Commins heads Ardee charge in North Leinster

A TRIO of athletes from Ardee & District AC successfully came through the North Leinster qualifier last Wednesday to reach the upcoming Leinster Schools Track & Field Finals.

In all, Ardee had four athletes competing at the Morton Stadium in Santry, with Jonathan Commins, Conor McMahon and Abbie Sheridan representing Ardee Community School and Aoibheann Carolan competing for Dundalk St Vincents.

Commins got off to a flying start in the Intermediate 100m hurdles. Making each flight look easy, he took his place on the podium and received a well-deserved gold medal for first place.

Later in the day Jonathan competed in the Under-16 shot. Throwing a heavier 5kg implement, his throw of 9.94m was enough to claim his second gold medal of the championships and entry in both events to the Leinster finals.

McMahon, entered into the Senior Boys high jump, had a good sequence of jumps which saw the bar raised to 1.75m, with only four boys remaining in the competition and all to play for. Clearing the 1.75m height secured Conor a silver medal and a pass into the Leinster finals.

Sheridan took part in the Intermediate 1500m and ran superbly throughout, producing a final kick on the home straight to finish fourth. While not taking home a medal, Abbie was happy enough that the top four progress to the Leinster finals and she gets to compete again.

Last to compete on the day was Aoibheann Carolan and she had a good succession of throws in the Minor Girls javelin and finished in fifth place.

Both Abbie and Aoibheann will continue their quest for North Leinster medals on day 2 of the competition tomorrow (Wednesday).