Report by Richard Hawkins
The All-Ireland Schools Track & Field finals is one of the highest standard competitions on the athletics calendar, this year was no exception with many championship records set across the range of events. The competition started on Friday evening 30th May with several Carraig Na BhFear athletes representing their schools. Hannah Coffey (St. Angela’s) was one of the first in action winning the gold medal in the Junior girls pole-vault with a fantastic pb vault of 2.65m. Congratulations to Hannah. Another medal followed quickly as Daniel Hogan (Colaiste an Chraobhin) had a very consistent set of jumps, equalling his best effort of 5.55m twice more to win the silver medal, congratulations also to Daniel who is having a great year in competition. Aoibhe Dunlea (Colaiste an Chroi Naofa) placed 7th overall in the minor girls long jump with a best effort of 4.41m in the 2nd round. On the track, Aoife Martin (Colaiste an Chroi Naofa) and Robyn Maher (Loreto Fermoy) took to the start line for the Intermediate girls 2k Racewalk. Aoife took the race out hard from the gun testing the opposition, yellow cards were brandished frequently by the officials as the athletes pushed the boundaries with maximum effort. Aoife held the lead until the final lap when she was finally passed but a silver medal in s pb time of 9:52.63 another excellent result for Aoife. Well done to Robyn also who pushed hard from the start, just being edged in to 6th place on the line in 10:43.17, Robyn was competing up in age and will be eligible for the Intermediate age again next year.
On to Saturday’s competition and another windy day in Tullamore, Amelia O’Donovan (Colaiste an Chroi Naofa) had a creditable 5th place in the minor girls’ short hurdles in a time of 12.36s. Ruaidhri Boyle (Coláiste an Phiarsaigh) paced the Senior Boys 400m hurdles well to win the silver medal in 57.50s. Aidan Maher (St.Colmans Fermoy) in his final schools race placed 8th overall in the Senior Boys 1500m in 4:24.34, well done to Aidan and all the Carraig Na BhFear athletes who competed so well over the 2 days. Thanks also to the coaches and parents who supported over the two days.
Back in Cork, it was finally time for the Cork City Marathon weekend and the eagerly awaited annual intra club 10k competition. After some hard training and some shrewd moves in the transfer window, it was time to let the running do the talking and see who would be crowned champions. The margins were tight but ultimately it was ‘The Ravers’ who prevailed. A top-class performance from Timmy Hawkins (12th overall in 33.33!) set the tone, ably assisted by Dave Mullins 43.57 (fresh off a warm weather training camp), Jamie Buckley 38.10 (afore-mentioned shrewd transfer), Cliona Lynch 50.05 (gifted genes) and Aine Johnson 50.11 (dark horse) made for a top-class team and deserved winners! Other stand-out performances were Peter Hawkins 35.31 (30th overall and 1st U20) and Christy Murphy 49.57 (First M65 but solely down to Eileens cooking by all accounts!). A very well done to all the athletes who brought their ‘A’ games with some fabulous times, apologies if I have missed anyone not registered as Carraig Na BhFear. John Ahern 39.07, Diarmuid Kiely 39.50, Colm Crowley 40:42, Mathew Browne 41:22, Sean Gorman 41.25, Sam Browne 42.27, Conor Kelly 42.58, Siobhan Walsh 44.41, Rhona Lynch 45.29, Eileen O’Riordan 46.23, Una Reidy 48.14, Orla Gorman 49.58, Rachel O’Callaghan 50.04, Tadhg Forde 50.06, Hary Browne 50.20, Austin Browne 50.21, Isobel O’Meara 50.48,Paul Noonan 50.53, Molly Lynch 51.17, John Maher 52.03, Anita Casey 52.42, Rosemary Kiely 52.53, Cora Lynch 53.46, Helen Roche 54.01 (10km pacer!), Nicola Cashman 56.29, James O’Neill 57.09, Seanna Boyle 57.15, Michelle Whooley, Emma Johnson 58.02, Caroline O’Donovan 62.51 and Christina Cooney 72.09. Thanks to Rhona for organizing, looking forward to next year!
For the more hard-core athletes, thankfully after two hot years, weather conditions were near ideal for the marathon events. Huge congratulations to Tadhg Crowley who finished 46th in the marathon in an impressive 2:52.00. Darragh O’Keeffe finished in a very solid 3:11.00 to notch up another marathon finish.
In the half marathon Brian Hawkins had an impressive debut at the distance finishing 21st overall and 1st U20 in a fast time of 1:20.15. Good running also from Rian O’Luasa (1:31.58), Richard Hawkins (Pacer, 1:44.35), Rebecca Kelleher (1:51.47) and Amy Cotter (2:03.35).
Look ahead: Day 3 of the Cork Athletics graded leagues will be held in MTU on Tuesday 3rd June with Day 1 and 2 of the U14-U19 Munster Athletics Track and Field Championships scheduled for 14th and 15th June in MTU.