Week ending Saturday 7th July
National medals for Nevin, Glennon and Fane
The stadium in Tullamore certainly lived up to its reputation as a suntrap last Saturday when the AAI Junior and u/23 T&F Championships took place in absolutely sweltering conditions. Even at the early start time 10.30am it was already very hot, and Rachel Glennon said conditions were tough for the 3,000m race walk for women u/23 but she is an extremely experienced athlete and coped well to finish in second place and win the silver medal. Andrew Nevin ran in the 5,000m for men u/23 and also found the conditions very tough and was disappointed with his performance and finish place out of the medals, but incredibly, he returned to the track a little over an hour later for the 3,000m steeplechase for men u/23. Rightly regarded as one of the toughest track events, the steeplechase is not an event for tired legs but Andy settled into his rhythm and with great determination to make amends for the 5,000m run, was delighted to come home in first place and win his first All-Ireland track title. Top marks to Andy for sheer guts and determination!
Awa Fane and Shauna Leydon contested the junior women 100m where Shauna gave it her best effort but only Awa advanced to the final thanks to a fine personal best time of 12.22 seconds to qualify comfortably. The final proved a disaster for Awa though when she false started and was disqualified. A bitter blow, but she vowed to make amends in the 200m. In the junior men 100m, with only the winner of the four heats guaranteed to advance to the final, qualification was always going to be very difficult and while Patrick Leydon ran well in his heat, he did not advance to the final.
Shauna Leydon moved to the junior women long jump where she was disappointed with her series of jumps and finished out of the medal places. Later in the afternoon, Shauna was much happier with her performance in the junior women triple jump, where she placed sixth with some jumps not far off her personal best, giving her plenty to be satisfied with.
The opening lap of the junior women 800m was very slow, so the pace really heated up for the second lap and the very uneven lap split times just did not suit Aoife Darby and she finished out of the medals. The 800m for u/23 men was a much more even paced race, which suited Oisin Quinn and though he finished just outside the medal places, ran close to the two-minute mark.
The long hot day took its toll on Patrick Leydon and he said he felt a bit drained for the junior men 200m and though he ran well, with only the winner of the four heats guaranteed a place in the final Patrick did not advance from his heat. Looking to make amends for a false start leading to disqualification in the final of the 100m, Awa Fane made no such mistake in the junior women 200m, which was a straight final. Blasting from the blocks and with a terrific run on the bend she came into the home straight with the leaders and with great fight and spirit held her form to cross the line in third place and win the bronze medal to round off a good day for Mullingar.
Youngest members shine in Tullamore
There was a huge attendance in a very hot and sunny Tullamore last Sunday for the AAI Pairs T&F and u/12 & u/13 Field Finals where children from across the Country competed in the u/9, 10, and 11 Pairs events and the u/12 and u/13 athletes had their field event finals.
Katie Kilmurray and Norah Garry competed in the 60m u/11 Pairs where they both ran extremely well but adding their times together after their races, they finished out of the medal places but were still happy to have competed in an All-Ireland final. The fastest boy in the 600m u/11 was Matthew Molloy, timing his drive to the front on the home straight with perfection and winning his race in a very close finish. Luke Greene ran very well and finished well up in his race and despite both boys running quicker than in the Leinster finals, they finished out of the medals in fifth place, but this is an excellent result in an All-Ireland final and they can be very pleased with their efforts.
Criostoir Ormsby put together a great series of jumps in the u/12 long jump, his best of 4.53m good enough for the silver medal to put him on the podium. Later in the day, Criostoir competed in the u/12 high jump but just couldn’t reproduce the form that won him the Leinster title. His best effort was 1.30m and he finished out of the medal places. Criostoir is very new to the event and still learning, so we can expect to see a lot of improvement in the coming years.
On the road
Despite record temperatures across the Country last Thursday evening, Dunboyne AC put together a great race and over 300 toed the line for the Clonee 10k. Among them was Mullingar’s sole representative Enda Seery who coped well with the heat to finish well up overall in 41:49, a very creditable time given the heat of the evening and he was delighted to reach the finish and get out of the heat and avail of the post-race refreshments to help him recover.
Preferring to stick with the shorter distance, Michael Moran, Stephen Campbell and Eddie Newman headed to Kilcock for the St. Coca’s AC 5k last Friday evening to join over 330 others on an extremely warm sunny evening, but with attention to detail the organisers from St. Coca’s looked after everyone extremely well. Michael was first of the trio to finish in a time of 15:55 to place second junior man, followed by Stephen in 16:48 and Eddie Newman in 17:05 to win his master category.
The Daingean 5k last Saturday was billed as the “Hottest 5k in Offaly”. While there may have been concerns regarding racing in above normal temperatures, that didn’t deter nearly 250 taking part. The host Club Naomh Mhuire AC left nothing to chance in terms of race management, with plenty of water stations on the course, wet sponges at 2k, a garden hose at 4k to spray the passing runners and even an old-fashioned bucket shower for all at the finish. When you’re fit enough, you simply adapt to the conditions and adjust your pace accordingly, and that’s what Ciaran Nolan did as he finished tenth overall in 17:41, first junior man, followed closely by Kieran Nolan in 17:47, fourth in his master category, and Christy Creagh (27:43) second in his master category.
Sympathy
Finally, the Executive and members of the Club extend sincere sympathy to Catriona Duffy on the death of her mother, Sheila, in Letterkenny last week, and grandmother of Daria and Jennifer Fidgeon. RIP.
For the latest results, news and details of all upcoming fixtures check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com.
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