Over the past fortnight, the Ulster Schools Athletics has been relentlessly working its way through numerous District Heats in their pursuit to bring together the best track and field athletes that the Ulster Schools has to offer.

With many of the Newcastle Junior athletes making their school teams and some excelling in disciplines they were quite new to, there was plenty to celebrate and some podium places too.

After tracking the understated and quiet emergence of Sophie Neill throughout this years cross country season and her amazing performance recently at Hill and Dale, there was no doubt that she was clearly on form and took that feeling of invincibility to Mary Peters Track as she toed the line for Shimna Integrated College in the 1500m.

Pacing herself well, seeing off challenges early on from those not as experienced in the racing world, Sophie came up the final 100m in control and stretching out as if she was about to take off, smashing through the finish line to take the top of the podium and secure herself a place in the Ulster Finals.

No stranger to the track, Maisie McVeigh, who was representing St. Malachys High School, had a tough timetable ahead of her participating in the 100m heats, qualifying for the 100m final less than an hour later with just enough time to keep warm before having to hit the track again for the 800m after qualifying the previous week. A win in her heat lead to a 6th place finish in the 100m final. On already hard worked legs, Maisie took to the line for the 800m against some familiar and not so familiar faces.

Experience has taught her to run her own race and focus on her own game plan. Alongside this knowledge and an unending faith in her legs to carry her at the speeds that she turns out, Maisie crossed the line in 2nd place and will be joining Sophie at Antrim Forum for the Ulster Finals.

Erin Easton, representing Down High School, narrowly missed out on 3rd place in the Long Jump by 3cm. However she harnessed her disappointment for good and threw everything she had into the relay event where she was joined by club member Sarah Uhomoibhi and took 3rd place securing the bling.

Representing your school is always a huge achievement and memories that you never forget. There was plenty to celebrate across all track and field events. The club would like to extend its thanks to the local schools for nurturing our young athletes talents through delivering a diverse PE curriculum and affording them the opportunity to attend high profile events.