Spillane wins third gold at National Finals

THE second weekend of the All-Ireland National Finals took place at the weekend in Athlone. Kerry was represented by children in Athletics Track & Field; Badminton, Basketball, Gaelic Football; Gymnastics, Projects, Judo, and Recitation. Kerry had another great weekend of competition coming home with plenty of medals of every colour and excellent performances by all our children competing despite the weather not being the best.

In athletics, many of our athletes got through to semi-finals and finals and it was great to see the younger age groups as well as older children capturing the medals. It was a particularly great weekend for one young participant – Cian Spillane – who came home with another gold medal to add to the two he had won last weekend – an amazing achievement to win gold in 600m, Cross-Country and Draughts.

Our gymnastics had a great competition bringing home a number of medals. Our Judo participants, as usual, performed their way into the medals. Other events that we had great success included Badminton, Basketball, Football and Projects.

Congratulations to all the children who took part and we hope all our participants enjoyed the past two weekends of our Nationals in Athlone. Community Games is above all else about participation and something we value highly so to each and every one of our National qualifiers we say well done

We have a number of children who seem to have got into a habit of coming home from Nationals regularly with medals and such dedication and hard work must be acknowledged. We have many areas who are strong in various events but looking at the results it is great to see so many of our areas making an appearance in our medal table. This hopefully means that areas are now trying out new additional events in their local programme which in turn is catering for a wider number of children.

By participating in Community Games children are getting the opportunity to take part in some activity be it sport or a cultural event, perhaps trying out something new, meeting other children from both Kerry and other parts of the country, and getting the opportunity to represent their local area and county at All Ireland National Finals and if you didn’t come home with a medal this year then hopefully you will try again next year – we have a wide selection of events to choose from. For some children, this will be their final year competing in Community Games and we hope they have enjoyed their experiences with Community Games and perhaps we will see them back assisting us in the future as Youth Volunteers.

Results ATHLETICS 60M U8 – Bronze - David Walsh – Blennerville/ Ballyard 80M U8 Girls Pewter – Muireann Teehan Caherciveen 600M U12 – Gold – Cian Spillane – Milltown/ Listry 100M U14 – Bronze – Conor Commane – Boherbee/Cloghers/Manor 200M U16 – Pewter – Donal O’Sullivan – Kenmare 1500M U16 – Pewter - Cathal Fitzgibbon – Blennerville/Ballyard 1500M U16 – Gold – Shona O’Brien – Killarney Nor th Marathon U16 Boys – Pewter – John Walsh - Knocknagoshel Relay 4 x 100m U12 Boys - Bronze – Killarney South Relay 4 x 100m U16 Boys – Silver - Kenmare

ATHLETICS - FIELD EVENTS Ball Throw U12 Girls – Gold – Leah Foley – Keel/ Kiltalagh Long Puck U12 Boys –Bronze – Keltyn Molloy - Lixnaw Javelin U14 Girls – Gold – Katelyn Reid – Annascaul/Camp/Inch High Jump U16 Boys – Gold – Darragh Cour tney – Ardfer t/Kilmoyley High Jump U16 Girls – Gold – Ciara Kennelly - Fossa Discus U16 Girls – Bronze – Leanne Cronin – Milltown/Listry

GYMNASTICS Gymnastics U9 – Girls – Gold – Anna O’Shea – Spa/Muckross Gymnastics U11 – Boys – Bronze – Luke Rochford - Ballyduff Gymnastics U13 – Boys – Bronze – Ethan Fitzgerald – Ardfer t/Kilmoyley Gymnastics U13 – Girls – Bronze – Cathy Dwyer – Blennerville/Ballyard Gymnastics U15 – Boys – Silver – Ciaran Collins – Rock St/Caherslee Gymnastics U15 – Girls – Bronze – Jessica Murphy – Ardfer t/Kilmoyley

JUDO Judo - 30kgs U16 Boys - Silver – Oran Horgan – Glenflesk Judo - 30kgs U16 Girls – Gold – Kate Forde – Spa/Muckross Judo – 35kgs U16 Boys – Silver – Liam O’Donoghue - Glenflesk Judo - 35kgs U16 Girls - Bronze – Ali O’Donoghue – Spa/Muckross Judo - 40kgs U16 Boys - Silver – Sean Murphy – Abbeydorney/Kilflynn Judo - 45kgs U16 Boys - Gold – Marko Antonio Kauric – Rock St/Caherslee Judo - 45kgs U16 Girls - Silver – Katie O’Leary - Firies Judo - 55kgs U16 Boys - Gold – TJ Palmer – Firies Judo – 55kgs U16 Girls – Gold – Mairead Bennet – Spa/Muckross

TEAM EVENTS Badminton U15 Boys – Bronze – Annascaul/ Camp/Inch Basketball U13 Girls – Gold - Castleisland Gaelic Football U10 – Silver - Listowel Gaelic Football U14 Girls – Pewter - Listowel Projects U11 Boys/Girls/Mixed – Bronze – Dromid/Caherdaniel Projects U13 Boys/Girls/Mixed – Silver - Glenflesk Projects U16 Boys/Girls/Mixed – Pewter – Keel/ Kiltalagh

Full results and from both weekends are available on our website.

Kerry’s cross-country runners who took part in the Community Games National Finals

The Abbeydorney / Kilflynn U14 Boys relay team that finished fifth in the Community Games National Finals

Jack Moriarty, Annascaul, competing in the Boys U15 Badminton at the Community Games finals

Leanne Cronin from Milltown / Listry who won a bronze medal in the U-16 girls discus event at the Community Games National Finals

Kerry marathon runners at the Community Games National Finals