in the U15 Boys 100m, finishing in a time of 12.09s. Alex Anderson (Tir Chonaill AC) won the U15 Boys Discus with a throw of 32.42m, while Unattached athlete, Callum Spain took 2^nd place with a throw of 29.16m. Alex then took 2^nd place in the U15 Boys Hammer competition with a throw of 43.39m, while Callum took 3^rd in the Shot with a throw of 11.66m.

There were 3 athletes in the U16 age category who claimed 2 golds. Finlay Stewart (City of Lisburn AC) won the Boys 250m Hurdles in a time of 34.88s, ahead of Tir Chonaill AC’s Ben Campbell, who finished in 35.29s. Finlay then won the U16 Boys Long Jump, jumping 5.94m.

Jenna Breen (City of Lisburn AC) took two gold medals in the U16 Girls 200m and 100m, finishing in 25.00s and 12.35s, respectively while Ballymena & Antrim AC’s Ross Stevenson also claimed two gold medals in the U16 Boys 100m and 200m, finishing in 11.57s and 23.83s respectively.

Tir Chonaill AC’s Ben Campbell claimed his second medal of the day in the U16 Boys 100m Hurdles, finishing in 14.33s. His club mate, Johnnie McGonagle won the U16 Boys Shot, throwing 11.71m and 2^nd place in the U16 Boys Discus, throwing 34.07m.

In the U17 Girls, Ballymena & Antrim AC’s Giselle Coulter claimed two gold medals in the Discus and Hammer competitions. Giselle threw a distance of 20.77m in the Discus competition, ahead of Olympian Youth & AC’s Laura Faul, who threw 17.05m. In the U17 Girls Hammer, Giselle threw 37.60m. Ava Ross (Glaslough Harriers) won the U17 Girls 3k Walk in a time of 16:01.74s and took 2^nd place in the Javelin with a throw of 19.99m.

It was an exciting day of competition for the youth athletes, with all athletes performing exceptionally well, claiming medals ad PBs. Full results can be found here.

The Top 4 for each event (Top 3 from the 600m events) will now qualify for the All-Ireland Juvenile Track and Field Championships in July. More information about the National Championships is available on our website here

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