Many of our juvenile athletes were in tremendous form when they contested the Day 4 of the Dublin Juvenile Indoor Championships which was held on our track on Sunday last. As this was the first time a track & field championships was held locally, it gave our young athletes the opportunity to shine in front of their home supporters and many truly delivered with some fantastic performances, securing 8 titles on the day to add to the titles and medals won in the previous 3 days indoors at Santry.
Keith Doherty set the scene earlier in the day when he stormed to victory in the U16 200m, adding to the 60m gold he secured indoors at Santry the previous day and the long jump silver he won at Santry a week earlier.
Christopher Duffy was another to shine on the day. After settling in 5th for the first half of the U11 600m final, he gradually worked his way through the leaders until the final 120m where he put daylight between himself and the rest of the field to claim a clear cut victory, whilst Nadine Johnston Hickey, the 2009 U10 Dublin cross country champion, after winning her semi-final earlier in the day looked nailed on to win the girls equivalent, but appeared to have lost any chance after a number of athletes overtook her at the 400m mark, where she suffered cramping, but in true determined style she garnered up a tremendous effort over the last 100m which took her past her main rivals to claim a well deserved title. She was followed home by debutantes Megan Doyle and Grace Dervan who both did very well in making the final.
Jade Johnston was another to deliver on the day, and undoubtedly home ground played a vital part in her unexpected pillar to post victory in the U15 800m. In the boy’s equivalent Conor Murray looked to have the title wrapped up. After leading from the gun he quickly developed a gap on his rivals, but a lapse of concentration which caused him to ease up over the last few metres, cost him the title by the slimmest of margins, after he was caught on the line by a crusaders athlete who came with a storming late finish. This added to the silver he won in the 60m hurdles the previous day in Santry and the high jump silver and shot putt bronze he secured the previous week.
The U16 boy’s 800m was a thrilling contest with Tallaght athletes John Daly and Sean Mc Cabe battling it out over final 100m with Sean prevailing in the dying stages, relegating his club mate to silver and adding to the bronze he won earlier in the 200m final and the long jump and shot put bronze medals he won the previous week in Santry. These performances undoubtedly boosted Sean’s confidence after his disappointment in the high jump the previous week. John will be seeking to reverse the positions when they both contest the 1500m in Tallaght on Friday evening.
Uchenna Uwechue, after finishing 4th earlier in the day in the 200m was another to top the podium, after he also stormed to an easy victory in the U17 800m, adding to the 60m hurdles title he won at Santry the previous day and Roisin O’ Hanlon did similar in the U19 800m, whilst our only walker on the day Martha Kavanagh took the U13 title in her first outing.
Kayleigh Clarke in her first track and field championships easily won her 600m semi-final and was only denied the title when barely beaten in a neck-neck battle to the line in her final, whilst Sean Flanagan who was also contesting his first ever championships had a fantastic run, finishing 4th in the boys equivalent.
Another athlete making his championship debut was Dylan Kennedy and although he did not feature in the medals in the U15 800m on Sunday, he did secure the bronze medal in the shot putt in Santry the previous week, as did Sean Fitzsimons when setting a new P.B. in the U18 contest, whilst at the same venue James Ackerman secured bronze in the U11 long jump, Jonathan Fleet the same colour in the U16 high jump, with a leap of 1.55m and where Nicole Fullam went top of the podium in the U12 shot putt contest, with Jennifer Graham finishing 5th in the same contest.
Many others went extremely close to winning medals, with Eoin Doherty finishing 4th in the U14 long jump, Heather Meehan finishing in the same position in the U16 60m, as did Emma Morrin in the U17 60m & 200m, Cathal Dervan in the U12 600m and Conor Murray, Uchenna Uwechue, Jade Johnston and Christopher Duffy missing out on adding to their medal haul when they also finished 4th in shot putt and 60m finals.
Others to do well were Eve Keegan U10 60m, Carl Graham U10 500m, Megan Doyle, Grace Dervan, Alana Walsh, Sean Murray, Elliott Meehan and Nazim Kourrini 600m & 60m at U11 degree, Rebecca Casey, Ciara Jordan U12 60m, Sean Keane U14 60m, Aloisa King & Ronan Mc Eneaney U13 600m, Philip Murray U17 800m and Niall Meehan U19 800m.
With 11 titles, 7 silver and 7 bronze individual medals already in the bag our athletes will be looking forward to adding to the tally when they contest the final 2 days of events on this Friday and Saturday, when we host on our track the 300m, 400m sprints and U10 – U19 relay Championships.
Elsewhere, Sean Connolly after a good run in Armagh City last week will be stepping up his preparations for Ballycotton when he competes in a 10k road race in Manchester next weekend, whilst many of our seniors and some juniors will be contesting the Inter Clubs Cross Country Championships in the Phoenix Park on Sunday.