Ulster Schools Multi Events
Tue 20 September 2011--admin
Bangor Sportsplex was the venue on Thursday for the Ulster Schools multi-events championships, with a good-turn out of Lisburn athletes competing for their schools. Conditions were cool but dry with a headwind on the home straight and for the long jumpers, with our athletes being cheered on a by a large number of Lisburn parents and coaches who also helped out with the smooth running of the programme. Athletes were chasing top four positions which would secure them a place at the Irish Schools in Santry on Saturday 24 September.
The Junior Girls section featured a great squad from Lisburn including many who had done so well at the NI pentathlon champs in August plus Jane Anderson and Kathryn Case who were on holiday at the time. City of Derry athlete Naomi Morgan proved to be the best all-round athlete on the day once again and duly took the schools title to go with her NI title. However, behind her there was a great competition between a load of Lisburn girls for the minor medals and Irish Schools places.
Jane Anderson missed the NI pentathlon champs but showed that she is still a great all-rounder by taking the silver with performances which included a 12.1s 75m hurdles and a 6.83m shot PB. Her high and long jumps at 1.40m and 4.30m were a little below her best which left her with just too much to do in the 800m to challenge for the title but she will travel to Santry confident that she can improve in all events and be right in the mix there.
Kathryn Case had a long 12 months to wait to get her redemption after her DNF in the 800m here last year while in a medal position. This time she put a great day together including a a 13.5s hurdles, a 1.45m equal PB in the high jump, the best shot putt of the day with 8.32m and a well-judged 800m which saw her break her 3 minute target by a second! This was enough to secure a much deserved bronze for Kathryn.
Katie Larmour secured the final qualifying place in 4th. She opened with a 13.0s hurdles with other highlights including a 1.35m PB in the high jump, plus her second best ever efforts at shot (7.65m) and long jump (4.62m). She produced a great finish in the 800m, showing her sprinting prowess in the home straight but leaving her kick just slightly too late to snatch a medal. Jessica McMaster was 5th, coming back strongly after a mishap in the opening hurdles event where she hit the final barrier and fell when level with Katie Larmour. However she bounced back up quickly and sprinted across the line to record 14.3s. The fall undoubtedly cost her over a second and this was the difference between challenging for the medals and not on this occasion. There was a silver lining after all for Jessica though when Katie announced that she was unable to travel to Dublin meaning that Jessica will now compete in the Irish Schools alongside Jane and Kathryn.
Megan Marrs undoubtedly is one of the best athletes in her age-group in Northern Ireland and she proved it again here with a 12.1s hurdles in which she pushed Jane all the way. She also recorded a massive shot PB of 8.01m, the best high jump of the day with 1.50m and a 4.32m long jump PB. This combined to leave her in 2nd place overall with just the 800m to go but unfortunately she had a heart-breaking DNF here. Megan has only to look at how Kathryn came back from a similar experience last year and with a bit of work on her endurance over the winter will come back as possibly the athlete to beat next year.
Natalja Ritchie was also in action, with an 8.04m shot and a high jump PB being her highlights as well as another strong run in the 800m. Caitlin Rose had the misfortune of sustaining a back injury in the opening hurdles event and was forced to withdraw when she would have been expected to challenge for a medal.
The Junior Boys’ event saw Andrew Hutchinson destroy the field with the best all-round performance seen at these championships for many years. He completely dominated, winning each of the six events including PBs at long jump with 5.75m, shot with 10.17m and a 2:17 800m. He confirmed his status as the best all-round athlete in his age-group in NI and a repeat performance in Dublin next weekend will see him secure an Irish Schools vest for the combined events schools’ international match later this year. Ben Fisher and Sam Wallace were also in action, but not in contention for the medals on this occasion in an age-group which showed good strength in depth. Ben’s highlights included his first 7 metre shot and a 1.45m high jump PB with Sam also jumping the same height to equal his PB.
The Intermediate Boys saw a silver for Adam Hill and an unexpected 4th place for Josh Garnham. Adam’s 100m hurdles time of 15.4s was 0.1s faster than last year. He long jumped 5.46m, high jumped 1.73m and threw an 8.00m shot PB. A strong run in the 800m saw him move from 3rd to 2nd and the silver was his. Josh Garnham was competing in his first multi-event competition and put together some useful performances including a swift 24.8s 200m and a 1.60m high jump. He will also now be competing in Santry this coming weekend.
So overall another great day’s athletics with the guaranteed elements of drama and high emotion that go hand-in-hand with all multi-event competitions. Good luck to all six of our athletes competing in the Irish Schools championship in Dublin.
Thanks to parents David Hutchinson and especially Brian Fisher for their photographs of the day. Brian has recently accepted the position of Honorary Photographer in recognition of his fantastic efforts throughout the season which have provided a vivid reminder and given so much pleasure to many athletes, coaches and parents via this website of the junior club’s fantastic season.