Report by Richard Hawkins
Days 1 and 2 of the National Indoor Juvenile track and Field Championships took place over the weekend of 29th and 30th March in the TUS arena, Athlone. Carraig Na BhFear AC had a total of nine athletes who had qualified for the finals through the Provincial Qualifiers. The club had a mixture of experienced athletes and some who were new to this level of competition and all impressed in a typically competitive environment with the best athletes in the country present.
Our racewalkers have an abundance of experience at National and international level and led the way again. In the U17 girls 1500M walk Anna Mullins narrowly missed out on the silver medal but was thrilled to win bronze from a field of 10 athletes, congratulations Anna! Robyn Maher unfortunately was given a 30 second time penalty which was followed by an additional card which resulted in a DQ. The athletes were under strict scrutiny form the judges which is to be expected at this level but Robyn will learn from this and build on the super form she has shown this year. Aoife Martin added a bronze medal to her already substantial collection of medals in a time of 7.11.37 competing in the girls U18 1500m walk!
There was a silver medal for Hannah Coffey in the U15 girls pole vault with a fine pb effort of 2.40m, congratulations to Hannah. Travis De Souza jumped 4.16m in the U14 boys long-jump for 11th position overall, unfortunately not enough to progress to the final. Daniel Hogan had a best effort of 5.15m in the final of the U15 boys long jump to finish 5th overall, plenty more to come from Dnaiel who has shown this year that he is capable of a podium position. Caoimhe Gray-Walsh had a pb time of 2:28:35 in the girls U18 800m competition which was run on best times from two heats. Amelia O’Donovan finished in 4th position in heat 2 of the U14 girls 60m hurdles/ Aoibhe Dunlea had a good jump of 4.28m in the U15 girls long jump for 10th position overall and ran 8.50s for 6th in her heat of the U15 girls 60m sprint.
Well done to all our athletes who can be confident in their early season form ahead of the upcoming outdoor season. The next competition is Day 1 of the East Cork Track and Field Championships in MTU on April 13th , all our young athletes are encouraged to compete in what is always a friendly and enjoyable event.