Leinster Combined Events 2024 (8th June)
The Leinster Combined Events were held in Tullamore on Saturday 8th June where cloudy conditions in the morning cleared to give a sunny but breezy day. Mullingar had three athletes in action, Daniel Cummins and Aaron Robinson in the u/12 Triathlon (long jump, shot put and 200m) and Aidan O’Donoghue in the Master Pentathlon (long jump, javelin, 200m, discus and 1,500m).
Daniel started his campaign with three consistent long jumps, his best of 3.96m coming in the final round, while Aaron also recorded three good jumps, with a best of 3.47m. Both were again very competitive in the shot put where they executed three good efforts each. Aaron’s best throw of 6.80m came in the final round, as did Daniel’s 6.19m, to earn them valuable points leading into the final event, the 200m. Aaron raced hard in the first of two heats and was delighted to finish in third place in a time of 33.43 seconds into a headwind. Daniel ran a blistering race in heat two, stopping the clock at 30.23 seconds into a stiff headwind. When the points over the three events were added, Daniel finished just 26 points outside the medals in 5th place with a total of 851 points in a very tight competition, while Aaron finished in a very creditable 8th place on 636 points. Both boys should be very satisfied with their performances and it won’t be long before they stand on the podium.
Aidan opened with the long jump, his best effort of 3.67m coming in the first round to place fourth. A best of 33.83m in the javelin was enough to win and the points earned moved him to second place after two events. Third place in the 200m into a very strong headwind saw Aidan drop back to third after three events, but comfortably winning the discus with 26.83m moved Aidan up the first place going into the final event, the 1,500m run, which is always dreaded after a long tough day of competition. Despite giving every ounce of effort, Aidan finished third in the 1,500m and when the points were finally tallied, Aidan scored 2,175 points and was happy with the bronze medal [AO’D/GD].
