Wednesday 18th May saw a massive contingent of Dunboyne AC athletes descend on Claremont Stadium in Navan for the Meath Track Relay Championships. In keeping with the great turnout and fabulous performances by our young athletes in their individual event Championships over the last couple of weeks, this proved to be another hugely successful night for the club.
In all, Dunboyne AC had over 90 of our young athletes on duty making up 25 separate relay teams from under 9’s all the way up to under 17’s. In what is traditionally the busiest night of the year for the Juvenile section, the evening passed off extremely smoothly thanks in no small measure to the great bunch of parents that the coaching team kidnapped for the night and asked them to look after individual teams. This proved a great success and we would like to thank all the parents who helped out last night.
The night began with the under 9 races and our youngest heroes set the tone for the night. Dunboyne had a 1 team in the girls race and one team in the boys race. The girls team of Molly Laverty, Sadbh Pitt, Catherine Hanlon and Laura McCormack ran out of the skins to get a brilliant Silver medal to the delight of the loud Dunboyne AC contingent gathered after the finish line. It was great to see the joy in their faces as they made their way back to a hero’s welcome. The pressure was on the Under 9 boys now and Cian Doyle, Andrew Norman, Paul Magee and Daithi Gannon didn’t buckle as they too ran brilliantly to match the girls result and get a fabulous Silver Medal. Again big smiles and high 5’s were evident when they made their way back to their adoring fans.
We had 1 under 10 girls team in action in Alice Griffin, Maeve Walsh, Eva Barry & Molly Laverty (doubling up from her under 9 duty). This team performed really well in a very fast race and were unlucky not to medal here. Our under 10’s had 2 strong teams competing. The Red team of Senan Howlin, Samuel Kennedy, Daire O’Neill and Finn Daly won a fast heat after running brilliantly which ultimately gave them a great silver medal. The under 10 blue team made up of Evan O’Hara, Jack Doyle and fresh from under 9 success, Cian Doyle and Andrew Norman, also performed heroics, finishing second in their race which got them an equally well deserved Bronze overall. Great running all round from our under 10’s.
There were 2 Under 11 Girls teams on duty. The Red team was made up of Lily O’Malley, Sophie Brown, Amy Frazer and Isabel Phillips. They ran very strongly to get the baton around in 3rd place in their heat, in a time which was just outside the medals this time. The Blue team of Kate Gormley, Alice Griffin, Maeve Walsh and Eva Barry (both of whom were on duty for a second time) also ran very well and equally were unlucky to be outside the medals this time.
Three Under 11 boys teams lined up for Dunboyne AC illustrating the strength in depth we have in the club at this age group. The Red team containing Mathieu Kiefer, Jed Collins, Ciaran McCormack and Dylan Ryan ran very well to take Gold impressively here. The Blue team of Andrew Howlin, Jack Arthurs, Darragh Harrison and Harry Doherty were hot on their heels, running very strongly to claim a well-deserved Bronze. Our Green team which had Ethan Clarke, Conor Dunbar, Euan Bell and Senan Howlin (moving up from under 10) also had a very good run, finishing 4th in their heat and just outside the medals. A big well done to all our under 11 girls and boys.
The blue and white singlet was worn by two under 12 Girls teams. The Red team of Aideen Reilly, Aleah Kelly, Sinead Magee and Laura Gavin put in a very strong performance against some very tough opposition to earn a brilliant Silver medal. The Blue team of Sophie Dolan, Serena Gavin, Elizabeth Comerford and Lilly O’Malley (moving up from under 11) finished 3rd in their heat which was not enough to get amongst the medals this time but all four showed tremendous speed throughout their race.
Dunboyne AC had one under 12 boys team toeing the line. And this team must feel incredibly unlucky not to have walked away with a medal. In their heat Samuel Kilbey Batty, Sean Crehan, Ciaran McCormack and Mathieu Kiefer ran incredibly well to win by a very wide margin. But unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get among the medals this time in what must have been a difference of mere milliseconds. Overall our under 12 girls and boys should be very proud of their performances.
The under 13’s girls as usual were here in numbers. 3 teams represented the club. The Red team of Lucy Eglington, Dervla McNicholas, Loreana Harrison and Rachel Norman, so often the bridesmaids in relays, made sure this year would be different. A very strong run by all 4 girls on the night got them a very well deserved Gold medal. The Blue team which was made up of Kala Ryan, Aislinn Kelly, Holly Conlon and Ruby McFeat also ran a very strong race in finishing 4th. The Green team of Aideen Reilly (having already won silver with the under 12’s), Kate Griffin, Niamh Sherlock and Aoife McCormack also ran impressively to finish 2nd in their heat and ultimately finished just outside the medals. Our two under 13 boys teams also performed very well. The Red team of Cian Smith, Ross Lyons, Donal Dempsey and Pablo Mendoza were impressive in winning Gold here. The Blue team made up of Ciaran McCormack, Sean Crehan, Samuel Kilbey Batty and Adam Vaughan also ran a very strong race in finishing outside the medal positions. Great running all round from our under 13 boys and girls.
One under 14 girls team lined up with Doireann O’Flaherty, Abigail Knox, Lauren Grey, and Katie Green and they all ran strong legs to grab a well-deserved Bronze medal.
Dunboyne AC were well represented at under 15 level with 3 Girls teams and 2 Boys teams competing. The red girls team was made up of Nicola Frazer, Victoria Knox, Kate Reilly and Sarah Magee and ran very well on the night to finish in 3rd place and earning a Bronze medal. Katie Greene, Bonnie McFeat, Jessica Clarke and Anna Griffin made up our Blue team and they performed very well just finishing outside the medals, while the Green team of Lauren McConnell, Doireann O’Flaherty, Aoibhinn O’Flaherty, Rachel McManus dug deep and ran very well too without medalling this time. The boys red team saw Marc Leane, Jack Hayes, Conor Leane and Adam Conlon run a strong race to earn a well-deserved Bronze and the Blue team of Cormac McGinn, Patrick Burke, Philip Thornton and Conor McNally performed really strongly to go one better and earn a fantastic Silver.
The boys under 17 team contained Thomas Thornton, Gavin Smith, David Whyte and Luke Phelan. The boys ran a very strong race here throughout and grabbed a fantastic bronze medal in a very fast race.
After a long and extremely busy night in Navan, 15 county medals were won by our young Dunboyne AC teams which was a fantastic performance and testimony to the young talent we have in our club. Well done to all the athletes who competed, each and every one of them should be proud of their performances. These performances don’t happen by accident. A lot of hard work by the athletes goes on in the background and the coaching team would like to thank them all for their continuing hard work and dedication.
The juvenile coaching team were out in force last night given the big numbers competing. Keith, Con, Alan, Stephen, Karen, Heather, Bridie, Paul, Noel and Fintan were busy preparing and cheering on the athletes throughout the night. They would like to especially thank all the parents in attendance last night and particularly those parents who kindly agreed to take a team, warm them up, and keep them together while waiting for their events. So a big thank you to Biancia Kennedy, Bernie Magee, Adrienne O’Neill, Shay Howlin, Orna Brown, Rom Kiefer, Patrick Philips, Orlaith Leane, John O’Malley and Roisin Bell. Without your help the evening would not have gone as smoothly as it did.
Finally, a word of thanks to Teresa and Fergal who were our officials on the night.
Best of luck to our teams competing in the Leinster Relay Championships this coming Saturday in Greystones. Photos can be viewed HERE.
