It was a very busy weekend for the Sky Blue and Navy with over 30 Lagan Valley athletes competeing in four different venues. The Monaghan twins went to Nottingham with the NI Cross Country team and had solid performances in their first year at U15 level.  Up the road (or is it down) Anna Rainey ran in the British Universities Indoor 800 metres.

Back home there was a good turnout for the Northern Ireland and Ulster  Age Group Indoor Championships in the magnificent new facility in Magherafelt which has to be seen to be believed. A five lane 300m indoor track!!Lagan Valley came away with one relay Gold and one Silver and four individual Golds two of which went to new recruit Catherine McDonagh in the 200 and 400 metres. With a 60.6 clocking for her debut 400 metres Catherine will be a very welcome addition to the Senior squad this summer.

Gold also went to Conall Kirk who had to run flat out from the front as the medal went to the fastest of the two semi-finals. Simon McCluney also front ran, this time by choice and was rewarded with the title and a big new personal best of 1:57.0. Jane Matthews and Ella Davis just missed out on medals, the latter by a majority decision of the judges which was hotly disputed.  FULL RESULTS

Competeing in appaling conditions described as being far worse than this years Stromont International Lagan Valley athletes had a great day at the Loughrea Equestrian Centre where they were representing their schools in the Kit Kat All Ireland Schools Championships. While the full results are not yet available it is known that the first race the Junior Girls was a one/two for Lagan Valley with Katie Kirk (Sullivan) ahead of Sophie Magee (Dominican). In the Junior Boys the club went one better by taking a clean sweep with Patrick Monaghan (St Colman's) taking Gold ahead of brother  Andrew in Silver and Adam Ingram (Hazelwood) in bronze. Robbie Rankin (Grosvenor) also had a great run to finish seventh.

POT RANKINGS RELEASED

No, not that kind of POT. PoT is the Power of Ten scheme launched last year by UK Athletics and the 2007 certificates have just been released. I am currently wading my way through the lists but preliminary investigations suggest that a remarkable 40+ Lagan Valley athletes have surpassed the Northern Ireland standards for last season. Watch this space for a full list of names. The new UK standards are now available for downloading on the PoT website and it seems likely that the standards for NI will be raised - but then that is the whole idea of the scheme namely to raise standards across the board between now and 2012. So get a look at the  standards and start aiming for the top.

ITS BEEN A BLUE BLUE DAY (two days in fact)

The Sky Blue and Navy colours blended well with the blue of the Odyssey Arena track at the Phoenix 'Olympic Flames' Age Group and Woodies DIY All Ireland Senior Championships. Lagan Valley athletes were regular visitors to the podium and it was a case of personal bests galore. MORE

ADAM THE FIRST MAN

Adam Ingram was a superb winner of the All Ireland Under 15 Boys Cross Country Championship at Dungarvan, Co Waterford on the 16th December.  MORE

GALLOP AT THE CURRAGH

Following their success in the Ulster Evens the Juniors travelled to the Curragh of Kildare for the All Ireland Championships. Highlight of the day was teh bronze medals gained by the Under 13 girls but there were many memorable performances. MORE

A GOLDEN WEEKEND IN THE VALLEY OF THE FINN

The Lagan Valley Juniors contined their cross country success in the Northern ireland and Ulster Odd (thats odd in terms of year of birth) Championships held at the Finn Valley Centre in Donegal on Sunday.  MORE

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS 

The Under 15 Boys and Girls made a dramatic impact on the All ireland Uneven Age Group Cross Country Championships making the long trip to Dungarvan for athletes and supporters (not to mention coaches).

EACH WAY BET AT CURRAGH PAYS OUT

The All Ireland Even Age Groups were fought out over an excellent course in Co. Kildare. In the Under 14 Girls Emma Sharkey in 11th place led the team to bronze medals. The Under 16s just missed out on medals finishing in the dreaded 4th place but only 8 points seperated them from Gold. The Under 14 boys finished a respectable eighth with Jonny Orr having an excellent run in 6th place.  Adam Ingram was our sole competitor in the Under 16 Boys and he too finished 4th just outside the medals.

ODDS or EVENS MAKES NO DIFFERENCE

Twenty two athletes travelled to Ballybofey for the NI&U Odd Ages Champs and the long journey home was made all the sweeter by the successes of the day.  Three team titles and two individual golds and a clean sweep of the medals in the U15 Boys.

Individual Champions were Katie Kirk and Adam Ingram with medals  for Rory Hampton, Andrew Monaghan, Patrick Monaghan and team victories for the U15 Girls and Boys and the U13 boys.

The Under 13 Boys Ulster Champions-from left-Tom Coyle,Ryan Sharkey,Conall Kirk,Taylor Gillespie and Rory Hampton.

Gold Medallists in the Girls Under 15 Ulster Championship-(l-r)Eva Laverty,Sophie Magee,Emma Sharkey and Katie Kirk

Some of the Under 15 Boys Ulster Champions Team(l-r)-Robbie Rankin,Philip Treacy,Paul O'Neill,Jonny Orr,Andrew Monaghan,Adam Ingram and Patrick Monaghan

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM EVEN AGE GROUPS AT JORDANSTOWN

Lagan Valley juvenile athletes continued to display their talents at the Ulster Championships on Saturday 27th October at the University of Ulster.It was great to see some new young athletes-Jane Matthews,Jamie Norwood,Taylor Gillespie,Tom Coyle and John Benton in their first cross country race.As well as some notable individual performances the club also won the Girls Under 14 and Under 16 team races and the Boys Under 14 team

Jane Matthews(4th from left) who finished a magnificent 27th in the Under 12 race

Ryan Sharkey running to his first Ulster Championship title in the Under 12 Boys race after a great battle with Conall Kirk who finished 2nd. 

The start of the Under 14 girls race(Lagan Valley athletes on the left of picture).Eva Laverty(5th)Rebecca Blundell(8th)Emma Sharkey(15th)and Claudia Bedford(17th) claimed the gold medals.   

Robbie Rankin(813)finished 9th in the Under 16 Boys race to qualify for the Irish Championships in November

Other results:

Under 10 Boys-Jamie Norwood -12th   Under 14 Girls-Orla McAteer-21st   Under 14 Boys-Jonny Orr--5th, Rory Hampton-8th, Paul O'Neill-13th, Michael    Robinson-14th, Taylor Gillespie-19th, John Benton-38th, Tom Matthews-49th, Tom Coyle-54th  Under 16 Boys-Adam Ingram-2nd Under 18 Boys-Simon McCluney-15th

SUTTON PARK, BIRMINGHAM-

National Age Group RelaysSutton Park, the home of British Relay running, was the venue for the EAAA Nike Young Athletes Road Relays and the Sky Blue and Navy boys produced some remarkable results. In the Under 15 Boys the Monaghan twins Patrick and Andrew teamed up with Adam Ingram to shock the odds on favourites Aldershot F&D to take the title by over a minute. Such was the dominance of the team that all three featured in the top ten fastest times. The 'A' team were ably supported by Robbie Rankin, Johnny Orr and Paul O'Neill who finished an excellent 27th in a very large field. The U13 team just missed out on medals by finishing in the dreaded fourth spot with Rory Hampton, Michael Robinson and Conall Kirk.  Rory also featured in the top ten fastest individuals. If the rest of the UK didi not know of our presence (and after the performances of the twins on hte country they should have) they certainly do now as can be confirmed by the photo and report in Athletics Weekly. Jonny Orr -one of the Lagan Valley Team who had a successful trip to Sutton Park

IRISH SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Five Lagan Valley athletes headed south on Saturday 3rd March for the Schools Cross Country Championships.Conditions underfoot were very difficult due to recent heavy rain and the mud was plentiful!! All the athletes performed very well in their respective age groups especially considering they all have another year in these  age groups.The placings were:-

Junior Girls-Katie Kirk-13th

Junior Boys-Andrew Monaghan-3rd

                  Patrick Monagahan-5th

                  Adam Ingram-16th

Intermediate Girls-Kirsty Kee-33rd

Some good photographs can be seen on http://www.cowzer.com/athletics/gfx/2007/schoolcc.html

Young Athletes’ League Final, July 28th. August, Antrim Stadium.

 

Team Lagan Valley travelled to Antrim on SaturdayJuly 28th. ..with high hopes of lifting the title, ‘YAL Champions 2007’.

However, despite a mammoth effort from all concerned, more gold medals, and as many standard grade performances as, any other team, we finished third behind Regent House and a very strong City of Derry squad.

Congratulations to City of Derry. Do us all proud in Birmingham! 
  
     
              
YAL LV Oscars!

Best performance at short notice;              Katie Burke 2nd Inter 800B 2.48.7

Best performance from a newcomer;         Claire Crossan 2nd  Minor shotB 5.73 (pb)

Best performance above and beyond the call of duty;   Ralph Walker leg of 4 x 400.

             (His mother was heard to remark,' Does he know which direction to run?’)

Best performance on no sleep the night before; Rebecca Mains 2nd Junior 100 & 200

Best performance, surprising themselves!  William Smith 1st Colts 70hB 15.47(pb)

                                                          and Rowena Seaton 1st Minor HighB 1.25.(pb)

Hardest worker;   Very difficult category! But Kirsty Kee stands out with; Inter 300A 2nd. 800A 2.28.81 (pb) 1st. 1500A and member of winning 3 x 300 team.

Best recovery after mistake;  Sophie Magee, wins Junior 1500B after mis-counting laps.

Best performance outside normal events;    Chloe Boomer 1st. Junior ShotB 7.27

Best overall performance;             Rory Hampton  1st. Colts 800A 2.21.04(pb. Grade 1)

 
Well done everyone!   And thank you to all parents  and taxi drivers for making it possible for us to have a competitive tilt at the crown.