(With thanks to Coach Keith for this report.)
That time of year again when the Track comes back to town. Our Track Fairies have been training since August in preparation for this event and the start of Track & Field for 2018. 13 Dunboyne AC F4Y Athletes made the journey to Athlone to start preparations for the day.
First up of the Day was Abi Knox on the High Jump. Abi was hoping to jump over the 1.50 mark as last week in the Cushinstown AC Open she led the mixed age field jumping a 1.48. It wasn’t to be for Abi as she finished in 4th place with a jump of 1.40 after her ankle clipped the HJ bar. Lots more to come from Abi in 2018 when she can put more time into the HJ as the season opens. Well done Abi.
Rachel Norman was next up in the Long Jump. Rachel has not had much of an opportunity to get practice in for the Long Jump lately. Rachel did very well jumping just under her PB with a nice jump of 4.23 finishing well up the field. Rachel will certainly get a new PB this year as the season progresses.
First up on the track of the day was Doireann Nifhlatharta, in the U/16 girls 1500. Doireann is in preparation for Schools Cross Country in March and her coaches have been preparing her for the Schools and using this 1500 as a training day. With 7 ½ laps to do of the AIT indoor 200 track, Doireann hit the ground hard as she was tripped at the start of the race in a bunched field of 13 girls all fighting to get to the front. With almost no hesitation Doireann picked herself up to find she was at the back of the field. Winded from the fall, hurt and sobbing Doireann showed no fear as she slowly worked herself into 2nd place. As the bell sounded for the last lap the earlier fall took its toll for Doireann as she finished a fine 3rd place in a time of 5.13. This is what being strong and mentally prepared is about on the track, if you fall, pick yourself up and get on with it. A great example to all the younger Athletes in the arena who cheered her on. After her race, medal collected and as part of her training Doireann had 10 hill reps of the AIT hills to complete before settling down to lunch. Well done Doireann who has now qualified for the National All Ireland finals on March 18th back in Athlone.
Katie Greene was also in the U/16 Girls 1500 final. Katie has been working hard lately and doing superb in training. Katie managed to avoid the stumble at the start of the race and retained composure as her team mate hit the floor. Katie worked hard across the 7 ½ laps battling out with her fellow Athletes. As the race came to the final lap and the bell sounded Katie had a battle with Tullamore and focused on chasing down the St.Pauls girl to finish a well-deserved top 10 finish. Katie has been improving constantly and always with a smile and positive attitude is a super Athlete. Well done Katie, looking forward to more from you in the outdoors and schools.
In the Girls U/17 1500 final we had Bonnie McFeat and Kate Reilly. No nerves from the girls or hidden very well, both Bonnie and Kate who have been working hard lately in training and Kate returning from injury got stuck in from the start of the 7 ½ laps of the 200m track. Very very tough competition for the girls as the winner of the race did the 1500 in 4:50. Both Bonnie and Kate were terrific, gave a great account of themselves and had big smiles afterwards. We look forward to more from the girls in 2018 track season. It is great to see Dunboyne AC have some Athletes compete in an U/17 indoor 1500 final. I can honestly say that the club have not seen teenagers at this age in action on the track for many many years. It’s is a delight to see proving that our club is growing in the right direction.
The first boy up was Dylan Ryan in the boys U/12 60m and Dylan was using the 60m as a warm up for his All Ireland Cross Country the next day down in Galway. Dylan ran a fine time of 9.21 in his heat and was very unlucky finishing in 3rd place to be drawn in a very fast heat. Dylan would have automatically qualified in if drawn in Heat 3, 5 or 6. Well done Dylan and best of luck tomorrow in your All Ireland Cross Country Finals in Galway.
Next up was our teenager girls, 60m Track Fairies, conditioned to indoor running and complete strangers to the cold outside air and rain. The Girls U/14 60m of Sinead Magee and Aideen Reilly. Sinead was drawn in heat 2 and as the gun went, Sinead was first out of the blocks finishing 2nd in her heat. A great run from Sinead an excellent block clearance. Aideen next in heat 3, after some issues managing her blood levels was clear out of the blocks to also finish 2nd in her heats where she is guilty of slowing down. Both Aideen and Sinead ran PB’s and finished 2nd in their heats. Competition was huge and their performances were excellent.
Next up was the U/15 Girls 60m Sprints of Rachel Norman, Kate Griffin, Lucy Eglington, Dervla McNicholas and Loreana Harrisson. In heat 1 Rachel entered the blocks alone in heat 1 and ran a great race not long after her Long Jumps. Kate and Lucy up next in heat 2, Kate flew out of the blocks with an excellent block clearance and drive with Lucy hot on her tail. In heat 3 Dervla Ran a super race with a great time with over 1 sec off her PB. Loreana in Heat 4 got off to a poor start but made up the difference and managed a 3rd place finish in her heats.
As the girls all waited around patiently for the timed results and qualifier positions and it was only to be for Loreana who qualified for the final.
Loreana delighted to make the final, she went back up to the warm up area and immediately started to correct her start. This was shown as Loreana was first out of the blocks in the 60m final and Loreana did amazing bringing back a bronze and new PB of 8.27. Well Done Loreana who now qualifies for the National All Ireland finals on March 18th in Athlone again.
On a day were competition was huge each and every one of the 60m sprinters hit a PB for themselves. This is all you can ask of them. This is showing that they are putting in the hard work at training as they went up in age this year. Training intensity has increased and working hard is becoming the normal as they train a minimum 5 days a week. This evident as these sprinters all hit new PB’s and entered into 8sec range for 60m distance. This is massive for them and while they all didn’t bring medals home PB’s are all matter. They are now at an elite level for their age running faster than most people will ever be able to. As a club having multiple teenagers at this age doing this speed is fantastic and again showing signs of a developing club.
*Medals*
Doireann Nifhlatharta – 1500M Bronze
Lorena Harrison – 60m – Bronze
Well done to everyone today, all of the athletes, coaches and parents who travelled down to Athlone. Today our distance runners tackle the mud and dirt down in Galway at the All Ireland Cross Country Inter Club finals. Best of luck to every one of them.
Next week our 15 year plus teenagers are invited to the Meath Junior Squad Session in Navan Sports Adventure Centre on Saturday 17th February 2018 from 12 – 2pm.
Photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/151447904@N02/albums
