Local Athletes Prepare for National Championships
The next session of the National Championships gets underway in Tullamore on Saturday and Sunday next. First in action on Saturday will be Lisa Houlihan and Katie Laffen in the Pole Vault at 10am. West Waterford has a strong tradition in this event and it will be no surprise to see both girls among the medal winners. At 11am Kate Hickey will step into the discus circle to defend her national title. This will be a very competitive event and Kate will have to throw over 30m to retain the gold medal. Kate has been training hard for this event and is well capable of throwing this distance. Lisa Houlihan will be in action again in the 100m Hurdles. She has been hurdling well of late and should make the final eight after that anything is possible. At one o clock Claire Collins will start in the steeplechase. Last year Claire was very close to a medal in this event and will pull out all the stops this time round, her improved technique over the water jump should be a big advantage. Last in action on Saturday will be Lorna Cummins in the under 13 High Jump. This will be the first time Laura has competed in the national track and field championships. This is also her first year at the High Jump and she will be looking to jump over 1m 20 on the day.
On Sunday Michelle Kenneally will have an early start, as her hammer event will get under way at 10am. Last year Michelle won a bronze medal in this event and she will hope to improve on that performance this year. At the same time Martin, Laurence and Thomas Houlihan will all be in action in the Pole Vault and all should be among the medal winners. Thomas will be looking for a good performance ahead of his trip to Finland. Also in action at ten will be Lisa Houlihan in the 300m Hurdles. Laura Connors will take part in the high jump. Laura is still a novice at this event but she has improved with every competition and a jump of over 1m 35 should see her go a long way in this event. Zoe Scanlon will be another West Waterford seeking to defend a national title when she steps into the discus circle. Twice in the last two weeks Zoe has improved her personal best, which now stands at over 37m, if she reproduces that form on Sunday she will have little difficulty in retaining her title. At noon Alex Lai will compete for the first time at this level when he takes part in the long jump. Alex has made great progress at this event in the last few months and is currently jumping over 5m 50. At 1.30 Sinead Flynn will get her first taste of national competition on the track. Already a national champion at cross country she will hope to repeat her Munster winning performance on Sunday in what promises to be a very fast 600m. Finally at 3.30 Declan Power and David Earley will compete over 3000m. Declan would prefer if it was 5000m rather than 3000m but will be looking to improve his best time. David will be competing in the A championships for the first time and will also will be looking to improve his time. All in the club wish all our athletes the best of luck in their events.
There will be training on the track on Thursday for all those who have qualified for the All Ireland. The bus will leave Centra in Abbeyside at 6pm. Club training continues as usual on Wed and Fri at 6pm.
Flag Day
The juvenile committee would like to thank all those who collected and those who contributed to our annual flag collection. We would especially like to thank Albert Mc Grath and his staff for their help in the running of the collection.
