Adam King nominated for National U-20 Athlete of the Year

IVERAGH and Kerry’s star hammer thrower Adam King is one of four nominees for the prestigious National U-20 Athlete of the Year Award at the 2016 Irish Life Health National Athletics Awards. This award will be presented at a special function in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dublin on November 30.

Meanwhile, Shona Heaslip from An Ríocht finished in 12th place finish in the senior women’s race at the Lotto Cross Cup International Cross-country in Belgium on Sunday.

Sunday also saw the inaugural Kerry Athletics Junior Athletic Development Squad take place on the track in Castleisland. Open to all club athletes aged U-11 to U13 this programme has been designed to run alongside the highly successful U-14 to U-23 Development Squad that has been in place for the last two years. 64 young enthusiastic athletes from across the county participated on the first day and were put through their paces by the Kerry coaches in sprinting, long jump, shot putt, middle distance, turbo javelin, and high jump. They all did a full warm up and then rotated through each of the events during the two hour session. The next Junior squad date will be announced shortly and with the cross country season coming to an end we hope to see even more athletes attending. The usual Kerry Athletic Development Squad session continues every Sunday from 11 to 1, and there are still spaces available if any athletes who will be U-14 to U-23 in 2017 wish to come sign up. Cost is €50 and covers weekly training until thel end of 2017 outdoor track season.

DUBLIN MARATHON

Hundreds of club athletes, marathon club members and fun runners from the Kingdom made their way to the capital on Sunday, October 30, and after long months of preparation and training, they laced their runners, put on their numbers and prepared to take to the streets for the SSE Airtricity Dublin marathon which incorporated the national marathon championships. The marathon took place in perfect conditions for runners and the times and competition didn’t disappoint. Those that finished the gruelling 26.2 miles received a finisher’s pack including the coveted T-shirt and 2016 commemorative medal. All club athletes put in fine performances and the majority came away with personal best times. Kerry Athletics would like to congratulate all athletes who took part and hope that you have recovered well enough to take on your next challenge.

The results of the Kerry club athlete’s national marathon race are:

Women: Alison Kirwan (Star of the Laune) F35 3:10:59, Suzanne Neilan (An Riocht) 3:28:41, Margaret Carlin (St Brendan’s) 3:34:28, Mary O’Shea (Gneeveguilla) 3:47:53, Ana Prieto Kirwan (Star of the Laune). 3:50:06, Mary O’Connell (Gneeveguilla) 3:57:38, Siobhan Falvey (Star of the Laune) 4:18:59

Men: Maurice Feehan (Gneeveguilla) 2:46:11, Seamus Murphy (Gneeveguilla) 2:59:59, William Guiney (An Riocht) 3:25:40, Diarmuid O’Sullivan (Killarney Valley) 3:27:36, Robert Whyte (Kenmare) 3:31:45, John Kelliher (Star of the Laune) 3:40:15, Garvin Cronin (Farranfore Maine Valley) 3:43:30, Tony Foley (Gneeveguilla) 3:44:29, Gerald Carroll (St Brendan’s) 3:52:01, Tom Palmer (Kenmare) 3:52:51, Stephen Griffin (Star of the Laune) 3:54:23, David Butler (St Brendan’s) 3:59:32, Seamus Falvey (St Brendan’s) 4:08:58, Denis O’Shea (Kenmare) 4:09:16, Con O’Connor Tralee Harriers) 4:33:08.