Over the last
few weeks Tallaght athletes delivered some good results in the National
Juvenile Indoor T&F and National Road Race Relay Championships.
In the National Juvenile Indoor Championship held in Nenagh over the
last few weekends, our young athletes fared really well against some top
competitors from around the Country.
On the first weekend of competition, Conor Murray was again in fine
form, setting a new P.B. by more than 5 seconds when taking bronze in
the 600m final and he added another bronze in the high jump contest in
addition to reaching the final of the 100m with another P.B. Also at U13
degree, Jade Johnston just missed out on the final line up by one place
when she finished 9th fastest of the 600m semi-finalists, whilst Amy
Connaughton fared well in the shot putt with a new P.B., and in the high
jump where she equaled her P.B. Aaron Conroy, despite missing a throw,
reduced his P.B. more than 70cm in the U13 shot putt contest.
At U12 degree,
Eoin Doherty produced a new P.B. and secured his place in the final 8
line up of the 60m where he ran exceptionally well in his quest for a
podium position. Evan Flynn was another in fine form, knocking 5 seconds
off his previous best with a 3rd placed finish in the qualifiers of the
U12 600m , however, in the final he eventually finished 8th after
unfortunately running into trouble on a number of occasions on the tight
track, which cost him the chance of a medal.
Keith Doherty
made the final in the U14 long jump and 60m contests, where he finished
5th in both and Rebecca game despite her best efforts went out in the
semis of both the 200m and 300m at U18 degree.
On the second weekend of competition the U14 4 X 200m boys squad were in
tremendous form. Qualifying through the semis with the fastest time, the
Dublin champions showed they were a real live threat to all the other
qualifiers, but despite some powerful running their combined efforts
just failed by .63s to deliver the title. The squad, John Daly, Keith
Doherty, Sean Mc Cabe, Conor Murray and Aaron Conroy proudly displayed
their silver medals.
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|
Val
Gaynor with the U14 4 X 200m
National Juvenile Indoor Silver Medalists |
Elsewhere, our
senior athletes were involved on another National stage when they
contested the National Road Race Relay Championships in Raheny.
After more than four years trying , Tallaght finally showed just how
strong we are at Master level, after the combined efforts of Niall
Coppinger, Davey Byrne and Desie Shorten secured the very well earned
and deserved National team Bronze medals.
With twelve teams competing, the standards were higher than ever and
with the first 4 teams finishing under 20 minutes for the four miles,
what more can you say?
Niall ran the first 1mile and 30 metres leg in an incredible 4.49 which
represents about a 4.44 mile time. He came in within only a second or
two of the first man from Liffey Valley who handed over to the great Tom
O’Connor. Niall handed over to our new Masters secret weapon ‘Davey’ who
paced himself well for the first lap but then set fire to the road on
the second lap to lead the field in a fantastic time of 9.49. Davey then
handed over to 51 year old ‘Grandad Desie’ to run the final leg in 5.07.
This gave us a total finishing time of 19.45 despite the 19.49 error on
the AAI site.
Our senior men’s team performed well considering ’Davey was stolen for
the Masters team’. Thomas just back from injury’ and two fine young
athletes in Peter Fitzsimons and Luke Coleman who can only get faster in
time. Our new 400 metre man Sean Murray took a chance on the mile for
the first time and ran extremely well in 5.26., and by his comments
after the race, it seems he’s got the bug for middle distance and is
considering mixing his training. If he does I can assure you that
Raheny’s strangle hold on the Masters Title will evaporate next year.
The Tallaght ladies were present in strength on the day with one team
competing in the senior category and two in the Masters, and although
the majority of them were debutantes in this type and level of
competition they undoubtedly gave their all against the most experienced
and seasoned team squads from around the Country.
Former Dublin Senior ladies football star Martina Farrell led the first
master’s team across the finishing line on completion of the last 1 mile
leg (6.58) of the 4 mile combined race. She was preceded by Jenny O’
Connor who ran the middle leg of 2 miles (14.35) and Paula Murray who
ran the first 1 mile (6.12).
Jenny Mahon led the second team off and after completing her 1 mile leg
(7.13) she handed baton to the inform Peig Henry who ran the 2 mile leg
(13.53) before handing over to Suzan Adams to run the final mile (7.17),
just behind Martina.
The combined senior ladies team on the day were Treacy Powell who ran
the first 1 mile leg (6.56), with Laura Mc Donnell, who has in recent
months regained a hunger for the sport running the second 2 miles
(13.14) before she handed the baton to Gemma Browne to complete the
final 1 mile (6.59) of the 4 mile journey, and like our other 4 teams
they put in a combined spirited effort on the day.
