Gabriel saves his best for big stage

GABRIEL Bell’s international debut was just one of the many highlights for St Peter’s athletes on a fantastic weekend for the club in both Morton Stadium and Tullamore.

At the Santry venue Gabriel represented the Irish Schools at the SIAB international meet on Saturday. This was a higher level than he would have competed at before, but that didn’t deter this fine young athlete as he leaped to a new PB of 6.64m.

Elsewhere, some of Gabriel’s clubmates were doing their club proud at the National B Championships in Tullamore, and in the Girls Under-13 long jump two of them occupied the top two positions on the podium.

Niamh Brady was on top of the podium with a leap of 4.22m and beside her in second place was her training buddy Judith Bell who also performed well with a jump of 3.98m.

Dean Murtagh, who is making fantastic progress at his shot putt technique, got his rewards for his dedication to this event when he threw 9.36m to win gold in the Under-13 competition.

Both Lucy Brennan and Isabeal Fitzpatrick enjoyed fantastic success in the Under-12 long jump and high jump competitions respectively, with Lucy leaping to a new PB of 3.93m to win silver and Isabeal clearing 1.15m to also claim silver in the high jump.

Julie Mc Laughlin produced a good performance in the Girls Under-13 600m and although she finished second in her race the heats were done on time so the end result had her finishing in fifth after a new PB of 1.50m.

Rory McLoughlin was unlucky not to medal in the Boys Under-14 80m when he finished in fourth place. Lucy Smyth had a good performance in the Under-13 80m and Sean Allen completed the St Peter’s representation in the Under-13 Long jump.

Club veterans Andrew and Brendan Rogers were in action in the annual Dunleer four-mile event and both enjoyed success, with Andrew winning the Men’s Over-60 and his younger brother Brendan winning second place in the Men’s Over-55.

Another athlete who has recently returned from travelling who also ran in Dunleer was Niamh Fussey and it is hoped that she will make a return to the blue and black singlet in the not too distant future.