Boyne duo battling it out with the best
THE historical Irish Life Health Tailteann Interprovincial Games provided another exciting day of athletics in Morton Stadium recently, with two of Boyne ACs star athletes battling it out against the very best in the land.
The annual Tailteann Games is an inter-provincial schools competition, with the top 3 from each event in the intermediate category of the provincial competition qualifying for a place on their provincial team.
With success at Leinster level, both Tara Meier and Ruarcan O’Gibne achieved the grade to be selected as part of the Leinster team, with O’Gibne also chosen to captain the mens team.
The games are also a qualifier for the SIAB Schools international team, with the top two from each event selected to represent Ireland in this prestigious competition.
Ruarcan O’Gibne was first to compete in a very competitive 800m that included the top 3 from the Schools All Irelands Championships.
Tactically Ruarcan ran the perfect race, as he went through the first 400m in 58secs, sitting in 3rd place, just a fraction off the leader Aaron Mangan.
Into the final lap, he moved up to 2nd place, and onto the shoulder of Mangan, and with just 150m to go he moved into the lead and made his run for the line.
In a nail-biting final few metres, current national champion Cormac O’Rourke passed Ruarcan on the finishing straight but he finished very strongly to comfortably hold onto second place in a new PB time of 1.57.37 and securing his place on the national team, for the second time, for the upcoming schools international.
It was then time for talented hurdler, Tara Meier to make her mark in the 80m hurdles race.
As the youngest participant in the event she is still eligible to compete in the same category next year, and had already proved her up and coming status by qualifying as part of the Leinster team following a long recovery from a broken ankle last year.
Completely unfazed by the level of competition, Tara composed herself for the perfect start, and executed a great race over the 80m distance.
It was hard to separate the top 3 at the finish line with all clocking a very impressive 11.77, however, after a nervous 10 minute wait for the photo finish to be examined, Tara was confirmed as finishing in 2nd position and another place on for the club on the International team.
Boyne A.C. are certainly making their mark on the international scene, as they now boast three athletes competing for their country at international level this year, with Amy McTeggart also selected for two international teams.
The SIAB international will take place in Santry Stadium on July 15th where Ireland will compete against England, Scotland and Wales.