New High Jump

U11's Boys and girls got their first taste of High jumping on the track last night with thanks to proceeds of Ratoath AC 5k road race last September sponsored by Conways Spar. 
Fantastic development for the club. 
We can now compete at leinster and National level in this event. 

Next step will be the development of a proper tartan surface so we can practise to the full capacity. We are very limited jumping on damp grass however it's an amazing start. 

Well done to all who supported the road race, road race committee, sponsors and our main sponsor BWG and Conways SPAR 

Leinster Juvenile Indoor Track and Field Championships Report

 

We had a record turnout of 27 athletes competing for the club at the Leinster juvenile track and field championships which were held in Athlone over the Weekend. We had some outstanding performances over both days and came away with 5 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze and a large number of top 10 finishes.

Saturday

The U15 high jumpers, Lara Power, Zara Kane and Rachel Doherty got the day off to a great start with some great jumping, Lara claiming the first medal of the day with a 3^rd place finish, Rachel 5^th and Zara 6^th. Emma Coroner was also competing in the long jump and was desperately unlucky to finish 4^th, had she hit the board she would have been in contention for the gold. Aimee Doherty, Eabha Toole, Kyle Witter, Ella Healy, Aoife Rutherford and Tom Kilgannon were up first on the track in the heats of the U12 &13 600m, qualification was all the more difficult with only the winner being guaranteed a spot in the final, Eabha and Aimee got through the u12 heats, with Kyle unlucky to miss out, Tom, Ella and Aoife also got through to the u13 final.

Aimee and Eabha were first off in the 600m finals, Aimee got off to a good start and took an early lead setting a blistering pace on the first lap, and with some very strong running she maintained her advantage to win her first Leinster title in a time of 1:48.95s. Eabha Toole didn’t get into her running in the final, but had already set a big pb in the heat of 1:59s.

Ella Healy and Aoife Rutherford had to contend with a very competitive field in the u13 girls final, the pace was hot from the start and continued for the 3 laps with a winning time of 1:45s, Aoife finished 8^th and Ella 10^th , both girls setting pb’s of 1:52 and 1:53. It was great to have 2 athletes in both the u12 and 13 girls final.  Defending champion Tom Kilgannon had another battle with his great rival and Meath team mate Conor Leane from Dunboyne, Tom went into the lead early and maintained it until the final straight when out of nowhere Conor Leane passed him with 10m to the line, both lads qualified for Nationals and We look forward to another great battle in 2 weeks.

Matthew Buckley and Lili O Connor were very convincing winners of their 60m Hurdles events with a powerful display in the u14 boys and u13 girls event, Matthew and Lili will now be strong contenders at National Finals on March 28^th.

Sunday

Sunday seen our sprinters into action, again large entries made it if difficult to qualify out of the heats, Aimee Doherty, Kyle Witter, Molly Keane and Eabha Toole took to the track first in the u12 60m sprints, Aimee and Eabha qualified for the semi-final with Kyle and Molly just missing out, Aimee later made it to the final with the fastest qualifying time but her efforts on Saturday caught up with her finishing 6^th in the final, Eabha just missed out on making it to the final.

Lili O Connor, Ella Healy and Emma O' Connell all qualified for the semi-finals easily, Ella and Emma again just missing out on making the final, Lili made it out of her semi to finish 5^th in the final in a very competitive field. Emma has made a big improvement this year with a big pb of 9.05s. Matthew Buckley, Ben Toole  and Kevin Conway were in action for the boys in the u14 60m, Matthew was a comfortable winner of his heat and Semi-final and he went on to win the final in a record time of 7.57s. Ben qualified out of his heats but did not make it past the semi-finals, Kevin finished 3rd in his heat but it was not enough to make the semi. Emma Coroner has moved up a gear this year and with some terrific sprinting in the u14 girls 60m she made it through all qualifying rounds to the final where she finished 3^rd just 1/100^th of a second off silver. Aine Cooney and Ivie Okome also progressed to the girl’s u15 final, but had to settle for 6^th and 7^th on the day after a poor start. Maria Rogers missed out on qualification. 

With no semi-final in the boy’s u15 60m it was going to be difficult to make the final, Daragh Casey was unlucky to just miss out, Daragh finished 5^th in the long jump earlier that day.

Fionn Drummond was also unfortunate to miss out on a medal finishing 4^th in the u12 boys high jump on count back, Lili O’ Connor medalled again in the girls u13 long jump finishing 2^nd. Rachel McPartlin finished 9th in the u14 girls High Jump.

Well done to all athletes who competed at the weekend and congratulation to our athletes who have qualified for the All Ireland finals on March 21^st,22^nd and 28^th.

Busy Weekend of Athletics

This weekend was a particularly busy one for our middle distance group.

Conditions were extremely blustery for the Glohealth schools All Ireland held in Clongowes Wood college. We had a small contingent of four competing and they all ran superbly. In the senior girls 2500m, Deirdre Healy went to the front with Rhona Pierce and Hope Saunders almost from the gun and was only out- sprinted for the bronze in the final 200m by the fast finishing Clodagh Reilly and Orlaith Moynihan. Philip Marron was in contention for a place on the Irish boys intermediate team for most of the 5K race but in the end he had to settle for 15th  in what was probably the most keenly contested race of the day. Karen Hayes (32nd) and Maria Rogers (93rd)  competed in their first schools All Ireland and both had fine runs and look destined to challenge even the great Deirdre Healy in the not too distant future.

At the Leinster juvenile indoor championships, Ciaran Mccarthy won his first Leinster title when taking gold in the  u 19 800m  posting a new PB of 2 mins 4.30 sec with a withering sprint over the final 50m, Brian Kiernan was another to produce the goods, taking the bronze with a swift 23.57 sec clocking in the u 17 200m  while Eoin Clayton also matched his PB with a 1.55m jump in the u 18 boys HJ which suggests there is a big season ahead for him.

Ciaran Crowther was equally impressive when finishing a close second in the Phoenix Park open 5k in a time of 17 mins 35 sec. In the Meath 10k championships, John Coroner (47min 28 sec ), Joanne and Hugh Kelly (59min 23 sec) all had good runs while Gary Toole (1 hr 27 .05), Clodagh Fitzpatrick (1 hr 38.08) and Colm MacDaibheid (1 hr 41.29), Simon Watsham, Keith Heffernan, Mary Kiely,  Joy Tyrrell and Jackie Doyle all competed in the Meath half marathon

Well done to all on some great performances

All Ireland Cross Country Relays

The All Ireland Cross Country 4 x 500m Relays were held last Sunday in Kilbroney Park Co. Down. We had 4 athletes selected from our club to represent Meath at u12, Aimee Doherty and Lili O’ Connor for the girls and Oisin Kelly and Tom Kilgannon for the boys. The U 12 Girls got off to a steady start and were 3^rd after the first changeover but slipped back to 5^th after the 2^nd leg, Aimee Doherty put in a terrific run to bring the girls back to 2^nd position but the girls slipped back on the final run in to finish 5^th.

The U12 boys took no prisoners and dominated from the first leg with a strong run from Tom Kilgannon, the Leane twins from Dunboyne were on leg 2 and 3 and extended the lead with some very strong running. Oisin Kelly took the baton with a strong lead heading into the final leg and he extended the advantage with another very strong run to claim the National title. 

Congratulations to our Athletes who represented their County with some great performances.

Best of luck

Best of luck to Ratoath AC athletes competing in a very busy weekend on the Athletics calendar

Meath Spring half marathon & 10k in Bohermeen:

Many of our Adult section are taking part in Bohermeen AC’s half marathon & 10k on Sunday

GloHealth All-Ireland Secondary Schools' Cross Country Championships take place on Saturday in Clongowes Wood College, Clane.

Karen Hayes and Maria Rogers contests the minor girls race and Philip Marron runs in the intermediate boys while Deirdre Healy runs in the senior girls,

Leinster Indoors Championships 2015: Days 3 & 4 this Saturday and Sunday:
Fionn  Drummond, Kyle Witter, Eabha  Toole,  Molly Keane, Aimee Doherty, Stephen Kiernan, Tom Kilgannon, Aoife Rutherford, Ella  Healy, Lili  O Connor, Emma O'Connell, Matthew Buckley, Adam Quinn,  Ben Toole, Kevin Dat Conway,  Emma Coroner, Rachel McPartlin, Daragh Casey, Maria Rogers, Aine Cooney, Ivie Okome, Lara Power, Rachel Doherty, Zara Kane, Brian Kiernan, Eoin Clayton, Ciaran McCarthy All compete this weekend in various track and field events
http://www.athleticsleinster.org/8-news/25-indoor-programme-booklet-2015

Meath Community Games Cross Country Report

The Meath Community Games Cross Country was held last Sunday in Ballinacree. The Weather took a turn for the worse which made for very difficult racing conditions but none the less our athletes put in some great performances. Kate Rafferty, Katie Doherty and Molly Moran all ran well in the u9 girls 500m, Laura Kelly and Ciara Coroner had a great run in the girl’s u10 500m finishing 1^st and 2^nd. Harry O’Connor left it late in the u10 boy’s race but took gold after a late surge to the line. Aimee Doherty also running well finished 2^nd in the girls u12, Tom Kilgannon was an impressive winner of the u12 boys race, Eoin Kane running strongly out of age and Fionn Drummond who is just back from injury also putting in good performances. Lili O’ Connor claimed silver in the u13 girls 1200m and Zara Kane finished 3^rd in the girls u14 700m event.

Well done to all athletes who have qualified for National Finals in August

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 25^th  - 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