Wednesday the 4th of May saw Dunboyne’s youngest athletes make the trek up to Navan to compete in the Meath Track And Field Championships. The competition, stuck as it was in the middle of their week off school, was competitive as you expect at County Championship level.
Dunboyne AC had 17 athletes competing on the night from under 9 to under 11 and all gave great accounts of themselves in the various events.
Our under 9 girls were competing at county level for the first time. The club were represented by Sadbh Pitt, Laura McCormack and Catherine Hanlon here. All 3 competed in the 60m sprint and they all ran with great credit. Sadbh and Catherine made it to the final with Laura just missing out. Both girls ran a great final and in a blanket finish Sadbh managed to grab 3rd place to earn a well-deserved bronze medal. Laura lined up again in the 500m race and after running very well was just outside the medal positions. Both Sadbh and Catherine also competed in the long jump competition and both jumped very well and the experience will definitely stand to them for future events over the summer.
Our under 9 boys, also competing for the first time, were represented by Andrew Norman and Paul Magee. Paul missed out on qualifying for the 60m final but more than made up for it by throwing the turbo javelin out to a second place position to earn a great silver medal. Andrew ran a strong 500m race and finished just outside the medals and again just missed out on a medal, but jumped very strongly, in the long jump competition. Again the experience for these boys will be very beneficial.
With no under 10 girls competing, it was the boys that had to uphold the honour for this age group. The 3 under 10 boys competing on the night were Dillon Ryan, Daithi Gannon and Ethan Clarke. Dillon and Daithi competed in the 60m sprint and both ran very well. Dillon made it through to the final where a very strong last 30m helped him get is nose in front where it mattered on the line to grab himself a gold medal. Both boys were out again in the 500m with Dillon leaving his sprint late to just miss out on a medal and Daithi running a very strong race to finish just behind. While the track action was on-going Ethan Clarke was competing in the long jump and turbo javelin. Ethan was outside the medals in the long jump and was very unlucky not to medal in the turbo javelin finishing 4th. His day will come.
Three under 11 girls flew the Dunboyne AC flag on Wednesday. Sophie Brown, Isabel Phillips and Lily O’Malley were representing the club in 60m, 600m and Long Jump. Sophie and Lily jumped very well and were just outsider the medals this time. Sophie ran a strong 600m and was unlucky to miss out on a medal being in contention after 500m. Isabel also ran a strong 600m finishing just behind Sophie. In the 60m Lily and Isabel ran very good heats with Isabel winning hers and qualifying for the final and Lily running well but just missing out on progressing. In the final Isabel ran a very good race and with nothing separating the whole field at the finish, she narrowly missed out on a medal this time.
Finally, the under 11 boys, had a lot to live up to after their younger team mates’ strong performances. Euan Bell, Darragh Harrison, Jack Arthurs, Patrick Manning, Ciaran McCormack and Mathieu Kieffer all donned the Dunboyne AC colours across a range of events. In the 60m we had Euan, Darragh, Mathieu, Jack and Patrick. All 5 athletes ran very well here and it was a very good achievement to get 3 through to the final in Mathieu, who won his heat, Darragh and Jack. In an incredibly close final Mathieu was pipped for a gold medal and picked up a very well deserved silver. Both Darragh and Jack were unlucky not to medal also, in what was a blanket finish where all 8 finalists finished very close to each other.
In the 600m Ciaran McCormack comfortably retained his county title and took gold with a strong run. The turbo javelin saw Ciaran, Euan, Patrick and Jack compete and all threw well without medalling this time. Darragh and Mathieu represented the club in the long jump and both jumped very well here. Darragh did very well but finished outside the medals. Mathieu had pressure on him for his last jump after not jumping up to his usual standard in the previous attempt but pulled out a big one to win the gold medal.
In the end it was a very satisfactory evening for Dunboyne AC. There were some very strong performances from our newest competitors as well as from our seasoned performers. The weather stayed fine and the event went off without much delay. The coaching teams would like to thank the parents and young athletes alike for their cooperation and help on the night. A special word of thanks for our 3 volunteer officials on the night, Roisin Bell, John O’Malley and Orna Brown. By volunteering they enabled the coaching team to warm up the athletes and get them to their events.
Best of luck to the older athletes competing in the Championships back in Navan today, Sunday 8th May.
