Young guns in very hot form
Medals galore in Tullamore
THE IRISH Life Health Irish Junior and Under-23 track and field championships were held on Saturday in Tullamore in sweltering heat.
The exceptionally warm weather proved no deterrent to Wexford athletes who made their presence felt on track and in the jumping and throwing events.
Joseph Mooney of Adamstown got the day off to a great start with a comfortable victory in the Under-23 5k walk.
His clubmate, Ryan Carthy-Walsh, cleared two metres in the high jump to win the Junior title. A third member of the club, Marguerite Furlong, took bronze in the Junior discus with a throw of 32.52 metres.
It was also a good day for Menapians. Róisín O’Reilly, who will represent Ireland at the S.I.A.B. schools international meet in Glasgow on July 21, had an impressive win in the Junior 3,000m steeplechase, her first time running this distance in the event and her first time running the Juniors.
David McDonald, who was a member if the Irish Junior relay team which set a new national record in Germany, had an impressive victory in the Junior 100m heat but unfortunately, due to a minor injury, took the sensible precaution of forgoing the final.
Mel O’Callaghan was fifth in his heat of the 60m and sixth in his 200m heat in the Under-23 category.
Shaun Donohue won his heat of the Under-23 400m in a time of 52.22. He upped the pace in the final, going sub-50 to take bronze in a time of 49.82 seconds.
Aaron Tierney-Smith came very close to the medals, finishing fourth in the 110m hurdles, but he can take consolation in breaking the 15-second barrier, clocking 14.99. Aaron went on to place second in his 200m heat and finished fifth in the final in a time of 22.62 seconds.
D.M.P. had a throws double with Peter O’Shea throwing 53.56 metres to win the Under-23 javelin. Peter had four throws over 50 metres in the competition, with his best throw of 53.56 metres coming in the fifth round.
Lystus Ebosele completed the throws double for D.M.P. by winning the Junior women’s shot with a big throw of 12.24 metres in the fifth round. Lystus also medalled in the discus, taking silver with a throw of 38.86 metres.
The club’s Shane Parle was involved in an exciting Under-23 high jump competition. His clearance of 1.85 metres tied him for first place, but after countback he ended up with the silver. Nothing wrong with that.
Jacob English performed best of the Enniscorthy A.C. contingent, taking silver in the Junior triple jump with his best effort of 11.93m coming in the fifth round.
Chris St. Clair Johnson was involved in a thrilling 400m final. He went below the 50-second barrier in the final, clocking a time of 49.88 seconds to finish fourth.
James Fortune was fourth in the Under-23 high jump and fifth in the long jump. Ross Daly was fourth in his Junior 200m heat in a time of 23.41 seconds.
Amy Forde of St. Killian’s threw a P.B. of 37.33m to take bronze in the Junior hammer.
Many of these athletes will be in action again at the Sports Hub in Enniscorthy at the first round of the Mr Oil Wexford county Senior track and field championships this Wednesday.
D.M.P. had two medal winners and a number of strong placings at the first of the All-Ireland under-age championship days in Tullamore on Sunday.
In the girls’ Under-12 shot putt, Shannon Codd won a silver medal with a best effort, and new P.B., of 8.18m. Indeed, she beat her old P.B. three times in the competition!
Michael Kent was third in the boys’ Under-12 high jump with a P.B. of 1.35m. In the boys’ Under-12 long jump, Kevin O’Mahony narrowly missed making the podium with a jump of 4.39m. Layla Stafford just missed the final eight in the Under-12 long jump.
Ruby Reynolds of Menapians was sixth in the Under-13 long jump with 4.53m.
As always, Bree A.C. was strongly represented in the younger ages. Both the girls’ Under-11 and boys’ Under-10 4 x 100m teams placed seventh.
In long jump pairs, Shane Laffan and Billy Doyle were fifth. P.J. Breen and Jayden Kenny were seventh in the Under-10 long jump and twelfth in the 60m sprint.
Lea Bolger and Ava Doyle placed sixth in the Under-10 long jump, while Kiera Wilson and Ciara Laffan were fifth in the Under-11 long jump.
At the Mannheim Gala on June 23 and 24, not only did Menapians athlete David McDonald play his part in the Irish Junior 4 x 100m team placing second, getting a P.B. of 40.30s and achieving qualification for the World Juniors, he also was fifth fastest in the timed 200m heats, running a time of 21.48s.
The Wexford Senior track and field championships this Wednesday sees the best athletes in the county, plus guests from further afield, come together to do battle. Spread over two days, the event is the highlight of the Athletics Wexford summer programme.
The top clubs will be vying to win the perpetual Br. Egan Cup. The programme also includes Novice and Masters events. The second day of the championships follows on July 11.
Fixtures: July 4, Mr Oil Wexford Senior track and field championships (day one), Enniscorthy; July 7, Irish Life Health Juvenile ‘B’ championships and Under-12 to Under-19 relays, Tullamore; July 8, Irish Life Health National League round two, Athlone and Santry; July 11, Mr Oil Wexford Senior track and field championships (day two), Enniscorthy; July 14 and 15, Irish Life Health national track and field Juvenile day one and day two, Tullamore; July 16, Cork City Sports, Cork I.T.; July 19, Morton Games, Santry.