The top young athletes from the
four Provinces and the Dublin region hotly contested the first weekend
of the National Juvenile Indoor Championships in Nenagh last weekend.
Amongst the Dublin competitors were 13 Tallaght athletes who had
qualified in the top three in the Dublin Championships.
Competing in the U18 400m, Brian Gregan again produced some outstanding
performances, comfortably winning his heat on Saturday and leading the
field from start to finish in Sundays Final to take the title with ease
in a fine time of 50.43, almost 2 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
|
Brian Gregan – (photo courtesy of the Cowzer
family) |
Robert Fitzsimons was another
of the clubs athletes to produce the goods. After finishing second in a
very tight finish between four athletes, including club mate Anthony
Lieghio in the 1500m semi-final on Saturday, he produced a very fine
effort to take the Silver medal in Sundays final, well clear of the
bronze medalist, with Anthony Lieghio recording a P.B. in 5th place.
|
Robert Fitzsimons – (photo – courtesy of the
Cowzer family) |
Whilst there were no other
medalists for the club, the remainder of our athletes competed with
honour, amongst them Aisling Johnston who looked a likely medal prospect
after winning her 1500m semi final with ease on Saturday, but after
leading for almost 6 laps in the final she gradually faded over the
final 1.5 laps to finish 5th, a little over 2 seconds behind the winner.
As with most of our young athletes, the lack of experience of running on
this tight indoor track proved to be a disadvantage for Dylan Murphy,
who despite a good run failed to qualify from his U12 600m semi on
Saturday. Dylan also contested the long jump and was unfortunate to lose
out on a medal when falling back after achieving a finejump in his last
effort.
In the high jump competitions, Jonathan Fleet and Killian Morris both
competed at U12 level on Sunday, as did Grace Kristensen at U13 and Emma
Prior at U14 degree. Most unfortunate of our jumpers was Jonathan, who
would have won a medal if he had reproduced the height that won him the
Dublin title.
Others competing last weekend were Luke Coleman (1500m U18), Bronagh O’
Hanlon (U19 1500m), Laura Finlay (U18 200m) and Ciara Henry in the U13
long jump.
Next weekend we will have 3 competitors in the 200m contests and 4 in
the 800m contests on Saturday with our U12 boys, U16 girls and U18 boys
contesting the relays on Sunday.