Boyne athletes give it their best
THE Leinster Juvenile Relay Championships took place in Leixlip recently, where six Boyne AC teams all gave it their best to rank amongst the top teams in the province.
The U-9 Boys event saw a superb run from Calum Byrne, Cormac McEvoy, Tadgh Forde Dunne and Luca McLoughlin, with the boys easily winning their heat and following up with a fantastic second-place finish in the final.
Boyne’s U-10 boys team of Oliver Carolan, Lorcan Forde Dunne, Cormac McEvoy and Alex Robertson also qualified for their final, but a difficult baton change left them just short of a medal position, finishing fourth overall.
The U-11 boys team also made it to the finals thanks to a strong performance from Ronan Thompson, Shea O’Donnell, Sean Cummins and Emmet McEvoy.
Previous All-Ireland relay champions Killian Ekhator, Amitesh Bala, Paddy Price and Alex Devine once again proved an unstoppable force as they pulled out all the stops to ensure a win in the U-12 boys event.
Boyne U-13 girls fought hard in their tough heat to qualify for the final, but were unlucky to place just outside the medals despite a great effort from Saran Meiete, Favour Obama, Louise Sodiya and Siofra Devine.
Last, but by no means least, the U-14 quartet of Anna Faulkner, Lily Cummins, Sophie Gartland and Saran Meite had a dramatic end to their day, as a re-run of their final saw them move from fourth to second, earning them well-deserved Leinster silver medals. Both the U-9 boys and U-12 boys, along with the U-14 girls, all now qualify for the National finals in June.
Last Friday night saw the young athletes from Boyne revel in the glorious sunshine as they took part in the annual beach races hosted by Blackrock AC, with some great results across all age groups.
Girls U-10 - Sholah Lawrence 1st, Chloe Cooney 4th, Kate Culhane, Isabelle Hearty, Juliette Hurley. Boys U-10 - Oliver Carolan 2nd, Calum Byrne, Luca McLoughlin. Girls U-12 - Eimear Cooney, Isabella Garcia, Ally Garcia, Libby Boylan. Boys U-12 - Shea O’Donnell 1st. Girls U-14 - Anna Faulkner 1st. Boys U-14 - Neil Culhane, Adam Byrne.
Not to be out-done by the youngsters, an impromptu senior relay team took a well-deserved gold medal win, with some dramatic baton changes and a super strong sprint finish from the dynamic team of club chairman and coach Keith Byrne and coaches Rebecca Carolan, Liam Cooney and Robbie Faulkner.
A little further afield, Ruth McCabe took part in the Liverpool Rock and Roll half-marathon, taking three minutes off her previous best time, to cross the line in 2hr 11min, while Christine Kennedy ran well in the 5k event.