The All-Ireland “B” championships and National Relays took place in Tullamore today. The “B” championships take place for athletes who did not medal in the regional championships and provides a competitive platform at national level.
In the National Relays and we had four teams that qualified from the regionals in June.
The boys u13 relay team, made up of Max, Jacques, Rares and Leon had a stormer of a heat coming 4th, but with it being the faster of the heats, they were just shy of making the final and placed 9th overall.
The boys u15 relay team were up next and theirs was a straight final. With the pressure on, the boys – Dylan,Keane,Oscar,Morgan (sub Ben) – pulled it out of the bag and raced home in bronze medal position. An absolutely brilliant result for all the hard work they have put in this season.
In the late afternoon, it was the girls turn. We had 2 teams out, the u14s and the u16s. The u14 girls, Eva, Ella, Sarah, Liliya (sub Ava) safely made it through their heat with a strong team run. They acquitted themselves well with a 7th place finish in the final.
Last up, the u16 girls, made up of Alicja, Isabella, Marianne and Meabh. They had a very strong heat race and the baton passes were slick. Their competition in the final was made up of teams who have been racing together for the last 6 years. It was a tough final but they raced home in 5th place which was an amazing finish for a squad that has really only been formed in the last year. A special shout out to Isabella, who stepped in as a sub for the nationals and was racing against girls 1-2 years older than her!
irst up we had Nikita Riecka in the u13 girls High Jump, who jumped a PB of 1.20m, which was no mean feat in the Tullamore rain. Next up, was Alex Cotter who ran in the u12 boys 60m sprint. Alex was 3rd in his heat and just shy of making the final but with a brand new pb. He had an epic run later in the day in the u12 boys 600m where he placed 4th (and another new pb and joint club record) with a very strong opening 400m and was just pipped at the line.
Eva McArdle had a stormer of a heat in the girls u14 80m sprint. She had a very strong showing in the final a short while later, coming 4th and giving a great performance.
Aoife Ferguson was our last individual competitor for the day and the wait was worth it as she brought home the bacon with a silver medal and a lifetime best of 1.45m. A great series of jumps saw her confidence rise and her technique honed. More to come from Aoife.
We also had the Combined Events competition last weekend in Morton Stadium. These are pentathlon events for juveniles, consisting of sprint hurdles, long jump, high jump, shot put and 800m all in one day. We had 4 competitors, Marianne and Sarah O’Farrell, Liliya Riecka and Aoife Ferguson. All acquitted themselves well and some had new pb’s to bring home with them. Aoife and Liliya had top 10 finishes in the u15 and u14 girls pentathlon respectively. Marianne finished 5th in the u16 girls and Sarah had an agonising 4th place finish in the u14 girls pentathlon. A great experience for all our athletes.
Clongriffin AC 