Weekend Review- Junior stars top podium at Irish Life AAI National Juvenile Indoor Championships

Alongside Anna, Emily Forte (Lagan Valley AC), Aine Kerr (Finn Valley AC) and City of Derry AC trio Finn O’Neill, Aela Stewart and Eimear Kelly all topped the podium in their respective age groups.

City of Lisburn AC star Anna McCauley recorded a season’s best of 8.77 (1st place) to win the Under 18 60m hurdles competition.  In the same event, but in the Under 17 age category, Spartan athlete Eimear Kelly topped the podium after clocking 8.80 for 1^st place.

Fellow Spartans Finn O’Neill and Aela Stewart excelled over 800m.  Finn won the Under 14 age group title in 2:14.82 (1^st place) and was followed across the line by club mate Oisin Duffy, who ran 2:15.87 for 2^nd place.  In the Under 17 race, Aela won in a time of 2:16.42 (1^st place).

In the field, Finn Valley AC’s Aine Kerr and Lagan Valley AC’s Emily Forte won their Triple Jump events.  Under 18 athlete Aine leaped to 11.03m for 1^st place, while Emily won with a 10.52m (1^st place) effort in the Under 19 competition.

There were also silver medals for the following athletes:  Kate Fenlon (North Down AC), Colin Gargan (Shercock AC), Aine Corcoran (Shercock AC) and Cait O’Reilly (Annalee AC).

Christopher Kearns (Finn Valley AC), Ross Henderson (Lifford Strabane AC), Joel Chambers (Loughview AC), Rachel Gallagher (Tir Chonaill AC) and Ben Campbell (Tir Chonaill AC) picked up bronze medals.

Full results for the event are available HERE.

Elsewhere this weekend…

Local athletes secure team medals at SIAB Cross Country Championships:

Also this weekend, local athletes represented Ireland at the SIAB Cross Country Championships in Nottingham, England (Saturday 24^th March 2018).

The highlight of the day was three team medals for the Ireland squad – familiar faces from Northern Ireland played a major part in these prestigious team honours.

Adam Ferris and Michael McCaul were part of the Ireland Intermediate Boy’s team who claimed silver medals.  Also in the Intermediate category, Holly Brennan and Katie Agnew joined their team mates on the podium to collect well deserved bronze medals. 

In the Junior Girls competition, Cara Laverty and Victoria Lightbody were part of the bronze medal winning Ireland team.

Full results for the event are available HERE.

Spartan pair win AES Larne Half Marathon:

A record break 2,000 athletes took to the start line of the 26^th annual AES Larne Half Marathon this weekend (Saturday 24^th March 2018).

In perfect running conditions, City of Derry AC duo Mark Long and Breege Connolly claimed top honours.  Mark won the men’s race in a new personal best of 1:09:22 (1^st place), while Olympian Breege clocked 1:17:52 (1^st place) to lead the ladies home.

Mark McKinstry and Catherine O’Connor win Jimmy’s 10k:

North Belfast Harriers man Mark McKinstry and East Down AC’s Catherine O’Connor secured victory at the re-scheduled Jimmy’s 10k road race (Sunday 25^th March 2018).

Mark broke the tape in 31:45 (1^st place), with Catherine winning the ladies race in 38:15 (1^st place).

NIMRA Championships – Race 2:  The Fallows

In Rostrevor, Northern Ireland international mountain runners Seamus Lynch (Newcastle AC) and Esther Dickson (Newry AC) continued their recent good form with wins at The Fallows Mountain Race.

Seamus covered the 10 mile route, which incorporated 800m of ascent, in 1:10:58 (1^st place), while Esther crossed the line in 1:25:58 (1^st place).

Ann-Marie McGlynn clocks new personal best to win in England

Northern Ireland and Ireland international Ann-Marie McGlynn won the Hyde Park Spring 10k (Sunday 25^th March 2018) in a new road personal best of 33:50 (1^st place); this was enough to see Ann-Marie lead the field home overall.