A hat-trick for O’Connor on super Sunday
ATHLETICS LEINSTER CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE U14-19 Leinster juvenile championships took place on Saturday and Sunday last in contrasting weather conditions in Tullamore. While Saturday was glorious and warm Sunday was wet and miserable with incessant rain.
In action for Dundalk St Gerards AC over the weekend were Ellen McBride, Patricia Jumbo-Gula, Ellen Murphy, Emily Molloy, Maria Smith, George Maas, Jamie Wynne, Patience Jumbo-Gula, Kate O’Connor and Scott Dorian.
In the U14 girls events Patricia Jumbo-Gula and Ellen McBride were in action first. Patricia performed well in the high jump and in the 200m Ellen qualified for the final with a strong run in her heat.
In the final which had an unbelievable 5 faulty starts before they got off on the 6th attempt Ellen’s inexperience probed a factor, but she finished strongly after a shaky start. On Sunday both girls ran strongly in their 80m heats to make the final.
In the decider Ellen put the previous day’s hard lessons to good use to spring from the blocks and ran strongly for a great 3rd place. Patricia will rue a missed chance on this occasion. A slow start all but put paid to her chance, but she finished fastest of all into 5th place just missing out on All Ireland qualification.
Ellen Murphy failed to get within half a metre of the board with her efforts in the long jump which unfortunately put paid to her chances of success. Nonetheless the jumps themselves were good in spite of this and she showed signs of continued improvement and remains an athlete of great future potential as she matures into her tall physique.
Emily Molloy ran a brave race in the U15 girls 800m giving her all and showing that with a good winters training behind her she can deliver on her undoubted potential. Maria Smith is just on her way back from an enforced lay-off due to injury.
In the U15 girls 100m despite being short of peak race fitness she showed she was going to be hard to beat, winning her heat in a close contest.
In the final once again she started well and showed her class to speed to a victory in a tight finish, understandably tying up a little towards the finish. Patience Jumbo-Gula was looking really strong cruising into the U16 girls 200m final.
In the decider she once again was in the process of running another cracker and starting to assert her authority on the race when a very unfortunate hamstring pull left her hobbling over the last 15m, but still remarkably finishing in 3rd place.
Inevitably this put an end to her participation for the weekend. The club would like to wish Patience a speedy recovery and return to her brilliant best.
Kate O’Connor had a busy weekend with four events to contend with in the U17 girls category. On Saturday she took an excellent silver medal in the shot putt with a best of 10.74m on the day.
In the long jump she showed brilliant consistency in her jumping with a best of 5.61m putting her well ahead of the rest and looking like she could be on the verge of a very big jump in the near future.
On Sunday Kate got the ball rolling again with another great victory in the javelin. While conditions weren’t good for throwing she never looked in any danger proving too strong for the rest.
In the 200m Kate was impressive in her heat coming well clear of her rivals. The final was a strong affair, but Kate once again showed tremendous speed and strength to power to another impressive victory on a very successful weekend’s competition.
Scott Dorian took on the provinces best in the U19 boys javelin. While his preparation has been interrupted this year he continued his progress with a solid performance and a best of 43.26m to take the silver medal.
In the inter county relay competition George Maas and Jamie Wynne joined with Glenmore’s Niall Brady and Joe Lennon of Mountpleasant to bring the Louth team a fine silver medal.
In the U15 girls event Ellen McBride and Maria Smith teamed up with Blackrock’s Sarah Morgan and Hannah Reilly.
The girls put in a brilliant performance sweeping to victory well clear of the other teams.
It was a good weekend for the club’s young athletes and they can continue to build on their achievements as the season progresses further.