Young Duleek athletes star in the long jump
CERTAIN combinations just work. Strawberries and cream, Torvill and Dean, sunshine and Track and Field - and on a great Wednesday night in Navan athletes and spectators were treated to the latter at the Meath U-9 to U-11 Track and Field Championships.
There are few better ways to spend a summer evening than at a track and field meeting. There is such a variation of activity taking place in each part of the ground, that sometimes the greatest challenge can be to keep pace with it all.
On a sunny evening in Navan there were sprint events, long distance running, high jump, long jump and turbo javelin and Duleek & District AC were very well represented and each of their competing athletes deserve huge credit.
There is a distinct difference in atmosphere between league and championship, with the tension and atmosphere heightened on championship nights. Placing your toe on the start line of a county championsip race/event takes a lot of courage.
At under 9 level the club had Saoirse Power, Nessa Rohan and Sophie Foran. Each athlete had their choice of two events and all selected the Long Jump and 60m.
With the 60m sprints being based on timings from the heats, the girls finished just outside the medals, but the Long jump pit was where they made a real impact, with Saoirse taking joint first, Nessa silver and Sophie finishing an excellent fourth.
The Boys Under 9s were represented by Jack O’Connor, Cormac Brereton and Rhys Doyle and once again all three opted for the 60m sprint and gave it their all in the heats. Jack and Cormac jumped excellently to take silver and bronze in the long jump, with Rhys running a great 300m.
Saidbh Healy, Holly Dunnion and Jules Tankersley flew the flag for the under 10 girls in the 60m, with all athletes running impressive heats.
Jules threw very well in the Turbo javelin and Holly and Sadhbh were not found wanting in the long jump.
For the boys Evan Hoey finished very strongly in his 60m heat and threw very well in the turbo javelin. Jack Maxwell won his 60m heat, finishing agonisingly outside the overall medals as places were based on time. Kenny Killeen sprinted well and really excelled in the turbo javelin where he took a bronze medal for the club.
There was a Duleek 1,2 in the girls under 11 Turbo Javelin, with Doireann Power and Megan O’Connor taking gold and silver. Ciara McCroary also threw very well to finish narrowly outside the medals. Ruby Hartford, Doireann Power, Megan O’Connor and Nicole Hoey all cleared three metres in the long jump, with Ava Tully and Ciara McCroary sprinting well in very competitive 60m heats.
There were two heats, with Ava running strongly in the first and Ruby and Nicole storming home in the second. Ruby produced a devastating quadruple kick finish to win the second heat and take an overall silver medal.
In the under 11 boys 600m Conall Deehan grew stronger as the race developed, moving through the field to take an excellent fifth place in his heat.
Elsewhere, in the Bob Heffernan 5k road race in Johnstownbridge David Doyle finished in a time of 17.49.