Records hint at great year for Rock ace
ATHLETICS LEINSTER INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
AOIBHINN McMahon was the star of the show for Blackrock AC at last weekend’s Leinster Indoor Championships held in the Athlone Institute of Technology.
In an awesome performance in the Girls U15 shot putt Aoibhinn managed to break the championship record with no fewer than five out of her six throws, ending up with a best of 13.64m to claim gold. Given that this this sort of form has been reached so early in the season, who’s to say that Aoibhinn won’t smash many more records as the year progresses.
Also flying the club flag in the shot putt was Sarah Clarke who achieved a brilliant bronze medal in the Girls U16 event. It was great to see Sarah back in competitive action after being sidelined by injury and illness for most of last season.
Ciara O’Brien threw a superb 6.96m to finish a brilliant 6th in the final of the Girls U13 event and Lauren Reilly, one of many Blackrock athletes competing at this level for the very first time, was very unfortunate to miss out on a place in the Girls U12 shot putt final, just coming up short by a few centimetres.
Another debutant, Rebecca Baldwin, was the first athlete on track for Blackrock in the girls U12 600 metres heats. Leading right from the very start Rebecca stayed out in front to comfortably claim her place in the final, in which she performed admirably.
Lauren Reilly tried hard in her U12 600m heat and fell just short of a qualifying place for the final, but she gained a lot of experience from her first time at a Leinster Athletics event.
Sean Reilly was next on track in the boys U12 600m heats and produced a typical storming performance to qualify for the final just behind the event favourite from Mullingar AC.
In the final Sean gave his all but suffered the dreaded side stitch during the second lap which hampered him badly.
Despite this setback Sean jogged back across the track after the race to resume his participation in the U12 high jump and duly jumped a personal best of 1.21m to secure a silver medal in what was just his second competitive outing in the high jump.
Ethan Doherty, who was still recovering from the effects of illness earlier in the week, showed true grit and determination to complete his U12 600m heat despite not being at his best.
The ever-dependable Neasa Reilly was next up in the Girls U15 800m and after qualifying comfortably from her heat she produced another solid championship performance to snap up an excellent bronze medal in the final.
In the older age groups, Don- nacha Hughes battled hard in the Boys U16 800m final to run a very decent time, while Piper Kelly, on her competitive debut at any level, learned a lot in the Girls U16 800m and Kellie Breen, back in action after an exam year, did well to qualify for the final of the Girls U17 800m event. All ran three ran solidly and laid the foundations from which to build on in the season ahead.
With the long-distance events out of the way attention was turned to the 60m sprints and again Blackrock athletes didn’t let themselves down.
In an event where huge numbers take part and competition is exceptionally tough, Katie Clarke and Ethan Doherty just missed out on semi-final places, Rebecca Baldwin, Sean Reilly and Kirsten Doherty battled through to the semis but just came up short and in a strange turn of events Hannah Reilly, Sarah Clarke and Piper Kelly were all drawn against each other in the U16 Girls semi-final.
Hannah came out best and made it through to the final where she ran a personal best to finish 6th against some of the very best in Leinster, an exceptional achievement considering that a mix-up with the electronic timing system saw her initially excluded from the final and then called to take part at the last minute when the other athletes were on the start line.
In some of the other events Laura-Jane Hearty, a recent convert to the technically difficult 60m hurdles, was an impressive debutant in the Girls U16 final and in the Long Jump competitions, U12 Katie Clarke jumped a personal best and U16 Hannah Reilly jumped well but both finished just outside the medals.
Finally, Sarah Clarke and Hannah Reilly lined up in the semis of the Girls U16 200m, with Hannah making it through to the final where she clocked another personal best in a closely contested race.
All in all a gold, silver, two bronze medals and multiple personal bests provided a good return on the weekend’s efforts, testimony to the hard work put in by athletes and coaches alike.