Olympian Sally Brown congratulates young runners

Primary Schools in the Causeway Coast area were competing for the Springwell Cup organised by Springwell Running Club in association with Athletics NI.

Conditions were cold and wet for the primary school pupils who completed the 1500m two lap course.

The girls got the proceedings underway setting off at a blistering pace down the opening straight.

Niamh McCusker (St Marys PS) set the early pace, but was picked off by Ellie McBroom (Irish Society PS) and Hermoine Skuce (Irish Society PS) during the second lap. Ellie came home to win in 6:00 followed by Hermoine 6:12 and Niamh 6:15.

The Boy’s race went off at a frantic pace with last year’s series winner Andrew Gordon (Garvagh PS) leading the field, a position which he held all the way to the line, Eoughan Gormley (Termoncanice PS) was 2nd in 5:41 and Patrick Irwin (Portrush PS) 3rd in 5:52.

Back in the Leisure Centre Springwell’s London Paralympian, Sally Brown presented the prizes and signed autographs for her many young fans.

Points for the Cups were calculated by combining the two best performances from two out of three races.

Niamh McCusker (St Marys PS) with two firsts in the series took the title of Best Girl, Andrew Gordon (Garvagh PS) was undefeated in the series took the Best Boy title.

Competition for the Team Prizes was fierce and they were not decided until the final race.

Portstewart PS won the Girls Team title, Glenravel PS took the Boys Team title and St Mary’s Glenview PS won the Best School title.

After the presentation Alistair Bratten presented Sally with a hamper of Flahavan’s products.

Springwell Running Club organisers of the series would like to thank Athletics NI, the sponsors Flahavan’s, Sally Brown, Dean Adams of Athletics NI, the staff of Roe Valley Leisure Centre, Ollie Mullan, Sports Development Officer, St Mary’s High School, Ambutran, parents, teachers and all the Springwell members who helped with the organisation and made it a wonderful experience for the youngsters.