Three Shercock AC athletes, Mark Kearns, Eadaoin Lynch and Abby Smith, travelled to the U15 Scottish Indoor Championships in Glasgow at the weekend.
Mark Kearns produced a strong, confident performance in the 1500m. Despite getting boxed in at the start, Mark worked his way through the field and with 3 laps to go he moved into second position. However, he was unable to close the gap on the very strong Angus Wilkinson from East Kilbride AC but held on to 2nd place over the closing lap to secure the silver medal and a new PB of 4:16.47 secs.
Eadaoin Lynch had a busy day competing in both the 60m and the 200m, having to contend with heats, semi-finals and finals in both events. In the 60m Eadaoin won her heat comfortably in 8.33s. In the semi-final Eadaoin was up against pre race favourite Emma Clark from Whitemoss AAC. Eadaoin finished in second place in 8.30s to secure a place in the final. In a very competitive final Eadaoin ran strongly to finish 6th in 8.33s.
In the afternoon Eadaoin was on track again for the 200m. In a very close finish in heat 4, Eadaoin finished 2nd in 26.97s and was 4th fastest going into the semi-final. In the semi-final Eadaoin produced another strong performance to get second again behind Emma Clarke and progress to the final. In the final, which was race 6 of the day for Eadaoin, she was in contention for a medal down the back straight but over the final 50m her legs were feeling the effects of 6 races and she eventually finished 5th.
Abby Smith was out in the 1500m. Lois Macrae from Inverness Harriers set a very fast pace from the start going on to set a new championship record. This fast pace pushed athletes to the limit and they needed to be in top form. Abby, who was just recovering from a virus and a recent injury, struggled to find her usual form and finished in 8th position.
This was the first time these athletes have competed outside of Ireland and all three took the experience in their stride. They will build on this experience as they continue to prepare for the Ulster Championships in a few weeks time.
