It was the second day of the All Ireland Juvenile National Track and Field Championships and it was a trip westward to Tullamore for the high achieving Dunboyne AC juvenile athletes.
It was a quieter day for coaches with just two of our elite athletes in competition, and typical of timetable both Kate Reilly and Jack Nyhan were competing at the same 11am slot.
This was Kate’s first year competing in the Under 16 Girls Triple Jump and it is definitely one of those cases of ‘a new found talent’. Kate despite being hampered with injury in recent times jumped over 9m which was good enough for her to qualify for the second round and earn three more jumps. Kate ended up in sixth overall and there is no doubt a place on the podium at Nationals is not that long away.
Jack can be classed as one of our more experienced athletes who has matured nicely into a strong shot putter. Dad Declan has put together a nice stable of throwers and recent successes of his training partners has become contagious. This was always going to be a battle between two monsters, Jacks main rival from the Finn Valley Kelly family had Jack breathing down his neck throw after throw and it was only one attempt that the Donegal International that really separated the boys. Jack had to settle for silver (this time round) on Sunday however despite feeling he had left it behind Jack can come away with the bonus of being selected to wear the Irish Singlet in the upcoming Celtic Games. Congrats on making the International Athlete status Jack.
Well done to both athletes, their dedication and hard work making the coach’s job easier and their parents proud.
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