Ten Munster Titles for West Waterford Athletes
The second section of the Munster club championships was held in Cork over three days last weekend. On Friday and Saturday evenings the hammer and discus events were held in Midleton and the track and jumping events were held in C.I.T. on Saturday and Sunday. West Waterford had over 30 athletes under 12,13, 16,17,18,and 19 competing in all disciplines at these championships and there were some excellent performances and not just from among the medal winners as many of our athletes improved their times and distances.
The Houlihans dominate the Pole Vault Competitions
As usual the Houlihan family were among the medal winners in the pole vault competitions. Lisa won the first of her two gold medals in the under 18 pole vault and later added the 100m hurdles title. Thomas won the under 19 boys and Laurence the under 17 boys with twin brother Martin in 2nd place. Laurence also won the under 17 high jump with Martin taking the bronze. Leann Herlihy won the first of her two silver medals in the pole vault and was also second in the under 17 high jump.
Double for Zoe Scanlon and first Munster Title for Shane Kenneally
Zoe Scanlan added to her tally of Munster titles with a double in the shot and discus under 18. Shane Kenneally was competing at this level for the first time and he threw over 40 metres in the discus to win his first Munster title he later added a silver in both the shot and hammer events. Ciara Scanlan and Michelle Kenneally both added to their personal best throws each throwing close to 40m when finishing second in both the under 17 and under 19 hammer events. Kate Hickey continues to improve at the discus and with three throws over 30mts finished second in the under 16 discus.
Impressive Run by Sinead Flynn
Sinead Flynn added to her reputation as an up and coming middle distance runner with a fine win in the girls under 13 600m. Sinead had a comfortable win in her heat on Saturday and on Sundays she ran a very well judged race taking up the lead with 200m to go and sprinting home on the final straight to take the under 13 title in a time of 1m 48.62.
In the boys under 12 Michael Power qualified for the final by finishing 6th in his heat. In the final on Sunday he ran a much better race giving everything in the last 150m to try and catch the leading three but in the end had to settle for 5th place.
High Jump title for Claire Collins
Claire Collins gave another top class performance clearing 1m 60 and just missing out on 1m 65 when winning the under 19 high jump competition. There was some good jumping too from our under 12 girls as Aisling Mullaney, Rachel Wyley, Dairina Shanley, Bronagh Condon all cleared new heights. Later in the afternoon Claire finished second in the Triple Jump.
Silver for Alex and Lughaidh Bronze for Kate in Hurdles
Alex Lai had to wait on the results of the photo finish to decide the places in the under 17 300m hurdles where he got up in the last metre to snatch the silver medal. He also made it into the final eight in the long jump and triple jump and finished 4th in the 100m hurdles. Lughaidh O’Mahony was second in the 400m hurdles and he also led off the 4x400m relay team, which included Alex Lai, Darragh O’Riordan and Laurence Houlihan that finished a very close second. In the sprint hurdles Kate mc Grath won her first individual medal of the championships with a third place in a very tight 60m hurdles race.
Robbie Mulligan and Brandon Barry qualify for All Ireland
As the first four athletes in all events qualify for the All Ireland finals Brandon Barry 4th in the Triple Jump and Robbie Mulligan 4th in the 800m in a time of 2m14.35 qualified. It looked as if Robbie might also qualify in the 1500m as he stayed in the leading bunch for most of the race but was run out of it in the sprint for the finish. Lucy O’ Brien finished 6th in the under 16 800m in a time of 2mins 45. All our relay teams finished in the top eight our under 12 team of Aisling Mullaney, Rachel Wyley Bronagh Condon and Caoimhe Dwyer made it to the final as did the under 13 team of Laura Cusack, Kate McGrath, Lorna Cummins and Sinead Flynn who ran under 58 secs for the first time when finishing 5th in the final. The boys under 17 and 18 teams were also just outside the medals in their finals.
Flag Day Next Thursday and Friday 24th and 25th of June
The club will hold their annual flag day on Thursday and Friday next and are asking parents and our older athletes to volunteer for two our stints. Helen is coordinating this and she would welcome more volunteers on Wed at training.
Club Championships Continues this week
We are now half way through our club championships and there was much interest in the point’s table at training on Friday last. This Wednesday it is long jump for boys under 9,10,12,14 and over 14 and ball throw for girls under 9,10,12 and shot for girls under 14 and over 14. The club championships will conclude on Friday with a long distance race for all age groups and will be followed by the presentation of prizes.
Tailteann Games next Saturday
The Tialteann games, which are the schools, inter provincial athletics championships will be held in Tullamore next weekend. The best of luck to Leann Herlihy, Laurence Houlihan, Martin Houlihan, Ciara Scanlan and Kate Veale who are all representing Munster in this event.
