Medal joy for Kaugars siblings
KARLIS Kaugars and his sister Liene made their father Santis happy on Father’s Day weekend with a series of medal-winning performances at the Leinster Juvenile Championships.
This competition was for the 14 to 19-year-olds and the Dunleer entrants competed very strongly in throwing, jumping, sprinting, middle distance running and relay events, but it was in the throws where the Kaugars family came good.
Karlis captured gold medals in Saturday’s U-14 shot putt and javelin events, producing a championship best throw of 44.65m in the latter.
Then Liene - who dad Santis also coaches - won first place in the U-17 shot putt and came second in the javelin. Aeyla Orr had a great U-15 high jump competition, securing the silver medal with a best of 1.45m.
Anthony Dillon produced the sprint of his life to win silver in the U-18 100m, having qualified from his heat in fourth place, and he went on to help his County relay team to silver also.
Also competing on Day 1 were Joe O’Brien in the 200m and Conor Matthews in the 800m and both ran well but unfortunately were out of the medals on this occasion.
Day two on Sunday brought more success for Karlis Kaugars as he came away with yet another Leinster gold, this time in the Under-14 discus - his first attempt at a discus competition.
Another Dunleer athlete to impress on day two was Conor Matthews who bounced back from a disappointing fifth place in the 800m 24 hours earlier to win bronze in the Under-18 1500m.
Other great performances came from Oisín Cheshire in the Under-14 800m, Aeyla Orr in the Under-15 long jump and the McEntee brothers Edward and Matthew in the long jump.
Meanwhile, Dunleer AC has a busy time coming up also, with the National Championships, road racing and a summer camp.
The annual summer camp, hosted by Dunleer AC for Athletics Ireland at Lourdes Stadium in Drogheda, will take place from July 9th to 13th and is for all children aged six to 12, with beginners especially welcome.
Athletic events will be mixed in with lots of fun and games, with a visit from the Road Safety Authority and educational games and projects. Registration is online and the cost is €60 for the week for one child, with a €10 discount for siblings.
Dunleer AC’s annual road race takes place in the village on Sunday July 15th at 3pm, with registration online or on the day. Finishers receive a long-sleeved t-shirt with sponsors’ names on the back.
The road race honours the memory of Seán Carrie and Ollie Brennan, two long-serving committee members who did great work for their club but have sadly passed away in recent years.