11 medals for CoLAC at NI multi-events!
Wed 29 August 2012--admin
It was a very successful weekend for the City of Lisburn multi-event squad at Antrim. Our athletes enjoyed good conditions over both days and won 11 medals overall including 4 titles.
Boys:-
On Day 1 Josh Armstrong and Bradley Mulholland enjoyed their first combined events competition – the U13 boys’ pentathlon. Both the boys have displayed their all-round talents throughout the season. Josh came 3rd here overall after a good all-round display with Bradley 4th.
At U15 Ben Fisher finally won gold after silvers in these championships in the past two years. His performances included his 2nd best ever hurdles (12.33s), and a big 7.70m PB in the shot. He was also within 1cm of his best ever high jump with 1.49m. He took the equivalent of a 10 second lead into the 800m and did just enough to hold on for a well deserved victory. Ryan Keenan was 5th in the same competition.
The Under 17 Octathlon over two days saw a Lisburn clean sweep of the medals. Christian Robinson put together two days of excellent results to claim gold. Highlights were a 1.66m high jump and a 53.11s 400m although most of his performances were PB’s as this is his first proper season of athletics.
Jonathan Hill is another who has had a good season and who has been a key member of the YAL squad thanks to his all-round talents. He was 2nd overall with a 6.00m PB long jump and 15.47s hurdles amongst his best results.
Stuart McEwan is normally seen in the sprints but he enjoyed his first combined-events competition, placing 3rd after some good performances including a 53.49s 400m PB’s and a 5.48m long jump. Both Cameron Powell and Sam Wallace unfortunately had to withdraw injured after day 1 after making encouraging starts.
Adam Hill was 3rd in the U20 decathlon after a tremendous all-round display. PB’s of 1.92m at high jump plus 6.29m at long jump were possibly the best results although he probably enjoyed his breakthrough 2.90m pole vault most of all.
Girls:-
The U13 girls pentathlon saw no medals for Lisburn but Grace Hillman and Clodagh McManus both competed well across their five events and finished . Grace Hillman’s burst of speed on the back straight of the 2nd lap of her 800m as she sped to a 2:53 PB will live long in the memory.
The U15 girls’ pentathlon was the event which saw the biggest by number of Lisburn athletes – a total of 6 from the healthy field of 13. The opening hurdles event saw Megan Marrs race into a big lead with an 11.46s clocking. Behind her Alix Galbraith sustained a badly grazed shoulder and knee after a heavy fall in her final practice run over the first hurdle. However she dusted herself down and proceeded to record a PB of 12.84s for the 2nd fastest of the day and a PB by 0.4s. Sarah Woods was in 4th after a good run of 12.89s in Megan’s heat, while Therese Hillman hurdled well and was just outside her PB with 13.20s.
The high jump saw some great jumping by the Lisburn trio of Megan Marrs, Phoebe Tan and Cara Burke. Phoebe and Cara both went clear at an excellent 1.54m (a PB for Phoebe) while Megan managed 1.60m for some great points. The long jump saw Megan extend her lead with a 4.71m PB while Cara’s 4.32m and Alix’s 4.21m PB kept them in the medal hunt. Phoebe had the misfortune of 3 fouls which meant no points.
The shot saw some remarkable throwing by some of the Lisburn athletes. Megan Marrs retained her lead thanks to an 8.72m PB. Sarah Woods and Alix Galbraith then produced two of the biggest throws by NI U15 girls this year – 8.81m for Sarah and a massive 9.12m for Alix which moved her up to 2nd place overall. Alix’s throw puts her to no. 2 on Power of Ten this year in NI at shot (with Sarah at no. 4 and Megan now no. 5).
The 800m saw Cara Burke’s gutsy run of 2:53 give her a well-deserved bronze with Megan running a big PB of 3:22 to clinch the title.
Alix eventually finished in 4th, Sarah 5th, Therese 7th and Phoebe 9th. All four of these girls are still U15 next season and will hopefully be contesting the medals between them then!
At U17 Caitlin Rose completed her first heptathlon, securing the silver with a good all-round display. This included an excellent 80m hurdles of 13.09s, a very solid high jump of 1.49m, a PB at long jump of 4.54m and a javelin PB of 19.30m. Aoibhin McManus claimed the bronze after some good results including a 15.31s hurdles PB, a shot PB of 7.21m plus a new javelin best of 18.44m.
At U20, Libby Rose emerged as N. Ireland Junior heptathlon champion after two good days of competition. Libby showed great consistency across all 7 events, going fairly close to her best across all the disciplines which is the key to success in combined events. Finishing with a strong 2:38 PB at 800m, her total score of 3874 is very respectable in UK junior terms.
So overall, a great couple of days with many strong performances and happy memories for the squad. The City of Lisburn medal total of 11 was an improvement of 1 from last year, so well done to all!
Thanks also to all the officials for their hard work over the two days.