Glenmore Report 13/5/19 – Louth T&F Championships

Full results – https://www.athleticslouth.com/results/2019-results/

The Louth Championships got off to a very wet and cold start on Thursday last as relay teams from across the county descended on Lourdes Stadium, Drogheda.  First up for Glenmore AC were the u11 girls team of Lucy Keenan, Molly Anne Moore, Sarah Duffy and Roisin Daly (sub Sophie Cumiskey) who ran well in their heat to qualify for the final but were narrowly beaten, taking  4^thplace. The u13 girls team of Mia Ashby, Ellen Callan, Jessica White and Katie McDonald (sub Emma McCarragher) put in a fantastic performance to take 3^rdplace in this race with 2 of the girls running out of age.  The u15 girls team of Lisa Conlon, Ava Brady, Niamh Holland and Claudia Mullen were unlucky to miss out on a medal finishing in 4^thposition.  The u17 girls team of Nicole Barry, Katie Conlon, Zofia Mullen and Blaithnead Murphy ran a great race to take the gold medal and were matched on the podium by the u19 boys team of Ciaran Flynn, Craig Kane, Eoin McCann and Niall Brady who also took gold for Glenmore AC.  Next up were the even age groups with  the u10 girls team of Hollie McCann, Gillian Tuohy, Aoife McDonald and Zoe White (sub Aine Finnegan) continuing Glenmore’s winning streak to take a well-deserved gold for the club, retaining their county title from 2018.  So too did the winning u12 girls team of Jessica White, Grace Keenan, Emma McCarragher and Katie McDonald who stormed through both their heat and final to take gold. Eimear Finnegan, Aoife Keenan, Ruby Steeples and Leah Dunne ran a great heat to qualify for the u12 final but finished outside the medals in the end. The u12 boys team of Cian Magee, Craig Tuohy, Elliot Nichols and Christopher Conlon ran a great race narrowly missing out on a medal to finish in 4^thplace.  The u14 girls team of Lucy White, Ava Ashby, Chloe McCarragher and Sarah Mallon finished off the night for the club claiming 2^ndplace and another podium finish.

Day 2 of the championships brought a change of venue and a welcome change to the weather and for the  Glenmore athletes it was home to their training grounds at the Bush track. It didn’t take  Eoin McCann long to claim the first podium position of the day  with a silver medal in boys u19 javelin. Next up was the u12 long jump. Jessica White jumped well to finish in 3^rdplace ahead of fellow teammate Katie McDonald in 4^th.  Elliott Nichols was also unfortunate to finish in 4^thposition,  just outside the medals.

The first track event of the day saw a great display of athletic ability with both Katie McDonald and Jessica White finishing in the medals with 1^st& 3^rdplace respectively in the girls u12  60m sprint hurdles. Next up on the track was the 200m sprints  with a number of Glenmore athletes finishing in the medals. Lucy White displayed terrific form winning both her heat and the final of the  girls u14 200m. Nicole Barry also ran a great race to take silver in girls u17 200m whilst Anna-Mai Mullen also took silver in girls u19 200m.  Niall Brady commanded the field in boys u19 200m to come storming home in 1^stplace.

Next up it was the turn of the distance runners over 1500m. The u15s was a closely contested race with Lisa Conlon coming home in 2^ndplace and Ava Brady in 3^rdto claim 2 more medals for the club. Claudia Mullen also ran a great race. James Dunne added to the club’s medal tally claiming the bronze medal in the boys u15 1500m.  Blaithnead Murphy continued the run of podium finishes claiming the bronze medal in girls u16 1500m. Zofia Mullen ran a superb 1500m to claim gold in girls u17 1500m. Ciaran Flynn was unlucky to miss out on a medal  finishing in 4^thplace in boys u19 1500m.

Chloe McCarragher showed great technique in girls u14 shot put to take a well earned  3^rdplace. U19 long jump finished the field events of the day with Anna-Mai Mullen taking her second silver of the day whilst Craig Kane finished in 3^rdposition.

It was back to the track for the final event of the day – the long hurdles. Ava Brady ran a superb race clearing all her hurdles to take 2^ndplace  in 250m hurdles– Ava’s 2^ndmedal of the day.  Craig Kane was in contention for a medal in u19 400m hurdles but fell at the last hurdle.

The sun shone over the Cooley peninsula for day 3 of the championships which brought the clubs more junior athletes out in force.  The first field event of the day saw Lucy White and Ava Ashby claim 2^nd& 3^rdposition respectively in the u14 long jump. Both girls displayed superb jumping to secure a spot on the podium.  Zoe  White & Aoife McDonald continued the winning streak at the sand pit with both girls jumping their seasons best to take 1^stand 3^rdplace respectively in u10 long jump.

The sprints saw a large group of Glenmore athletes across all age groups compete.  U10 girls 60m sprint was a very tightly contested race with Gillian Tuohy & Zoe White progressing through to the final with Gillian claiming 2^ndplace in the end and Zoe adding to her medal tally with 3^rdplace.  U12 girls 60m saw the largest field of the day with 6 heats. Katie McDonald displayed great speed to progress through to the final to take 2^ndplace overall. Lucy White ran a superb race in u14 80m sprint to take 2^ndplace and her 3^rdmedal of the championships.  Nicole Barry claimed her 2^ndmedal of the weekend to take 3^rdplace in girls u17 100m  sprint. So too did Niall Brady with a 3rd place finish in boys u19 100m sprint.

Next up on the track was the 400m. Anna McArdle displayed great form to take gold in u17 event. She was closely followed home by Nicole Barry in 3rd position. Anne-Marie Mullen secured her 3^rdpodium finish of the championships with a 2^ndplace finish in u17 400m. Niall Brady was unlucky to miss out on a medal with a 4^thplace finish in u19 400m.

It was back to the field events for the U12 girls where Glenmore athletes Emma McCarragher & Grace Keenan displayed great throwing strength to finish 3^rd& 4^thplace respectively in another large field. Craig Kate claimed another medal in a great performance in u19 high jump taking 3^rdplace.  U11 girls long jump was another tightly contested event with Roisin Daly securing 3^rdplace with a jump of 3.04m.  Elliott Nichols put in a spectacular performance in U12 high jump to take top position on the podium earning himself a well deserved gold medal. Elliott jumped 1.25m on his first ever high jump breaking the Louth u12 county record!  Gillian Tuohy brought the field events to a close with another gold medal for the club with a winning throw in U10 turbo javelin.

The distance races brought the track events to a close.  Both Gillian Tuohy & Zoe White put in impressive performances in U10 500m to claim their 3^rdmedal each of the competition with Gillian winning the race and Zoe finishing in 3^rdplace. A big field of athletes competed in U11 600m. It was a very fast race throughout.  Molly Anne Moore put in a great run but was unlucky to miss out on a medal position finishing in a close 4^thplace. So too was Elliott Nichols who just missed out on a podium place taking 4th in U12 600m. U14 800m saw Ava Ashby put in a great performance to finish in a well earned 2^ndplace. Lisa Conlon led from the front throughout the u15 800m to claim gold in a race which saw fellow teammate Ava Brady take a fall early in the race but picked herself up to finish in 5^thplace. The last medals of the day went to Anna McArdle & Zofia Mullen taking 1^st& 2^ndin u17 800m respectively.

Well done to all 59 Glenmore AC athletes who put in some great performances across the 3 days albeit outside the top 4 places .  U9 Maeve Walsh, Jonah  Moore & Oisín Gallagher. U10 Aine Finnegan &  Ciara Smartt. U11 Grace Smartt,  Sarah Duffy, Sophie Cumiskey, Ronan Dunne,  Liam Holland, Mario Liam Gaztambide  & Harry Doyle. U12 Aine Gallagher,  Ella Connolly,  Eimear Finnegan, Aoife Keenan, Ruby Steeples, Peadar Walsh, Ruairi Holland, Christopher Conlon,  Craig Tuohy & Cian McGee. U13  Mia Ashby, Ellen Callan, Rosie Smartt, Jake Gilsenan, Aaron Hanratty & Sean Holland. U14 Sarah Mallon,  Aoife McGee & Shane Gallagher. U15 Claudia Mullen & Niamh Holland. U17  Darragh Conway.

North Leinster schools track & field championships also took place last week in Morton Stadium, Santry. A number of Glenmore AC athletes represented their schools. Lisa Conlon 1st 1,100m,  Lucy White 1st 100m & relay, Ava Brady 3rd 800m, Niall Brady 3rd 200m, Zofia Mullen medalist in the walking race and Ciaran Flynn got PB in 5k race.  Anna McArdle, Katie Conlon, Claudia Mullen, Blathnaid Murphy, Craig Kane, James Dunne and Eoin McCann also put in since great performances for their schools.  Good luck to all in Leinster schools finals next week.