All Systems Go for Western Primary Schools Finals
Wednesday is the day and the Friary is the venue for the Western Primary Schools Athletics Championships where we will see the best young talent in the western part of the county competing for the honour of their schools. Over the past two weeks we have had qualifying events for big schools and small schools and on Wednesday we will have the finals. In all there will be 64 races run starting at 6.30 sharp with the girls under 8 sprint final. Line up will start at 6.15 so we advise parents and teachers to come early, as parking inside will be limited. All the sprint finals will be run first followed by relay races and then the finals of the long distance events. The complete programme should be finished within two hours. West Waterford juvenile committee would like to thank the many adults and young athletes who have turned up in the past two weeks to help run the event and we look forward to your support again on Thursday and for the county final. As well as medals for the first three they will also score points for their schools and trophies will be awarded to the best boys and girls school in each category. The first three athletes in each of the sprint races and long distance events and the first two relay teams in each race will qualify for the county finals that will be held in the friary on Wed 26th of May.
West Waterford Athletes qualify for Munster Schools Championships
The east munster schools championships which are the qualifying event for the Munster Schools Championships were held in the RSC on Wednesday last. Athletes from all the local schools were in action. There were many West Waterford athletes among the medal winners and they will all be in action at the Munsters later in the month. Gold medal winners Lisa Houlihan and Kate Veale (St Augustines) Claire Collins, Zoe Scanlon, Ciara Scanlon, Laura Connors and Kaylee Norris (all Ard Scoil). Silver medals were won by Eimear Duff, Aine Power and Rebecca Maher (Ard Scoil) and Leanne Herlihy (St Augustines) while Kate Hickey (St Declans) was third in both discus and hammer.
Successful Outing to the County Championships
The first session of the Waterford Club Championships were held in the RSC on Sunday last. All six clubs in the county were involved and there were very big fields in some of the age groups particularly at under 10,11 and 12. A large contingent of athletes from West Waterford competed in running jumping and throwing events and many of them were among the medal winners. Sheamie Fennell was our only winner in the sprint event taking the under 14 title. Cian O’Riordan, Claudia Quarry, Kate Mc Grath and Lughaidh O’Mahont finished 2nd , while Sean Ronayne, Eoin O’Brien, Sean Curran, Aine Flynn, and Caoimhe Dwyer were all placed third.
In the middle distance events we had five winners Kaylee Norris, Sinead Flynn, Robbie Mulligan and Lucy O’Brien and Lughaidh O’ Mahony. Michael Power, Sean Curran and Alex Lai placed second in their races, while Eimear Duff, Cian O’Riordan, Aidan Mc Kenna, Seamie Fennell, Kate Curran and Kaylee Norris were bronze medal winners. In the boys long jump events West Waterford’s Seamie Fennell, Tholm Reddy and Sean Curran were first second and third. Alex Lai was second under 18 and Conor Brown third under 10. In the girls high jumps Aisling Mullanney under 12, Laura Connors under 15 and Claire Collins Jnr women were all winners. Lorna Cummins and Kate Mc Grath were second and third under 13 while in the under 12 event three west Waterford all cleared the same height with Bronagh Condon getting third place on countback.
In the throwing events Seamie Fennell won the discus and was 2nd in the javelin while Eoin Dwyer won the javelin and placed 2nd in the discus under 14 and Tholm Reddy was third in the javelin. Oisin O’ mahony was second in the under 13 discus as was Alex Lai under 18. Kat Hickey was the winner of the under 16 shot as was Zoe Scanlon under 18 and Jnr women an event Claire Collins finished second in.
In the ball throw events Claudia Quarry won the girls under 10 with Sean Ronayne second and Conor Brown third in the boys events.
There were some very exciting finished in the relay events with wins from the under 13 and under 17 girls and the under 13 and 15 boys. The under 10 boys finished second after a great first leg by Alan Curran while the biggest cheer was reserved for the under 11 girls team as Aine Flynn got the baton about 20m down in 4th but powered up the final straight to take her team into third place.
More Championships Next Sunday
The second session of the championships will take place on Sunday next starting at 11am. There will be events for boys and girls from under 12 upwards. There will be short hurdles for all ages, walks, 200, and 800m from under 14 for both boys and girls long jump, discus, javelin and hammer for all girls high jump, shot, triple jump and hammer for all boys 3000m for under 18 girls and under 16 and 18 boys relays under 12,145, and 16.
Easons to Sponsor County Schools Finals
Eason’s Dungarvan are to sponsor this years county schools final which will take place in the Friary on Wed 26th. This is a new venture for Eason’s who in the past have sponsored our cross-country league. West Waterford AC would like to thank their sponsor Tom Currans Hardware, Blackwater Catering and JB White Chartered Accountants for the continued sponsorship of our many events.
