Dunboyne AC’s juveniles have a path well worn heading Offaly bound as another batch of athletes made their way to the Tullamore Harriers Stadium for the final day of the Juvenile All Ireland Track and Field Championship on the 16th of July 2017. We had just three athletes in action on Sunday morning, with conditions hot and sticky , competition was going to be tight amongst the elite athletes that had gathered from the four corners of the nation.
Thomas Thornton was back in action for a second weekend running, still hampered with injury he was struggling to find form in recent weeks. Thomas only manage to get three of his six jumps in through-out a very tight Triple Jump Competition, but he pulled a 12.40m jump out of the bag which was good enough to earn him silver in this under 18 championship title jump off. This put Thomas in the running for a call up for the National Squad for the upcoming Celtic games where we already have Jack Nyhan qualified and Tadhg O Muircheartaigh waiting on a phone call to see if he also made the cut. Not a bad days outing for the ever young jumper on the road to recovery.
Doireann Ni Fhlatharta was up next in the club colours, she was in action in the under 15 1500m. From the gun she tried to stick with the leaders, she looked sluggish after spending the last two weeks on a swim camp, however coming up the finish straight she was still in contention for a bronze medal before being run down and pipped literally in the last meter for a place on the podium as three athletes finished on 4 minutes 58 seconds. There was no tears, just a realisation that rest and proper race preparation are essential for earning one of these precious national medals, her Leinster time would have guaranteed her a medal without the need for a sprint finish.
Last but not least to make an appearance on the final day of the track and field season was the ever improving Philip Thornton, three years ago Philip’s Shot Putt highlight was a medal at the Meath Championship, and he has developed into one of Leinster’s stronger throwers in the under 16 age category. Philip enered this competition with high expectations, he qualified for the final where he threw 12.50m ( he can brag to his brother that he threw further than he could get with a hop skip and jump) which left him fifth overall and just shy of a place on the podium.
Fingers crossed for Tadhg and Thomas in their bid for an Irish Vest, Well done to all and a big thanks to all the coaches who travelled.
