With the senior men about to head to Finland on Friday for the European clubs track and field championships the defence of the national league title got underway in Belfast yesterday. It was a positive day for the men’s team who ended the day on 128 points. maximum points were contributed on the day by Timmy Crowe who was first in the 400 hurdles, Keith Marks first in the long jump, Niall Counihan first in the triple jump, Leo Morgan first in the 100, Sean Carrigg first in the 3000, Rolus Oulsa was first in the pole vault and finished second in the 110 hurdles. Second also for Stephen Cashin in the 5000, Stephen deserving great credit for his performance running a time of 16.01, only two seconds slower than his time 24-hour’s earlier in the Leinster schools Championships. Their were batting performances also put in by Jordan Byrne in the 1500, Greg Hossney in the 800 and all contributed enormously to the successful trip up north. (Official results not yet to hand).
The ladies team endured a pretty difficult day, the team having been hit drastically by withdrawals meaning that the ladies captain was not in a position to field athletes in several middle distance events. There were good performances put in on the day by the small team with several athlete doubling up and indeed more. Lauren Carr was second in the high jump, third in the 200 and was on both relay teams. Emma Kelly was fourth in the 400 hurdles, sixth in the javelin and also ran on the two relay teams. Likewise Leah Burgin was a multi-eventer, competing on the two relay teams and was second in the 400. Szenana Bechtina was fifth in the 100 hurdles, second in the triple jump, third in the 100 and was on the two relay teams. Capt Louise Carraher also battled away and was fifth in the long jump, sixth in the 800 and was also on the 4×400 team. A win on the day came in the hammer from Caoimhe Morris and she also took second in the discus. The team ended the day on 66 points.
Round two of the league takes place in Santry at the end of June.