Kerryman Article 30/6/08
The Woodie’s DIY Junior and Under 23 track and field championships got
underway on Sunday in Tullamore. A bright sunny day with a strong cross
wind has not affected the sprinters so far, with some excellent
performances all round. Daniel Clifford Farranfore / Maine Valley was in
fantastic form to pick up gold medals in the Junior Men’s Shot Putt and
Discus and a bronze in the Hammer, while Alan O’Connor Tralee Harriers
picked up gold in the U23 Shot, silver in the 35lb Distance, and bronze in
the Discus
Results so far
5000 m Walk - Junior Men
2 Niall Prendiville Farranfore Maine Valley A.C. 24.58.52
High Jump - Junior Men
3 Ian Crowley Farranfore Maine Valley A.C. 1.75
Shot Putt - Junior Men
1 Daniel Clifford Farranfore Maine Valley A.C. 13.24
Discus - Junior Men
1 Daniel Clifford Farranfore Maine Valley A.C. 46.39
Hammer - Junior Men
3 Daniel Clifford Farranfore Maine Valley A.C. 48.63
5000 m - Junior Women
1 Maura Fitzgerald Farranfore Maine Valley A.C. 20.34.94
Shot Putt - Junior Women
1 Claire Fitzgerald Tralee Harriers A.C. 12.69
Discus - Junior Women
1 Claire Fitzgerald Tralee Harriers A.C. 38.78
3 Karen O'Connor Tralee Harriers A.C. 29.90
Hammer - Junior Women
3 Katie O'Shea Farranfore Maine Valley A.C. 45.63
Shot Putt - U.23 Men
1 Alan O'Connor Tralee Harriers A.C. 12.18
Discus - U.23 Men
3 Alan O'Connor Tralee Harriers A.C. 34.71
35lb Distance - U.23 Men
2 Alan O'Connor Tralee Harriers A.C. 9.20
The 46th running of the KitKat Tailteann Schools’ Interprovincial at
Santry on Saturday was another winner for Irish athletics with four new
championships best performances and a host of personal bests. This was
despite the inclement weather which made achieving such heights even more
difficult. Claire Fitzgerald of Tralee Harriers and Presentation Tralee
won the Discus, Javelin and Shot and was awarded the best female of the
meeting. She has won 3 gold medals in the last 3 Tailteann Schools’
Interprovincial which is a first for any athlete. Emma Prindibhil P.S
Corca Dhuibhne and Farranfore/Maine Valley won the 3000m Walk and was
presented with the award for best overall walker. Mary Theresa Moynihan
Castleisland CC and Farranfore MV won a bronze in the Javelin
There were two road races this week, the first was the 5mile Shanagarry in
the Ballycotton series. Tim O’Connor was 3rd in 27 mins and James Doran
was 6th in 27.20mins both these were Ríocht athletes. The Ennis 10km took
place on Sat with over 1500 entries, Donal O’Callaghan was 2nd in 32.40
and Tom Shanahan crossed the line 1st in the over 45s in 36.44mins.
The An Ríocht athletics academy this year was a major success with some
top coaches and professional athletes coming to do sessions with the
county's leading teenagers.
On Monday Jer O'Donoghue, one of the country's leading sprinters took a
speed session while John Sheehan worked on the throws with Shane Delaney
of St. Brendan's holding a hurdling session. Niamh O'Sullivan, National
master athlete of the year, held an injury prevention workshop with all
athletes.
On Tuesday morning, project 400 member Brian Murphy gave a very
interesting talk to the group on how he plans to go to the Olympics in
Beijing with the 4x400m relay. His talk, I’m sure inspired the young
athletes to keep working hard in the sport.
Emily Maher, national 100m champion in 2007 was also present and held very
successful sprints workshops.
Philip Kearney, national combined events champion did a high jump session
while just back from international duty at the Europa Cup, Denis Finnegan
worked on the long and triple jump.
John Sheehan did a circuits session to begin Wednesday morning before
athletes broke into their respective events. Shane Delaney coached pole
vault while Jer and Emily again took the sprinters. The middle distance
athletes were taken off for a challenging hill session with Denny Mc
Sweeney.
After some light training on Thursday morning, Garreth Devlin, (Athletics
Ireland high performance manager) spoke on the carding scheme for junior
athletes. Then the athletes took a break with a very enjoyable table quiz.
An Ríocht would like to thank all the coaches and athletes who took part
in the week and made it so successful.
Following on from this An Ríocht are holding 3 summer camps, Multi
Activity (Tues 1st-4th Jul ages 9-12), Junior Multi Activity (7th-10th Jul
ages 5-8) and Little Athletics (11th-14thJul ages 5-8) during the summer.
The focus of these camps will be to introduce the children to various team
and individual sports in a non competitive and fun environment so that
each child can learn something new and find a sport that they like.
Activities will include athletics, dodge ball, tag rugby, soccer,
football, water combat, karate and much more! Further details can be
obtained from Kate McSweeny or Ciaran McCabe on 0667143370 or email
riocht@eircom.net
Events coming up
July
Sat 5th AAI Juvenile T&F Championships Antrim Forum
Sun 6th AAI Juvenile T&F Championships Antrim Forum
Sun 13th AAI Juvenile T&F Championships Tullamore
Sat 19th AAI Senior T&F Championships Santry
Sun 20th AAI Senior T&F Championships Santry
Sat 26th AAI Juvenile Relays Tullamore
Sun 27th AAI National League Final Tullamore
August
Sat 9th AAI Masters T&F Championships Tullamore
Sat 9th AAI Juvenile Combined Events Santry
Sun 10th AAI Juvenile Combined Events and Juenile B Championships Santry
Sun 10th AAI Juvenile Inter County Relays Santry
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