Callaghan turns up the heat with gold hat-trick
AMY Callaghan’s hat-trick of gold medals was the highlight for Cushinstown AC as their athletes produced some great performances at the Leinster Juvenile Championships.
In the sweltering heat umbrellas were needed to protect the athletes and supporters from the sun, but still the Cushinstown contingent some achieved some personal bests and a bagful of medals, sealing progression to the All-Ireland competition.
In the U-12 Boys 60m hurdles James Bellew and Lee Callaghan ran very well, with James fifth, while in the U-12 long jump Eamon Armstrong came fifth.
Loclainn Harris stormed through to win gold in the U-13 60m hurdles and Ella Barry jumped brilliantly to win gold in the long jump and bronze in the 60m hurdles in that age group.
Amy Callaghan, competing at U-14 level, proved unbeatable as she captured gold in the shot putt, javelin and high jump, nailing a championship best height of 1.53m in the latter event.
In the U-14 javelin Emily McGreal claimed the bronze medal, with Amy Bellew fourth, while the latter was fifth in the shot putt.
In the U-14 discus, which was held on Sunday, Niamh Quinn threw a personal best of 22.30m to claim the silver medal, with Amy Bellew’s 21.61m good enough for third place and Emily McGreal unlucky not to place.
Also in that age group, long jumpers Niamh Cahill, Niamh Quinn and Abi Sheehy were unlucky not to finish in the medals.
In the U-14 75m hurdles Mollie White ran a PB of 11.88sec in the heats and went on to win silver, with Niamh Quinn sixth. And in the U-14 sprints Abi Sheehy and Ava Purcell ran well in the 200m in searing heat, with Abi fifth. Ava did well in the 800m also.
In a very strong field in the U-15 javelin Katie Lenehan came fourth and Aine O’Sullivan sixth, while in the U-15 discus Katie Lenehan came third with a personal best of 29.84m and Aine O’Sullivan fifth.
In the U-16 1500m Armelle Gallagher ran well in what must have been 26°C heat, while in the high jump Orlaith Quinn came fourth and jumped a PB of 4.76m to finish fifth in the long jump.
In the U-17 discus Aoife Lenehan threw a PB of 29.14m to win the silver, it was also silver for her in the shot putt and she was fourth in the javelin event.
In the U-18 hammer Zoe Mohan threw more than 40 metres, to claim the gold medal, while she had to settle for second place in the discus.