Tallaght athletes produced some fine
performances in both the Dublin Juvenile Indoor Championships and the
National Inter Clubs Senior Cross Country Championships last weekend.
Over two days at Santry the clubs juveniles competed in the Dublin
Indoor track and Field Championships and came away with more than 20
medals between them and qualification for the Nationals.
Conor Murray was in tremendous form in his first indoor competition,
taking the U12 60m, long jump and high jump titles along with silver
in the 600m contest. Anthony Lieghio took both the U19 1500m and 800m
titles, producing new pb’s for both, with Luke Coleman also producing
a p.b. when taking the bronze behind Anthony in the 1500m. In the same
age category, Sean Bolger barely missed out on the medals in the 60m
final on the Saturday, but compensated for the disappointment when
taking an excellent silver in a thrilling 400m encounter with a Raheny
athlete which saw both crossing the line with only inches separating
them.
Peter Fitzsimons was another to run a p.b. when he took silver in the
U18 1500m and Jade Corcoran also took silver in her U16 1500m contest,
whilst Rebecca Game contested the U17 60m and 200m and produced two
sound efforts to take silver in both, with Christine Riordan taking
the shot putt bronze in the same age category. At U16 degree, Craig
Carthy , new to the sport, took the shot putt title with some fine
throws and followed up with bronze in the 800m.
John Daly, another debutante, had a great run in the U13 60m hurdles
where he took silver and just missed out on the medals when finishing
4th in the 600m and Marie Cooke ran a blinder to take silver in the
U12 600m.
At U15 degree, Zara Gaynor’s improved technique helped her secure
bronze in the long jump contest and Emma Prior scaled higher than ever
when taking the same colour in the high jump, whilst Robyn Reece took
silver in the shot putt. Killian Morris and Jade Johnston added two
more bronze in their respective U13 high jump and U12 shot putt
contests.
Others to perform well over the two days were, Ronan Mc Eneaney,
Leanne Aspil, Liam Gaynor and Angela Prior, all U10, Emma Reid, Emily
Morris, Jennifer Grant at U12 degree, Cormac Weldon, Sean Mc Cabe and
Michelle Reid, all U13, Emma Morrin U14, Roisin O’ Hanlon U16, Karl
Weldon U17 and Sherif Oyebanji U18.
Elsewhere a squad of senior men made the long journey to Sligo to
contest the Inter Clubs Cross Country Championships, where windy and
heavy underfoot conditions on the hilly local racecourse added to the
task of competing against the best cross country runners in the
Country.
However, the Tallaght men showed great guts and determination, with
Davy Byrne crossing the first Tallaght athlete to complete the 12k
contest in 54th position in a time of 44.30, with Niall Coppinger next
in 67th (46.30), followed by James Crowley in 71st (46.57) and Billy
Murphy 85th (48.40). Their combined placings were enough to secure
Silver in the Grade C category behind Gowran A.C. of Kilkenny.