Success for Springwell Juniors at Juvenile Championships

THE NI and Ulster Juvenile Track and Field Championships took place on Saturday and Sunday at the Antrim Forum. Fifteen junior athletes from the Springwell Running Club took part with the U14 and U15 competing on Saturday and U16 and U17 on Sunday.

First up on Saturday was the U14 girls 800m, this was run as a time trial with three heats.

Jessica McPeak went in the first heat finishing second in a PB time of 2.37.67. In the second heat Niamh Tweedie finished 4th in 2.46.71 and Robyn Ennis 5th in a time of 2.56.48 this was a particularly good run by Robyn who is a relative newcomer to the distance. Aiofe McSheffrey went in the final heat and ran well to finish 6th in 2.49.83, in the fastest of the three heats.

Next on the track was Luke Dinsmore in the U14 boys 800m, Luke ran a solid race to finish 5th in 2.31.69, a brilliant time considering he was only back from a short lay off because of an injury.

Emma Lusby in the U15 girls 800m had to be the unluckiest runner of the day, after running a near perfect first lap sitting comfortably in 6th place and looking really strong, she pushed hard up the back straight, moving into 4th and then into 3rd when the runner behind caught her foot, taking her down in a very awkward fall, but to Emma's credit she got up to finish the race in 6th place in 2.47.00. Thankfully after a visit to the Hospital she was no worse for wear and is keen to get back to her running.

The last of the 800m the Boys U15 saw Bryan Tweedie start for the Club in a large field and after a slow first lap he came through to finish 12th in 2.37.37.

The Club's last entry of the day was Luke Dinsmore who was taking on the arduous task of both the 800m and the 1500m, with the later race some three hours after the 800m it was not going to be easy. From the gun two runners strung out the field with Luke trying to keep pace with a small bunch of four, with 300m to go he made a push round the last bend to finish 7th in 5.18.9, a very tired but happy runner.

Sunday started with the U16 girls 200 metres. Sally Brown went in the first heat running a strong race to finish 2nd in 27.13 to qualify for the final. Sarah McKinley went in the second heat finishing strongly moving into third place and qualifying for the final in a time of 27.8. In the final later in the day Sally produced a storming finish to come through to claim the bronze medal in a PB time of 27.10. Sarah got a slow start but ran well to finish 7th in 28.37.

The U17 girls 200m was a straight final with Holly Clarke running a good bend and finishing strong down the home straight to finish second in a PB time of 26.36.

Making his debut in Springwell colours was Jack Magee in the U16 boys 100m. Jack went in the 1st heat and stormed out of the blocks into the lead to win in a PB time of 11.52 and qualified for the final later in the day as the fastest qualifier. In the final Jack got another good start and led the field home to win gold again in 11.52.

Mairead McKeague went in the U17 girls 300 metre. Mairead ran well down the back straight and round the bottom bend coming down the finishing straight she had a bit of work to do but found the finish to come through and win a silver medal in a PB time of 46.30.

Ryan Ennis ran well in the U16 boys 800m finishing 6th in 2.22.

Ashley Cairns ran the perfect race in the U17 boys 800m sitting in third position for the first lap he moved into second at the bell and took the lead down the back straight running on to win the gold medal in 2.05.11.

Ryan Murray went in the U16 boys 3000m, 7.5 laps of the track. In warm conditions Ryan found the going hard but hung in well to finish 4th in 11.26.84 and qualify for the All Ireland Championships in July.

It was a great couple of days for the club picking up a record haul of 5 medals with six athletes qualifying for the All Ireland Champions at Tullamore on the 24/25 July.