Fiona fourth after fine display
Kilmore athlete only three seconds behind Mageean
FIONA KEHOE (Kilmore), competing in the 800m, was Co. Wexford’s top performer at the Irish Life Health Athletics Ireland Games which were held at the new National Indoor Arena on Sunday.
Running a controlled first 400 metres, she came through strongly in the end to finish fourth in a time of two minutes nine seconds, only three seconds behind the race winner, Olympian and European medalist, Ciara Mageean.
Annie Stafford of Menapians jumped 5.16m to finish sixth in the long jump. Other athletes from Menapians featured prominently. Ciarán Maher lowered his 200m personal best to 23.09. Adrian Jackman, Conor Wilson and Jack Hayden also impressed in the 200m with times of 24.76, 23.80 and 23.65 respectively.
Michael Deady ran 7.36 in the 60m while Aaron Smith came second in his 60m hurdles race with a time of 9.01.
The Menapians men’s team placed a very impressive fifth on Saturday at the national indoor league final at the new National Indoor Arena. The team, with youth very much on its side, achieved fantastic results across the board, highlighted by a European Junior ‘B’ qualifying 200 time of 21.60 for David McDonald.
Shaun Donohue took 0.5s off his 400m time in running 50.03. There was also a P.B. for Luke O’Neill in the 60m with a time of 7.27.
Aaron Smith took second in the hurdles with 8.97. The middle distance pairing of Conor Gaffney and Cian Murphy took valuable points in the 800 and 1,500 respectively.
Mikey Cullen earned valuable points for the team with a top four finish in both long jump and high jump, with further points coming from Jack Hayden in the triple jump and coach Jimmy O’Neill in the shot.
The club’s Under-19 relay team of Ciarán Maher, Jack Hayden, plus brothers Sam and Luke O’Neill placed fourth, with a P.B., in the 4 x 200m.
Enniscorthy A.C. athletes Peter O’Connor and Saidhbhe Byrne both came away with bronze at the recent national indoor combined events in Athlone.
Peter achieved a new P.B. of 1.81m in high jump, while Saidhbhe had a win in the 800m, a P.B. of 4.51m in the long jump, and a P.B. of 9.37m in the shot. In the Masters Over-50, John O’Connor, father of Peter, went one better than his son in taking silver!
The next big event of the Senior indoor track and field season is the national Senior indoor championship which takes place on the weekend of February 18/19 at the National Indoor Arena.