BALLYMENA & ANTRIM ATHLETICS CLUB NEWSLETTER 2016 by Jack & Stephen Lewis.

2016 has been another great year for the Ballymena & Antrim Athletics Club. We have seen a record level of Club membership across all ages from Fundamentals (252) to

Juveniles, Juniors, Seniors and Masters (206) and 25 coaches and volunteers, a grand total of 473. We have seen some spectacular individual performances, record

breaking relay results and, for the second year running, we won the prestigious YDL final which demonstrated superb whole club participation across the U13 to U17 age

groups. Our thanks and congratulations go to all athletes, coaches, volunteers and parents for their considerable contribution during the year.

This newsletter lists some of the many performance highlights for the year. We have not included all events – these and detailed performances of individuals can be

accessed through the Athletics NI, Athletics Ireland and other event websites.

Each year we are going to showcase one of our coaches, who give their time voluntarily to help the many athletes who come to the club. This year we have focussed on

Pauline Thom, a devoted coach who gives so much of her time and energy to the Club and athletes, whilst looking after her family and teaching full time. These are her

words;-

A SYNOPSIS OF MY ATHLETICS EXPERIENCE... by Pauline Thom.

I joined the Ballymena and Antrim Athletics Club in 1982 as a young girl who liked running long distance. Sean Kyle, my coach and founder member of the Club,

worked hard to try and put some speed into my long distance legs.

At schools level my most successful achievements were the Irish schools 1500m title in 1985, also finishing 2nd in the 3ooom at the same championship. I represented

the Irish schools team at the cross country international and my claim to fame is Sonia O’Sullivan was on the same team. I was offered an American Scholarship but

turned it down as I wanted to finish my studies in N. Ireland.

At senior level I was plague by Achilles injuries because I didn’t do much strength and conditioning which is paramount for all athletes to avoid injury. I still was quite

successful having finished third in the British indoor Championships in three consecutive years, also medalling at Scottish and Irish Championships. I represented

Britain in the Hong Kong mile in 1998 and I also had the opportunity to represent Ireland in Tokyo at the Chiba relays. However due to injury I missed out on

commonwealth selection.

Athletics gave me the opportunity to visit many countries; one of the most interesting was San Marino for the European clubs cross country championship where snow

ploughs cleared a cross country trail for us. My furthest travelled was Vancouver, Canada with the Northern Ireland team. My happiest memory was when the club

toured the east coast of Canada and I had an opportunity to run a 1500m PB in the Montreal Olympic stadium.

I really enjoy my current role as one of the middle distance coaches. My advice to all young athletes is to persevere when things seem to be not going to plan, for

those that have determination they will always be rewarded.

I still run to keep fit and to compete at master’s level and although my athletics is at a lower level now, I still have the same motivation to try and win.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE – demonstrating the Team Spirit of BAAC.

This has been a fantastic series of events across U13, U15 and U17 boys and girls age groups. Individual athletes have been encouraged to compete in sprints, distance,

hurdles, throws, jumps and relays. It is very difficult to single out the success of any individual athlete – there are too many to mention. Indeed, those competitors who tried

new events outside their personal comfort zones in order that they might gain points for BAAC were true heroes.

The Final YDL competition on 20th August included 8 teams who had taken part in earlier YDL rounds. BAAC put out a very comprehensive athlete list and were

rewarded with a resounding WIN for the second year running, but this year the margin of victory was greater. The final Team Scores were as follows;-

Annalee BAAC City of Derry City of Lisburn Lagan Valley Mid Ulster North Down Regent House

U13 Girls 41 98 96 82 24 62 93

U15 Girls 81 84 135 105 81 6 136 83

U17 Girls 8 163 64 166 126 8 81 170

U13 Boys 121 99 60 6 80 88

U15 Boys 181 61 106 123 100 123

U17 Boys 14 196 43 157 72 82 149

TOTAL 144 843 498 676 432 14 541 706

PLACES 7 1 5 3 6 8 4 2

FIRMUS ENERGY Super 6 series

There were 6 Firmus meets during the season held at the Mary Peters track. Athletes competed in their specialist events in order to gauge their own performance and to

give themselves a challenge. Many athletes competed well and the winning highlights include; _

Firmus 1: Ronan Campbell – U15 100m. Daniel McCullough - U15 High Jump. James Wright – U15 Javelin. Peter Wright – U17 100m. Lauren Roy–U17 100m.

Firmus 2: Adam Courtney – U13 Hugh Jump. Craig Newell – Senior Men 200m.

Firmus 3: Zane McQuillan – U13 75m Hurdles.

Firmus 4 including relays: Jonathan Cochrane - U15 Long Jump. Mathew Steele – U17 400m Hurdles.

U13 Boys 4x100m relay – Caleb Crawford, Freddy Young, Zane McQuillan, and Adam Kane.

U17 Boys 4x100 m relay – Reece McMurray, Peter Wright, Adam Neilly, and Michael McAuley.

Senior Men 4x100 m relay – Conor Lunnun, Martin McQuillan, Mark Kirkpatrick, and Chris Docherty.

Senior Women 4x100 m relay – Ella Calderwood, Samantha Agnew, Lauren Roy, and Natalie Cahoon.

Firmus 5: Evan Carlisle – U13 Javelin. Dean Adams – Senior Men 100m. Lydia Mills – Senior Women Long Jump.

FUNDAMENTALS

We had another great season of Fundamental training on Tuesdays from April through to August, with 252 athletes registered, many attending week on week throughout

the season. Many parents and older athletes volunteered to help with the training which made each session more fun and varied for the young athletes. Some took part in

the 365 training programme laid on by the Club.

During the last two sessions we held a Competition evening and Barbecue which everyone enjoyed, each athlete receiving a medal for their efforts. These young athletes

are the future of the Club for years to come and Fundamentals gives them all a taster for the different athletic disciplines of jump, run, sprint and throw whilst having fun.

We will certainly be running the programme next year.

NI & ULSTER ATHLETICS AGE GROUP EVENTS

NI & Ulster Athletics ran events for specific age groups during the season. Some results are as follows;

Children’s Games (U9-U11) at Lifford 4th June 2016 – Every boy that competed qualified for the All Ireland Champs in either individual events or as part of a relay team

U12 & U13 at Finn Valley 5th June 2016

For the Girls, Caitlin Law (2nd 600m), Tory Hopkins (4th 600m) & Eimear Johnson (2nd 600m) put in some great performances. Ryan Thom, Jamie Moss, Eoin Mitchell,

Adam Courtney, Freddy Young, Conor Orr & Caleb Crawford performed well for the boys across all the events. Alex McBurney (4th Shot Putt) Adam Kane (2nd 60m),

Zane McQuillan (3rd 60m 3rd 60m Hurdles) & U13 relay team (2nd) all qualified for the All Ireland Champs

U14, U15, U16 & U17 on 11th June 2016

Notable performances for the boys included a win for Jonathan Cochrane in U15 Long Jump at 5.35m, and a win for Ronan Campbell with a U15 shot putt of

12.57m. Daniel McCullough & Peter Wright threw the javelin in the U16 competition with very respectable distances. Daniel Logan performed well in the

U17 Long Jump not far short of the first place distance. James Wright threw the discus 30.18m winning the U14 age group, and won the Javelin with 41.47m.

Daniel McCullough & Mathew Corr performed well in the U16 High Jump with heights of 1.55m. Ronan Campbell won the U15 discus with 30.64 m and

Darragh Ferguson winning the U16 discus with 32.21m joined by Peter Wright with 23.31m. Tom Poulter won the U14 High Jump with 1.43m and Mathew

McCullough threw the U17 discus 28.17m. In Triple Jump, wins for Jonathan Crawford (U15 – 12.26m), Luke Pollock (U16 – 11.49m) and Daniel Logan

got third with 12.11m in the U17’s. On The Track Adam Neilly had a 200m and 400m Double, winning both. Stefhan Gabbidon-Lyttle won the 800m with Joshua

Courtney finishing 3rd. Peter Wright won the U16 100m with James Wright taking 2nd in the U14 race. Luke Pollock won the 300m Hurdles with Matthew Steele taking 3rd.

In the 100mh Luke finished 3rd with Matthew just behind in 4th

For the girls, Katie McCullough led the way with wins in the U14 discus (25.39m) and the Javelin (32.7m.). Jana McQuillan putt the U14 shot and jumped well in

the U14 long jump (3.65m) & Rebecca McCullough threw the U17 Discus 18.4m. While on the Track Lauren Roy had a sprint double winning both the 100m &

200m. Rachel Brown was 2nd in the 800m, Alice Rodgers was 4th in the 200m & 2nd in the 100m and Erin McMahon was 2nd in the 250m Hurdles

Seniors Incorporating U18-U20 on 19th June 19th at the Mary Peter’s track

In the field, Lydia Mills won the Senior and U19 Long jump with a jump of 5.47m. She also came 2nd in the Senior & 1st in the U19 Triple Jump with 11.17m.

Christopher Docherty got 2nd in the U18 Long Jump with a jump of 5.87m. Jack Lewis came 3rd in the Seniors and 1st in the U18 High Jump with 1.75m

There were some great performances on the track. Jonathan Browning, Christopher Doherty, Dean Adams, Michael McAuley, Jonathan Carleton and Martin

McQuillan ran in the 100m sprint heats. The final saw Jonathan Browning take 2nd (10.92 secs.) and Dean Adams take 5th (11.06 secs.). Martin McQuillan also

ran in the 200m heats and came 3rd in the final in 23.3 seconds. In the women’s 100m final, Natalie Cahoon was 2nd (U18 – 12.66 secs.) and Kirsty

McBarnet was 4th (U20 – 12.98 secs.) In the 200m final, the positions were reversed – Kirsty was 2nd & Natalie was 4th. There were some good results in the

1500metres. Rachel Brown was 7th in the U16-U17 final with a time of 4:59:84. Gareth Hill came 3rd with a time of 3:59:22 in the Seniors, Gavin McCaffrey came

9th in the U16, Jamie Bell 4th in the U 14.

Irish Seniors – this saw a similar result to the NI Champs with Jonathan Browning running superbly to finish 2nd in the Mens 100m & Dean Adams 5th

At the Senior Event at the Mary Peters Track on 28th May, Natalie Cahoon (200m), Cian McDonald (1500m), Ross Fallows (Triple Jump), Monica Del Costillo (U15 Girls

Pole Vault), Shane Martin (U17 Boys Pole Vault) all performed to win their events.

Irish Juniors –at the Irish Juniors Craig Newall finished 3rd in the 200m while Lydia Mills was 2nd in the Long Jump and 3rd in the Triple Jump

At the BELFAST INTERNATIONAL MEET in 7th May at the Mary Peters Track, we had a number of our Senior Athletes in action. Jonathan Browning, Dean Adams,

Christopher Doherty and Lauren Roy all ran well in the 100m events. Craig Newell and Christopher Doherty also ran in the 200m and Christine McMahon in

the 400m Hurdles. Katie Agnew ran in the U15 800m and Gareth Hill ran in the 3000m. In the Field events, Lydia Mills came 5th in the Triple Jump, whilst Shane

Martin & Katie Ritchie both competed in the Pole Vault. Jack Magee represented BAAC in the Javelin with a throw of 54.11m. Peter Wright, Reece McMurray &

Michael McAuley competed for the Ulster Schools in the Relay event. While Dean Adams & Jonathan Browning ran in the N Ireland Senior team. While Lauren Roy

competed in the Ladies relay

INDOORS

There were some great performances at the many indoor competitions during the year. Here are some highlights.

At the Magherafelt 2-day competition in February, Freddy Young, James Wright, Ronan Campbell, Jonathan Cochrane, Lauren Roy, Reece McMurray, Adam Neilly

Christopher Docherty, Michael McAuley, Lydia Mills, Sasha Lawther, Caleb Moore and the U15 & U17 Boys relay teams, were all successful in winning finals and/or

heats, some in multiple events. There were also many good placings.

Many athletes qualified for the Irish Finals (Athlone 12th13th March) where star of the show was Lauren Roy 2nd in the 60m and just missing a medal finishing 4th in the

200m

At the Jordanstown Pole Vault meet in January, Shane Martin won the U18 event with 4.20 metres.

Irish Indoor Relays – 19th March Athlone

A large squad of Boys (U12 to U18) travelled down to the National Indoor Arena for the Relay Championship. It proved to be a very successful day which saw the U16

Boys crowned Irish Champions, and both the U15 Boys and the U18 Boys coming 3rd

NI & ULSTER MULTI EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP in August featured Daniel & Katie McCullough, both competing in 5 events including 80m hurdles, shot putt, long

jump, high jump and 800 metres. Both performed well with Katie coming 10th and Daniel 6th despite many of the events not being their speciality.

Irish Relays – The club took a bus load of athletes down to Tullamore in July, where we fielded 12 relay teams in the Irish Relay Championships. Like the Indoor

version the proved to be a highly successful day for BAAC. The U14 4x100m Boys & the U17 4x400m Boys were crowned Irish Champions. The U17 Girls & U16 Boys

teams were 2nd and the U15 Boys were 3rd

The IRISH SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS were held in Tullamore in early June. Many BAAC athletes qualified and did exceedingly well. Results for

our athletes include; -

MINOR GIRLS: Erin McMahon 2nd in 75m hurdles, Kathryn Coombs 3rd in Shot Putt.

JUNIOR GIRLS: Monica Del-Castillo 10th in Pole Vault, Alanna Kerr 9th in Shot Putt, Esther Lear 2nd in Discus, Katie McCullough 4th in Javelin &

8th in Shot Putt.

INTERMEDIATE GIRLS: Katie Ritchie 4th in Pole Vault, Erin Moffett 5th in Hammer. INTER GIRLS :

SENIOR GIRLS: Natalie Cahoon 8th in 100m, Kirsty McBarnet 8th in 200m, Lydia Mills 7th in Long Jump & 1st in Triple Jump, Cait Convery 6th in

Discus, Katie Agnew 7th in U16 Mile.

MINOR BOYS: Ronan Campbell 6th in 100m and 5th in Shot Putt, Jonathan Cochrane 2nd in Long Jump.

JUNIOR BOYS: Gavin McCaffrey 7th in 1500m, Andrew Huey 7th in Triple Jump, Darragh Ferguson 5th in Discus, James Wright 6th in Javelin,

Daniel McCullough 10th in Javelin.

INTERMEDIATE BOYS: Michael McAuley 7th in 100m & 3rd in 200m, Adam Neilly 3rd in 400m, Ross Fallows 6th in 400m Hurdles & 6th in Long

Jump, Shane Martin 1st in Pole Vault, Daniel Logan 9th in Triple Jump.

SENIOR BOYS: Craig Newell 5th in 100m & 4th in 200m, Thomas Hunter 5th in Triple Jump, Stephen McCorry 1st in Hammer, Jack Magee 3rd in

Javelin.

RELAYS: Inter Boys – Peter Wright and Luke Pollock 5th for Dalriada Larne Grammar 3rd with Matthew Hill

SCHOOLS Inter Provincial

Laure Roy, Katie Ritchie, Erin Moffett, Michael McAuley, Adam Campbell, Matthew McCullough, AdamNeilly and Shane Martin all competed on the

Ulster team in the Schools Inter Provincial

Lauren Roy won the 200m in 24.85 secs and was 2nd in the 100m in 12.13 secs and was a member of the winning Ulster 4 x 100m relay team

Katie Ritchie was 3rd in the Pole Vault with a height of 3.00m

Erin Moffett was 5th in the Hammer

Shane Martin won the Pole vault with a height of 4.05m

Adam Neilly was 2nd in the 400m in a time of 51.22 secs and was a member of the Ulster winning 4 x 400m relay team

Michael McAuley was 5th in the 200m

Schools International, Ashford Kent

Lauren Roy, Shane Martin and Adam Neilly compete for the Irish Schools team in the SIAB Home Countries International in Ashford Kent

Lauren Roy was 2nd in the 200m in a time of 25.2 secs and 4th in the 100m in a time of 25.2 secs and was a member of the Irish 4 x 100m Relay team which

finished 2nd

Shane Martin finished 2nd in the Plole vault with a height of 4.16m

Adam Neilly finished 5th in the 400m in a time of51.30 secs and was a member of the irish 4 x 400m relay team which finished 2nd.

UK SCHOOL GAMES CHAMPIONSHIPS were held in early September in Loughborough with 7 of our athletes competing for Northern Ireland.

Congratulations to Lauren Roy – 3rd in 200m in 24.46 seconds; Adam Campbell – 7th in Shot Putt; Erin Moffett – 7th in Hammer; Shane Martin – 5th in Pole

Vault; Michael McAuley – 7th in 100m; Adam Neilly - 6th in 400m; & Peter Wright & Michael McAuley who came 4th in the 100m relay team. Some great

results for BAAC against the best athletes across all UK schools.

ANTRIM COMBINED TEAM with Lisburn competed in some of the regional rounds but in the National League Final at Tullamore the men won Division

1 and the women came 2nd. There were spectacular results from BAAC athletes who participated: Dean Adams – 1st in 100m; Natalie Cahoon – 3rd in 100m

& 4th in 200m; Craig Newell – 3rd in 400m; Connor Lunnun – 8th in Hammer; Cait Convery – 3rd in Discus & 6th in Hammer, Jack Magee – 4th in Javelin. In

the relays we had Dean Adams and Craig Newell in the 4x100, finishing 2nd; Natalie Cahoon in the 4x100. Finishing 4th; and Craig Newell in the 4x400

finishing 2nd. A great example of BAAC working closely with other clubs to broaden the competition experience.

MIDDLE DISTANCE & ENDURANCE SQUAD REPORT

Age Groups Cross Country and Indoor Season

Many young athletes took part in competitions throughout the cross country calendar; some using it for strength and endurance in preparation for the

track season with others at the competition end. The club achieved some excellent performances at the Ulster age groups in Jordanstown and from

those representing their schools at the Ulster Schools final. With Emma Hutchinson (10th), Jamie Bell (4th) and Katie Agnew (2nd) qualifying for the

Irish schools final; where Jamie placed 15th and Katie 6th. Katie’s performance resulted in her being selected to represent the Irish Schools team at the

home countries finals in Falkirk.

The winter also had the athletes competing at the Ulster indoor age group championships in February. Caitlin Law (U12) and Eimear Johnston (U13)

coming 2nd and 3rd respectively in the 600m at their first competition for the club to qualify for the All Irelands at Athlone. Podium places and

qualification for all Irelands were also achieved from Joshua Courtney (3rd, U16 800m), Gavin McCaffrey (3rd, U16 1500m) and Lauren Strange (3rd,

U18 1500m). Not forgetting all others who represented the club admirably with some smashing their PB’s.

Outdoor Track Season

We headed to the outdoor competitions where all athletes continued to represent the club at track competitions including the Firmus series, YDL,

Ulster schools, Ulster age group championships and All Irelands at Tullamore. The season was awash with PB’s and top class performances. We had

plenty of individuals representing their schools at the Ulster schools track and field finals with Gavin McCaffrey coming 2nd to Qualify for the Irish

Schools final and Katie Agnew narrowly missing out in the 1500m but being selected to compete in an invitation mile race at the finals.

The Ulster age group championships again saw plenty of great performances from all that took part with newcomers Caitlin Law (U12) and Eimear

Johnston (U13) leading the way again at the children’s games both coming 2nd in the 600m to qualify for All Irelands. Another newcomer Stefhan

Gabbidon-Lyttle came 1st in U16 800m with Joshua Courtney closely behind in 3rd. Other medallists and qualifiers to All Irelands were Rachel

Brown, 2nd 800m, Jamie Bell 4th 1500m and Tory Hopkins 4th 600m.

The Middle Distance team have also seen 2 young athletes qualify and selected to take part in the Endurance development squad organised by

Athletics NI. Rachel Brown November 2015 and Emma Hutchinson November 2016.

In May Joshua, Gavin and Cain joined coaches Pauline and Craig to take part in the Belfast Marathon relay, finishing a respectable 27th place out of

almost 2000 teams in just under 3 hours.

Overall a fantastic year from every athlete with plenty of PB’s and personal targets achieved.

Senior Squad

Jarlath Falls (cross country and road racing) and Gareth Hill (track) continued as flag bearers of senior competitors for the club in the endurance

events, with Gareth achieving 3rd place (1500m) in the NI senior track and field championships.

This year they were joined by MD coach Pauline Thom who has come out of retirement to compete in cross country and road races. It has been a

fantastic year for Pauline seeing her not only winning her age group category in numerous races but also being placed and winning the overall Ladies

competition. Pauline came 1st in her category and 6th overall (F45) at the NI masters cross country and was also selected for the Northern Ireland

Female Masters Cross Country team for the British and Irish championships that finished in second place.

Masters - In the NI Champs Bob Douglas had wins in the 400m & Shot Putt. Philip McKinney had a 100 & 200m Double and Frank McCrystal had wins

in the Shot, Javelin & Discus

At The Irish Bob Douglas won the 200m and finished 2nd in the 400m

Christine McMahon – despite devoting a lot of her time completing her Dental Degree & qualifying as a Dentist, Christine had a very good year on the Track. She

made it through to the semi Finals in the European Championships, just missing out on a place in the Final. She also ran the qualifying time for the Rio Olympics,

unfortunately this PB 56.06 was set 3 days after the deadline for Qualification closed!! She placed in the top 5 in three IAAF World Challenge Meets