WEEKEND ROUND UP MAY 23RD-24TH MAY 2026

The performance of the weekend arguably belonged to Anna McCauley (City of Lisburn AC). Competing at a combined events meeting in Switzerland, McCauley produced a superb Heptathlon tally of 6069 points to become just the second Irish woman ever to break the 6000-point barrier. The mark also secured both the European B standard and Commonwealth Games consideration standard, underlining her continued rise on the international stage.

Arlene Crossan (Finn Valley AC), who has shown excellent form over 400m this season, stepped up to the 400m hurdles at the IFAM Meeting in Brussels and impressed with a PB of 57.95, taking more than a second off her previous mark. Clubmate Roisin Flanagan was also in action internationally, finishing sixth in the women’s 5000m at the Sound Running Meet in California in a time of 15:41.88. Another Finn Valley athlete, Oisin O’Gailin, represented Ireland at the European 10K Cup in La Spezia, Italy, placing 22nd in 29:17.30.

Northern Ireland and Ulster were also represented at the European 10K Cup by Emily Haggard Kearney (North Belfast Harriers) and Callum Morgan (CNDR). Haggard Kearney delivered a strong run to finish 12th in race one in 34:39.91, while Morgan unfortunately failed to finish his race.

Closer to home, the Belfast BMC Record Meeting, ran by the British Milers Club & Lagan Valley AC, celebrating 50 years of the Mary Peters Track, provided warm conditions and a fast track that produced a host of standout performances from local athletes.

Jenna Breen (City of Lisburn AC) stormed to victory in the women’s 400m with a personal best of 53.50, while Ethan Carr (Ballymena & Antrim AC) continued his impressive season by taking the men’s 400m in 48.67, narrowly outside his best. Carr’s clubmate Craig Newell showed all of his experience to edge out his younger rivals in the men’s 100m final, clocking 10.83 to win by just six hundredths of a second ahead of Arnar Brynjarsson (City of Lisburn AC).

CNDR athlete Luke Kelly produced one of the biggest breakthroughs of the evening, slicing almost 20 seconds from his personal best to win the men’s 3000m in 8:06.56. Clubmate Zoe Toland also impressed with a personal best of 4:39.52 to claim victory in the women’s mile. The eagerly anticipated men’s mile saw Nick Griggs make his seasonal debut, but it was England’s Joe Tuffin who stole the headlines, running 3:54.06 to set both a new stadium record and outright BMC record.

The field events were dominated by local athletes throughout the day. In the women’s hammer, the Gallen family of Lifford-Strabane AC led the way as Adrienne claimed victory ahead of Caoimhe with a best throw of 52.43m. Fresh from her record-breaking Ulster Schools performance, Carys Carlisle (Ballymena & Antrim AC) added another win to her growing collection by taking the senior women’s javelin with a throw of 37.49m. Curtis Ford (Lagan Valley AC) won the men’s javelin, throwing 57.95m, while clubmate Isabella O’Dowd cleared 1.65m to win the women’s high jump. North Down AC’s Lex McConville took the men’s high jump with a jump of 1.80m, and Harvey King (Strabane AC) secured victory in the men’s long jump, leaping 6.66m.

In Spain, several Northern Ireland athletes represented Harrow AC at the European Champion Clubs Cup Final. Rachel McCann delivered an excellent run in the women’s 400m, finishing third in 53.15, just outside her PB. Kirsti Foster faced a demanding double, placing sixth in the 1500m and fifth in the 3000m, while Luke Dinsmore and Neil Johnston finished seventh and sixth respectively in the men’s 3000m and 5000m. Extremely hot conditions resulted in tactical championship-style distance races throughout the competition.

With the championship season now fully begun, local athletes are continuing to show impressive form both at home and on the international stage.

** As always, with such a busy weekend of competition it can be difficult to capture every performance, so we appreciate your patience as we do our best to cover all achievements. If we have missed any notable results or performances, please get in touch by emailing marketing@athleticsni.org and we will be happy to look into adding them.