Bell has starring role for his club
GABRIEL Bell was officially confirmed as a ‘star’ on Saturday night as he collected the Louth Juvenile Star Award at the Athletics Leinster Awards in Carlow’s Seven Oaks Hotel.
Gabriel enjoyed another fine season last year and his fantastic performances at both the outdoor and indoor Leinster championships and various track and field events merited him the accolade. This was no more than this fine young athlete deserved for his dedication, matched with his natural athletic ability. He is also well-known throughout the county as a very capable footballer and lines out with St Joseph’s and last year was an important member of the Louth Under-15 team.
On Sunday some of our younger athletes made the short journey to Cushinstown to take part in their annual indoor sports day. In total the club had 15 athletes compete, all aiming to be as good as Gabriel in the future.
The O’Reilly twins Emily and Hannah were the first into action, with both qualifying from their respective heats and running well in the Under-9 60m final. Orla McLoughlin started off her year in fine form with a silver medal in the Under-10 60m sprint and third place in the long jump out of age with a jump of 3.09m.
Dearbhla Allen ran well in the Under-11 60m heat and narrowly missed out on a final place. Harry O’Reilly ran a very strong heat in the Boys Under-11 to qualify for the final and was unlucky not to medal.
In the Girls Under-12 events the club had three athletes competing and all did well for their first outing for the season, with Ellie Smyth, Isibeal Fitzpatrick and Lucy Breenan performing well - as did Jack McLaughlin in the Boys Under-12 events.
Niamh Brady was the shining light for the Girls Under-13s when she collected three medals with a second-place finish in the 60m hurdles, second in the long jump with a leap of 3.90m and third in the high jump out of age with a jump of 1.31m. Julie McLoughlin and Lucy Smith both performed well, making the finals of the sprints and hurdles.
The Boys Under-13 athletes were also on form, with both Sean Allen and Ronan Deerey making the finals of the 60m sprints and hurdles, with Sean finishing second in the hurdles final and Ronan third. Ronan then finished off the day by finishing second in the shot putt with a throw of 8.03m.
St Peter’s athletes and their parents are reminded that registration for 2017 is due and athletes cannot compete or train with the club if they are not registered members.