Busy Weekend Ahead for Local Athletes
19 May 2017
A busy weekend of action lies ahead for Northern Ireland athletes, with a large local representation expected to be in competition at the prestigious Highgate Harriers ‘Night of 10,000m Personal Bests’ and the Loughborough International Track & Field Meeting, both in England. Locally, a lot of attention will be on the Ulster School Track & Field Championships in Antrim.
In North London (Saturday 20th May 2017), a number of runners from Northern Ireland will be in competition against some of the best distance runners in the UK at the prestigious Highgate Harriers Night of 10,000m Personal Bests, which also incorporates the British 10,000m Championships and the trials for the Great Britain & NI IAAF World Championships team.
Rio Olympian Paul Pollock (Annadale Striders) tops an impressive list of local runners who will be out to secure personal bests against top quality opposition. Recent NI 5,000m record breaker and NI & Ulster 10k (Road) Champion Emma Mitchell (QUB AC) will also be aiming to better her current 10k best of 33:57.
Seamus Lynch (Newcastle AC), Kyle Doherty (City of Derry AC), Ann-Marie McGlynn (Letterkenny AC), Declan Reed (City of Derry AC), David O’Flaherty (Newcastle AC), Danielle Fegan (Armagh AC), Aaron Doherty (City of Derry AC) and Eoghan Totten (Newcastle AC) are also included on the pre-event start lists, which are available here: www.highgateharriers.org.uk/hh_10000_timetable2017.html
Also in England (Sunday 21st May 2017), there will be a host of local stars taking to the start line at the prestigious Loughborough International Track & Field Meeting.
Leon Reid (Menepians AC) will take on the 100m and 200m, while Derry Track Club’s Adam Kirk-Smith will go in the 3,000m Steeplechase. North Down AC’s Andrew Mellon, Crusaders AC’s Ben Maze and Ballymena & Antrim AC’s Craig Newell will race over 400m and 4x400m.
Jason Harvey (Crusaders AC) and Christine McMahon (Ballymena & Antrim AC) will take on the 400m hurdles, while Shercock AC’s Garbhan McKenna (110m hurdles), City of Lisburn AC’s Megan Marrs (100m hurdles) and Gloucestershire University’s Mollie Courtney (100m hurdles) will also be in action over the jumps. City of Lisburn AC’s Ben Fisher will represent GB & NI (Under 20) in the Long Jump.
Closer to home, hundreds of local junior athletes will descend on Antrim Forum (Antrim, County Antrim) for the Ulster Schools Track & Field Championships (Friday 19th May and Saturday 20th May 2017).
The competition throughout the two-day event is sure to be thrilling, with many familiar names taking to the start line – this includes many reigning Champions.
Intermediate 1500m Champion Toni Moore (Sacred Heart Omagh) will step up the Senior Schools ranks and will again go in the 1500m. Meanwhile, in the Hammer competition, record holder and reigning Champion Jade Williams (Bailieborough CS Cavan) will be hoping the retain her title.
Intermediate Boys 3k Champion Jack O’Farrell (St Colmans Newry) and Intermediate Boys 1500m Champion Jack Moore (Sacred Heart Omagh) will return this year and will be amongst a plethora of talent hoping for glory in their respective events.
The Senior Boys 5,000m will be an epic encounter, with Champion James Edgar (Friends School Lisburn) coming up against Craig McMeechan (Bangor Grammar) and Patrick McNiff (Banbridge Academy), amongst others. The Senior Girls 3,000m line-up is just as formidable, with Rebekah Nixon (Bandridge Academy), Rioghnagh Catney (Belfast Royal Academy), Leila Poziaina (Victoria College Belfast) and Edel Monaghan (Mount Lourdes Enniskillen) all set to compete.
Source: NiRunning