Tallaght Athletes Shine

The performances of Tallaght athletes put a shine on the overcast weather conditions at Santry last weekend. Competing in the Dublin Juvenile Track and Field Championships our young athletes picked up 12 titles, 10 silver and 9 bronze medals between them.

Our first contestants were U10’s Angela Prior, Liam Gaynor and Ronan Mc Eneaney and U11’s Dylan Flynn and Kelly Taite and although they didn’t claim any silverware, they all had fun and enjoyed the learning experience of championship competition.

At U12 degree Conor Murray was in tremendous form, winning both the 80m and high jump titles and adding silver in the long jump, 600m and shot putt, and bronze in the ball throw, whilst Amy Connaughton took the girls ball throw title and Jade Johnston the silver in the same event.

In the U13 high jump Killian Morris was in flying form where he scaled 1.35m to add another to Dublin high jump title to his name, and if maintaining this form he is likely to stand on the podium at the National Finals in Tullamore in July. In the same age category both John Daly and Sean Mc Cabe put in some great efforts, with Sean contesting 7 events and just missing out on a medal when 4th in the javelin whilst John finished in a similar position in both the 80m and 600m finals.

James Wall contested the U14 200m and 800m finishing 6th in both finals with Aaron Mc Donagh following him home in the 800m in 8th place after finishing in a similar position in the 75m hurdles final. Championship debutante Jessica Wall was more than pleased when she stepped on to the bronze podium position after two great performances in the 200m and long jump as were Robyn Reece and Emma Prior who both claimed similar colour in the Javelin and high jump respectively. In the boys competitions at this level, Sean Fitzsimons took another title in the Discus and Dylan Flynn, another Championship debutante will certainly benefit from the experience after finishing a good 5th in his 1500m final.

Craig Carty was another who will remember his first outdoor T&F Championships after he collected three U16 titles in the Javelin, Long Jump and 250m hurdles and added shot putt silver and hammer bronze to his medal haul. Roisin O’ Hanlon despite her best efforts finished 5th in both the U16 800m and 1500m contests.

In the U17 contests Christine Reardon went top of the podium after some good throws in the Javelin and hammer competitions and Rebecca Game picked up another two silver to her credit after her good sprinting performances in both the 100m and 200m finals, whilst Sherif Oyebanji was rewarded for his efforts with silver in the hammer and bronze in the 200m sprint with
Kenneth Flanagan and Brian Connolly both winning bronze in their respective 400m and 3,000m contests. Peter Fitzsimons contested the U18 3k event and was in contention for most of the 7.5 lap journey until he strained a calf muscle which unfortunately caused him to tetire from the contest with less than two laps remaining.

Photos – Courtesy of John Denny