SUCCESSFUL All IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIPS WEEKEND as West Waterford Athletes win Natioal Titles in Pole Vault and Discus
Fifteen athletes from West Waterford competed at last weekend’s national championships and it was an action packed weekend with some outstanding performance. On Saturday Lisa Houlihan added to her growing list of pole vault titles with a win in the under 18 girls equalling her lifetime best jump of 3m and also finishing third in the 100m hurdles. Leann Herlihy gave a confident performance when winning the silver medal in the under 17 pole vault. Kate Mc Grath made it through to the final of the under 13 60m hurdles and improved her time getting under 10.50 for the first time when finishing 6th.
On Sunday the Houlihans were in the medals again with Thomas jumping to a new record of 4m40 in the under 19 boys. Laurence finished second in the under 17 boys with Martin just outside the medals in fourth. Zoe Scanlon threw over 36 mts when adder the under 18 discus title to her growing list of success’s. Claire Collins was back to her best form clearing 1m 65 to win the silver medal in the under 19 high jump. Michelle Kenneally had her best competition to date throwing over 40m on four occasions and finishing second in the under 18 girls hammer. Shane Kenneally was competing at this level for the first time and despite a nervous start threw 36m 86 in the hammer to finish 5th.
There was no joy for our middle distance runners with best place going to Sinead Flynn who finished 6th in the under 13 600m. All the middle distance races were run at a very fast pace with some incredible times being recorded in some of the races. Seamie Fennell was 8th in the under 14 boys and Robbie Mulligan 12th in the under 16 boys. Both Lughaidh O’Mahony and Alix Lai competed in the finals of the hurdles with Lughaidh finishing 5th in the under 18 400m hurdles in a time of 62.95 and Alix 6th in the under 17 300m hurdles in 45.49.
The following are the qualifiers for day 3 of the national championships;
Kate Hickey under 16 hammer and discus
Ciara Scanlan under 17 hammer
Kate Veale under 17 walk
Shane O’Riordan under 14 walk
Richard Casey under 14 walk
Seamie Fennell under 14 200m
Shane Kenneally under 16 shot and discus
Zoe Scanlon under 18 shot.
Club Championships Conclude
In all eighty athletes took part in our club championships, which were held over four nights and involved running jumping and throwing. Last Wednesday we had the presentation of trophies to the leading athletes in each age group. In the under 9 girls Emily Murphy had a double winning the sprint and long jump while Caoimhe Earley won the ball throw and Lucy Holmes the long race. In the under 10 girls the points were more scattered with four different winners Orla Queally won the long jump, Claudia Quarry the sprint, Freya Willats the ball throw and Ciara Mc Kenna the long race. The under 12 girls was dominated by Caoimhe Dwyer who won three of the four events with Chloe Fennell winning the ball throw. The best under 11 girl was Judith Campbell. In the under 14 girls Lorna Cummins won both the shot and sprint with Kate Mc Grath winning the long jump and Sinead Flynn the distance race. Lucy O’ Brien had a double in the shot and distance race in the over 14 event with Aine Power winning the sprint and Claire Collins the long jump.
In the boys events Oisin O’ Riordan won both the sprint and long race under 9 as did his older brother Cian in the under 10 event. Ciaran Frisby won the under 9 ball throw and long jump and Sean Ronayne won the ball throw and Conor Brown the long jump under 10. Michael Power won three of the four under 12 events with Aidan Mc Kenna the overall winner winning the ball throw. Best of the under 11’s was Aidan O’Brien. Seamie Fennel was the only athlete to record the minimum points when he won all four events in the under 14 boys section. In the over 14 boys the honours were divided with Shane Kenneally winning the shot and long jump Robbie Mulligan the distance event and Brandon Barry the sprint.
Girls under 9;
1. Emily Murphy
2. Lucy Holmes
3.Caoimhe Earley
Girls under 10;
1. Orla Queally
2. Claudia Quarry
3. Ellen Byrne
Girls under 12;
1. Caoimhe Dwyer
2. Rachel Wyley
3. Chloe Fennell
Girls under 14;
1. Lorna Cummins
2. Cliona Ryan
3. Kate Mc Grath
Girls over 14;
1. Lucy O’Brien
2. Kayleigh Norris
3. Aine Power
Boys under 9;
1.Oisin O’Riordan
2. Ciaran Frisby
3. Alan Curran
Boys under 10;
1. Cian O’Riordan
2. Sean Ronayne
3. Conor Brown
Boys under 12;
1. Aidan McKenna
2. Michael Power
3. Owen Ryan & Diarmuid Harty
Boys under 14;
1. Seamie Fennell
2. Tholm Reddy
3. Sean Curran
Boys over 14;
1. Robbie Mullignan
2. Darragh O’Riordan
3. Shane Kenneally
