Kerryman Article 14/2/08


The Scottish juvenile indoor championships were held in the Kelvin hall
arena in Glasgow last weekend the 9th/10th.On Saturday the u13s and 15s
were in action with the events starting at 10am. Kerrys first medal came
from Eoghan Courtney of St Brendans in the u13 60m hurdles.
He finished second in his heat to qualify for the final.
There he was drawn in lane two and stormed home to the bronze medal in a
time of 10.81secs.Eoghan also competed in the long jump and finished 6th
with 4.24m.
Next up was his cousin Elaine Courtney of Spa Muckross ac in the u13 60m.
In her heat she reacted fastest and powered to an easy victory.
She then moved onto her semi final and was sumwhat left in her blocks but
her superior strength showed at the finish when she still finished in
second place to book her place in the final.Her strong semi final run then
gave her a good lane for the final in which with a flawess run she
scorched down the track to cross the line in a well deserved bronze medal.
Elaine was again on the track shortly afterwards to run the heat of the
200m and like her 60m heat won with relative ease and also recording the
fastest heat time.She lined up for the final with all the Kerry contingent
expecting her to win a medal and even with that pressure she didnt
dissapoint running a strong race to again secure the bronze medal.For good
measure Elaine also finished 4th in the long jump.
The final Kerry medal of the weekend came from Emma Leen St Brendans in
the u17 shot where she was competing one year out of age.She opened the
competition with some tentitive throwing but in the 4th round she got in a
throw if 9.16m which earned her the bronze medal in an event where munster
athletes filled the first three positions.
Other Kerry athletes who competed well and made finals in their events
included Micheal Godley[Tralee Harriers],Ailbhe Courtney,Quinn Newsome,
and Dara Dineen.[all St Brendans].Well done to everyone who competed.

Cross Country:
The Woodie’s DIY intermediate and masters cross country championships were
held in ideal conditions at Piercestown Wexford today. As is usual in the
south east, the sun shone for a while.Four highly competitive races were
staged on an undulating course that some might have considered ‘tough’ The
line-up in the intermediate mens 10km was impressive with an array of
talent just out of junior ranks mixing it with experienced runners from
all over the country.With six laps of the course to cover, the speed
merchants were understandably hiding in the pack as a big front group
gradually decreased in size in the exception of Cian Murphy of Iveragh
A.C.Cian ran his usual strong running race from gun to tape and finished
in a well deserved 8th place.
Tramore racecourse provided the venue for the Munster schools cross
country last week giving St.Augustines a break for the first time in many
years.
This was a very tough course, with a long drawn out hill made even tougher
with the soft underfoot conditions.Even so Eimear Tagney of St Brigids
Killarney and Spa Muckross AC ran a determined race and easily pulled away
of the field to win the intermediate girls competition.
Niamh De Hora of Pobal Scoil Chorca Dhuibhne and Farranfore AC was also in
flying form in the minor girls event when she ran well to finish in second
place.Well done everyone.

Fixtures-Munster u10-u14 indoors-Nenagh-Feb 23rd/24th
Munster u15-u19 indoors-Nenagh-Mar 1st/2nd