Mary Peters Track on a showery but otherwise sunny morning was the venue for Round 3 of the Youth Development League, with East Down fielding its biggest squad for several years, a total of 16 athletes spread across Boys and Girls Under 13 and Under 15 categories. Several were making their Track debuts for the Club among them Charis Gibson, Katherine Magwood, Louise Sweeney, Olivia Burke Edie Carroll and Ellen O'Hare for the Under 13 Girls and Lydia Montgomery and Ella Carroll for the Under 15s and Lawrie Kimpton for the Under 13 Boys. Lawrie it was who, after demolishing the entire High Jump apparatus on his first attempt, went on to win the competition with a new PB of 1.30m, and inspired Charis to a similar position in the girls event. I don't think such a double has ever been achieved by East Down athletes before and it is great to have competitors in this highly technical discipline.
Charis and Edie later ran highly respectable 1200 metres races, happy to “try it out” in the points gathering process. Ellen O'Hare turned in an eyecatching performance in the unfamiliar territory of the Under 13 Girls 800 metres, displaying remarkable pace judgement and race maturity, coming home with a blistering and sustained turn of foot. Louise and Olivia had to wait a long time for their 75 metres sprints and acquitted themselves very well in what can be intimidating surroundings. I expect this pair to make their marks with some additional training and extra experience.
EMMA and LAURA
We have come to expect high quality sprinting from Emma Smyth and in spite of wet and blustery conditions she did it again, timing her run perfectly to take the tape ahead of all her rivals in the Under 15 Girls 200 metres, setting a new PB 27.08 in the process. This event also saw Lydia Montgomery make her first appearance for the Club and with that and a gutsy performance over the 75 metres Hurdles she contributed valuable points to the team total. Emma later improved her PB in the Long Jump to 4.11 so a very pleasing day for her. Like Emma we are used to seeing Laura Gardiner deliver top quality performances over the 1500 metres distance, and she led on Saturday from start to finish, easing to a comfortable victory. Eimar Connor was superb in a hot 100 metre sprint, just shading 3rd spot while Ella Carroll chipped in with valuable points at a distance which I believe is short of her best – but that's for the future.
AOIFE'S EFFORT
However the most encouraging performance of the day was Aoife Cochrane's controlled effort in the same race, settling into her rhythm early on and slowly picking off her rivals to win the B race and secure maximum points for the team. No surprise for guessing who had the biggest smile for the rest of the day! Elisha Surginor continues to improve too and was very much in control of herself in a fast run 800 metres race – I have feeling that she will develop into a very good runner indeed. Laura Green, perhaps suffering the after effects of her sortie into the Hill and Dale race n Thursday night, didn't perform with her usual verve but nevertheless made up for a slip and a loose lace to complete the 75 metres Hurdles in the upright position.
THE BOYS
Apart from Lawrie Kimpton's heroics in the Under 13 High Jump, Matthew McGrattan was in challenging action in the Long Jump and 800 metres and waited hours for his javelin competition, only to draw a blank from his 3 throws. But his commitment cannot be faulted and he is greatly valued for his dedication to the cause. A few more like him and the Boys could make a much more significant impact. In the Under 15 age group Owen Edwards and Chris O'Connr were a two man team, competing in a downpour in the 1500 metres, Owen setting a new PB in the process and doing similarly in the rarely run 300 metre sprint. Chris had a similar hat trick in the Discus to Matthew in the javelin and also tackled the Long Jump while Owen did the Shot Putt.
4 x 100 RELAY
In the eagerly awaited 4 x 100 metres relay the quartet of Laura Gardiner, Eimear Connor, Lydia Montgomery and Emma Smyth self selected their running order for the first and last time and took 3th place after taking 3rd places in the previous two rounds.
But well done to everyone who took part we're all very pleased with your performances and your conduct throughout a long and at times cold and wet day on your feet.
Round 4 is on July 27th at Mary Peters Track.
SOLSTICE RUN
On Friday night a new race to celebrate the longest day was staged in central Belfast and East Down was represented by the father and son duo of Liam and Carl Keenan. Carl, a pupil at Blackwater Integrated College, has not done a lot of racing recently but showed that not only has he grown into a handsome young man, able to look down on his Dad, the man he most looks up to, but also that his talent has blossomed too. His time for the 5K was a splendid 24.28, a massive 3 and a half minutes faster than his previous best at the distance, and one which will have his proud dad looking anxiously over his shoulder. It's becoming clear that the athletic genes have been passed on from father to son. Well done Carl.
LISBURN HALF MARATHON and 10K
In spite of being one of the toughest and according to most people I talk to, most unpopular, events on the running calendar, the Lisburn Half Marathon and 10K remains one of the most popular! Certainly in terms of participant numbers few races attract more runners and last Wednesday's renewal was no different with nearly 1000 taking part in the Half Marathon and over 1400 in the 10K. The east Down part of those statistics was Brenan Teer who finished in 3rd place in the Half, almost 6 minutes behind the winner Paul Pollock, though not fully recovered from a recent virus, Michael Cultra 1.34, Michael McKeown 1.35 and Dermot Cahill in an excellent debut time of 1.37.
In the 10K Paul Burns set a new PB of 38.46, his first time under the 40 minute barrier, and took 26th place overall, a incredible achievement, but further proof that joining a club, sticking with a training regime and the magic ingredient, hard work, pays off.
Loughinisland 5.05 miles takes place on Wednesday 26th at 7.40pm and a big turnout is anticipated for this the first of several local races promoted by East Down AC in the weeks ahead.
Joe Quinn
24 June 2013
