Robert Fitzsimons and Brian Gregan were both in
sparkling form at the National AAI juvenile track & field Championships
in Tullamore last weekend. Robert Fitzsimons contested the U18 steeple
chase on Saturday last and despite suffering two hard knocks on the last
lap when falling at the third last and final barrier, coupled with
atrocious weather conditions, he managed to secure the gold medal with
10metres to spare over his nearest rival.
The following day Robert put up a gutsy performance in the 3k contest
where he contested the lead for almost 6 laps but the exertions of the
previous day had obviously taken their toll and he had to settle for the
silver, which was a commendable achievement in the circumstances.
Brian Gregan also put on a fine display of running on the Saturday when
he stormed to the lead in the final 50m to secure gold in the U18 400m
contest and despite a niggling hamstring he lined up for the 200m the
next day and like Robert in the 3k went on to secure silver.
There was further success for the club on Sunday in the U16 3k contest
where Brian Connolly battled throughout the course of the 7.5 lap race
to take silver in the U16 3k contest, whilst Anthony Lieghio had to
settle for 4th place in the U18 1500m the previous day and 5th in the
800m, although he was more than pleased with his new p.b time of just a
few hundreds of a second over 2mins for the distance.
Our other athletes who competed over the two days, Emma Prior (U14 high
jump),
Annmarie Mc Clean (U14 long jump), Sean Fitzsimons (U14 discus), Jade
Corcoran (U15 800m), Rebecca Game (U16 800m), Aisling Johnston (U16 high
jump and long jump) and Luke Coleman all put in their best efforts but
unfortunately missed out on the podium positions.