Sunday, June 11, 2023

May 2023

 

The first day of the County Juvenile championships took place on the 1st May in Castleisland. The numbers were much larger than usual and as a result medals were very hard to come by.

We had a number of new athletes competing for the first time and they all did exceptionally well. Jacob Madden competed in the U9 Javelin throwing very well in a large field. Roisin Hogan had a busy day competing in the 60m Long jump and javelin where she was only a metre outside the medals.

Ethan O Sullivan also threw well in the U10 Javelin but again was just short of the medals. Sophie O Brien, Amelia O Sullivan and Sally Scroope all competed admirably in the girls u10 where all competitions had nearly 30 in each event. In the U 11 boys another new comer Tadgh Mannix came 4th in the Javelin and 5th in the long jump.

Fionn Hogan qualified for the final of the U12 60m and followed this up with a massive throw in the javelin of nearly 20m to finish 2nd. Roisin Mannix had a great outing finishing 6th in the sprint and finishing 2nd in the High Jump.

Ryan Vickers won both 80m and 800m he had the added bonus of setting a new championship record in both. Older brother Isaac also set a new record in the U15 800. This race was noteworthy as teammates Conor McCarthy and Samuel Scroope completed a clean sweep for the club. Kevin O’Shea also chipped in with a gold in the discus and silver in the 100m.

His older sister Niamh also added gold in the discus and a silver in the Shot Put. Roisin Daly continued her impressive form from last year and was a clear winner of the U16 Girls 100m.

In total the club amassed 6 golds, 5 silvers and 1 bronze medal. This was a great haul and will surely be added to on the 14th when the second day takes place. The most pleasing thing was the impressive showing of the newer athletes who finished just outside the medals. Success for these athletes is not to far away if they keep up the training.

More international duty for our champion racewalker David Kenny where he was selected on the Irish team for the European Team championships on the 21st of this month in the Czech Republic.

The second day of the county juvenile championships took place in Castleisland on the 14th May. Lauren O Sullivan, Maeve Ryan, Rosin O Neill and Amelie O Connor made up our girls under 9 relay team and in a very competitive event they finished strongly. Jacob Madden, Daithi Fleming, Jack O Mahoney and Ethan O Sullivan ran in the boys under 10’s and were a few seconds outside the medals. The gitls U 11 team of Amelia O Sullivan, Joanna Cronin, Mollie O Connor and Saoirse O Neill came 5th in the girls U 11 relay with Molly and Joanna also running the 600m. In the older age group Ryan and Isaac Vickers both won gold in the 200m Connor McCarthy finished strongly to take 2nd in the 200 U 15.  Isaac and Conor also had another 1-2 in the 1500m. Samuel Scroope completed the relay team that comfortably won the U 15 4  x 100.

Kevin O Shea also was a comfortable winner of the boys u 15 javelin. Roisin Daly was our final competitor on the day winning the 200m to add to her 100m run last week. Well done to all especially to those running for the first time.

The senior and master’s athletes to take centre stage in the county championships held in Castleisland on the 7th . It was a very enjoyable day and all our athletes were successful. Natasha Myers continued her improvement from last year coming 2nd in the Senior women’s long jump and also in a very tight race came 3rd in the 200m. Not to be outdone mother Eileen came second in the Weight for distance. Keeping it in the family James Nagle made a successful return to competition after a few years of a break where he won the weight for distance and came second in the shot. Aidan Cahill and Dermot Dineen both won their categories in the 800m in very impressive times. Finally Niamh O Shea won the discus and came second in the shot with father Sean finishing in 3rd place in the discus.

Elsewhere Ethan and Emelia O Sullivan ran the junior parkrun for the first time in Tralee. Roisin and Fionn Hogan also finished well up the field. The Kerry post primary school’s championships were held in Castleisland last Thursday. Conor Mccarthy Roisin Daly Samuel Scroope and Niamh and Kevin O Shea were all successful.

The last week of May saw David Kenny representing Ireland at the European Race Walking championships in the Czech Republic where was part of a 4-man team. Conditions were tough in the City Park but David stayed in touch with the leaders despite the heat to finish in 16th position in a seasons best of 1 hour 24 minutes and the first Irishman home. The team finished a very creditable 7th position overall.

The Munster schools championships were held in Castleisland where the club was represented Aine, Niamh and Kevin O’Shea all whom brought medals home.

At the Kilmoyley 6K Cian, Fionn and Roisin Hogan all competed. Father Cian came 3rd overall in a time of 18.51 with Fionn finishing in a very quick 23.27. Not to be outdone younger sister Roisin crossed the line in 39 minutes.

Tiernan Lynch came 3rd in the Inch Parkrun with younger sister Jessie only a few minutes behind, Michael O Connor ran in the Killarney parkrun. Ethan O Sullivan ran in the Tralee junior Parkrun and in Killarney Ryan Vickers led the way.