Masterful Drogheda ace shatters Irish M45 mark
MASTERS athlete Mark O’Shea smashed his own M45 Irish record by nearly two seconds and nearly dipped under the magic two-minute barrier when competing in the 800m at the National Senior Track & Field Championships over the weekend.
Drogheda & District clubman O’Shea took on the much younger elite of Irish athletics at the brandnew National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown and placed sixth in 2:00.18.
Also representing Drogheda & District, Orla O’Connor’s heat was slow for most of the way, but a blistering last 200m saw her finish seventh in 2:22.26, her second fastest time of the year.
Elsewhere, Tadhg Donnelly continued his blistering start to his athletics career at the ultra-competitive Leinster Schools CC in Santry Park when qualifying for the All-Ireland finals with a 13th-place finish in the Intermediate Boys race. Cormac Canning (St Mary’s DS) ran well in the same event to finish 32nd and fellow Mary’s man Sam O’Neill took part in the Senior 6k and ran a solid race to finish 22nd.
Due to an error in categories, Oliver Clutterbuck (Ballymakenny College) ran out of age in the Junior Boys but competed well to finish 42nd.
On the Parkrun circuit, Erin McHugh ran a very fast 19:19 in Malahide, taking another 20 seconds off her PB.
In Oldbridge, Stephen Kelly had another podium placing, finishing in second place in 18:03, while Declan McMahon (22:32) and Laura Roche (24:04) ran well and new member Brenda Kirwan bagged a PB with 34.04.
Nuala Reilly took her second BHAA category title in a week with victory in the ALSAA Cross-Country two-mile event in a swift 13:12. BOYNE AC are certainly placing themselves firmly amongst the best talent on both track and field that the province has to offer, after they were deservedly awarded the Leinster Shield at the recent Athletics Leinster Awards night.
Held in Carlow, the awards recognise the achievements of both individuals and clubs across the province over the preceding outdoor track & field championships which took place in Tullamore.
In particular, the Leinster Shield is presented to the best-performing club in the U-9 to U-11 pairs competitions, in which two athletes compete in the same event and their times/ jumps/throws are combined to give an overall total. On the day Boyne topped the poll, taking home a grand total of six golds, two silvers and four bronze medals as a result of the superb achievements of seven young men.
In the U-9 Boys events, Oliver Carolan and Lorcan Forde Dunne took gold in the 300m and silver in the long jump. In the U-11 Boys events, Paddy Price and Aaron Fennell finished first in the turbo javelin, with Price and Amitesh Bala taking bronze in the 600m. Aaron Fennell and Killian Ekhator also took bronze in the long jump, while Ekhator and Alex Devine won gold in the 60m sprint.
Eimear Doyle proudly accepted the award on behalf of the club, and a presentation was made to all the athletes involved at a recent training session held in the Lourdes Stadium. Amy McTeggart was also a worthy recipient of the Leinster Award for Senior Louth Female.
The Coca-Cola Boyne 10k launch took place on Saturday last, with Mayor Oliver Tully in attendance. Once again, Boyne AC are delighted to be the joint hosts of this ever-popular road race with Drogheda & District AC. A large entry is expected again this year, with early bird entry now open until March 13th.