Despite the absence of
three of our more prolific scorers from the first 2 rounds of
the National Athletic League our athletes put in some fine
performances in the Division 1 final which was held in Tullamore
recently.
Tomas Fitzpatrick secured maximum points after he spread-eagled
the field in the 5,000m whilst Sean Connolly took 2nd and 4th in
the 1500m and 400m respectively and younger brother Brian
finished second in the 3,00m steeple chase. Killian O’ Donoghue
took second place in the Hammer, as did Micheal Gassowsky and
Patrick Curran in the Shot Putt and Pole Vault respectively and
both secured additional points after Michael took 5th in the
Discus and Patrick finished 5th in both the 110m & 400m hurdle
contests.
In the 200m Sean Morris secured valuable points when taking
third and added more when finishing 4th in the High Jump and 7th
in the Javelin, whilst Sean Bolger finished 5th in the 100m and
7th in the long jump. The youngest member of the Tallaght team,
Uchenna Uwechue finished 8th in the 400m and Killian O’ Donoghue
after his 2nd placing in the Hammer finished 6th in the 56lb
weight for distance throw.
Sean Connolly, Uchenna Uwechue, Sean Bolger and Artjom Kutjavin
combined well to take 4th in the 4X400m relay.
Although the combined points fell short of the total required
for promotion, it will undoubtedly give the athletes
encouragement to stake a claim for promotion next year.
A few weeks previously Patrick Curran put in some excellent
performances to take the Bronze medal in the National
Decatathlon Championships which were also held in Tullamore.
More recently on Sunday last many of our seniors contested the
Frank Duffy Memorial /Dublin 10 mile Road Race Championships in
the Phoenix Park where Byrne led the Tallaght athletes home in
the in 20th position overall in the large field of competitors,
in a time of 56.09. Niall Coppinger was next in 35th with a time
of 57.51 , with Eoin Brennan one place and 5 seconds behind. Ray
fitzsimons came next (67.41), followed by Dave Meehan, Ifran
Quershi, Jaqui Boyle, Terry Fayne, Larissa Mc Millan, Gwen
Baker, Jenni Jones, Grainne Coogan and Jenny O’ Connor.
Elsewhere, Conor Murray won the National Community Games U14
800m title in Athlone on the same day and anchored the
Kilnamanagh U14 4x100m relay team consisting of Aaron Conroy,
Shane Mc Cabe and Eoin Doherty to 5th place, whilst Jade
Johnston, Aaron Mc Donagh and Philip Hudson all did well in
their U16 7k marathon at the same venue, as did Keith Doherty
who finished 7th in a very competitive U16 100m final.