{"id":7270,"date":"2018-06-20T08:22:30","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T08:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nirunning.voodooltd.co.uk\/?p=7270"},"modified":"2018-06-20T08:22:30","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T08:22:30","slug":"track-field-round-up-junior-athletes-take-centre-stage-at-age-group-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nirunning.co.uk\/track-field-round-up-junior-athletes-take-centre-stage-at-age-group-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Track & Field Round Up:\u00a0 Junior athletes take centre stage at Age Group Championships!"},"content":{"rendered":"
Track & Field Round Up:\u00a0 Junior athletes take centre stage at Age Group Championships!<\/strong><\/p>\n An abundance of junior talent provided an excellent day of competition at the Athletics NI & Ulster Age Group (Under 14 to Under 17) Track & Field Championships, which were hosted by Athletics NI at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast this weekend (Saturday 16th<\/sup> June 2018).<\/p>\n The early weather was dull and damp, but the performances of our emerging stars brightened things up.\u00a0 This included triple gold medal winning outings by Ballymena & Antrim AC\u2019s Jonathan Cochrane, Annalee AC\u2019s Niamh McCorry and Lifford Strabane AC\u2019s Adrienne Gallen.<\/p>\n Under 17 competitor Jonathan Cochrane battled to the 100m, were he was awarded victory by virtue of the photo finish system having clocked 11.45 (+0.8) alongside Adam Sykes of Orangegrove AC.\u00a0 Jonathan went on to win the Long Jump with 6.28m and the Triple Jump with 12.72m.\u00a0 Adam won the 200m in 23.24 (-0.2).<\/p>\n Niamh McCorry ran 12.80 (-1.9) to win the Under 16 80m hurdles, before striking gold over the 250m hurdles in 39.37.\u00a0 Niamh then added High Jump gold to her medal with a 1.50m clearance.<\/p>\n Under 15 athlete Adrienne Gallen impressed in the field, with a 26.56m effort to win the Discuss (0.75kg).\u00a0 Adrienne then won the Shot Putt (2.72kg) with an 11.01m throw and the Hammer (2.5kg) with a 44.16m effort.<\/p>\n Jonathan, Niamh and Adrienne topped the medal tables, but no less than eleven athletes produced double gold medal winning performances.<\/p>\n There were 100m and 200m doubles for Ballymena & Antrim AC\u2019s Ross Stevenson (11.94 +0.3 and 24.81 +3.7), City of Lisburn AC\u2019s Jenna Breen (12.87 +0.1 and 26.27 -1.2), Orangegrove AC\u2019s Rory Carson (11.57 +2.2 and 23.55 +1.5) and City of Lisburn AC\u2019s Katie Monteith (12.93 +0.1 and 26.26 -0.3).\u00a0 Ross and Jenna were Under 15 competitors, while Rory and Katie were in the Under 16 category. Harriet McCrossan (Lifford Strabane AC) won the Under 14 80m in 10.67 (0.5) and the 200m in 27.09 (-0.8).<\/p>\n In the hurdles, Nathan Fitzpatrick (City of Derry AC) won the Under 16 80m hurdles in 16.86 (+0.5) and the 250m hurdles in a convincing 34.37.\u00a0 Under 15 athlete Niamh Moohan (Tir Chonaill AC) struck gold in the 80m hurdles in 12.21 (-0.4) and went on to win the Long Jump with a leap of 5.11m.\u00a0 Harriet McCrossan (Lifford Strabane AC) won the Under 14 80m in 10.67 (0.5) and the 200m in 27.09 (-0.8).<\/p>\n City of Derry AC\u2019s Finn O\u2019Neill won the Under 14 800m in 2:13.34 and the Long Jump with 5.21m.\u00a0 Moving into the field events, Casey Mulvey (Innyvale AC) and James Wright (Ballymena Academy) won the Under 16 Discuss (1kg) \u2013 Casey reached 29.43m, while James landed a 35.80m effort.\u00a0 Casey went on to win the Shot Putt (3kg) with 13.68m and James topped the Javelin (600g) podium having thrown 47.05m.<\/p>\n Lifford Strabane AC\u2019s Cormac O\u2019Donnell won the Under 15 Javelin (500g) with 37.53m and the Hammer (3kg) with a 41.70m effort.\u00a0 Meanwhile in the Jumps, David Curry (Tir Chonaill AC) and Michaela Byrne (Finn Valley AC) both performed well.\u00a0 David won the Under 16 Long Jump with 5.52m and the Triple Jump with 11.14m, while Michaela won the Under 17 Long Jump with 5.32m and the Triple Jump with 10.50m.<\/p>\n Other highlights from a day of quality action included a dominant performance by Bethany Nixon (Dromore AC) to win the Under 16 2k Steeplechase in 8:01.86, wins for Callum Morgan (St Malachy\u2019s AC) and Sorcha Mullan (Omagh Harriers) over 3,000m and gold medals for Victoria Lightbody (City of Lisburn AC), Oisin Kelly (Cranford AC), Cara Laverty (City of Derry AC), Dylan McBride (Willowfield Harriers), Aela Stewart (City of Derry AC) and Matthew Willis (Lagan Valley AC) in the 800m.<\/p>\n