The first race of 2006 was the international event held in the grounds of Stormont. Jennifer McBrien was the first Northern Ireland runner home in the girls’ Under 15 race, finishing in an excellent 5 th place. Good support from her team members secured second place for the team. The following week saw a large group of athletes travelling to Lurgan Park for the annual Lakeside cross country races which attracted large numbers of entries in all races. Wins were achieved by minor and junior girls and by minor boys to further add to the trophy cabinet.

With such success and good wins recorded against Belfast Royal Academy , St Mary’s Grammar, Magherafelt and Coleraine Academical Institute in inter schools competition, athletes were confident going into the District Championships at the end of January. Their optimism proved well founded when a record 4 individual and 4 team wins were recorded at the University of Ulster, Coleraine. Individual winners were Laura Douglas in minor girls, Jennifer McBrien in junior girls, Jonathan Douglas in minor boys and Joe McAllister in junior boys. Team winners were minor, junior and senior girls along with minor boys. All of these qualified for the Ulster finals along with individual runner, Natasha Henderson, in the intermediate age group and the team of senior boys, who finished second.

In the week before the Ulster Championships, a team of girls enjoyed the opportunity to travel via Easyjet to Glasgow to take part in the annual St Aloysius’ College Invitation Mixed Age Road Relay Race held in Kelvingrove Park . They arrived home with bronze medals, having secured a very creditable third place from a field of twenty teams.

Hutcheson’s Grammar from Glasgow were impressive winners with Emmanuel College from Gateshead second and Ballyclare High close behind in third.

The High School team consisted of :

Lucy Backus Year 8
Emma Cathcart Year 8
Orla Carmichael Year 9
Vanessa Surgeoner Year 9
Hannah Hamill Year 11
Kirstie Bell Year 13

The following week saw all the qualifiers from the Districts travel to Mallusk. Best performances in the Ulster Schools' Cross Country Championships held here were from Laura Douglas who was 4th, Jennifer McBrien who was 2nd, Jonathan Douglas who was 6th and Joe McAllister who was 4th in their respective races. Both minor and junior girls’ teams secured silver medals. The junior and senior girls’ teams qualified to run in the All Ireland finals.

In The Nestle All Ireland Schools' Cross Country Championships, held in Dublin on Saturday 4th March 2006 , Jennifer McBrien, running in the junior girls’ race, finished in 5th place. As a result, she was selected to run for Ireland in the Home Internationals which were held in England on 8th April. The junior girls’ team was the top Ulster team in this age group, finishing in 4th place. The senior girls’ team was 9th and Joe McAllister had an excellent 17th place in the junior boys’ race.

Towards the end of the season, the NEBSSA Championships were held in the Sixmilewater Park . Ballyclare High recorded four individual and four team wins in these Championships.

In the Year 8 girls’ race, which had 77 competitors, Laura Douglas was 1st, with Lucy Backus 3rd. They were well supported by Emma Cathcart in 5th position and Lucy Camlin in 8th to win the team trophy.

Year 9 girls were also team winners with Joanna Mills 2nd, Orla Carmichael 3rd, Jane Kennedy 8th and Kristina Gibson 9th. Jennifer McBrien was a clear winner amongst Year 10 girls, with an excellent 2nd for Hannah Todd. Lisa Armour and Kate Jones completed the winning team. The Year 11/12 team of Laura Heaton, Natasha Henderson, Hannah Hamill and Catherine Crawford finished runners-up in the team competition.

Year 8 boys had an entry of 119 with Jonathan Douglas gaining top spot. Having Ryan Audley fifth, Peter Ferguson seventh and Alix Scott seventeenth the team were winners out of 23 teams. The best Ballyclare High runner in Year 9 boys was Josh McIlroy in sixth. The team were eighth. Joe McAllister won the Year 10 boys with his team finishing second. Year 11/12 boys in the final race secured third place. Ballyclare High were awarded the overall team trophy.

For the second year in succession, Jennifer McBrien was selected to run for the Irish Schools’ Under15 team in the Home Countries International which, this year, was held at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. This event was very demanding but Jennifer helped her team gain bronze medals.

A record four athletes from Ballyclare High School represented Northern Ireland in the Adidas Mini London Marathon on April 23rd 2006 . They were part of a thirty six strong group from the province who joined hundreds of other athletes from throughout the United Kingdom . They raced over the final 4 km of the actual London Marathon route, finishing in the Mall just like the full marathon race. The four were Laura Douglas in the Under 13 girls, Jennifer McBrien in the Under 15 girls, Jonathan Douglas in the Under 13 boys and Joe McAllister in the Under15 boys.

Overall the past season was undoubtedly one of our most successful in recent years and credit must go to ALL athletes for their dedication to training and racing.Thanks are also due to Mrs McKee, Mr Moore and Mr Hollinger for all their encouragement during the year. (They are pretty fit too!)