High hopes as cream of county star in Covid year
THE year 2020 was an unusual one for sportspeople throughout the world and the athletes of County Louth were no exception.
The indoor track and field season was terminated abruptly in March, the outdoor track and field season was restricted to a handful of competitions – mainly in late summer and early autumn – and only a few cross-country events and road races were staged during the year.
Nevertheless, there were several excellent performances by athletes from the county in 2020, as the majority sought to take full advantage of the limited competition opportunities available to them.
Highlights during the indoor season included the performances of three young women in the 60m sprint, all of whom dipped under the eight-second barrier.
Gina Akpe-Moses (Blackrock AC) led the way with a stunning victory at the Katrinas Kauss Meet in the Latvian town of Kuldiga in January. Her time of 7.37 seconds was a personal best and a new Louth record.
Patience Jumbo Gula (Dundalk St Gerard’s AC) equalled her PB with a time of 7.44 seconds at the National Senior Indoor Championships in the National Indoor Arena in Dublin in March, while Sophie Gartland (Ace AC) ran 7.93 seconds at the Leinster Under-20 Indoor Championships at the same venue in February.
Kate O’Connor (Dundalk St
Gerard’s AC) set two PBs during 2020, both of which also improved her own Louth records. She recorded 8.88 seconds for the 60m Hurdles at the English Indoor Combined Events Championships in Sheffield in January and then registered 13.84m for the Shot Putt at the Athletics Ireland Field Events Festival at Santry in August.
Aoibhín McMahon (Blackrock AC) also had an excellent day at that Field Events Festival as she set PBs of 13.22m in the Shot Putt and 40.70m in the Javelin.
Fourteen-year-old Erinn Leavy (Dunleer AC) clocked a very fast 2:14.85 for the 800m at the Morton Live Juvenile Meet in Santry in September. This is an extremely impressive time for one so young and in fact is a performance of which most female 800m runners of any age would be proud.
Michael Alajiki (Dundealgan AC) was the only male athlete to set a Louth record in 2020. He leapt 14.36m – and 14.40m wind-assisted – to win the silver medal in the Triple Jump at the National Senior Championships at Santry in August. This is also a new Irish Under-18 national record.
Garry Campbell (Dunleer AC) ran an impressive 3:50.21 for the 1500m at an NIA Live Indoor Meet in Dublin in January, while Tadhg Donnelly (Drogheda & District AC) was the top man at a range of distances from 1500m to 10,000m during the outdoor season.
Donnelly’s best performances came at the National Senior Championships in Santry in August and at a Northern Ireland Winter Graded Meet at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast in December.
In the former he clocked 3:53.96 for the 1500m to finish sixth in the final, while in the latter event he ran 30:19.63 for the 10,000m – less than three seconds outside the Irish Under-20 record which has stood since 1970.