The past weekend saw club athletes competed at Senior level for the first time when our u17 and U18 boys lined out in the Irish Senior Indoor Championship in the NIA.
This was a big step up to Senior athletics but the athletes acquitted themselves very well. First up was Patryk Pucek in the Men’s High Jump. Going into the event ranked 5th, Patryk had a very composed performance and came within a whisker of a National Senior medal. After an early failure Patryk went on a strong run of clearances and when the bar was raised to 1.90m there were only 4 athletes left, so a Top 4 was confirmed but a medal was still up for grabs.
The nuances of high jump competition came into play then as the other three men left cleared 1.90m while Patryk, who failed on his first two attempts knew that clearing 1.90m on his final effort would not be enough and he would have to gamble and pass and move onto the next height for his final effort. With the bar set at 1.93m, this would have been a 5cm PB, Patryk came so close to clearing it. A mightly leap and despite the bar initially staying in position, it wobbled slightly and eventually dropped off. So close but in the end it was 4th for Patryk, a performance to be proud of.
Next up was the Men’s 4 x 200m and with 11 teams entered it involved two heats with winners and medals decided on time. The quartet was Dylan Brennan, Keane Wosser, Jaden Hagan-Frank and Patryk Pucek, swapping the high jump mat for the relay baton.
A tough heat draw saw the boys in with some pre-race favourites including Titans, Clonliffe Harriers and Raheny Shamrocks. Dylan set off from the blocks and after a storming run handed over in second place. Keane took over and after a strong first bend maintained that position throughout and handed off to Jaden who ripped his way around the 200m lap and consolidated the team position and handed over to Patryk on the final leg. Fresh from his high jump exploits, Patryk kept his composure and despite big pressure from Clonliffe Harriers in the final 50m, he closed it out in second place.
A nervous wait followed to see the results of Heat 2 and whether two teams in that heat would run faster. Ratoath were well ahead and won their heat and overall but all eyes were on Nenagh Olympic and whether they would pass the Clongriffin time and take bronze. They did, and it was another 4th place overall. But again a super effort and debut from the boys at a Senior level.
After his heroics on the first leg of the relay the previous evening, Dylan returned on Day 2 to compete in the Men’s 60m heats and rubbing shoulders with athletes like Bori Akinola. And Dylan didn’t disappoint, dipping under 7.20 again for the third time this season and placing 4th in his heat. It wasn’t enough this time to progress to the next round but huge progress over the past few months, especially considering Dylan is only doing the sport for less than two years.
Clongriffin AC 