Kerry women top the table in National Athletics League event in Athlone

THERE was great success for the Kerry Women’s National League team in Athlone last Sunday as they topped the table with 116 points.

There was victory in nine events, with Clare Fitzgerald doubling up to get the maximum nine points in the discus and a season’s best of 15.66 in the shot. Aoife Mahony also secured full points in the 400m and 800m, running two very smart races to finish strong and lead home a competitive field.

The was a huge thunderstorm during the 3,000m race, but this did not dampen the performance of Shona Heaslip, who continues to show top form leading up to the National seniors in two weeks time.

Mairead O’Neill, still recovering from a shoulder injury, threw the Hammer over 49m to gain an excellent victory and put the Kerry team in a commanding lead.

There was also first place finishes for Emma Prendiville in the 1,500m walk who took control of the race with 400m from the finish. Emma has the National seniors as her target in two weeks. In the jumps there were full points gained by Rachel Bowler winning the Triple Jump and Aoibheann O’Brien in the Long Jump. Also on the team was Lauren O’Grady who continues to make huge progress in the field events, finishing second in the Javelin.

In the sprints Sarah Leahy ran a very good fourth place finish in a highly competitive 200m. This should leave them all in good shape for the Munster Juvenile Championship at CIT this weekend.

It was great to see Niamh De Hora back on the track competing in a Kerry singlet, Niamh took the lead in the 1,500m race before the home straight, just to get caught on the line for a superb second place finish.

The next outing is July 17 in CIT and if the team performs any bit as well as they did last weekend they should secure a place in the National League final in August.

The An Riocht Men’s Division 1 team also put in a solid performance with wins from Tim O’Connor in the 1,500m, PJ Galvin in the high jump and Corey Kissane in the triple jump. PJ Galvin also finished third in the 400m hurdles and second in the pole vault. Ger Cremin finished in second place in the 110m hurdles and 4th place in the discus. Also competing for An Riocht were Joe O’Connor 2nd in 3000m, Donal O’Callaghon 2nd in 5000m, Shane Hand 2nd in hammer and 4th in shot, William O’Connor, 3rd in the 400m, Michael O’Connor 3rd in 3000m walk, Conor O’Mahony 3rd in 800m, Michael O’Sé 5th in 200m, Gary Matthews 5th in javelin.