Successful Weekend of Competition for NI & Ulster Athletes

Irish Life Health National Inter/Master, Juvenile B & Relays Cross Country

The cross country event was an excellent day for NI & Ulster athletes. First on the course at Avondale, Co Wicklow was the Intermediate Women, where Inishowen AC’s Sarah Kelly came 3^rd overall in 20:00. In the U13 Girls Annalee AC’s Ruby Gilmartin came 1^st overall with Shaun Gallagher (Finn Valley AC) finishing in 3^rd place in the U13 Boys, leading the Finn Valley AC team to 1^st place overall with 44 points.

In the U15 Boys Luke GIlmartin (Annalee AC) came 3^rd with Conor Murphy (Finn Valley AC) in 4^th place, leading Finn Valley AC into 2^nd overall with 96 points and in the U17 Girls Kate McCrystal (Annalee AC) came 3^rd.

Next to take to the course where the Masters Women & Men M65+. Finn Valley AC’s Teresa Doherty came 1^st in a time of 15:21, also winning the F40 age category. In the F35 category Lifford Strabane AC’s Claire McGuigan came 2^nd while Finn Valley AC’s Kay Byrne came 2^nd in the F55 category and Noreen Bonner came 3^rd in the F60 category. Beechmount Harriers’ Paul Elliot came 3^rd in the Men M65+ category.

In the Masters Men’s event, Eoin Mullan (Omagh Harriers) came 4^th overall and claimed 3^rd place in the M35 category. In the M40 category Dermot McElchar (Finn Valley Ac) came 3^rd while North Belfast Harriers’ Eamon White was 2^nd in the M50 category and Neil Carty was 3^rd. Tommy Hughes (Termoneeny Running Club) came 1^st in the M60 category.

Full results can be found on the Athletics Ireland website here: https://www.athleticsireland.ie/competition/results

AAI National Indoor Games

The AAI National Indoor Games once again attracted a wide range of athletes from across Northern Ireland & Ireland, with the NI & Ulster athletes collecting a total of 15 podium spots.

Ballymena & Antrim AC’s Dean Adams secured a well-earned PB in the Men’s 60m sprints, finishing Series 2 Heat 1 in a time of 6.78s to claim 1^st place, followed by City of Lisburn AC’s Christian Robinson in 2^nd place in 6.86.

In the Senior Women’s 60m sprints, City of Lisburn AC’s Lauren Roy finished in 4^th place in a time of 7.50s, while Lagan Valley AC’s Laura Frey claimed 4^th place in the 200m in 26.54 and 2^nd place in the 400m in 59.18, with Ballymena & Antrim AC’s Erin McMahon finished in 3^rd place in the 400m in 1:00.23.

The Senior Men’s 200m Heat 2 saw Simon Archer (Finn Valley Ac) in 1^st place in 21.99, with Eoghan Devlin (Mid Ulster AC) in 3^rd place in Heat 5 in 25.19. Heat 7 had Glen Scullion (Mid Ulster AC) in 3^rd place in 24.44, while Heat 8 included Ryan Keenan (City of Lisburn AC) in 1^st in 23.40, Ronan Bloomer (Ballymena & Antrim AC) in 2nd in 23.65 and Justin Bloomer (Mid Ulster AC) in 4^th in 25.02.

Omagh Harriers’ Colin Harkin claimed 2^nd place in the Senior Men’s 400m- Heat 2 in 54.04, with Annalee AC’s Roland Surlis finishing 1^st place in the Senior Men’s 800m in a time of 1:50.44. Denise Toner (Clones AC) finished 4th in the Women's 800m Heat 1 in 2:13.99.

City of Lisburn AC’s Kelly Neely finished in 6^th place in the Senior Women’s 1500m in a time of 4:26.59, with North Down AC’s Rachel Gibson in 12^th place in 4:39.96. In the Men’s 1500m, Ballymena Runners’ James Hamilton came 8^th in 4:18.31, while in Heat 2, Monaghan Phoenix AC’s Andrew McKenna finished in 8^th place in 4:21.38. In the Men’s Senior 3000m Newcastle & District AC’s Patrick McNiff claimed 4^th place in 8:32.20.

In the field events, Mark Burton (City of Lisburn AC) took 1^st place in the Senior Men’s Triple Jump with a jump of 14.79m, with Lagan Valley AC’s Jai Benson in 2^nd place, jumping 14.61m and Tir Chonaill AC’s Caolan O’Callaghan in 3^rd with 14.03m and Conall Mahon in 4^th with 13.48m.

Adam McMullen (Crusaders AC) took 1^st place in the Senior Men’s Long Jump, with a jump of 7.38m, while Ryan Nixon-Stewart (City of Lisburn Ac) finished in 5^th place, jumping 5.53m; Eoin Duffy (Parasport NI) came 6^th with 5.40m and Fabian McNamee (Omagh Harriers) came 7^th with 5.31m.

Full results for the AAI Indoor Games are available on the Athletics Ireland website: https://www.athleticsireland.ie/competition/results