This weekend, 14 of our juvenile athletes took on the challenge of the combined events - facing four or five events, where points are awarded based on performance, and combined to give a final score. Despite the weather, it was a fantastic weekend of performances, personal bests and medals.
On Saturday, the girls were out in force, with 5 Moyne athletes in the girls u11 quadathlon. The girls started with the long jump, where Poppy Shanahan led the girls out, jumping perfectly off the board, with a personal best jump of 3.61m, earning 189 points and second in the competition. Annabelle Butler’s jump of 3.48m was also a personal best earning 179 points and third in the competition. Aoibheann Doyle jumped 3.29m (163 points), Saoirse Dunphy 3.14m (152 points) and Grace Cantwell 3.10m (150 points), putting all of the girls in good position heading into the 60m. Despite a strong headwind, all of the girls ran 10 seconds or better in the 60m, with Poppy and Annabelle posting the two fastest times in the competition. Poppy ran 9.12s in heat 4 (269 points), Annabelle 9.26s (255 points) and Aoibheann 9.73s (215 points) in heat 2, Grace 9.80s (209 points) and Saoirse 10.00 (194 points) in heat 3. These performances saw Poppy sitting in first after two events with Annabelle close behind in 2nd and Aoibheann in 6th, Grace 10th and Saoirse 14th. The shot putt is a tough event for athletes that are predominantly runners, but this did not deter the girls, who took on this new challenge with vigour. Poppy, Aoibheann and Saoirse were grouped closely in 5th-7th in this event, with throws of 4.80m (118 points), 4.72m (114 points) and 4.71m (114 points) respectively. Annabelle’s throw of 3.82m earned her 83 points and Grace got 62 points from a throw of 3.24m. With just one event to go - the 600m - Poppy and Annabelle were sitting in medal positions with Aoibheann just outside. With two heats in the 600m, Poppy, Grace and Saoirse were up first. Poppy finished 2nd in her heat, dipping under 2 minutes with a time of 1.59.97 earning 257 points, Grace in 4th earned 213 points with 2.07.44 and Saoirse 10th with 2.20.94. In the second heat, Annabelle pushed hard to finish 3rd in 2.05.20 (226 points) and Aoibheann 4th in 2.10.13 (198 points). Having led from early on, the final results saw Poppy 30 points clear in 1st, munster champion for the girls u11 combined events with 833 points. Annabelle Butler also claimed the bronze medal with 743 points. A wonderful achievement for both of these girls at this level. Aoibheann Doyle finished 5th with 690 points, Grace Cantwell 12th with 634 points and Saoirse Dunphy 17th with 604 points.
There was just one competitor for the club in the girls u12 event, and Meadhbh Hall started out her day strong with a PB throw of 5.75m in the shot putt, earning 151 points and third in the competition. She backed this up with a strong run in the 60m, despite the rain that blew in just as she stepped into the blocks, and finished in 9.26s (255 points). This run, which was second in the competition, moved her into first place. Next up for Meadhbh was the long jump, and a solid jump of 3.65m, second best on the day, added a further 192 points to her total and extended her lead. After a long and apprehensive wait, it was time for the high jump - and Meadhbh pulled out a big performance for a championship event, far exceeding her previous PB, and jumping clear on her first attempt all the way to 1.24m, 6cm clear of the rest of the competition and adding a further 241 points. Heading into the 600m, she was in the lead but knew a big effort was required in the final event. Drawn in heat 1, Meadhbh quickly realised she had to take on the distance herself and ran from the front, finishing with a clear lead in 2.03.89 (233 points). Once the second heat had been ran, and results totalled, Meadhbh claimed her first individual Munster gold with 1072 points, almost 70 points clear. A great result from consistently high performances across the events.
Maebh O’Shea and Doireann Quinlan took on their first combined events championship in the u13 competition. Both girls have been working hard in training and that showed in their performances on the day. They started with the 60m hurdles, where Doireann’s time of 12.89s earned her 175 points, running in heat 2, Maebh O’Shea finished in 13.37s, earning 148 points. The girls went straight from there to the high jump. Doireann had first time clearances at 1.00m and 1.06m to finish with 171 points. Maebh meanwhile, cleared first time at 1.12m and 1.18m, before clearing up to 1.27m, finishing 5th in the event and earning 253 points. Next up for the girls was the long jump, where Maebh jumped 3.26m (161 points) and Doireann 3.09m (149 points). Personal bests were the order of the day in the shot putt for both girls, with Doireann throwing 5.32m (136 points) and Maebh 4.82m (118 points). In heat 2 of the 600m, Doireann ran a time of 2.17.08 (162 points) and in heat 3 Maebh ran 2.11.05 (193 points). These consistent performances all-round so Maebh finish 18th with 873 points and Doireann 21st with 793 points.
Saoirse Joyce lined out in the girls u14 competition, where she started her day with a 15.91s performance in the 75m hurdles. A super performance in an unfamiliar event. She then faced the high jump, where the u14, u15 and u16 competitors were run in one group. The rain poured throughout the competition, but this did not deter a very wet Saoirse, who cleared on her first attempt every time up to 1.33m, setting a new PB and earning 439 points. It was then on to the shot putt, where a throw of 6.51m earned her 304 points. Her final field event was the long jump, where a best jump of 3.72m in very difficult conditions, earned her 246 points. Saoirse then lined out for the tough 800m distance, where a fantastic second lap and blistering final 100m saw her finish 6th in the race in 2.55.06 (412 points). The final totals meant Saoirse finished 9th with 1728 points.
The u15 girls competition included Helen Renehan, who like Saoirse started her day with a strong performance in the 80m hurdles. With the increase in distance and height, these hurdles are a challenge for all competitors. She then went on to face the high jump alongside Saoirse where tough conditions added to the challenge faced by the competitors. Helen faced the long jump next, where the wet sand pit further added to the fun! In the shot putt, Helen at u15 now had to use a 2.72kg putt, but put in a strong effort in the final field event. Helen then ran the 800m, where she ran well throughout, holding with the pack and finishing strongly. Full results for Helen are not currently available online, but will be published shortly.
While the rain held off on Sunday, the wind had certainly picked up - making for equally challenging conditions when the boys took to the track. Tom Esmonde was the lone club competitor in the boys u11 event. He started his morning with the long jump where a best of 3.19m earned him 157 points. He backed this up with a sub-10, 9.93s 60m sprint, adding on 199 more points. Relatively new to shot putt, Tom took quickly to the event where he threw 6.47m, third best in the competition for 176 points. Tom then finished his day with a time of 2.06.30 in the 600m, finishing 5th in his heat and gathering 219 more points. This left him with a total of 751, and placed an excellent 7th overall.
