Unstoppable Spirit: Moyne AC Shines in Track and Field Championships

May 13, 2024

Burma Challenge Night 4

Wednesday evening we had the Burma Challenge 1km time trial. the change of format included a 1km (2 1/2 laps of the track) time trial. All teams had one runner in each race, with all of the 1k times being added together at the end to get the final team standings for this years edition of the Burma Challenge. Every second counted. 

Group one 

This group were closely packed together for the first two laps of the race, until Anita Esmonde made the decisive move with 200m to go to win the first time trial in a time of 5.04, followed closely by Mary Costigan in 5.06, 3rd across the line was Susan Ryan in 5.10, followed by Noelle Dempsey in 5.14 and Martina Ryan in 5.15. Next across the line was Eileen Hackett in a time of 5.20. Eva Ryan was next home in 5.22, followed by Eibhlis Purcell in 6.54. 

Group two 

PJ Gleeson set the pace from the start, building up a considerable gap to the rest of the pack. PJ continued to push hard throughout the 2 1/2 laps to finish in a time of 4.05. Next home in a tight battle to the line was Marion Jones in 4.31 who made great head way on the final lap, followed by Sharon Kiely in 4.32. Mindy Doyle was next across the line in 4.44, for fourth place. There was a close battle for 5th place, with Dominic Everard getting to the line first in a time of 4.52, followed closely by Ann Marie Costigan in 4.54 to take 6th place in race two. Olivia Coughlan was next across the line in 4.57 in 7th, followed by Eilis Doyle in 8th with a time of 5.07. 9th place went to Teresa Everard in 5.09, followed by Nicky Maddock in 10th with 5.11 and Margie Ryan in 11th with 5.14. 

Group Three 

Once again in this time trial we saw someone set the pace from the whistle and lead it from the front and all the way across the line. This person was Jim Cummins who finished with an impressive time of 3.42. 2nd place in this group was Tom Nolan with 3.56, followed by Ashley Cummins in 3rd place with a time of 4.05. 4th went to Caroline Fogarty in 4.07, just edging out Ciara Burke in the last lap. Ciara finished just behind in 5th in 4.10. Martin Kiely was next across the line in 4.28, with Katie Chapple following closely bending in 4.31. Marion Hughes was next to complete the 1k time trial in a time of 5.20, followed by Helena Mawe in 5.24. 

Group Four 

It was great to see Nathan Bowe making a return to running last night where he led this group from the bell. Nathan finished strongly in a time of 3.18. 2nd place went to Frank Doyle who was shown huge progress over the course of the Burma Challenge. Sean Hughes was 3rd across the line with 3.35. Edel Delaney was 1 second behind with 3.36 to take 4th. Donnacha Ryan was a further one second behind in 3.37 for 5th, followed by Henry Cummins another one second behind in 3.38 to take 6th place. Roisin Daly was next home in 7th in 3.53 followed by Lisa Quinlan for 8th in 4.03 and Cora Doyle for 9th in 4.12.

Group Five 

Jake Bowe took to the front from the whistle to take the win in convincing fashion in a time of 2.55, which was the fastest time of the night. Well done Jake. Jake’s father Patrick was next across the line in an impressive time of 3.10, followed closely by Ciara Cummins, the fastest lady of the evening in 3.11. Sharon Cantwell was next across the line in 3.26, for fourth, followed by Mick O Donovan in fifth with 3.19. 6th place went to John Renehan in 3.20, followed by Brian Langian in 7th with 3.24. Philip Mc Bane was 8th with 3.28 and Richie Daly was 9th with 3.29. A massive thanks must go to Eileen and Kathleen for setting up and serving the teas and coffees over the past four weeks. The final results were as follows.
1st Killoran 270.04, 2nd Longorchard 278.49, 3rd Rahealty 280.25, 4th Boulabeha 281.42, 5th Moynetemple 284.21, 6th Castletown 284.21, 7th Derryfadda 287.36, 8th Lisheen 289.28, 9th Manselstown 289.40, 10th Moyneard 291.19, 11th Cooleeney 296.09.Thanks to Billy Loughnane for his great photos from the night. Thanks to John for compiling all of the scores and results over the last few weeks. Thanks to all that volunteered and helped organise the challenge over the past four weeks. Thanks to those who helped packing up last night. Thanks to the subs that filled in on the final night also.
See you all for next years addition of the Burma Challenge.

Tipperary T&F Championships u9 - u12 Saturday 11th March.

U9 Girls and Boys

In their first outdoor championships, and for some their first ever championships, 5 girls and 4 boys u9 took the track in the Moyne vest. These young athletes started their day with the field events, with James Delaney winning the first medal of the day with a throw of 10.50m to finish second in the turbo javelin. James also jumped 2.82m in his long jump, just missing out on a medal in fourth place. In the long jump he was joined by Jack Drennan (2.53m, 8th), Senan Dunne (2.40m, 10th) and Glen Phelan (2.39m, 11th). James, Jack, Senan, Glen and Rían Ely went on to compete in the 60m, where James qualified for the final. In the longer distance, James and Senan toed the line once more, finishing 11th and 12th over the tough 300m distance. Finally, the quartet of Senan, Glen, Rían and James lined out in the 4x100m relay. They put in a brave performance to come away with bronze medals.

Meanwhile, our u9 girls were similarly busy across the track and field events with Caoimhe Quinlan leading the charge and pocketing an incredible three individual golds over the course of the day! First up, they had their long jump where Caoimhe’s super jump of 2.96m secured first place. She had tough competition with Eilís Shanahan close behind in fourth place (2.66m), Aisling Costigan (8th, 2.40m), and Molly Dempsey and Emma Gleeson tying with 1.78m each. In the turbo javelin, the girls gave it their all in their first attempt at this event and Caoimhe (6.27m, 4th), Aisling (5.10m, 8th), Emma (4.89m, 11th) and Eilís (4.80m, 12th) should be very happy with their performances. On the track, the five girls first competed in their 60m, where Caoimhe and Aisling qualified for the finals. The girls ran a super final to finish 1st and 2nd overall respectively. Well done girls! Over the longer distance of 300m, all five girls once again toed the line. With some brilliant finishes on display, the girls were Caoimhe (1st), Aisling (5th), Emma (11th), Eilís (15th) and Molly (18th) in the final standings. After all that, there was a relay to run and Aisling, Eilís, Emma and Caoimhe, with sub Molly gave a superb performance to come away with silver medals. Well done to all our under 9’s and we hope this is the first of many outdoor championships in the years to come!

U10 Boys and Girls

The u10 boys and girls also had a busy day, with 5 girls and 4 boys showing how much they have improved since their first outdoor championships last year. The girls started with their field events and took part in the turbo javelin, a new event for many of them. The girls had a great competition with Aoibheann Doyle (5th, 9.69m), Daisy Lyons (7th, 9.43m) and Aoibhinn Phelan (11th, 6.72m). In the long jump, Aoibheann was 4th with a jump of 3.19m, just 4cm short of a medal. Grace Cantwell was 7th with 3.01m, Beibhinn Maher 10th (2.96m), Daisy 11th (2.89m) - brilliant jumping all round. In the 60m, Beibhinn, Daisy, Grace and Aoibheann toed the line in what turned out to be highly competitive heats. Aoibheann and Grace qualified for the final, while Daisy and Beibhinn were both very unlucky to miss out. In the final, the girls gave it their all to finish in 5th (Aoibheann) and 7th (Grace). Their day on the track was not done however, and in a stellar relay performance, Grace led the girls out, handing the baton to Beibhinn who stormed down the back straight to give the baton to Daisy in a great position. Daisy made further ground, setting Aoibheann up for an incredible finish, and a well earned gold medal.

The boys also gave it their all across the four events on offer. On the track, the four boys - Tomás Shanahan, Aaron Hanrahan, Tom Esmonde and Ben Delaney - lined out in the three heats. Their hard work definitely showed as huge improvements since last year were made. Tom qualified for the final, where he went on to finish in 2nd place overall. Tomás lined out again in the 500m, a big step up from last year’s shorter 300m race. He fought the whole way around to finish in 12th position. Well done Tomás. All four boys also took part in the long jump, where Tom’s best jump of 3.18m saw him collect a bronze medal. Aaron (2.92m, 9th), Tomás (2.73m, 12th) and Ben (2.02m, 19th) also jumped well on the day. In the turbo javelin, Tom and Ben showed huge improvement, Tom’s best throw of 13.75m was enough to place him third, for a third medal of the day, while Ben’s best throw of 8.40m saw him finish an excellent 12th in the competition. The boys also combined to run the 4x100m relay, where they finished 5th overall.

U11 Boys and Girls

The u11’s were our smallest group of the day, with 5 girls and just 1 boy representing the club in this age group. Despite this, they certainly made themselves known in all their events! Darragh Joyce was our lone boy u11, and started his day in the 60m. He progressed from his heat to the final where he narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing in 4th position. Specialising in track, Darragh then lined out in the first of two heats in the 600m, his preferred event. He led from gun to tape and never let up the pace, knowing the race would be decided on times. His convincing win in heat 1 was followed by an anxious wait before he was named Tipperary champion with an excellent time of 1.55.60, a full 6 seconds ahead of 2nd position.

Annie Ely also led out hard in the girls 600m, which was a straight final. Passing the 400m mark she was in third position and her strength and determination shone through as she battled her way through the final 150m, finishing in 2nd place. She added this medal to a gold in the high jump where she cleared 1.15m, clearing every height on the first attempt to secure the top spot. Meadhbh Hall joined her on the high jump podium, also clearing 1.15m, with just one knock of the bar separating the girls. In the turbo javelin Annie and Lily Murphy represented the club. The girls threw excellently, with throws of 10.46m (Lily) and 10.44m (Annie) to finish 4th and 5th overall. The final field even for the girls was the Long Jump which saw LIly, Meadhbh, Órlaith and Ella-Mai Drennan competing. The girls were strong competitors with Lily securing the first of two golds in the competition with a jump of 3.50m. Meadhbh was next with 3.36m, earning her a silver medal. Órlaith and Ella-Mai jumped 2.90m and 2.85m respectively to finish in 10th and 11th position overall.

The 60m saw four Moyne athletes on the start line - Lily, Órlaith, Meadhbh and Ella-Mai. The girls competed excellently in three heats with Lily, Meadhbh and Órlaith securing places in the final. Amidst tough competition, Lily stormed down the track to claim gold, with Meadhbh close behind in 3rd. Órlaith finished in 7th position in a very tight race.

The girls u11 finished their day with the 4x100m relay, with the seasoned team of Meadhbh, Annie, Órlaith and Lily securing a third consecutive victory in the Tipperary T&F championships, and a new PB!

Girls and Boys U12

The oldest of our athletes to take part on Saturday was also the biggest group with 8 boys and 6 girls representing the club, in seven different events! Sophie Hughes started the day off for this group with an excellent performance in the high jump, clearing 1.10m to claim a joint silver medal. Not to be outdone, when the boys got their turn at the high jump, they put on quite a show! In what looked to be the most fun (and intense) event of the day the club had 5 athletes competing - and the level of camaraderie was unrivalled! In a long competition, the boys jumped excellently, clearing heights even when the going got tough. The competition was fierce, and in the final standings the club swept the podium with Darragh Maher (1.30m) in first place, Tom Renehan (1.24m) second and Matthew (1.24m) in third. Geoff Morrissey just missed out, clearing 1.22m in fourth with Zach Ryan clearing 0.95m in 8th.

In the boys turbo javelin, Matthew narrowly missed out on a medal in fourth place with a throw of 16.42m. The boys threw well overall finishing; Fionn Phelan (7th, 13.65m), Darragh (8th, 11.91m), James Ryan (11th, 9.27m), Daniel Delaney (12th, 9.11m). The boys also competed in the shot put competition, where Matthew’s throw of 6.61m placed him 4th in the competition, just ahead of Daniel in 5th with 6.60m. Tom (5.75m, 8th), Zach (4.83m, 15th) and James (4.54m, 16th) also threw well in the competition. The other field event for the boys was the long jump. Geoff and James represented the club in this with jumps of 3.43m and 3.42m to finish 6th and 7th respectively - excellent jumping boys. On the track, Daniel got the day started with a 4th place finish in the boys u12 hurdles - well done Daniel. In the 60m, Darragh, James and Daniel toed the line in three heats, while Darragh and James narrowly missed out, Daniel progressed through the heats to the final. Over the longer distance of 600m, Matthew and Tom put in strong performances to finish 9th and 11th respectively in the final standings. The final event for this group was the relay, where the team of Matthew, James, Tom and Darragh combined to finish 5th.

U/13 to U/19 Tipperary T&F Championships Sunday 12th. May, TemplemoreResults to handU/13 Girls. Faye Murphy, 80m 2nd. 11.30s. Shot 2nd. 11.30m. Long Jump 4th. 3.73m. 4x100m Relay 2nd.U/13 Girls. Saoirse Joyce. Long Jump 3rd. 3.75m (PB). 600m 7th. 80m 4th Heat. 4x100m 4th.
U13 Boys; William Morrissey. Shot. u/14 Girls; Helen Renehan, High Jump 1st. 1.35m. (PB). 75m Hurdles 3rd. 4x100m Relay 4th. Grainne Daly High Jump. 2nd. 1.20m (PB). 4x100m 4th.U/14 Girls; Isabelle Murphy, 200m 1st. 28.42s (PB). Javelin 1st. 25.24m.(PB). Shot 2nd. 8.05m (PB). 4x100m Relay 2nd.U/14 Girls; Caoimhe Slevin. 200m. 4th. Heat. 800m. 2nd. 2m40s. 4x100m 2nd.
U/14 Girls; Abbie Delaney, 1500m. 2nd. 5m.40s. 4x100m 2nd.U/14 Girls; Muireann Casey; 4x100m 4th.U/14 Boys; Gerard Delaney Javelin 1st. 24.9m, High Jump 1st.1.40m. Shot 3rd. 7.40m. 75m Hurdles 3rd.U/14 Boys; Michael Doyle 2k Walk. 1st.
U/15 Girls. Maria Doyle. Javelin 1st. Discus 2nd.U/16 Girls. Eleanor Doyle 200m 4th. 4x100m Relay 1stU/17-19 Girls; Niamh Cleere 100m 4th 13.77s (PB). 200m 3rd.28.53s (PB).U/17-19 Girls; Dearbhla Gleeson. 400m. 68.08s (PB). 4x100m Relay. 1st.
U/17-19 Girls; Alana Spillane, 800m 1st. 1500m 1st. 5.05mU/17-19 Girls; Kate Delaney 1500m 5.40m. 2nd. 4x100m Relay. 1st.U/14 Girls 4x100m Relay. Team A, 2nd. Abbie Delaney, Isabelle Murphy, Caoimhe Slevin, Faye Murphy
U/14 Girls 4x100m Relay. Team B, 4th. Saoirse Joyce, Helen Renehan, Grainne Daly, Muireann Casey.
U/17-19 Girls 4x100m Relay 1st. 56.58s. Dearbhla Gleeson, Niamh Cleere, Kate Delaney, Eleanor Doyle. Emma Delaney.

Searlait Twang Memorial Run.
Well done to Dylan McLaughlin who won the Searlait Twang Memorial Run in Castlecomber on Sunday morning. Congrats to Mindy Doyle who finished in a time of 30.54 to finish 26th overall. Well done.

Featured Image: Moyne AC U17/19 4x100m Relay Team of Dearbhla Gleeson, Eleanor Doyle, Niamh Cleere and Kate Delaney who were crowned Co Champions in Templemore on Sunday last. They now have qualified for National Relay Finals for second year in a row.

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