All Ireland Pairs Competition- Gold for Laura and Sophie

The All Ireland U9-11 Pairs and Relay championships were held last Saturday at Tulamore Harriers Stadium. A very large crowd was in attendance with over 1000 juvenile athletes competing from all over the country on the day. We had 6 girls competing from the club in the u10 and 11 events. Sophie Quinn and Laura Kelly were up first in the u10 60m, both girls ran well and finished 5^th overall with a combined sprint time of 20.36s. Niamh Murray and Sophie Greene were up next in the u10 long jump, the girls combined jump of 5.81 placed them 12^th overall. The mid distance and relay events were on in the afternoon session, Sophie and Laura combined very well and in the first heat, Sophie got the girls off to a great start running a terrific time of 1:35.17 to win her heat and also set the fastest time of the day. Laura ran in heat three and with a determined run she finished 2^nd in a time of 1:42.42. The girls combined time of 3:19.59 was good enough to win the gold and give the girls their first All Ireland Title. Aimee Doherty and Molly Keane teamed up for the u11 600m, Aimee was below par on the day running a time of 1:56 to finish 2^nd in her heat, Molly had a good run taking 6 seconds off her pb with a time of 2:11, the girls finished 8^th overall. The relays were the final event of the day and Sophie and Laura combined with Niamh Murray and Sophie Green to make up the u10 quartet, the girls ran a good heat finishing 2^nd to qualify for the final. The final was a very competitive affair and was won in a time of 1:03.57, the girls finished 6^th in a time of 1:05.67. Well done to the girls who competed so well at this level and who put in a great effort in training in recent weeks in the lead up to these championships.