The Ulster Schools Track and Field Finals were held over the weekend at the Antrim Forum and there was to be joy for Mount Lourdes’ Edel Monaghan and St. Fanchea’s Lucia Warnock.

Hundreds of school kids had qualified for the championships through their districts, including a number of young Fermanagh athletes. And pride of place must go to Edel Monaghan of Mount Lourdes who won two medals including the Ulster title in the inter girls 3000m.

The first races of the meet were held on Friday evening. Edel was competing in the 3000m final having won the E Districts the previous week at the same venue. She controlled the race from the gun and in the last lap struck for home to win in a commanding fashion in a time of 10.48.

This success was followed by terrific performances by the St Michael’s athletes Ryan Flanagan and Domhall Lynam. Both boys had dominated their districts and in the final finished sixth and eighth in Ulster, registering personal bests over 3000m.

Saturday’s programme was packed and the first Fermanagh representative was Lucia Warnock of St Fanchea’s in the 800m junior girls final. After an E District victory the previous week, and she produced another strong performance, running 2mins 26secs to win bronze. The Tempo girl goes forward to the All Irelands knowing that on any given day she can compete with the very best in the country. Jade Ballantine of the Collegiate, who was another winner at E Districts, faced the cream of Ulster in the inter girls 300m final. Jade raced well for a new PB and will have learned much from her experience. Aoife Farrell qualified for the Ulster junior girls 1500m final and the young Mount Lourdes girl performed well in an extremely strong field.

Edel returned to the track in the afternoon for the 1500m intermediate girls final to try to achieve a rare double. Her confidence was high after the previous evening’s success and in a very tactical contest Edel raced to the front with 300m to go leaving the field in her wake. However, 75m from the line, she was caught by the Methody girl and pipped into second place for a fantastic silver medal in a time of 4.54mins.

In the next race, Ryan Flanagan returned to the track for the 1500m Ulster Final. Like Edel, it was his second race within 24 hours and this had to affect the young athletes. In a pacy final, Ryan ran very well to finish sixth in Ulster in his age group running a new PB of 4.28mins.

Edel and Lucia have again qualified for the All Ireland Schools T&F Finals in two weeks time in Tullamore. Edel in the 3000m and 1500m inter girl’s races and Lucia will take her place at the start line of the junior girls 800m final. Both girls can look forward with confidence to their races. All the local athletes can take great pride in their achievements in the Ulster School finals. They are among the best in Ulster.

The Ulster Schools Track and Field Finals were held over the weekend at the Antrim Forum and there was to be joy for Mount Lourdes’ Edel Monaghan and St. Fanchea’s Lucia Warnock.

Hundreds of school kids had qualified for the championships through their districts, including a number of young Fermanagh athletes. And pride of place must go to Edel Monaghan of Mount Lourdes who won two medals including the Ulster title in the inter girls 3000m.

The first races of the meet were held on Friday evening. Edel was competing in the 3000m final having won the E Districts the previous week at the same venue. She controlled the race from the gun and in the last lap struck for home to win in a commanding fashion in a time of 10.48.

This success was followed by terrific performances by the St Michael’s athletes Ryan Flanagan and Domhall Lynam. Both boys had dominated their districts and in the final finished sixth and eighth in Ulster, registering personal bests over 3000m.

Saturday’s programme was packed and the first Fermanagh representative was Lucia Warnock of St Fanchea’s in the 800m junior girls final. After an E District victory the previous week, and she produced another strong performance, running 2mins 26secs to win bronze. The Tempo girl goes forward to the All Irelands knowing that on any given day she can compete with the very best in the country. Jade Ballantine of the Collegiate, who was another winner at E Districts, faced the cream of Ulster in the inter girls 300m final. Jade raced well for a new PB and will have learned much from her experience. Aoife Farrell qualified for the Ulster junior girls 1500m final and the young Mount Lourdes girl performed well in an extremely strong field.

Edel returned to the track in the afternoon for the 1500m intermediate girls final to try to achieve a rare double. Her confidence was high after the previous evening’s success and in a very tactical contest Edel raced to the front with 300m to go leaving the field in her wake. However, 75m from the line, she was caught by the Methody girl and pipped into second place for a fantastic silver medal in a time of 4.54mins.

In the next race, Ryan Flanagan returned to the track for the 1500m Ulster Final. Like Edel, it was his second race within 24 hours and this had to affect the young athletes. In a pacy final, Ryan ran very well to finish sixth in Ulster in his age group running a new PB of 4.28mins.

Edel and Lucia have again qualified for the All Ireland Schools T&F Finals in two weeks time in Tullamore. Edel in the 3000m and 1500m inter girl’s races and Lucia will take her place at the start line of the junior girls 800m final. Both girls can look forward with confidence to their races. All the local athletes can take great pride in their achievements in the Ulster School finals. They are among the best in Ulster.