The Academy Newsletter 2015 9
Girls’ Sport This year we had record numbers attend Netball training with over 170 girls taking part. The Minor B and Junior B teams reached their League Finals, with the Minor B team winning against Grosvenor (12-4). The Minor A reached the semi-final of the Northern Ireland Plate competition and both the Junior A and Senior A teams reached the semi-final of the Northern Ireland Shield competitions. Representative Honours: U15 Regional Development Squad - Julliah Allen; U19 Belfast Area Schools’ Squad: Abbie Brown, Kellie McLean, Emer Gribbon, Lauren McCullough, Lori Turkington and Rachel Miller. The Form I Hockey Club was attended by approximately 30 girls every Saturday morning. The girls finished runners-up in their section at the Grosvenor tournament and then went on to win the Lynsey Waller Memorial tournament winning all of their matches. The 1st XI and 2A teams captained by Robyn Geddis and Lucy Browne respectively demonstrated huge potential and we look forward to next season with a great deal of optimism. The 2B team captained by Kate Taggart demonstrated genuine team-spirit losing only three of their 15 games played. The U15 team, captained by Hannah Marshall, demonstrated excellent team-spirit going on to win The Owls Cup, which is presented to the School team with the highest percentage of wins. Hockey representative honours were awarded to: Erin Getty Ulster & Irish U18, Lucy Miller Belfast U17, Anna Wilson Belfast U17, Lucy Stewart Belfast U17, Alice Reid Belfast U17 & Ulster U17 Development Squad, Charlotte Anderson U15 Regional Development Squad & Belfast U15, Trinity Geddis U15 Regional Development Squad & Belfast U15, Harriet Dougan U15 Regional Development Squad & Belfast U15, Ellie Bradley Belfast U15, Naomi McGuckin Belfast U15, Julia Uprichard U15 Regional Development Squad and Rachel Duff U15 Regional Development Squad.
In the District Cross Country Championships, two teams finished 3rd allowing both to progress to the Ulster Championships. The Intermediate team’s top finishers were Rioghnach Catney, Ellen Dalzell and Jessica North. Rioghnach and Ellen finished 4th and 9th respectively and qualified as individuals. The Senior team consisted of Amy O’Donnell, Hannah Lau and Clodagh Poots. Amy qualified as an individual finishing a very impressive 9th. In the Mini Girls’ District race (Form I) the two highest finishers were Aoife Corry (16th) and Bryanna Catney (19th). At Minor level (Form II) Rachel Duff was the highest finisher in her team in 16th place. In the Junior section Harriet Dougan (15th) and Thomasa Kennedy (21st) were the highest finishers. Harriet Dougan progressed to the Ulster Championships as an individual where she finished a superb 14th to qualify for the Irish Championships. Twenty-one pupils qualified at the District Athletics Championships for the Ulster Championships, winning 10 Gold, 5 Silver and 10 Bronze medals in the process. At the Ulster Championships, the team brought home 5 Gold, 2 Silver and 5 Bronze medals. Highlights included Hannah Hill (Minor High Jump), Harriet Dougan (Junior Pole Vault), Katie Ritchie (Inter Pole Vault), Melissa Moffett (Senior Pole Vault & Hammer) all becoming Ulster Champions.
and Sam Brown played for Irish U15. The U14 team is playing in the Irish Cup in June. During the Life Saving Ulster Championships we won 3 medals in the Junior, Senior and Open categories. In January and February pupils competed for the GB Squad (Sinead Gourley) at a Junior competition in Holland called the BeNe Cup, and Eorann O’Neill for the Senior team who went to Germany to compete in the European Championships. At the end of February the School team went to the Scottish National Championships where they won 4 Senior medals. At the British National Championships in March at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, we met Olympic and World Champion Mark Foster and won 10 medals: 6 Junior medals, 3 Senior medals and 1 Open medal. The Life Saving team set 6 New British Records and this year 6 members were selected for the GB Squad including: Sinead Gourley and Sam Brown. N. Nicholl
“Julliah Allen, Judithe Allen & Amy O’Donnell finished 2nd in the Ulster Schools’ Senior Golf Championships”
The Irish Athletics Championships took place in Tullamore at the end of May. Harriet Dougan and Katie Ritchie finished second in the Junior and Intermediate Girls' Pole Vaults respectively. Other athletes recorded personal bests and were very much in the mix for medals. In swimming, Sinead Gourley and Sam Brown were selected for the Ulster Swimming Squad. In February five pupils entered for the Irish Minor Schools’ competition in Dublin, where Scarlett Armstrong and Monica Del Castillo made the finals of their events. The Water Polo girls finished 3rd in the Irish U16 and U19 Championships and placed 2nd in the U16 and U19 Irish Schools’ Cup. Maeve Gallagher and Ashley Johnston were selected for Ulster U16. Maeve was also selected for Irish U17
In recent years, Pole Vaulting has flourished into a strong and successful athletics event for the Academy. Talented athletes continue to emerge & develop in school - this year alone saw 5 girls (Melissa Moffett, Katie Ritchie, Trinity Geddis, Harriet Dougan & Darcey Collins) medal at the 3 main championship meetings. Melissa, Katie & Harriet all became Ulster Pole Vault Champions at the Antrim Forum in May.