Boyne teams looking forward to All-Ireland
THE glory days of track and field athletics returned to Lourdes Stadium last Thursday evening when Drogheda & District AC held the first round of their Summer Track Series.
Conditions on the night were good, so some fast times were on the cards and quite a few athletes travelled to attend this meeting.
In the first event, the 1,000m, there were some fine performances from Colin Dyas in the A race where he finished third in a lively 2:49 and was followed by Hugh Callan who was eighth in 3:06, with Orla O’Connor finishing ninth in 3:07.
Martin Russell produced a decent run in the B race to finish fourth in 3:13, which is nice running over this difficult-to-judge distance, and he looks to be going well at the moment.
Roisin Coade and Laura Roche battled it out for club honours in the home straight and both ran 3:30, with Coade just getting ahead in the last stride to finish eighth, with Roche ninth.
Drogheda & District’s first win of the evening came in the D race, where Phillipa Donnelly ran well to cross the line first in 3:54, followed by Deirdre McFerran in sixth place in 4:09.
Also running were Sinead Shaw, who was eighth in 4:12, with Mike Staunton not far behind in ninth place in 4:24.
In the shortest event of the evening, the 100m, Lee McGuinness - running in lane eight - exploded out of the blocks and just 11 seconds later breasted the tape to win a thrilling race, with training partner Andrew Kelly close behind in second place with 11:03.
The last race of the evening was the 5,000m, run over 12 and a half laps of the track. This race demands that the runners keep their concentration if they’re to perform well.
The A race was a classic to watch as Pat Fitzpatrick from Dunleer AC made the pace for most of the race and pushed hard in the last three laps to get the win in 16:50, with young Cormac Canning recovering well from a mid-race stitch to finish second in a new PB time of 16:51.
Ruairi Nolan also produced a strong run to break 17 minutes with his run of 16:55 when finishing in third place.
Martin Russell, running in his second race of the evening, ran well to finish 12th in a solid 18:56.
In the B 5,000m Elaine Fallon was third in 22:59, with Helen Dillon fourth in 23:00 and Christy Duffy fifth in 23:09.
Round two takes place this coming Thursday, which incorporates the Athletics Leinster Junior Track & Field Championships. Events on the night are the 100m hurdles, 400m, 1500m, 200m, javelin and shot putt.
The recent fine weather has really quickened up the times for the weekly Oldbridge Parkrun.
Last Saturday’s race was no exception and warm weather lover John Hough scorched round this tough 5K course in a new PB time of 18:45 when finishing second overall. This was really solid running by Hough and he’ll go well on the roads this summer.
D&D’s next finisher in 20th spot was Laura Roche, who ran the course in 23:00, followed by Barney Flannery who was 52nd in 27:22.
Linda Bowe was 54th in 27:26, with Michele McCullough 66th in 29:02 and Ruth Dunne 94th in 49:15.
Young Tadgh Donnelly’s decision to give up a promising career in boxing to follow his love of athletics has proven to be a wise choice.
Donnelly, who’s literally a novice when it comes to running, has the heart of a lion and is never found wanting when the serious questions are being asked at the business end of a race.
Running for St Joseph’s CBS in the Leinster Schools Championships in Santry, Donnelly really turned the screw on his opponents to come home a clear winner by some five seconds in a fabulous new PB time of 9:06.
For someone so young to be knocking out these times so consistently augurs well for his future in athletics.
Moya McCabe is another young athlete with a bright future ahead of her and she delivered a quality performance when finishing sixth in the Intermediate Girls 300m hurdles.
Later in the day, McCabe also competed in the javelin and acquitted herself well against some good opposition.
Elsewhere, the streets of Navan were turned into a sea of red when more than 40 D&D members turned up for last Friday’s Simon Cumbers and Paddy Hyland 6K road race.
Stephen Kelly led the way with a magnificent third-place finish in 19:37 against some good runners.
Prolific racer Shane Larkin was next in eighth place in 20:45, which placed him second in category, followed by Colm Reilly who was 11th in 21:01.
With Pat O’Grady close behind in 12th spot - winning his category in 21:08 - this quartet made up the winning Men’s team.
Also running well was Colin Leonard, who just missed out on a team place when finishing 19th in 21:58.
Yasmin Canning, despite not firing on all cylinders, delivered a strong run to finish first in her category in 24:51 and 66th overall.
Rachel McCormack was next in 71st place in 24:58, and with Sinead Weldon 133rd in 26:46 and Barbara Byrne 137th in 26:52, these four made up the D&D team who finished second in the Women’s race.
Also running well was Nuala Reilly, who won her category in 27:05 - showing many of her younger rivals a clean pair of heels along the way.
Paul Reilly, the man who takes the pictures for the club, made a welcome return to racing when finishing 95th in a solid 25:50.
Aoife Harmon had a decent run and finished in 27:26, as did Linda Cross who ran 32:27 for the course. TWO Boyne AC teams can look forward to competing in the upcoming All-Ireland Relays after medal-winning performances in the Athletics Leinster competition in Enniscorthy on Sunday.
The Under-11 Boys were the first to the track, and with 16 teams in contention the pressure was certainly on.
However, Ledley King Abor, in his first relay event, got things off to a great start as he took the first leg, and a smooth baton change to Alex Robertson gave them a good lead.
Lorcan Forde Dunne took the third leg and a fine bend run saw him pass the baton to Oliver Carolan who sprinted up the home straight to win the heat.
With just a short rest, the boys were back on the track for their final, and a repeat performance saw the boys just pipped at the post, finishing a fine third place overall and in doing so earning them qualification for the National final.
The Girls Under-15 team of Anna Faulkner, Sophie Gartland, Lily Cummins and Saran Meite also had a super run in their heat, finishing second and qualifying for the final.
However, second time around saw the medals just out of reach in a very tight finish which saw them awarded fourth place overall.
The even-age relays took place after lunch, and the Under-10 Boys team of Tadgh Forde Dunne, Callum Byrne, Luca McLoughlin and Cormac McEvoy proved they are a force to be reckoned with as they stormed around the track with effortless baton passes and fluid sprinting.
A win in their heat saw them automatic qualifiers for their final, where a fantastic performance from these talented young men saw them take home a well-deserved bronze medal and qualify for the Nationals.