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17th
May 2011
Jason Back With A Bang In The Bahamas
Florida based sprint star Jason Smyth,made a significant
return to competitive action over the weekend in the balmy
heat of the Bahamas,posting excellent early season clockings
of 10.50s and 21.11s for the 100m/200m, as the local Eglinton
Flyer put some ten months away from racing well and truly
behind him in the Caribbean.
Injury ruled the Spartan out of last Septembers
Commonwealth Games and also denied him defending his Paralympic
World titles in January but his rehabilition went well and
he travelled to the Bahamas from his Orlando base for the
Fritz Grant Invitational Games last Friday and Saturday. First
up was the 100m and he ran a tasty 10.50s for the runner up
spot behind the 10.45s of Adrian Griffth,the Bahamian champion.
This was followd on Saturday with a 21.11 200m effort,placing
him third, behind another Bahamian star Michael Mathieu who
set a new meet record of 20.38s and the 20.96s run of Griffith.
Both times are hugely encouraging for the Eglinton man given
it has been ten months since he raced and the 200m clocking
is marginally shy of his 21.09s PB for the distance. Indeed
the meet organisors have suggested his time may be revised
downwards to 20.07s but as yet this has not been confirmed.
Mark and Mary On Track In Dublin
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Staying with the sprinters and moving to Sundays Woodies AAI
Games in windy Dublin,teenage sprint hurdler Mark McGarvey
won the 110m Hurdles with an eye catching 14.94s into the
teeth of a strong wind. The talented young Spartan is chasing
a Commonwealth Youth Games qualification of 14.70s and on
Sundays showing ,and in better conditions it will surely come.
Getting into the right race is the key and unfortunately his
next major outing this Saturday at the Ulster Schools finals
is over the 100m Hurdles distance as he is still in the Schools
Intermediate age grade.
Bellaghy teacher Mary Devlin (pictured below) has moved from
the disbanded Abbey AC to join the local red vests and made
her debut in Dublin at the weekend,finishing third in the
womens Long Jump with a 5m 64cm leap. Mary will be a terrific
addition to the female Spartans with her Long and Triple Jump
prowess,not to mention her value in the Sprint Relay in the
upcoming National League campaign.
Paddy,s Comfortable Culdaff Win
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Elsewhere Paddy Doherty had a convincing win at Friday nights
Culdaff 5K road race, posting 15m 56s on a tough course made
more difficult by the windy weather. Paddys front running
was too good for the opposition and he was chased home by
Inishowen AC,s Joe McKinney on 16.29s and Spartans club mate
Gary Slevin on 16 49s. Letterkenny,s John Daly ran 17m 42s
for fourth and was followed by the Derry trio, Mark Mullan
with 18m dead,Gary ODonnell on 18m 17s and the leading M50
Peter Lilburn who went well for 18m 22s.
Inishowen,s Teresa Doherty ran 19m 50s for the womens win
and was followed by the Spartans Catherine Lilburn on 20m
45s and another Inishowen runner, Elizabeth McDaid with 21m26s.
The next trip to Inishowen on Wednesday 25th May hopefully
will see better racing conditions for the eagerly awaited
Furey Insurances Buncrana 5K .
Two more road races this week will attract good numbers, the
Inter Firms 5K in Letterkenny ,Tuesday night at 7 30pm and
then on Thursday night at the same time,
the Foyle Valley AC promotion, the Wilkies Classic 5 Miler
out of the Long Tower Community Centre. Both are popular events
and will ensure the local North West road runners are not
kept idle.
Ulster Schools Track/Field Championships
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Antrim hosts the Ulsters this Saturday and around 50 athletes
from local schools and clubs have qualified for these prestigious
championships. St Columbs,ST Josephs, Oakgrove,Lumen Christi,Thornhill,
St Marys, St Cecelias,NW Regional College,St Marys Limavady
and Coleraine High are among the schools who have athletes
travelling on Saturday. All will travel with expectations
of performing well and a significant number will have targetted
Ulster medals and a ticket to the All Irelands in Tullamore
on Saturday 4th June. Good Luck to them all!!
Gerry Lynch
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