The howling wind outside had no impact on an excellent day of athletics at the National Juvenile Indoors in Athlone with Longford athletes among the medals.
An afternoon gold rush began with Conor Brennan taking first place in the U14 1000m Walk. A brilliant performance by Moyne CS student Conor to top the podium and improved his personal best by a massive 32 seconds.
Andrew Fitzpatrick also claimed a gold medal following a super showing in the U12 Shot Put. A longest distance of 10.41m for Andrew, which was over 1.6m clear of second place, added a second National title this indoor season. Moments before his first throw, Andrew had run in the 60m sprint clocking a new PB of 8.78 seconds and placing 10th overall.
The successes continued when John Fitzpatrick won the U14 High Jump. A best clearing height of 1.50m earned John indoor gold at the event for the third year in a row and another National title to his collection.
Robin Óg Murphy showed her strength and stamina to win a superb silver medal in the U17 1500m Walk. A disciplined race by Robin Óg who maintained her form throughout and enjoyed a well-deserved PB and place on the podium.
El’Nathan Okoh brought home bronze after a very good performance in the U13 Long Jump, one of the most closely contested of events. He followed that up with a strong placing in the 60m in which he was sixth with a 8.53 seconds PB.
Our first athlete in action on Saturday was Emily Oge Nnachi who competed in the U12 Long Jump. In her first time at the National indoors, Emily jumped very well achieving a new PB with 3.58m.
Emma Brennan had to set to pace in her U17 1500m heat and put in a typically determined run. With results based on times, Emma placed an excellent sixth overall in the standings.
Setting a PB of 7.37 seconds in the U17 60m heats, Seán Grealy also had a strong run and only narrowly missed out on a place in the final.
Well done to all and the action in Athlone continues on Sunday.
