WWAC Juvenile Athletes are Back on the Track
Last weekend our juvenile athletes competed in the Munster under 12-19
championships in Cork. This was their first competition on the track since the
summer of 2019and they acquitted themselves well with most recording
personal best performances and five of them among the medal winners.
Silver for Paul Mullarkey in the under 18 Shot
The boys were in action on Saturday and first up was Paul Mullarkey in the
under 18 shot. Paul had a great competition surpassing his personal best in five
of the six rounds and finishing 2 nd with a throw of 11.21 a full metre better than
his previous best.
Mark Blackwell was next up competing in the boys under 19 3000m. Mark ran a
very steady pace throughout the race and finished in 5 th place. Mark’s time of
9.59.52 was a new personal best and the first time he has run the distance in
under 10 mins which is a big milestone that every distance runner seeks to
achieve.
Our only other competitor on the day was Naoise Mac Murchadha. This was
really in at the deep end for Naoise as this was his first ever race on a track. He
was one of 19 competitors who competed in two heats in the boys under 15
800m. He ran in the faster of the two heats finishing 6 th with a time of 2.23.40.
With a few more races under his belt he will improve on this time.
Gold for Doireann and Silver for Eabha in torrential downpour
The girls were in action on the track and in the field on Sunday and we were
very lucky with the weather for most of the day until it came time for the walks.
The girls had just taken to the track and were on their first lap when there was a
ferocious cloudburst that lasted for the full twelve minutes of their race. Despite
the terrible conditions the girls battled on showing good form throughout the
race with Doireann Hickey leading all the way from the gun and coming home a
clear winner in the under 16 girls and Eabha Hickey taking the runner up spot in
the under 15 girls behind a very strong Kenmare AC walker.
Silver for Sarah Slevin in the under 16 Shot
We had two athletes taking part in the shot competitions in the morning session.
Sarah Slevin took silver in the under 17 shot with a throw of 9.75 while Saoirse
Quinn was competing in her first competition ever and threw 6.82 to finish 2 nd in
the girls under 16
Silver for Isabelle Gaffney in under 12 600m
Three athletes represented West Waterford on the track in the afternoon session.
Isabelle Gaffney competed in the under 12 600m. With thirty three athletes
competing they were divided into three heats. Isabelle was in heat one which
proved to be the fastest one as Anna Vaughan Reddan took off like a greyhound
out of a trap to lead all the way and win with a championship best performance.
There was a great battle for second place on the home straight with Isabelle
crossing the line ahead of Emma Flynn North Cork in a time of 1.47.93 to win
the overall silver.
Sarah Gaffney competed in the girls under 14 800m, her first time racing this
distance on the track. With over thirty runners there were again three heats and
Sarah was in the final heat running well to take third place in her heat with a
time of 2.42.12
Our final competitor of the day was Angelina Chizhikova in the girls under 17.
This was a fast race and Angelina tried to stay with it on the first lap but drifted
off the pace in the second lap to finish 15 th in a time of 2.59.34
Well done to all the athletes who competed, their parents who drove them there
and their coaches Tony, Mary, Greg and Zuanna.
Isabelle Gaffney, Doireann Hickey, Eabha Hickey, Paul Mullarkey and Sarah
Slevin will now go on to compete in the All Ireland Championships in August.
