Maisie’s on Track

On Saturday, five of the junior squad headed to UUJ Sports Centre for week two of Indoor events, this week focusing on Sprints and Hurdles.

Newcastle AC Junior squad at UUJ Indoors

Before the event even took place, Rónán Grant, who is eyeing up his 100th parkrun t-shirt, was early on the road to participate in Carrickfergus Parkrun before heading over to UUJ for 11am.

Completing the 3 lap course which included 52 turns and was fully tarmac, was the polar opposite to his usual trails and hills of Castlewellan. He crossed the line as first in his age category and later earned a 99 ‘poke’ for completing Parkrun 99.

At the Jordanstown complex, it was a new environment and event set up for the juniors. Eve McNamara had attended the Throws and Jump event the previous week and was able to support everyone on how things worked at indoors.

This was a far cry from the usual muck, rain and cold that the club has been used to over the past number of months. No need for layers or strategically timing the moment to peel off trousers before a race, it was very much a culture shock. Watching the other participants warm up and use the space available soon settled the nerves. The squads approach to dynamic warm ups and drills got underway as always with a relaxed feel and plenty of opportunities for them to collaborate on their starting styles, use of the blocks available and also adding plenty of fun and laughs between them.

The 60m Hurdles were first and Fiachna McAleenan was warming up for his third highly competitive event in four days. Moving up into the U15 category also brought it with an increase in hurdle height. However this didn’t faze Fiachna as he glided over the hurdles with control and drive to finish second in 11 seconds dead.

The U14 girls were up next. Eve McNamara and Maisie McVeigh both representing Newcastle. It was a start line with a number of experienced hurdlers from last year’s Fab 5 events. It was a fast start and Eve led from the off showing amazing core strength and technique improvements, as a result of the coaching she has received as part of the Rising Stars squad this year. Crossing the line in first place in 10.36. There was the sound of a hurdle being hit early in the race but with focus solely on the finish line, Maisie continued to push hard and maintain her form to finish in second place behind her club mate in 10.43.

James Carson, who also is a part of this year’s Athletics NI Rising Stars squad, was representing the club at U16 in the 60m sprint. Always guaranteed to crack a joke or two and keep spirits high, when it came to showtime, he was focused and put on his game face. With great sportsmanship on the line wishing all participants good luck and shaking hands, he got into his start position to wait for the gun. With a quick transition from start to upright sprinting, James held on for fifth place against the current Irish and schools 60m champion.

Fiachna and Rónán followed after in the U15 60m sprint. After an eclectic approach to warming up including co-creating the 10m crawl through Hurdles with young Tilly McVeigh, both boys soon got down to business and gave everything they had over an intense 60m. With both boys finishing in quick succession in third and forth place respectively, greeting the elevated floor mats propped against the wall with relief.

To finish the day’s proceedings, Eve and Maisie were involved in the U14 60m sprint. Again everyone on the startline knew each other from previous encounters but the winter months had passed since their last meet and different approaches to Winter training would show who’s method would pay off on the day.

There was hundredths of a second spliting first and forth places. It was Maisie who took first place and cemented her resolve to start track season on a positive note crossing the line in 8.75. Eve also gave an impressive performance with a flawless start, accelerating at speed to finish third in 8.85.

Fantastic baseline set by all five athletes during the event with podium spots for many. It’s worth noting again that this was the first indoor event and indoor experience of running on track for them all and looks like it could be a favoured setting by all. Washing was minimal and everyone got into the car, warm and dry! A first since last Summer.