A long but successful day of competition at ATU Sligo on Saturday last with it the turn of the Connacht Championships for the Under-14 to Senior age groups.
One of the last races on the track saw our U14 4 x 100m relay team of Kevin, El’nathan, Adam and Andrew set a new Connacht championship record of 51.83 seconds when winning team gold. The day’s racing had begun some nine hours earlier as Emma took to the track for the U18 2000m Steeplechase. Another good display of technique over the hurdles to ensure gold for Emma in a Connacht record time of 7:11 before later adding a second victory in the 1500m.
Making his debut at the 3000m was Rian who had an excellent run clocking 9:29 to win a silver medal in the U16 category. There were further middle-distance medals achieved with Oisín and Orla running strongly in the 800m earning silver and bronze in their respective events. Julie ran well in competitive U14 800m and 1500m gaining more experience on the track. In the race walks, Conor took gold with an assured display in the U15 2000m while Molly brought home bronze after a good performance in a closely contested U14 girls race at the same distance.
The sprints saw fantastic 100m gold medal success for Seán in the U18 event with a 11.33 second clocking. He also advanced to the National Championships with fourth in the 200m. Tiernan won bronze with a superb run in the U15 200m while Kevin booked his spot at Nationals too with swift fourth place finishes in the U14 80m and 200m. Adam recorded an impressive time too in the U14 200m as did Michaela in the U14 80m.
Sam brought home two medals after a very good day of competition with silver in the U15 80m Hurdles and bronze in the Long Jump. Also in the Long Jump, Washington claimed bronze in the U18 boys’ event while Tabita recorded a good distance to place well in the U14 girl’s category. There were further medal feats with Marc enjoying fantastic triple gold success with victory in the U17 100mH, 300mH and High Jump.
A best leap of 1.55m earned El’Nathan a tie for first and a gold medal in the U14 High Jump while he brought home silver after high quality 75mH and 200m races. John enjoyed triple gold delight with victories in the U15 80mH, High Jump and Shot Put with assured performances in each on another excellent day of competition for him.
In the senior/U20 age categories, Holly placed third in the ladies 100m while Aaron had a top 5 placing in the men’s 200m. A very good day all-around with plenty of personal bests recorded by many of our athletes and many qualifiers to Nationals in the juvenile age groups. Longford athletes on the day were:
Adam Mulleady, El’nathan Okoh, Kevin English, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Julie Taitt, Michaela Jarosova, Tabita Kukier, Molly Murphy, Conor Brennan, Sam Davis, Tiernan O’Reilly, John Fitzpatrick, Oisín Dillon, Rían McCaffrey, Órla Miney, Marc Galligan, Washington Mahlangu, Seán Grealy, Emma Brennan, Aaron Kelly and Holly Rogers.
