Blackrock shine at Setanta Games
IT was a bumper afternoon for the athletes from Blackrock AC at the Setanta Games as they returned to domestic action after a few weeks of Leinster and All Ireland competition.
Grace McEvoy got the ball rolling with excellent performances over 60m and 200m collecting silver and gold respectively for her efforts.
She was ably assisted by club mates, Niamh Rowland, Sadhbh Greene and Rachel Clarke in winning another gold in the U8 4 x100m relay which was a great run by a talented team. Boys U9’s Cormac Greene and Emmet Kearney had a good day with Cormac winning bronze and silver in his track events and both lads combining for gold in the U9 4 x 100m relay.
Grace Reilly and Megan McEvoy represented the girls U11’s in fine style with Grace winning gold in the Turbo Javelin and bronze over 80m and both girls winning gold in the 4x100m relay. Sam Jeytoo, Dillon Rowland and Cormac Greene gave everything in their chosen events and on another day the lads would have medalled in the very competitive boys U10 and U11 age groups.
Emmy Jeytoo, Lauren Reilly, Rebecca Baldwin, Katie Clarke and Kate O’Reilly were the U12 and U13 girls on duty for the club and all of them made it to the podium at some stage during the afternoon. Rebecca took silver in her 500m and Lauren threw a new personal best in the shot put to win an excellent bronze medal. All were members of successful relay teams.
It was a four timer for Sean Reilly who won the boys u13 100m and 500m and then collected a further two gold medals in the relays. Meanwhile his sister Hannah came close to emulating his achievements by winning gold in the Girls U17 100m and Long Jump competition, silver for the shot put and another gold in the 4 x 100m.
Sarah Clarke picked up silver in the 100m and gold in the 4 x100m and Eoghan Smyth rounded off a fine day for the club by winning the boys U17 long jump competition.
He also finished 3rd in the 800m and further demonstrated his versatility by running a leg in a winning 4 x 100m team. The unfortunate Peter McKay had to withdraw early on due to injury.
Elsewhere the peerless Aoibhínn McMahon continued her charge towards the pinnacle of throwing events in Ireland with a dominant performance at the recent All Ireland Championships that saw her set a new championship best (14.14m) in the Girls U16 shot put and come within centimetres of a championship best in the Javelin. There were further honours for Aoibhínn at the SIAB Schools Track and Field International in Grangemouth, Scotland when she collected a silver medal as a member of the Ireland team who produced a number of stellar performances.
Eoghan Smyth was another club athlete who produced the goods at the All Ireland’s when he jumped a superb 1.80m to claim bronze in the high jump, an event that he has just taken up this season. Shauna McMahon was unfortunate Blackrock athletes at the Carrick Aces race night.
not to make the podium in both the Girls U19 Discus and Shot Put competitions, finishing fourth in both events, however it was still a top class effort at this level. Neassa Reilly was just run out of the medals in her U16 800m final, finishing 5th in a high class field whilst Hannah Reilly and Sarah Clarke found the going tough in their respective competitions, however both athletes did benefit from the experience of competing against the best in the country.
Sean Reilly performed admirably in both the U13 High Jump and 600m and now knows what it takes to convert Leinster championship medals into all Ireland ones. Ciara O’Brien threw brilliantly to reach the final of the Girls U14 Javelin competition and Grace Reilly and Ailish Fee did themselves and their club proud in the Girls U11 pairs Turbo Javelin.
Other notable performance in recent weeks included medals for Sarah Clarke, Pete Rowland, Mary Scanlon, Eoghan Smyth, Erin McShane, Shauna McMahon, Stephen Clarke
and Peter McGuiness at the Louth Senior, U20 & Masters T&F Championships.
The always enjoyable beach races were hosted by the club a few weeks ago and the huge crowd present agreed that it was a tremendous success. The were great performance from all the club’s athletes who took part with special mention to our winners on the day including U18 winner Donnacha Hughes, U8 winner Grace McEvoy, U8 bronze medallist, Niamh Rowland, U10 bronze medallist Cormac Green, U14 winner Rebecca Baldwin and U14 silver medallist Sean Reilly.
Finally in our round-up, a small crew travelled to Carrick Aces for the juvenile races that precede their annual 5k event. Winners on the night included Grace McEvoy, Megan McEvoy, Erin Finegan, Sean Reilly, Rebecca Baldwin and Bonnie Walsh. Well done to all.
Next up, on the 5th, of August is the annual sports day hosted by Boyne AC which will take place at the Lourdes Stadium, Drogheda.