Report by Richard Hawkins
Having just turned 70 years young, Christy Murphy had been showing vintage form in the recent East Cork and County 400m Championships and would have been optimistic heading into the National Masters Championships in Tullamore last weekend. Christy ran a well-paced 400m for a season’s best time of 1:19:18, finishing 2nd M70 and was less than half a second behind the winner, Martin Kelly of Manapiens AC. Congratulations to Christy who’s training is a model of consistency and a great example to everyone at the club.
The finals of the National Leagues also took place last weekend, we had many athletes supporting the East Cork Divisional team in the county competitions. The women’s team were agonizingly close to a medal, finitising just one point behind Louth who won the bronze medal. All Carraig Na BhFear AC athletes competed very well, the results as follows:
Orla Coffey: 110m Hurdles 2nd in 17.23, shot (4kg) 4th 8.45m and 800m 4th in 2.22.84, Lucy Lynch: High Jump 4th 1.50m, Javelin 5th 17.47m and 200m 6th in 27.19, Aoife Martin 1500m racewalk 3rd in 7.28.85, Katie Walsh: 400m hurdles 1st in 1.03.06 and 400m in a pb time of 58.63, Emma Akinkoulie: 100m 6th in 13.19, Blessing Alamu: Long Jump 3rd 4.81m and discus (1kg) 1st 35.64m. The 4x 100m relay team who finished 6th in 52.28 featured Isobel O’Meara, Emma Akinkoulie, Lucy Lynch and Caoimhe Geoghegan. Finally, the women’s 4 x 400m relay team finished in 3rd place in a time of 4.04.70, well done to Katie Walsh, Orla Coffey, Emma Akinkoulie and lucy Lynch.
The men’s team also came a creditable 4th, just 3 points behind County Kerry. Well done to the following: Willie Walsh: 1500m walk, 4th place in 11.07.84, Aidan Maher: 110m high hurdles, 4th in 20.84, Jack Ahern: Hammer (7.26kg) 5th 18.45m and Weight for distance (56lbs) 3rd 5.05m, Ciaran Nugent: 400m hurdles 1st place in 54.35 and 200m 5th in 23.28, Ruaidhri Boyle: 400m 4th in 53.10 and was also part of the 4 x 400m team who finished 3rd in 3.31.89.
There is great credit due to the coaches and athletes who put in a long shift on Sunday and great to see both men’s and women’s East Cork teams in the mix for National medals.
Other news:
Good running from Darragh O’Keeffe who has been adding trail running to his repertoire, competing last Sunday in the IMRA three counties 11.50km race. Darragh finished in 23rd place overall in 1:09.26.
Look ahead:
Best of luck to Ciaran Nugent who will compete in the National Senior Track and field Championships on Saturday 2nd August, Heats at 14.30hr. Aoife Martin and Anna Mullins will also compete in the Senior women’s 5000m Racewalk on Saturday and we will also have a team in the mixed relay on Sunday ,this will bring the domestic track & field season to a close. After our summer break we will be turning our attention to the upcoming Cross-Country season but there is one last chance for track diehards to take part in the East Cork Division 5k in MTU on Wednesday 27th August at 8pm!
