Big numbers attended the Leinster
Juvenile Relays yesterday at Le-Cheile Ac, Leixlip which made for a highly
entertaining event with fierce competition for medals in all age groups. We had
14 teams on the day that took to the track and we came away with an incredible
9 medals from u9s up to u17s.
In the morning session our u9
girls got their first taste of Leinster level competition and took the first
medal of the day finishing 3rd, great running and passing from Oliva
Ryan, Aisling Shevlin, Aoife Skerrett and Mia Ryan.
Our u11 girls were flying in the
heats and were 3rd fastest in qualification for their final,
unfortunately things didn’t go to plan in the final where they finished 5th,
they will be back to fight another day, well done Saoirse Carrigan, Amber Lane,
Amelia Holland and Katie Doherty. Our u11 boys after only qualifying as 5th
fastest from their heat ran a stormer in the final taking 2nd,
fantastic running from Gavin Witter, James Kelly, Harry Bogan and Fionn
Heffernan.
Our u13 girls were out to defend
their Leinster title and were unlucky not to come away with the gold again
finishing 2nd in a very tight finish with KCH, the girls ran a great
time of 55.2s and will certainly be in contention for medals at Nationals in
July, well done Laura Kelly, Sophie Quinn, Aisling Stratford and Aobh Forde.
Our first Gold of the day came
from the u15 boys, Our A team put in an impressive run clocking 51s to take their
first Leinster title and with a bit more training they should go well at
Nationals, well done Oisin McKenna, Jed Walsh, Oisin Kelly and Tom Kilganon.
Our B team of Kyle Witter, Ciaran Rogers, Fionn Drummond and Marcus Clarke were
unfortunate to drop the baton when in a great position to take another medal,
the lads having to settle for 5th in the end.
Our u17 boys of Daragh Casey,
Matthew Buckley, Fergal Kilgannon and Rafa McCaffry were our last team to take
to the track in the morning session, and while not a full strength the lads
still came away with bronze in a very competitive field.
The u10 girls kicked off the
afternoon session and it was great to have 2 girl’s teams competing from our
club, the future certainly looks bright for these girls with both teams
qualifying from their heats for the final where they finished 4th
and 8th, well done Lizzy Hartland, Ava Skerrett, Aisling Clare,
Amber Lane, Catherine Drummond, Sheana Fitzpatrick, Claire Rogers and Kate
Smith.
Our multi-talented u12 girls
impressed again with our A team finishing 2nd in another tight
finish, the girls ran an outdoor pb of 58.17s and will look to go even faster
in July, our B team put in a good run just missing out on qualification for the
final, well done Katie Doherty, Niamh Murphy, Caoimhe Fitzsimons, Cara O’Sullivan,
Ciara Coroner, Sarah Forde, Kate Raftery, and Lauren Fewer.
The race of the day if not the
decade came in the u14 girls event, our u14 girls teams who will never be
written off again put in the performance of the day taking gold in a thrilling
final. After only finishing 3rd in their heat and qualifying as 6th
fastest for the final the girls had to contend with a ball being kicked on to
the track in the final, fortunately the final was re-run as this incident
caused a serious impediment to Aobh Forde on the final leg. The girls held
their cool in the re-run, and their fitness certainly told with our girls
running much faster in an exciting race that saw all 8 teams cross the line in
a blanket finish, 1 hundred of a second
eventually separating 1st and 2nd. Fantastic running, strength
and character shown by Aimee Doherty, Sophie Quinn, Amelia Campbell and Aobh
Forde.
Bets were being taken all day to
see who would come out on top in the u16 boys final, with both our u16 teams
being split evenly it was always going to be a close affair. After a very tight
race our team of Kevin Conway, Matthew Buckley, Tom Kilgannon and Jed Walsh
came away with the gold with our team of Oisin McKenna, Rafa McCaffery, Oisin Kelly
and Ben Toole taking bronze. A great achievement from this talented bunch of
lads coming away with 2 medals, the competition for places on the A national team
will be mighty.
Well done to all teams who
competed and thanks to Le-Cheile Ac who hosted a great event. Congratulations
to all teams who have qualified for Nationals.
