Duleek duo leap to new heights

THE groundwork put in by both athletes and coaches within Duleek & District AC continues to pay dividends, judging by the outstanding performances of Saoirse Power and Nessa Rohan at the All-Ireland Juvenile Team Track & Field Championships in Tullamore.

Both girls qualified for the Under-9 finals through the recent provincial competition where they took home the silver medals.

The scale of the occasion did not deter either athlete in the long jump, which is their favoured field discipline, as both set PBs in reaching a combined total of 6.10m which proved sufficient to break them into the top 10 nationally. This represents the apex of achievement in what has been a very fruitful track and field season for both athletes.

Earlier in the week Claremont Stadium in Navan was the venue for the decisive round of the Meath Track & Field League.

With numerous track and field disciplines taking place simultaneously, the venue is always a hive of activity, and with valuable league points on the line it was all to play for amidst the mid-summer sunshine.

Jack O’Connor put in strong performances for Duleek & District in the Boys Under-9 250m and turbo javelin, with the points earned topped up by Nessa Rohan and Saoirse Power.

Megan O’Connor is relatively new to the High Jump, but she is already showing an aptitude for the event and she took third place in the Girls Under-11 competition. Ciara McCroary is also demonstrating some good form in this event and she too put in an excellent performance.

Nicole Hoey also earned some valuable points in what is her strongest event, finishing strongly in the Under-11 300m, while Doireann Power and Ruby Hartford also rounded off an excellent track and field season with a great finish in the same event.

Aoife Rohan sprinted strongly in the 60m and Derek Reilly flew the flag for the adults by winning the Masters 3,000m.

With the scores totted, the final results saw Duleek take third place in their division, which was a fitting reward for the performances of the club’s athletes over the series.

The breadth and quality of event within Meath athletics was then amply demonstrated a mere 72 hours later at the Dunshaughlin 10k, the race which was earlier this year voted the number one 10k in Ireland.

With the excellent race organisation, calibre of the field and quality of the course it is pretty easy to see why as some of the country’s top road runners took part.

Scattered amongst the large field were a number of Duleek athletes, each eager to earn valuable club points for the race, which was the latest in the captain’s series.

Graham Byrne is having an excellent year and is edging closer to the sub 45-minute marker following another new PB of 46:02.

Lorraine Noone has also found her best form and also set an excellent PB of 48:46 and Eimear Hoey continues to go from strength to strength and chip at her times as she set a new PB of 53:53.

Karen Creed clocked an impressive 54:07, with Joanne Cannon also finding the course very much to her liking with a new PB and Karen Dunne eclipsing the 59-minute marker with a great performance.

Orla Crosby, Amanda Duff and Darragh Scully also brought home an impressive points tally for their respective teams.