Patience is a virtue for Irish relay team
County teams into nationals
FOR the second week running the athletes of Dundalk St Gerard’s AC were in action on both the international and domestic fronts.
Straight from the European U18 Championships the previous week Patience Jumbo-Gula was back on the plane to Finland for the world U20 Championships as part of the 4 x 100 relay team. Back in the more familiar surroundings of Tullamore Grainne Moran and Maria Smith were competing at the All Ireland juvenile championships.
On Friday Patience took to the track in the World Championships semi-finals as part of the Irish relay team where she was joined by former club mate and Blackrock AC member Gina Akpe-Moses, Molly Scott and Rhasidat Adeleke. With an excellent display the girls stormed into the final winning their semi final, qualifying as second fastest team behind Germany.
In the final the girls were drawn in lane five with Ciara Neville replacing the unfortunate Rhasidat who injured her hamstring in the semi final. A good start from Molly followed by a strong back straight by Gina and solid bend by Ciara had the girls right in contention as the final changeover approached. A slight delay with the handover saw Patience slip to 4th place as she secured the baton.
She kept her composure to storm down the home straight into second place and almost catching the German team to secure a superb silver medal.
The performance of the team was tremendous and to have someone involved that you have seen progress right from from their school sports all the way to the world stage is a very proud moment. The World u20 Championships are a biannual event and Patience will still be eligible for the 2020 renewal, but if she can continue her progress hopefully the Tokyo Olympic Games could well be her preferred option at that point.
On Saturday Grainne Moran took to the track for the U12 girls 600m at the All Ireland juvenile championships in Tullamore, looking to continue her recent rich vein of form. With another smart tactical run she controlled the pace and made her move on the back straight keeping on strongly after being passed by the eventual winner to secure an excellent silver medal in a new PB of 1:45.42.
On Sunday once again she took to the track for the THE ARGUS
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
60m sprint. With a good second place she made it to the final as an automatic qualifier. In the final she gave another strong display just missing out on the podium in fourth place. Maria Smith was in action in the U17 girls 100m which with the absence of the European U18 200m champion Rhasidat Adeleke looked a wide open event and a great opportunity for some of the other athletes to stake their claim on the title.
With a solid run she qualified for the final with a third place finish in the semi final. In the final she once again performed well to finish strongly in sixth place in a good contest.
The St Gerard’s club is currently on a summer training break and will return on Wednesday 15th August. BOTH the Louth men’s and women’s track & field teams have qualified for next month’s National League Finals in Tullamore after impressive performances in their second-round fixture at Santry.
The women’s team, who had only been promoted to the Premier Division this year following their second-place finish in Division 1 in 2017, were particularly impressive as they topped the points table among the seven teams competing in their group in Dublin. The men’s team also held their own in a very competitive group of six teams in Division 1.
Most importantly, both teams qualified for next month’s final by finishing among the top eight teams overall. The women were ranked sixth and the men seventh after the two qualifying rounds and in both cases they were comfortably ahead of the teams ranked ninth and lower, for whom the 2018 National League is now at an end.
This is a particularly meritorious achievement by the women’s team, who have generally plied their trade in Division 1. In their only previous campaign in the top tier – back in 2014 – they finished 10th overall after the first two rounds and hence did not advance to the final. The men’s team have been regular finalists in Division 1 in recent years, but have yet to earn promotion to the top flight.
Four athletes scored maximum points by winning their events in Dublin – Nicola Welsh (Dunleer) in the 1500m, Emily Rogers (St Peter’s) in the High Jump, Amy McTeggart (Boyne) in the Long Jump and Conor Durnin (St Peter’s) in the Triple Jump.
Several athletes also scored highly by finishing second in their events – Amy McTeggart in both the 100m Hurdles and Javelin, Geraldine Finegan (North East Runners) in the Pole Vault, Shauna McMahon (Blackrock) in the Discus, Ruarcán Ó Gibne (Boyne) in the 800m, Darren Weldon (Ardee & District) in the Hammer, Brendan Rogers (St Peter’s) in the Weight for Distance and the 4x400m team of Kelly Breen (Blackrock), Nicola Welsh, Amy McTeggart and Orla O’Connor (Drogheda & District).
Third-place finishes were recorded by Maria Smith (Dundalk St Gerard’s) in both the 100m and 200m, Orla O’Connor in the 800m, Karen Costello (Dunleer) in the 3,000m, Catherine Rogers (St Peter’s) in the 1500m Walk, Conor McMahon (Ardee & District) in each of the 110m Hurdles, 400m Hurdles and Long Jump, Anthony Dillon (Dunleer) in the 100m, Lee McGuinness (Drogheda & District) in the 200m, Eoghan Smyth (Blackrock) in the High Jump and Tom McGrane (St Peter’s) in the Shot Putt. McGrane had a busy day as he was also the manager of both the men’s and women’s teams.
The other athletes on the teams also played their part and can be proud of their performances, among them Seoda Matthews (Dunleer), Rosemary Gibson (North East Runners), Sharon Olatunde (Dundealgan), Hannah Reilly (Blackrock), Niamh Fussey (St Peter’s), Andrew Kelly (Drogheda & District), Cormac Canning (Drogheda & District), Jamie Shiels (Boyne) and Destiny James (Dundealgan).
McGrane, meanwhile, competed as a guest at the Scottish Masters Championships last weekend and finished second in the Over-55 shot putt.