Day 3 in County Track and Field Championship
Day 3 of the County Track and Field Championship at the Mardyke was the destination on Sunday. The day consisted of relays for all competing from under 12 to under 18. The venue was also the location for Turbo Javelin and long jump for under 9’s to under 11’s.
The club had 5 teams entered in the relay competition. First up was the girls under 13 consisting of Erika Dorgan, Louise Finn, Emer Hayes, Charlotte Purcell and Cliona Hurley(running up an age). The girls ran well but didn’t make it through to the final finishing 6th in their heat.
Up next was the boys under 13 relay team consisting of Ben Halley, Ollie Scanlon, Aiden Carr and Liam Carr. The boys finished 6th in their heat with only the top 4 to progress. A good result for the lads who had never practiced as a team.
The under 12 girls were next. Claire O’Donnell, Christine McElvaney, Cliona Hurley Avery McNamara and Caitlin Cuffe represented the club and after a strong performance they qualified for the final from their Heat. In the final the girls gave it their all but it was not to be and they finished 7th in the final.
The boys under 14 was a straight final and the club team consisted of John Curtin, Sean Finn, Cody Scanlon, Liam Carr and Ben Halley. This was always going to be a difficult race for the boys up against seasoned performers at the national stage. The boys ran their hearts out and came home in 7th place.
Our final team was the girls under 16 team consisting of Vanessa Burke, Chloe O’Flynn, Rachel O’Flynn, Meabh O’Connor and Cara Burke. The girls were right in the mix up to the finish line and came 5th place. Only a few meters separated second place to 5th place. Well done girls.
In the individual events under 9 girls of Meabh Coleman and Ella Rose Cuffe competed in the long jump and turbo javelin. In the long jump Ella Rose cleared 2.61 meters and Meabh cleared 1.55 meters. Ella Rose was the only representative in the turbo javelin and with a throw of 8.42 meters she secured herself a silver medal. Well done girls.
The boys under 9 competing were Conor Sweeney and Oisin Halley. In the long jump, conor cleared 2.44 meters and Oisin narrowly missed out on a bronze with a jump of 2.78 metes for 4th place. In the under 9 boys turbo javelin, Conor cleared 7.32 meters with Oisin clearing 6.6 meters. Well done boys.
Robbie Scanlon was our only representative at under 10 and he cleared 3.16 in the long jump which was a very close contest and in the turbo javelin Robbie secured a silver medal with a fabulous throw of 17.35 meters that would win most years. Well done, Robbie.
Under 11 girls consisted of Caitlin Cuffe, Avery McNamara and Niamh Finn. The girls did both events on the day. In the turbo javelin Caitlin cleared 6.56 meters, Avery cleared 10.21 meters and Niamh cleared 8.85 meters. In the long jump Caitlin jumped 2.15 meters, Avery jumped 2.69 meters and Niamh jumped 1.9 meters. The girls said they found the jumps hard but with the new jump pit at the track it will be easier for them to practice. Well done girls.
Our final two competitors were Fionn Purcell and Thomas McElvaney in the boys under 11 turbo javelin and long jump. Fionn cleared 11.33 meters and Thomas cleared 13.08 meters in the turbo javelin. In the long jump Fionn jumped 2.49 meters and Thomas jumped 2.91 meters. Well done boys keep up the practice.
SCHOOLS MUNSTER TRACK AND FIELD
The Schools Munsters Track and Field was held at ‘An Riocht’ Castleisland on Saturday, 20th May in glorious sunshine. The Grange athletes Rachel O’Flynn representing Loreto Fermoy and Lucy Dennehy representing Presentation Mitchelstown both participated in te event. Rachel came 2nd in the junior 1,500m with a great time of 4:59 min and Lucy was 4th in junior javelin (400g) with a superb throw of 31.39m.
Rachel has qualified for the All Ireland which will be held in Tullamore on Friday, 2nd June. Lucy just missed out this time as only as only the first 3 qualify. Congratulations to both of them on a great performance.