No doubt about the highlight of the final round of the Team Trophy on Wednesday night at a dark and drizzly Mary Peters track. Amy Foster and Hannah Lewis went head to head in the 200m, Amy just taking it in 24.84 secs with Hannah 24.97 sec.. North Down did the Team Trophy Double for the first time since 2005, the men making it eight wins in a row and the women two wins in four years.

Jessica Craig had an outdoor pb at 800m and there were seasons bests from Francis Marsh at 800m, Tom Reynolds at 200m and Chris Summers at discus.

The girls put in a good solid performance with maximum points at 200m from Amy and Hannah and at discus from Gemma McAnirn, Melissa Free and Kathy Hetherington. Melissa and Gemma also had 2nd and 3rd at hammer and good points from Jessica at 800m and from Laura Laughlin at triple jump. Laura. Jessica, Hannah and Kim Shaw finished it off with 2nd in the 4 x 400m relay, doubling as the Northern Ireland Championship. That was a tough call as with light fading fast and the rain strengthening. the relay out of necessity came very soon after the 200m.

It has been anything but a vintage summer for the mens team but they did enough to hold their lead with maximum points at discus from Jeremy Harper, Michael McConkey and Tom and good points from Tom and Kenny Elliott at 200m and from Francis and Chris at 800m and hammer.

Athletics Northern Ireland, the governing body of the sport, are pleased to announce that six athletes have been selected to represent Northern Ireland in the 3rd Commonwealth Youth Games to be held in Pune, India 12-18 October, 2008. NI Commonwealth Games Council yesterday announced the full team heading to the games- a total of 19 athletes across six sports. Over the last few months, local young athletes have been striving to reach the times required for selection and should be commended for their hard work, effort and persistence. Nine athletes met the consideration standard but however only six places were available. Two North Down athletes are among the six, Hannah Lewis at 200m and long jump and Ben Reynolds at high jump and 110m hurdles.

Along with Coach/Manager  Jackie McKernan, the following athletes will travel to India:

Ciara Mageean 800m &1500m
Gaby McNally Hammer
Curtis Woods 200m & 400m
Hannah Lewis 200m & Long Jump
Ben Reynolds High Jump & 110m Hurdles
Edward Mourbey Pole Vault

The III Commonwealth Youth Games will be held in Pune, India 2008.It is for the first time in history that Commonwealth Youth Games are being held in Asia, in India. The city of Pune, the cultural capital of Maharashtra and a fast growing Metropolis, will host the 3rd Commonwealth Youth Games between 12 - 18 October in 2008 with the for 9 disciplines; Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling.

Over 1,300 athletes and 350 Officials from 71 countries will participate in the games. It is for the first time that this multi-sporting event is going to be held at a single venue – the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune.

Our congratulations go to the six athletes selected and to all nine athletes who worked so hard this season to pass the consideration standard.

A dozen or more club runners turned out on Friday at a very wet Ards 5 Mile Challenge. Outstanding runs came from Simon Seaton in 2nd and Brian Barron in 6th, Brian coming nine seconds away to beating the U17 course record. Jessica Craig and Debbie Matchett were 2nd and 4th in the womens race. The race was won by Andrew Gourley of Willowfield. The organisers had quite a job to unscramble the results, a task made difficult by the majority of the paper numbers falling away due to the heavy rain.

North Down AC times. Simon Seaton 27:18; Brian Barron 29:29; John McGarvey 34:05; Chris Denny 34:32; Jonathan McGrath 34:35; Pat McMullan 34:42; Jessica Craig 34:37; Debbie Matchett 34:57; Sarah Benton 39:18; Pat O"Driscoll 40:01; Darren Houston 40:52; Hugh Young 41:41.

At the Celtic Games in Grangemouth on Saturday the Ulster U16 boys team were 2nd and U18 boys and girls and U16 girls were all 4th. In the U18 boys, Mark Patterson was 2nd at 800m in 1:56.86 min, the race going to Stuart Ross of Scotland in 1:55.90. Gareth Irvine was 4th at discus with 39.42m.  Conor McGrattan was 3rd at U16 javelin with 44.32m. In the girls, Kathy Hetherington was 3rd at U18 discus with 28.17m and Sarah Newell was 4th at U16 javelin with 28.58m.