Vincent’s All-Ireland joy
ST VINCENT’S athletes proved themselves to be top contenders at the Irish Life Health All Ireland Schools Track and Field Championships held at the Tullamore Harriers stadium.
In the junior girls 800m Neasa Reilly was on form in a quality line-up. She ran a confident race, keeping with the pack for the first lap and making her move in the second. In a faster second lap Neasa worked her way into third position which she maintained as she crossed the finish line. This adds to her All-Ireland bronze cross-country medal which Neasa won earlier this year, proving herself to be a top contender at both middle and long distance.
In the junior girls field events Aoibhín McMahon was once again in record breaking form, having for the second year in a row broken both the javelin and shot putt records at the Leinster finals.
In the shot putt, she threw close to a personal best and finished in the silver medal position. In the javelin competition Aoibhín added another national record to her repertoire, throwing 44.99m and finishing well ahead of the competition to take the gold medal. Aoibhín now holds both the minor shot putt and junior javelin national records.
Kate O’Connor was on form and proved herself as a force to be reckoned with in the intermediate shot putt and javelin events. In the shot Kate threw confidently and finished in the gold medal position. She also added her name to the record books in the intermediate javelin competition, having broken the Leinster record in qualification. She threw a distance of 45.65m, smashing the previous long-held record of 44.32m which was set in 1982.
St Vincent’s are well renowned for their expertise in the relay events and this year was no exception. In the junior girls 4x100m competition the seasoned team of Ellen Mc Bride, Sarah Morgan, Maria Smith and Sarah Clarke were top contenders in this highly competitive field having won this event at minor level in 2016 and set a new national record in the process.
They were somewhat out of form this season, having been narrowly beaten into second place at the Leinster championships, but on the big day the girls rose to the occasion.
Sarah Morgan got off to a great start, passing to Ellen McBride who confidently extended the lead on the straight. Sarah Clarke ran a strong bend, passing to Maria Smith who had to dig deep to secure the gold medal in what was a thrilling race. The girls set a personal best time of 51.00sec.
In the intermediate 4x100m relay competition the experienced team of Patience Jumbo-Gula, Kate O’Connor, Kelly Breen and Gemma McCrave executed a flawless performance from start to finish, taking the top honour in this event in a time of 49.44s.
In the team rankings St Vincent’s were award second place in the junior category, missing out on the top position by just one point. The intermediate girls team also achieved second position in the national rankings on what was an exceptionally successful day for the school.