YAL Round 1 – Report
Thu 19 May 2011--admin
Full results are now available for the Young Athletes League round 1 which was held at the Antrim Forum on Saturday 07 May, where despite a bad forecast it stayed dry and warm. The fixture saw a strong all-round performance from City of Lisburn AC, particularly from the boys where we have not had as much strength in depth in recent years. Official points totals are not yet available but the results suggest that City of Lisburn won our match in the fixture. Perennial champions City of Derry seem to be well clear overall but Lisburn appear to be amongst the top three clubs in N. Ireland after this round. This is a superb result and sets us well on our way to safe qualification (top 6) for the 30 July final.
The U13 girls were outstanding, coming within just one result of an unprecedented clean sweep of victories in A and B strings across their full programme of events! There was a fine sprint / hurdles double for Therese Hilman. Sarah Woods and Alix Galbraith both secured three first places, including an impressive debut for Sarah over the hurdles. In the discus Jodie Savage and Lauren Rea were a class apart. Lauren opened with a great 17.04m PB in the first round, only for Jodie to produce a big 17.35m PB of her own in the final round to ensure maximum points for Lisburn. In the middle-distance events Madison Bowyer and Caitlin Lyness dominated in the 1200m while Rebekak Douglas and Rosie Henderson performed strongly in a tough 800m. The girls also combined to produce a super win in 4 x200m.
The U15 girls were just as dominant, where Jane Anderson and Megan Mairs led the way with double wins in the hurdles and high jump. Megan’s high jump PB of 1.50m was a big breakthrough for an athlete with another year left at this level. Natalja Ritchie had a fantastic day, breaking the 8 metre barrier for the first time while winning the shot and then throwing a fine 22m PB to win the hammer. Kathryn Case enjoyed her first hammer competition, winning the B string and doing the same in the shot with a 7.95m PB. Caitlin Rose took full points in the B javelin. In the middle-distance events Zoe Carruthers timed her kick to perfection while winning the 1500m where she was well backed up by Natalie Fair while Rachel Evans ran well in the 800m. Erin Quinn and Katie Larmour took full points in the 100m races. Finally, a flying first leg by Katie Larmour plus good runs by Jessica McMaster, Jane and Erin saw Lisburn convincing winners of the relay.
At U17 level Katie McComb had a trio of victories in the A 100m, B 300m plus B high jump. Jesssica Robinson ensured full points for Lisburn in the 100m races, finishing strongly for a B string victory. Aoibhin “points machine” McManus made her usual excellent contribution, winning the long jump and shot plus taking second with a good debut run over 300m. Anna McIlmoyle showed her all-round talents in winning the high jump, hurdles and B long jump. Rebecca Harvey was 2nd in the 800m but controlled the the 1500m well before winning with a surge off the final bend with Coutney Sloan not far behind but winning the B. Amanda Mitchell was denied the chance to throw the hammer by some timetable switches on the day but she did win the B shot. Aiobhin, Jessica, Amanda and Rebecca combined well to win the 4x200m relay.
The Lisburn U13 boys have some talented athletes this year including Cameron Kelly who took full points in the 100m, hurdles and B high jump where both our athletes cleared 1.40m. Robbie Mairs had a good outing too, winning the 200m and high jump. Matthew Robinson enjoyed his debut in the Lisburn vest, taking good points in shot and javelin. Matthew Neill and Sean Terek battled their way to two good second places in the 800m, while Thomas Quinn won the B 200m. The boys rounded off their afternoon with a great team effort in the relay, taking victory by some 30 metres.
At U15 level, Andrew Hutchinson has been one of the finds of the season so far, standing out with his sheer pace. He eased to victories in the 100m and 200m and produced a big 5.53m long jump PB too. He was well backed up in the sprints by Nikolei Koplewsky who won both B strings, while Ben Fisher won the B long jump and took in 2nd in the hurdles. Jonny Whan placed second in the 800m. Sam Wallace scored valuable points in the throws before contributing to a match win in the 4x200m relay.
The U17 boys had their best overall performance at this level for many years. Josh Garnham’s 24.2s 200m PB was probably the pick of their performances on the track. His 2nd place here was backed up by same again in the 100m plus a win at the triple jump. Dominic Martin weighed in with good points at the long jump and on the track with a B 200m win being his highlight. Chris Gibson had a good debut in a Lisburn vest, winning the high jump and doing well at the discus, while Nathan Douglas won the shot and javelin. Later on the boys won the relay. This was thanks to Chris, Josh, Dominic plus a cameo performance from Harry Howard who arrived as the gun went and only got his spikes laced up just in time to take the baton for a strong 3rd leg.
After so many strong performances it was difficult for the Team Managers to select their Athletes of the Match, but the special T-shirts went to a pair of athletes who produced top class performances – Megan Mairs for her 1.50m high jump (plus her hurdles win) and Andrew Hutchinson for his classy treble which included a 24.8s 200m and a 5.53m long jump.