Glee for McGuinness in National sprint decider
DROGHEDA & District’s Lee McGuinness was rewarded for all his hard work and dedication to his training when things came right for him in Sunday’s National Juvenile Track and Field Championships in Tullamore.
Running in the 200m, McGuinness ran a scorching last 50m to come through the field and earn his second national medal -a bronze - with a time of 23.19sec.
Cormac Canning was 9th in the U17 Boys 1500m in a lively 4:18.73.
Elsewhere, young Harry Caffrey did a double of sorts when winning two medals at the National B Track and Field Championships in Tullamore on Saturday.
Caffrey ran a huge PB time of 2:16.62 to take the silver medal in the U16 Boys 800m and later in the day he jumped 4.87m to get bronze in the long jump. Erikas Dvarionas finished fourth in both of these events when running 2:20.49 in the 800m and jumping 4.63m.
Senan Gough ran 11.76 in his 80m to qualify for the final where he finished seventh in 11.82 and Kate O’Reilly was eighth in her 800m in 2:52.89.
In the U16 Girls 800m Abigail Tegart was seventh in 2:48.75 and Moya McCabe was ninth in 2:56.02.
Brian Martin finished sixth in Sunday’s Dunleer 4 Mile Road Race, running a useful 22:12 for this very challenging course, with fellow D&D athlete Martin Russell 37th in 27:17. Nuala Reilly was 61st in 28:23 and Elva Maree ran 33:00 when finishing 141st.
Last Thursday saw the fifth and final meeting in our Track and Field series take place at a rather cold and windy Lourdes Stadium and events on the night were the 100m, 400m and 1500m.
There were some fine individual performances in the 100m, one of which was Frank Cruise who won the B race in 13.1.
The 100m A race was a treat to watch as Andrew Kelly flew up the track to win in 11.3, with Ephan Donnelly second in 11.7 and Karl Carton third in 12.1.
There was a top-class performance from Patrick Fagan (Mullingar AC) who won the 400m A race in a superb 51.4, with Hugh Callan third in 56.45 and Paul Stuart seventh in 59.10.
Karl Carton won the B2 race in 57.97, with Harry Caffrey second in 59.82.
In the 400m C race, Frank Cruise stepped up in distance when finishing second in 70.37. David Thornton ran well to win his 400m D race in 68.13, with Phillipa Donnelly sixth in 79.36 and Barbara O’Donnell eighth in 84.15.
In the longest event of the meeting, the 1500m, David Walsh ran a fine 4:31 to finish second in the A race, with Robbie Maher third in 4:41. Shane Larkin was fourth in 4:42 and Kevin Clancy sixth in 4:52.
The B 1500m saw Colm Reilly finish third in 4:49.05 and Pat O’Grady fourth in 4:49.47, with Pamela Howard clocking a fine 4:56 to finish seventh.
It’s not often that our athletes get to take part in an International athletics meeting, but competing in the 800m C race at the Morton Games in Santry Stadium was Kieran McGrath who recently won a National Masters title at this distance.
Running in front of the large crowd seemed to inspire McGrath as he sped round the track to finish sixth in a sparkling new PB time of 1:57.48.
In the 800m D race, young James Nolan again just missed out on going sub two minutes when finishing third in 2.00.59 after having to make the pace with a lap to go.
Orla O’Connor, who’s running consistently well, ran a fine race to finish 10th in her 800m B race in 2:17.32.
Eight members took part in last Saturday’s IMC/Le Cheile Track Meeting in Leixlip.
Jim Nolan had a solid run at last Wednesday’s Business Houses 5k in Irishtown. Nolan, who’s starting to show some good form ran 21:24 for the distance when finishing 68th overall.
A little further afield at the St Brigid’s AC 5k in Oldcastle, prolific racer Colm Reilly ran well to finish eighth overall in 18:04, with his mum Nuala Reilly winning her category when finishing 62nd in 22:10.
An unusually warm and humid morning made things difficult for members who took part in the weekly Oldbridge Parkrun.
Tony Corcoran was the club’s first finisher in 16th place in 23:03, with Declan McMahon close behind in 18th place with 23:10. Martin Woods ran well to record a new personal best of 25:39 when finishing 28th.
Jennifer Gregory was the club’s first lady home in 62nd place in 33:22, a new best for her, and also running were Theresa Woods (34:48) and Audrey Corcoran (38:40).