On Saturday 10th June, 20 of our very talented younger Juvenile athletes travelled to Tullamore in search of glory at the Leinster Championships.  As always at Leinster level the level of competition was extremely high with the very best athletes in the province in attendance on the day and our club is blessed to have so many talented kids able to compete for us at this very high standard.

In the individual competitions, the 600m events started proceedings on a pleasant day at the Co. Offaly venue.  Kate Gormley and Elizabeth Comerford were the club’s first athletes in action as they lined up in their heats for the under 12 600m.  Both girls ran extremely well with Elizabeth unlucky to miss out on qualification for the final after a strong run.  Kate, meanwhile, ran an impressive heat and made it through to the final comfortably.     In the final, Kate ran very well and was up there in the mix throughout, battling at the front of the field until she faded slightly in the final straight but still finished a highly impressive 10th place which was a great performance on the day.

Three of our Under 12 boys toed the line for their 600m event next.  An out of sorts Jed Collins unfortunately didn’t make it out of his heat after an aggressive run.  Jed was carrying an injury and dug deep in the circumstances and just came up short on the day.  Ciaran McCormack and Mathieu Kieffer both comfortably qualified for the final after 2 confident runs in their heats.  In the final itself both boys ran fantastically well and gave their all with both of them running big personal bests.   Ciaran battled all the way to finish in a brilliant 3rd place and claim a Leinster Bronze medal while Mathieu dug deep all the way up the straight to finish not far behind Ciaran in an agonising but brilliant 4th place.  Both boys were well clear of 5th after two highly impressive runs from the lads.

Next up were the U13 girls, Sophie Dolan and Aleah Kelly.  Both girls are very talented athletes and had their sights set on a medal.  Both made it through their heats with the minimum of fuss and lined up for the final in confident mood.  As the race unfolded it was Sophie and Aleah who battled it out for 2nd and 3rd place with Sophie holding on for a great Silver medal just ahead of Aleah who claimed a richly deserved Bronze medal.  Similar to the boys before them, the girls were well clear of the remainder of the field after both of them ran very impressive races on the day.

The pairs competitions commenced after the individual 600m championships races and we had Holly Ryan and Katie O’Reilly competing as a pair in the under 9 300m event.  In the pairs competition the times of each athlete are added together to get the finishing positions so both athletes have to perform to have a chance of getting a medal.  Both Holly and Katie ran great races and when the times were calculated it showed that they had the fastest combined time and therefore won the gold medal.  A brilliant performance from the girls and richly deserved.

Holly Ryan teamed up with Isabelle Dolan for the 60m sprint and again both girls ran extremely well in their heats.  Their combined time was not enough to get a medal this time but they both ran well on the day and were unlucky to finish just outside the medals.

George Comerford and Tom Gormley lined up in the under 9 300m for the boys.  Both boys ran very well to finish just outside the medals.  They combined again in the 60m sprint where they were very unlucky to miss out on a medal by just a tenth of a second.  A great experience for the boys and there’s no doubt that they will be back competing successfully in the blue and white in the future as they both show great potential.

Our under 10 Girls pair of Sadbh Pitt and Catherine Hanlon competed extremely well in the 500m event with both girls running strong heats and finishing well up the field.  When the times were calculated they finished 5th in this very strong category which was a great performance from both girls and a sign of things to come in the future as they develop further.

Catherine was out again running the 60m sprint with her partner this time Li Ann Grogan.  Again after 2 very impressive runs where Li Ann won her heat and Catherine was placed the girls found that they were hugely unlucky to just miss out on a medal after the times were calculated.  Again these girls show tremendous potential and no doubt will have their share of success in the blue and white.

The under 10 boys pairing of Cian Doyle and Andrew Norman had 2 events to contest.  First up was the long jump were both boys competed very well on the day.  They were very unlucky not to medal being just 11cm off a bronze.   In the 60m the lads were very competitive in their heats but unfortunately were just outside the medals when the times were calculated.  Again these boys are no strangers to success and no doubt they will continue to develop and mature into very fine athletes.

The last pair on duty was Jack Doyle and Dylan Ryan.  They had a 600m and a 60m to compete in.  In the 600m both boys found things tough but they dug deep to finish in the top 6 in their heats but it was not enough to medal this time around.  In the 60m they must consider themselves most unlucky to miss out on a medal by just one hundredth of a second in finishing fourth after 2 fantastic runs from the lads.  These talented lads have proven time and time again they are a force to be reckoned with.

Finally, later in the day the individual u12 & u13 sprint races commenced.  Three u12 girls, Lanah Glanic, Elizabeth Comerford and Kate Gormley lined up and ran well but didn’t make the final this time.  Mathieu Kiefer and Jed Collins both competed in their under 12 60m races with an injury impacted Jed unfortunately not making it to the semi-finals.  Mathieu did progress after a good run in his heat and was desperately unlucky not to progress into the final after his semi-final ended in a blanket finish with nothing between all the athletes as they crossed the line.  Mathieu missing out on the final by a matter of inches after his great run in the 600m earlier in the day.

Well done to all the athletes who competed on Saturday in the fiercely competitive Leinster Championships.  The competition at this level is huge and all our young stars competed very well against the best the province has to offer.  They did the club proud.  So well done to all.  A big thank you to all the parents who came down to support all the children competing.

Congratulations and best of luck to Ciaran, Sophie and Aleah who qualify for the All Ireland Championships in July and to Holly Ryan and Katie O’Reilly who qualify for the All Ireland pairs competition later this month.

Photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/151447904@N02/albums/72157684960993505/with/34867768770/