Boyne athletes clean up at Rás
WITH more than 30 of their athletes in action on Sunday at the Ras na hEireann in Oldbridge, Boyne AC certainly ‘cleaned up’ in the medals - but not so much in the muck!
Up first was the Girls Under-9 race, with great runs from Naiya Semple and Sadhbh O’Donoghue, and there was a great run too from Nathan Robertson in the Boys event over the same distance.
Turning to the Under-11 events, there was an exciting win for Sholah Lawrence who crossed the finish line with room to spare, with Kate Culhane fifth and Chloe Cooney and Chloe Hanley not far behind, making up the first-place girls team. Also running well were Teigan Semple, Abbie Connor and Aimme Rice.
It was another Boyne athlete topping the podium in the Boys Under-11 race as Lorcan Forde Dunne also crossed the finish line with a generous lead, with Alex Robertson finishing in a super third position. Ably assisted by teammates Tadgh Forde Dunne, Cormac McEvoy and Luca McLoughlin, the boys also took home the third-place team medal.
Boyne’s Girls Under-13s also took home the bronze team medal, thanks to fine runs from Eimear Cooney (sixth overall) and her clubmates Ella McLoughlin, Eadoinn Carroll and Isabella Garcia.
It was the top spot on the podium for Shea O’Donnell, as he took a fine win in the Boys Under-13 race, run over 1500m, despite running out of age, and along with teammates Caelan Quinn (sixth), Daragh Peters and Sean Cummins, the boys took home the first-place team medal.
By the time the Under-15s took to the start line, the muck was well and truly hampering their strides, but this didn’t deter the girls team as they too took home the first-place team medal thanks to fine runs from Lily Cummins (third) and Anna Faulkner and Eabha Cosgrave (both top six), together with Meadbh Nolan.
The Under-15 boys had 2,500m to contend with, and Danny Nugent made light work of the deteriorating conditions as he raced across the line in a super second place, with Neil Culhane finishing just behind.
In the Girls Under-17 race Cliodhna Nolan was the sole representative from Boyne, but showing a great return to competition she finished in a super second place overall.
With 4,000m to cover in the Boys Under-17 event, it was heavy going underfoot for Tom Cummins who ran a great race to finish third, with Christian Quinn and Killian McLoughlin making up the first-place team.
With the underage races out of the way, attention now turned to the Junior and Senior races where a super run from Eva Cummins saw her finish third senior lady, with Sally Clarke just behind in fourth but taking first place in her category.
In the Men’s race there was a well-deserved fourth place finish for Oisin O’Gibne as he held his own in a top-class senior field, while in the Junior race Tadgh Everitt Thompson continues to impress as he finished second overall.
In more pleasant conditions, Amy McTeggart continued her fine run of form at the National Senior Indoor Championships on Saturday last, held in the new National Indoor Arena. She won a silver medal in the high jump with a best clearance of 1.70m, and another silver in the long jump thanks to a massive PB of 5.72m.