Young Ardee athletes shine at annual Boyne Sports Day

ARDEE & District AC enjoyed massive success at the annual Boyne Sports Day on Sunday which is the penultimate event of the county’s track and field season.

With the new Pat Walker Memorial Shield for visiting clubs up for grabs, the juvenile athletes competed for individual medals and also for points for the club.

Courtney Commins and Holly Murray both made the finals in the U-8 60m sprint, with Coutney 2nd and Holly a very close 4th. Coutney also finished 3rd in the 200m

TomJoe McCormack also made the final in the U-8 sprint, finishing 6th, and along with club mate Harry Breen moved up an age and competed well in the U-9 turbo javelin.

Jessica McCarron finished 4th in the U-9 sprint final and Lilly Breen finished 5th.

Jessica then threw 9.45m in the turbo javelin, claiming the silver medal.

Caoimhe Carolan jumped for success, claiming bronze for 3rd in the U-10 long jump. Caoimhe claimed a second bronze when she and Amy Murray joined with two St Gerards girls for the U-12 relay.

The boys U-10 relay of Callum Caffery, Tom Maguire, Arthur Sands and Dylan McCarron dominated the track to win gold.

Callum also won two individual bronze medals in the U-10 sprint and long jump, while Arthur Sands and Tom Maguire finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in the longer 500m.

Amy Murray ran the legs of herself to finish second in the uU-1 sprint and 4th in a closely contested 500m.

Charlie Sands and Tadgh Caffery both competed well in the strongly contested boys U-11 events, with Tadgh finishing 2nd in the 80m to take a place on the podium.

Jack McCarron also took a place on the podium when he finished 3rd in the boys U-12 600m and just missed out on a medal with 4th in the long jump.

Hallie Sands got the girls U-13 off to a flying start by winning silver in the 100m.

Then it was a 1,2,3 on the podium for Ardee & District in the javelin, with Orlaith Carolan 1st, Ava McNally 2nd and Samantha McCarron 3rd. Ruth Gillespie joined the girls for the relay and was rewarded with a silver medal for 2nd place.

Running solo for the club in the U-13 boys events was James Maguire.

James topped the podium twice, winning both the 100m sprint and the long jump.

However, the day was not over for James as he guested on a team in the U-14 relays and was rewarded with a hat-trick of gold medals.

Rebecca McCarron just missed out on a medal, finishing 4th in the girls 800m, and Isobel Delaney finished 4th in the 100m.

The two girls then moved up an age to join Aoibheann Carolan and Emma Gillespie for the U-16 4x100m. Each girl ran a great leg and were rewarded wirh the 3rd spot on the podium.

Last to compete, but by no means least, was Conor McMahon who moved up an age to compete in the Junior boys events, running a super 100m to take gold and moving out of his comfort zone to win silver in the javelin.

While athletes, coaches and parents were packing up there was a hush around the stadium as the Boyne officials began the task of adding the points to see who would win the inaugural Pat Walker Memorial Shield.

This brand new award was to be presented to the best visiting club on the day and a great cheer was heard as club chairman Derek Gillespie stepped up to collect the award on behalf of Ardee & District AC.