Sunday the 12th of June 2016 saw the parishes of Dunboyne, Kilbride and Kilcloon empty out as their young athletes headed en masse to Cushionstown for the Meath Community Games Track and Field finals with a huge entourage in their shadows to roar them on in their bid for glory. Kilcloon joined the Dunboyne athletes in wearing the royal blue: Kilbride maintained their independence though as they togged out in the parish’s red, and in doing so challenging their neighbours. We had a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly when it came to the weather, with underfoot conditions often slippy on the grass carpet that is Cushinstown outdoor track.
Our Under 6 Girls were represented by Eabha Devitt & Molly O’Reilly in the 60m sprint where both girls showed huge determination on their first outing at the Community Games and laid down the foundation for a bright future competing for our club.
The Dunboyne Under 8 Boys and Girls were out in force, performing to a very high level. Paul Magee, Sam Eglington, Laura McCormack & Eimear Leane contested the 80m sprint and Faith Lyons and Anna Brady were joined by Cian Doyle in the 60m sprint. Cian was in fantastic form as he qualified from the heats and semi finals as a winner before exploding from the start-line to claim gold in impressive fashion and book the club’s first spot at the National Community Games Finals in August. Anna Brady was not going to let the boys have all the limelight though as she battled from the back after a slow start in her final, up through the field to snatch a well-deserved silver medal.
Our blossoming Under 10 crew came to Cushionstown with a lot expected of them, despite most of them being exhausted after some draining performances at the Leinster Pairs the day before in Tullamore. Chloe Smyth, Kate Gormley, Meave Walsh, Ciaran McCormack & Dillon Ryan took on the 200m while Amy O Reilly, Jack Doyle & Tom Roche the 60m hurdles, Catherine Hanlon, Jack Aurthurs, Euan Bell, & Elizabeth Comerford the 100m sprint.
It was a case of groundhog day as the majority of these boys and girls contested the finals in their respective events with a bag full of medals being gathered in the process. The trio of Ciaran, Dillon and Kate all medalled in the 200m. A special mention for poor Jack who in the earlier rounds had been a power-house and looked destined for a place on the podium but a slip sent him head over heels in the final. In the relays Ciaran, Dillon, Elizabeth and Kate joined forces on one under 10 mixed relay team with Euan, Jack, Meave & Catherine making up our second entry in in the race. Both teams made it through to the final where Ciaran, Dillon, Elizabeth and Kate dug deep to edge out their team-mates and claim bronze in this team event.
By now Dunboyne AC ‘s under 12 competitors are considered seasoned athletes, all showing a huge amount of talent throughout the day as the majority of them journeyed to their respective finals. Mathieu Kieffer, Jamie Doyle, Lucy Eglington, Aideen Reilly, Serena Gavin & Sinead Magee took on the 100m; Laura Gavin & Kayla Ryan the 600m; Kate Griffin, Charlie Manning & Darragh Harrison the ball throw and Peter Butler & Jamie McLoughlin the long jump. The day was highlighted by Kayla and Aideen winning silver and Lucy taking bronze as it took All Ireland Champions in the relevant events to keep our gems orf the top step of the podium, but outright victory is on the horizon for these developing athletes. Holly Conlon joined the Dunboyne trio of Kate, Lucy & Sinead to battle with the Kilbride girls who included Aideen, Serena & Laura in the 4 by 100m relays, and just as it looked like Dunboyne had done enough to win the bragging rights, disaster struck as a baton dropped and the Kilbride Quartet pipped their friendly neighbours to end up one step higher on the podium….but there is talk of revenge on next year’s stage already. Ciaran had to move up from the younger age group to make up a team and won his third bronze of the day as he joined Mathieu, Darragh & Jamie in the u12 Boys relays under the watchful eye of the adoring u12 Girls.
Our under 14 age group have become well-accustomed to success in recent years, and today was not going to be an exception. We had Conor Leane, Kate Reilly, Katie Greene, Doireann Ni Fhlatharta & Sarah Magee in the 800m, Marc Leane & Lorena Harrisson, Jack Hayes & Anna Griffin in the 80m hurdles, Abigail Knox long jump and Aoife McCormack Shot Putt all out in search of further glory. The rewards were impressive from this age group as both Conor and Doireann took gold, while Kate, Abigail, Jack & Marc also climbed the podium to collect bronze medals. In the relays Conor, Marc, Jack and Ross Lyons (who arrived after having a great sleep) made up a formidable force and helped themselves to a bronze medal. It was the same result for the girls, bronze being the fashionable medal of the day, as Sarah, Doireann, Abigail and Lorena tried to out-do their male counterparts. In the under 13 mixed relay Cian Smith came into the fold to join his friends, namely Ross, Doireann & Lorena with the fresh injection of pace accelerating this talented group to gold and qualification to the Community Games National Final held in Athlone in August.
The elder of our competitors at the Meath finals on Sunday was Victoria Knox whom, ever-reliable, and despite being in the middle of a heavy training schedule, just got on with it taking bronze in the under 16 200m. With nobody else from the parish competing in her age group, Conor, Marc and Sarah moved up an age group to join Victoria in the u15 mixed relay, the gang battled hard to claim bronze.
Well done to all who competed: the standard at this gathering was very high and ye all held your own. Well done to all our medallists and best of luck to Cian (Doyle), Conor, Doireann, Lorena, Ross and Cian (Smith) who will be representing Meath on the National Stage having performed in Cushinstown with distinction. Thanks to all the coaches and parents who helped out today and a special thanks to Ciaran McCormack who was our pledge reader (as Gaeilge) during the opening ceremony.
