A golden day for Boyne
IT was a case of ‘better late than never’ from a Boyne AC perspective as the postponed day four of the Leinster Indoor Championships finally went ahead in Athlone IT on Sunday.
Among those topping the bill on the day was distance runner Ruarcan O’Gibne, who give a thumbs-up as he sailed across the finish line in first place in the Boys Under-19 800m, making it look effortless in a time of 2:00.78.
Also starring for Boyne were hurdlers Tara Meier and Aaron Fennell who both took gold and both recorded PB times. In the Under-17 girls - a straight final - Meier clocked 8.91sec, while Aaron ran a super 10.17 to win his heat in the Under-13 boys competition and then knocked a whopping 0.2sec off his time to finish first in the final in a time of 9.97! He also took silver in the shot putt with a new PB of 10.13m.
All three of these medallists qualified for the upcoming National Finals.
In the Under-12 600m, Cross-Country national medal winner Shea O’Donnell ran a fast heat to finish third in 1:48.32, but struggled to stay with the leading pack in the final, clocking 1:49.78 to finish fifth overall. Sean Cummins finished sixth in his heat, but was unlucky not to qualify for the final, as was Daragh Peters who finished a fine seventh in his heat and also competed well in the long jump.
Eimear Cooney ran a strong Cross-Country Championships led to a below-par performance from the girls. Caer Ni Ghibne ran a solid heat to qualify for her final and finished in a fine sixth place overall.
Killian McLoughlin and Christian Quinn ran 2:26.89 and 2:27.77 respectively to finish sixth in their respective heats of the Under-16 Boys 800m. Also running on tired legs from the day before, Tom Cummins made a good effort in the Under-17 Boys straight 800m final, finishing 12th, while Tadgh Everitt Thompson ran a super 2:14.31 to finish ninth in the Under-18 Boys race.
In the Girls Under-17 race Cliodhna Nolan ran well to finish seventh overall in 2:42.06, while in the Girls Under-16 60m hurdles Lili O’Connor ran a fine 10.01sec, finishing fourth overall and qualifying for the National finals next Sunday.
Also in action recently, some of Boyne AC’s senior members took to the roads of Bohermeen to compete in the annual spring half-marathon.
First to cross the line for the club, Nicky Veale and Sarah-Jane Ruddy could not be separated, both clocking a time of 2:02, with Karen Fairclough finishing in 2:07.
Mairead Hallinan was delighted with her new PB time of 2:10, knocking a whopping 25 minutes off her previous half-marathon time, while training partner Patricia Gaughran was delighted with her 2:28 in her first-ever race over the 13.1-mile distance.