Friday, October 30, 2015

Meath Cross Country League Fixtures

This Sunday the 1st of November at 12pm in Fr.Murphys AC Fraine, Athboy Co.Meath is Day 1 of the league the uneven age categories.  

*Note that the children can run one year out of age so for example this Sunday the U10 boys & girls can run in the U11 category, same as U14 girls and boys can run U15.

This is open to Ratoath AC Athletes not competing in Leinster or All Ireland XC
and a great chance to try out cross country in a less competitive field.

If travelling can you please let us know in advance and be at the venue at least 45 minutes before the first race: Keep an eye out for our flag.

Up coming Meath Cross Country League dates.
Day 2: 15th Nov.
Day 3: 12th Dec







Saturday, October 24, 2015

Hill of Tara Training

Training at the hill of Tara will be at 10am tomorrow due to the Leinster even age championships. 
Gerry Finnegan and Siobheal Murray will take the group. 
Best of luck to all athletes taking part in the Leinster Cross Country tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Reminder No Little Athletics Tonight

Reminder there will be no Little Athletics (children born 2010, 2009 +2008) as the school hall is unavailable tonight.
See you all back in the hall after the mid-term break.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Meath Cross Country Championships Day 1 & 2

Day 1 and 2 of the Meath Cross Country Championships were held over the past few weeks with the even age’s championships kicking off the championship season in Broadmeadow Equestrian Centre, Ashbourne.

Our u10 girls were in flying form with Caoimhe Fitzsimons having to battle all the way to the line to take the gold in the girls u10 1000m, closely followed by Ciara Coroner 3rd, Lauren Fewer 5th, Kate Rafterty 8th, great running also from Aideen Davis, Jane Dolan, Eline Lund, Kayla Smith and Sadbh Kelly. This is a very talented bunch of girls and it was no surprise that they secured the team title with a great score of 18 points. We had the bare minimum of 4 to make up the u10 boys team, great credit to the lads who were all running cross country for the first time, Sean Fleming had a terrific run to finish fourth, followed in by Adam O’Connor 14th, Jack Kelly 16th and Joshua Hall 18th which was good enough to place them 2nd with a score of 52 points in the team event.

Aimee Doherty had a very strong run to win the girls u12 1500m, followed in by Sophie Quinn 6th, Amelia Campbell 13th, Ciara Walsh 16th, Molly Keane 18th and Laura Smith 23rd. Great run in particular from Ciara Walsh who has improved greatly this year and will be one to watch. We had the bare minimum again in the boy’s u12 event, but with great individual performances from Fionn Drummond 3rd, Kyle Witter 8th, Jamie Fewer 9th and Callum Whitbread 25th the lads did enough to take silver in a very tight team event finishing only 4 points off gold.
Aine O’ Connor and Ciaran Crowther were our only competitors in the u18 event, Aine finishing 3rd in the girls 4k event and Ciaran Crowther having a great run in a National Standard field finishing 4th in the 6k race. Hugh Kelly was our only senior in action finishing 20th in the Novice men’s 6k.



We had great numbers out for day 2 which was held at Fr. Murphy’s Athletic Club in Fraine, Athboy. Our u9 showed no sign of nerves with both the girls and boys team finishing 1st in the team event with great team scores of 18 and 20 points respectively. Great individual performances from the girls with Katie Doherty 1st, Sophie Coroner 3rd, Saorise Corrigan 4th, Amelia Holland 10th, Tara Coyne 14th, Emily Pullen 15th and Enya Clare 18th and the boys with James Kelly 1st, Harry Bogan 4th, Fionn Heffernan 7th, Gavin Witter 8th, Liam Walsh 17th, Conor Walsh 23rd and Charlie O’ Connor 27th.


Sophie Quinn had a convincing win in the girl’s u11 1200m, followed in by Laura Kelly 5th, Aishling Stratford 9th, Lily Nannery 17th, and Amy Forde 18th, great running also from Caitlin Corrigan, Abbie Coyne, Niamh Murray, Ellie Mahon and Sophie Greene. The girls finished 2nd in the team event on a score of 32 points.  Eoin Kane had a great kick finish in the boys u11 race taking him from 4th to 2nd in the last 100m, had he gone earlier he would have surely taken gold, Eoin was closely followed by Harry O’ Connor 5th and the ever improving Stephen Walsh 10th, Oliver Walter 21st, Liam Doyle 31st and Matthew Keane 32nd. In another close team event the lads finished 2nd and were only 7 points off first place.

Our u13 boys took our third team gold of the day with a great team effort and fighting performances from Tom Kilgannon in 3rd, Oisin Kelly 5th, Matthew Hayes another greatly improved athlete 9th and Stephen Kiernan with a great run 14th. It was great to see all the lads making the very talented County Team who should go far at Leinster and National level.

Our u15 girls team of Karen Hayes, Aoife Kelly and Zara Kane finished a close 2nd behind Trim in the team event, Karen finishing 5th, Aoife 8th and Zara 18th. The u15 boys finished 2nd also with good performances form Adam Quinn 8th, Fergal Kilgannon 9th, Harry Haskins 13th and Ben Toole 15th.
Ben Mahon and Harry Bailey gave the field a ½ lap lead due to a mix up in the event schedule/start time, the lads put in a good run none the less finishing 9th and 11thand both making the County team.
Aine O’Connor was in top form also with a great run to finish 2nd in the girls u17 4000m.
Best of luck to our athletes who have qualified for the Leinster Championships


Hill of Tara

Training at 11am tomorrow at the Hill of Tara for u9-14 sprint and endurance groups.
All welcome.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Centra Action Breast Cancer 5km Walk

Great chance to meet and walk with Olympic winning athlete Sonia O' Sullivan this Saturday in Ratoath at the Action Breast Cancer 5km Walk.
17th of October as there is a fantastic line-up planned for the Action Breast Cancer 5km Walk.
To kick things off there will be a pre-walk reception with Kathyrn Thomas. Kathryn is a huge ambassador of all things health & fitness & will be delighted to see you all & chat with you all before our walk,
The Olympic winning athlete Sonia O' Sullivan will be on hand to chat with everyone & is also joining us on the walk,
LMFM radio will be live from Centra plus media coverage by RTE & many photographers on the day,
There will be a marquee set up with lots of entertainment, a DJ to keep us all on our toes plus food & refreshments.
This really will be fantastic for Ratoath. Come out & support this great cause.

Monday, October 5, 2015

Star of the Sea Cross Country Report


We had our first Cross Country outing of the season on Sunday September 27th at the Annual Star of the Sea Cross Country in Stamullen. The Weather was glorious and it made for some great racing on the day. Our u9s were up first in the 500m, James Kelly put in a storming run to finish 4th closely followed  by  Fionn Heffernan, Gavin Witter, Charlie O’ Connor and Ben O’ Neil, a great run by all the lads earning them silver in the team event. Our u9 girls’ team of Katie Doherty, Sophie Coroner, Isable Wallace, Niamh Colgan and Tara Coyne put in a great run also finishing just outside the medals in 4th. The U10 girl’s team were out in force, Ciara Coroner leading them  home to team bronze with a fine individual run in 5th, backed up by great performances from Caoimhe Fitzsimons, Kate Rafferty, Lauren Fewer, Niamh Murphy, Eline Lund and Jane Dolan.
The u11 girls won our only team gold of the day with Sophie Quinn having a convincing win in the girl’s u11 1000m, and great running also form Laura Kelly 5th, Aishling Stratford, Niamh Murray, Lily Nannery and Sophie Greene.
Our U11 boys were in great form also, Eoin Kane having a great run finishing 5th, with Harry O’ Connor and Stephen Walsh finishing in the top 15 earning the lads 2nd in the team event. Kyle Witter was our sole athlete in the boys u12 event, Kyle had a great run finishing 5th picking up his first individual Star of the Sea Medal. Aimee Doherty, Amelia Campbell and Molly Keane were up against some stiff competition in the girl’s u12 event, the girls battled well finishing 2nd with Aimee Doherty also 2nd in the individual event. Tom Kilgannon, Oisin Kelly and Killian Stratford were also up against a very strong field, but all ran well to take team bronze, Tom taking an individual 5th place medal. We were unable to field a full team in the girls u15 event, Aoife Kelly and Maria Rogers put in good runs with Aoife taking an individual medal finishing 6th.
In the senior events Emer Griffin finished 16th in the women’s 3k and Hugh Kelly finished 39th in the men’s 6k.
Thanks to Star of the Sea Ac for hosting another great event and thanks to all athletes and parents who made the trip.





Little Athletics are now indoors

Little Athletics will return indoors to the Gym of Ratoath College from tomorrow night the 6th of October.
Reminder this age group is closed to new members for the rest of 2015 as it is full to capacity.
Any queries please contact Sinéad McGoldrick at ratoathathletics@gmail.com

Friday, October 2, 2015

Competition Code of Conduct


As we head in to the Cross Country Competition season we would like to remind Parents, Coaches & Mentors of the Competition Code of Conduct.

Competition Code of Conduct for Parents, Coach & Mentors

Parents/Guardians should lead by example

Adopt a positive attitude to their children’s participation
Respect officials’ decisions and encourage children to do likewise

Do not exert undue pressure on your child.
Never admonish your own child or any other child for their performance
Be realistic in their expectations
Show approval for effort, not just results
Never embarrass a child or use sarcastic remarks
Applaud good performances from all children
Do not criticise children’s performances
Do not seek to unfairly affect a result
Do not enter the competition area unless specifically invited to do so by an


Official in charge

Never use foul language or provocative language/gestures to Officials Do not question an Officials decisions or integrity

Encourage children to respect and accept the judgement of officials
Promote Fair Play

Check the programme for the Referee/Childrens Officers name these are the people to speak to if you have a complaint
ANY BREACH OF THIS CODE MAY LEAD TO YOUR EXCLUSION FROM FUTURE EVENTS
Athletics Ireland is fully committed to providing a positive, fair & safe environment for our children and officials. Athletics Ireland acknowledges that without the commitment of our officials, who give freely and generously of their time, it would not be possible to provide competitive opportunities for your children
Officials have a duty to be impartial, fair & fully informed of competition rules & regulations 

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Warning- theft from cars at clubs

Please see note from Gardai 
Hi all,
Regarding the issue on theft from cars. We had two more incidents in the past few days around the county where criminals have entered training ground and broken into a number of cars taking mobile phones and cash. I have spoken about this before maybe if a link on your web sites warning players and supporters to be careful about leaving valuables on display in cars or down at the track. It would be great if you could help to get the word out there and maybe prevent one of your players or supporters from becoming a victim for this type of crime. 
Thank you.
Sgt Dean Kerins
Crime Prevention Officer




Best of luck to Ratoath GAA

Best of luck to Ratoath GAA in the Intermediate Championship Final this Sunday, especially to past Ratoath Athletic Club members
Conor McGill, Brian Power, Brian O Connor, Conor Rooney, Cian O Brien, Frank Coyne, Eamon Wallace, Joey Wallace, Keith McCabe, Byran McMahon, Emmet Boyle.