British indoor Champion Megan Marrs (City of Lisburn AC / Jerzy Maciukiewicz), teen sensation Sarah Healy (Blackrock AC) and the ever-impressive Sommer Lecky (Finn Valley AC / Niall Wilkinson) starred as athletes from across the globe descended on the sun-soaked Mary Peters Track in Belfast for the Belfast International Meet (Tuesday 26th June 2018)
Meanwhile, in the ladies 800m, Sarah Healy produced the most talked about performance of the night. The race was won by fellow Irish athlete Claire Mooney in 2:02.61, but it was 17-year-old Sarah’s 2:02.76 which caught the attention of those watching. This personal best time is a new Irish Under 18 and Under 20 record and is the fastest Under 18 time in Europe.
Sommer Lecky again showed her class, leaping to 1.83m to win the High Jump competition.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Leon Reid (Birchfield Harriers / James Hillier) won the highly anticipated 100m event in 10.34 (+0.2) but was forced to settle for second place in his favourite 200m, with Tsakonas Stefanoslykpurgos (Greece) taking the photo-finish win in 20.69 (-0.8).
There was also a season’s best of 10.91 (+0.5) for Dean Adams (Ballymena & Antrim AC / Alan Kennedy) in the 100m ‘B’ race. Amy Foster (City of Lisburn AC / David Reid) won the ladies 100m in 11.90 (-0.9).
In the men’s 400m, Sadam Koumi (Sudan) broke the beam first in 46.83, while in the 110m hurdles, Ben Reynolds (North Down AC / Tom Reynolds) recorded 13.92 (-0.7), his second quickest time of the season, for the win. Local athlete Jason Harvey (Crusaders AC / Paul McKee) eased to victory in the 400m hurdles, crossing the line in 52.14.
There were personal bests and wins for Conall Kirk (Annadale Striders / Mark Kirk) and Tom Baird (City of Lisburn AC) over 800m, with Conall running 1:50.37 in the ‘A’ race and Tom 1:57.93 in the ‘B’ race. Craig McMeechan (North Down AC / Francis Marsh) raced clear on the bell to win the Open 3,000m in 8:45.13, with fellow North Down AC athlete Jessica Craig (Ramey Adams) winning the ladies race in 9:52.95.
Emerging star Lauren Roy (City of Lisburn AC / Adam McMullen) capped off the track action with an excellent win in the ladies 200m, crossing the line in 24.54 (-0.3).
In the field, Swiss athlete Laurent Carron won the Javelin with a 67.60m effort, while City of Lisburn AC’s Jonathon Hill (6.66m), coached by Rhiannon Rose, and Ballymena & Antrim AC’s Lydia Mills (5.59m) won their respective Long Jump competitions. Mark Burton (City of Lisburn AC / Kenny Faulkner) was the winner of the Triple Jump competition with 14.42m.
In the preceding junior races, Dylan McBride (Willowfield Harriers / Lawson Cochrane) produced a significant performance as he improved his 800m personal best, dipping under the two-minute mark for the first time with a 1:59.75 winning time.
Full results for the event are available HERE.
Note: Article compiled for use by Athletics NI. Photo by BOB GIVEN PHOTOGRAPHY. For more photos from the event please check out Bob’s facebook page HERE.
