Monday, February 23, 2015

Meath Inter Club League- Day 1 A- Wednesday February 25th

Day 1A of the Meath inter Club League takes place this Wednesday at Cushinstown Ac commencing at 7:15pm, the first night is for age groups U10,12,14,15, Junior, Senior and Masters only, please see details below, the 60m sprints will be the first events of the night.


Meath Athletics
Inter-Club Track & Field League - 2015
February 25th  - 7.15 p.m.
 Cushinstown AC Sports Centre.
Program: Day 1(a) - Sprints
##Boys & Girls


Born
U10
60m
Long Jump
2006
U12
60m
Long Jump
2004
U14
60m
#High Jump
2002
U15
60m
High Jump
2001


Junior, Senior & Masters - 60m – at 8.00 p.m.
Junior Senior and Masters - Long Jump

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Living the Dream

Happy to report that the Ratoath A/C warm weather training group of Philip & Diarmuid Marron, Joe and Peter Kilgannon and Alex and Derek Hunter have acclimatised well to the demanding training conditions in Monte Gardo, Portugal.

 Rising every morning at 7 am for a beach run, the afternoon is spent in the gym with a  final hill or track  session in the evening before getting to bed early.  The only downside is that the lads are being distracted by the presence of six national u 16 girls soccer teams that are playing in an official UEFA tournament. However, parents, spouses and loved one's need not worry as Bernie and I sit in the lobby sitting herbal tea for most of the night to ensure all is above board and the lads are fully rested for the next day's training. Facilities are top class with an international class track, pool, running trails and a beautiful beach all in close proximity. Temperatures hit high teens in the afternoon but it gets chilly at night

Its a dogs life but someone has to do it








Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Reminder- Meath Community Games Cross Country-Sunday Feb 22nd

The Meath Community Games Cross Country will take palce in Ballinacrea beside St. Bridgets' GAA Club in Oldcastle this Sunday February 22nd at 11am. Registration is on the day and the entry fee is €2 per athlete. Anyone who wishes to take part please  be there by 10:30am latest. Competitors must be under-age on 31st July 2015, eg. under 8 Competition - Competitors must not have reached their 8th birthday on or before July 31st 2014. Note: Under 8, 9, 10 & 16 are County Competitions only and winners do not go forward to Athlone.
Events are for under 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16.

Registration on the day from 10am, €2 Entry fee per athlete.
No Spikes allowed under Community Games Rules


Events for Under 8, 9, 10 are 500m (County Competition only).
Event for under 12 is 500m and the first 6 (4 plus next 2 as subs) will qualify as a Relay Team for Athlone.
Event for Under 13 is an individual event, distance 1,200m and top 6 will go to Athlone.
Event for Under 14 is 700m and the like Under 12 the first 6 (4 plus next 2 as subs) will qualify as a Relay Team for Athlone.
Event for Under 16 is 700m. (County Competition Only)

Please note this competition is open to all athletes within the County of Meath, you do not have to pre qualify through your parish and you do not have to be a member on an athletics club.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Double Gold, Silver, and Leinster record at indoor relay Championships




 The Leinster indoor juvenile relays took place at the Ait Arena last Saturday and with entries at record levels the competition was fierce and the atmosphere was electric. We had 6 team’s competing on the day u12, 13, 14, &15 girls and u13&14 boys. Our u13 girls took to the track first in heat one of the u13 4 x 100m relay, unfortunately we were only informed of a late change of rules minutes before the event commenced which caused much confusion for all teams competing in the first heat, luckily our girls still managed to qualify for the final finishing 2nd in a time of 58.4s. The girls were much wiser for the final and showed true grit when they stormed to victory from lane 2 in a new Leinster record of 55.92s, congratulations to Lili O’ Connor, Emma O’ Connell, Aimee Doherty, Aoife Rutherford and Ella Healy.  Our u13 boys were up next and they put in a great run to finish 2nd in their heat qualifying them for the final, the lads finished 5th in the final after another good run in what was a very competitive age group. Well done Oisin Kelly, Kyle Witter, Tom Kilgannon and Brian Kiely.
Our u15 girls were impressive winners of their heat with a solid run on the anchor leg by Maria Rogers qualifying them easily for their final with still plenty in the tank. The girls came out with all guns blazing in the final with a scintillating start from Aine Cooney on the first leg, Ivie Okome put in a power run on the 2nd leg and the battle was now on with Laurence O’ Toole’s for gold on the final 2 legs, Emma Coroner and Lara Power pushed them all the way with the girls only narrowly beaten in the end claiming silver.
The Even ages relays were on in the afternoon, Our U12 girls team of Laura Kelly, Aimee Doherty, Eabha Toole and Eno Okome put in a good performance in their heat finishing third missing out on qualification. Our U14 girls were easy winners of their heat but struggled in the final finishing 5th, a number of the girls doubled up on the day and their earlier efforts caught up with them.
The u14 boy’s team were quietly confident and they delivered on their promise with powerful running in their heat setting the fastest qualification time. The final was no different Tom Kilgannon getting the lads off to a great start, Matthew Buckley on the 2nd leg was sensational eating up the ground to give his team a commanding lead heading into the 3rd leg, Oisin Kelly consolidated the lead with a very solid run handing over to the anchor man Ben Toole. Ben maintained the lead with a very confident final leg crossing the line with a good 30m to spare over 2nd place.
Congratulations to all of our teams on some fine performances and best of luck to our three teams who have qualified for Nationals on March 28th.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

New Senior 4 x 200m club record 15 Feb 2015

The quartet of Brian Kiernan, Ciaran McCarthy, Peter Doherty and Conor Duncan set a new club 4 x 200m senior record when winning the Leinster senior championships in 1 min 35.45 at AIT today. This was the second gold of the day for Peter as he had earlier won the masters 60m sprint. Siobheal Cummins was another to triumph with a PB of 1.45m in the masters high jump while Hugh Kelly dipped under 5 minutes in the masters 1500m

 On Saturday, Philip Marron took bronze in the u 18 1500m with an indoor PB of 4 min 15.36. Alex Hunter (4th u 17 1500m 4min 22.1),  Ciaran McCarthy (4th u 19 1500m 4 min 30.42 ) and Karen Hayes (7th u 15 800m 2 min 34.67 ) were others to run well but were just out of the medals despite all recording new personal bests.


Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Leinster Schools X Country - 11 Feb 2015

In near perfect weather conditions, Santry Demesne was the setting for some top class athletics at the Leinster school x country championships today.

 Karen Hayes ran a cracker of a race in the minor girl's race as she moved from 13th to get up to 8th over the last 400m and qualify for the All Ireland. Karen's  school- mate Aine O Connor just missed out on qualification for the nationals when finishing 17th in the intermediate girls over 3,500m. Philip Marron and Alex Hunter contested the intermediate boys and were right  in contention from the very start. Philip eventually took bronze with Alex a very close 7th after an absorbing race. Deirdre Healy (Institute of Education) had a titanic battle with the current national junior champion Hope Saunters in the senior girls and finished a close second while Ciaran Crowther (St Andrews) was 24th in the senior boys over 6,000m in a race loaded with Irish junior internationals from the recent European championships














Monday, February 9, 2015

Meath Community Games Cross Country

The Meath Community Games Cross Country will take palce in Ballinacrea beside St. Bridgets' GAA Club in Oldcastle on Sunday February 22nd at 11am. Registration is on the day and the entry fee is €2 per athlete. Anyone who wishes to take part please  be there by 10:30am latest. Competitors must be under-age on 31st July 2015, eg. under 8 Competition - Competitors must not have reached their 8th birthday on or before July 31st 2014. Note: Under 8, 9, 10 & 16 are County Competitions only and winners do not go forward to Athlone.
Events are for under 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16.

Registration on the day from 10am, €2 Entry fee per athlete.
No Spikes allowed under Community Games Rules


Events for Under 8, 9, 10 are 500m (County Competition only).
Event for under 12 is 500m and the first 6 (4 plus next 2 as subs) will qualify as a Relay Team for Athlone.
Event for Under 13 is an individual event, distance 1,200m and top 6 will go to Athlone.
Event for Under 14 is 700m and the like Under 12 the first 6 (4 plus next 2 as subs) will qualify as a Relay Team for Athlone.
Event for Under 16 is 700m. (County Competition Only)

Please note this competition is open to all athletes within the County of Meath, you do not have to pre qualify through your parish and you do not have to be a member on an athletics club.

Bronze for Aine in B Championships

Aine O Connor was the club's  sole competitor at the national juvenile x country B championships held in Tuam over the weekend. Following a string of top drawer runs from Aine this winter, it came as no surprise when she won her first individual medal at national level when capturing bronze in the u 17 girls.  Making it a family affair, her dad Tom (Ratoath club coach / mentor), running in the colours of Liffey Valley / Dublin , won team county gold and club bronze in the ultra competitive masters category to add further to his huge haul of national and international medals. The apple never falls far from the tree

Congratulations to both athletes



Saturday, February 7, 2015

Mini League Report





Sunday the 1st of February  2015 saw a stampede of young athletes from Ratoath AC, Dunshaughlin AC, Tara AC and Dunboyne AC (and even a few from Cushionstown AC ) turned up for the third Inter Club Mini League. The track thawed out around midday to cause slippery underfoot conditions, in what can be described as a sunny but fresh day where running conditions would normally be ideal.
We had a great turnout from the club with over 40 athletes competing on the day and had some great performances over all the age groups and various events resulting in a  great win by 79 points to claim the inter club mini league shield with a terrific score 242.5 pts. There were also a number of exceptional performance from  Dunboyne who finished second overall, Tara who finished third and Dunshaughlin  athletes who were fourth overall.
Thanks to all Parents and athletes who made the trip to Dunboyne and we look forward now to the Meath Inter Club League which kicks off on February 25th in Cushinstown.





Monday, February 2, 2015

Leinster Individual Indoor Entries

Due to Leinster entries for all competitions now been taken on-line, Ratoath Ac will only process Leinster team event entries, it is now the responsibility of the athlete/parent to enter for individual competitions.
Please note: You will need your current 2015 registration number to enter, please e-mail  ratoathathletics@gmail.com and we will send on your reg. number.
All Leinster Indoor Individual entries are now entered via the on line system using the following links:

Day 1 Leinster Individual Entries:  (U14-19 Middle Distance, Triple Jump and Pole Vault)



CLOSING DATE 3pm February 4th

Day2  Junior, Senior and Master Entries:

https://events.athleticsireland.ie/ps/event/LeinsterIndoorChampionshipsDay2Individual
CLOSING DATE 3pm February 4th

Day 3 & 4 U12-19 Juvenile Individual Entries (U12-19 Main Events Programme)

https://events.athleticsireland.ie/ps/event/AthleticsLeinsterIndoorChampionships2015Day3U12U191

CLOSING DATE 3pm February 25th

Entry links and event programme's are available on Athletics Leinster web site: www.athleticsleinster.org