Blackrock juveniles busy on two fronts
CARLINGFORD and Drogheda were the destinations visited by the athletes from Blackrock AC in the last few weeks as the Carlingford Road Races and Boyne AC Sports day provided the sporting tests as the track and field season heads towards its conclusion.
A small but hardy group tackled the road races, with Sean Reilly, Emmy Jeytoo, Rebecca Baldwin and Sam Jeytoo flying the flag for the club.
Sam got the ball rolling with an excellent performance in the Boys U9 500m storming home to secure a top 10 finish. This was followed by a solid showing by Emmy who just missed out on a medal in a tough Girls U11 750m. Sean battled hard to secure his medal in the Boys U13 1K and Rebecca demonstrated her prowess over the longer distances by finishing a brilliant second in a very competitive Girls U13 1K.
At the Boyne AC Sports day it was Faith Scanlon and Aisling Finegan who kicked things off for the club with an excellent showing in the U8 Girls 60m followed later on by solid performances in the 200m.
The boys U8’s were represented by Emmet Kearney and Cormac Greene. Both lads performed superbly to qualify for the 60m final just missing out on the medals in a hard fought race. The lads were back on track for the 200m where Cormac picked up a fine silver medal with Emmet not too far behind.
The girls and boys then joined forces for the 4 x 100m relay where all four gave their best only to be pipped for a place on the podium.
Sam Jeytoo and Jenny Hawe represented the U9’s, with Jenny doing well to qualify for the final of her 60m sprint. Both athletes battled hard to place well in the 200m and put up a great show in the U10 Long Jump competition. Later in the day Jenny teamed up with the girls U10’s for the 4 x 100m relay and was rewarded with a gold medal for her efforts.
The U10 Girls team consisted of Grace Reilly, Ailish Fee and Caoimhe Doherty and this squad GLENMORE AC athletes were busy last weekend with the All-Ireland Community Games championships in Abbotstown topping the bill.
The first event on Saturday provided plenty of reasons for their supporters to cheer. Firstly in the Girls 80m where Grace collected a fine bronze medal, next the U11 Turbo Javelin where Ailish threw a brilliantly to collect silver and finally the 4 x 100m relay where, with Jenny Hawe, the girls ran brilliantly to win gold.
Jack Greene and Finn Madine were the Boys U10 representatives on the day with both lads performing very solidly on the track and in the field. Although no medals were won at this particular meeting both lads can be proud of their efforts.
Emmy Jeytoo, Ruby Nolan, Erin Finegan and Anna Murphy made up the Girls U11 squad and all four competed admirably. Notable performances were provided by Anna who did well to qualify for the 80m final and Ruby who picked up a bronze medal in the Turbo Javelin.
The girls provided the leg power for a number of the relay teams with Erin picking up silver as part of the U11 mixed team.
Lauren Reilly, Katie Clarke and Rebecca Baldwin were the Girls U12 trio with Rebecca collecting a brilliant silver medal in the 500m. Lauren jumped a personal best in the Long Jump competition and, along with Emmy Jeytoo, the girls pushed hard but were just run out of the medals in the 4 x 100m relay.
Sean Reilly maintained his superb form to top the individual medal table for Blackrock AC on the day, kicking off the afternoon with a Gold in the Boys U12 100m, followed up with Bronze in the Long Jump, another hard won Gold medal in the 500m and another Silver in the 4 x 100m relay.
Not a bad day’s work for the multi-eventer who was pushed all the way as usual by teammate Ethan Doherty who joined him on the podium as part of the relay team.
The U16 Girls were represented by Hannah Reilly and Sarah Clarke with Hannah taking an individual gold medal in the 100m and both girls collecting Gold in the 4 x 100m relay.
The final name on the Blackrock AC roll of honour was Kellie Breen who maintained her fine form to morning was the Boys Under-12 relay where James Spain, Conor Litchfield, Cormac McCoy and Aaron Hanratty did the honours for the Cooley area.
In the Girls Under-12 relay collect two gold medals, firstly in the 100m which she followed up with a comfortable 800m win rounding off a fine day for the club.
Next up is the Ardee and District Rosalyn Connolly, Ava Brady, Emily Tuohy and Lisa Conlon narrowly missed out on qualifying to the finals.
In the Under-14 event Daragh Brady represented the area AC sports day where the club hope to end the season in fine style.
On the international front, club member Shauna McMahon was rewarded for her excellent form in the 100m sprint and Conor Litchfield in the Under-12 600m.
Craig Tuohy stepped up in the Under-10 200m and Lisa Conlon competed well in the Under-12 600m. this season with a call up to the Ireland squad for the recent Celtic games. This was a wonderful honour for a very fine athlete and one that the club is justifiably proud of.
Her sister Katie Conlon made it through to the final of the Under-14 800m on the Sunday afternoon, while Ciaran Flynn competed in the Under-16 1500m. ST PETER’S AC and St Joseph’s GFC say they are very proud to be jointly hosting the third annual Dromiskin 5k next month.
Dromiskin Fit Club established the event over the last two years and the other two community clubs hope to keep it going for a long time to come. Indeed, all three clubs recently came together to officially launch this year’s event, along with main sponsor Declan Loy of Viking Windows. It is a great example of community groups working together in sport.
This year’s race takes place on Saturday September 9th at 7pm and race entry costs €15 which includes a long-sleeve Technical shirt. This shirt was originally for the first 200 registered only, but since that number was reached with nearly a month to go the offer has been extended to the first 300.
You can register online at either stpetersac.com or thejoesgfc.com and there will of course be registration on the day as well. The event is fully AAI-approved and chip-timed and is open to everyone from the top runners to the casual walker.
There will be refreshments and presentations in the Joes Community Centre, followed by entertainment in the club bar that night.
The prizes for the top runners will go to Senior Men & Women 1st, 2nd and 3rd, Junior, Over40, Over-50 and Over-60 1st and 2nd, first club team of four men and women and spot prizes for random finishers.