There were plenty of excellent performances by Longford athletes last weekend at the National Under 13-19 Track and Field Championships in Tullamore.
Andrew Fitzpatrick had another very successful championship enjoying triple medal success. In Saturday’s U13 Javelin event, he set the standard with a brilliant best effort of 34.69m which was over 5 metres clear of second place. On Sunday, he showed his speed and agility to cross the line first after a closely contested 60m Hurdles race. To add to his golds, Andrew claimed silver in the High Jump to complete a fantastic track and field club season for him.
Another athlete that stepped onto the podium on both days was Emma Brennan who enjoyed superb double medal successes when taking gold in the U18 2000m Steeplechase on Sunday having won bronze in the 3000m the day before. Sunday’s run saw Emma lead from start to finish showing her strength to win, and equal her personal best, in the humid afternoon conditions.
Saturday’s race walks saw the Longford gold rush continue with two first place finishes. There was another excellent showing by Conor Brennan who claimed victory in the U15 boys 2000m with a ‘gun-to-tape’ performance for a convincing win. Robin Óg Murphy also put on a confident display at the front to emerge the winner of the U18 3000m girls race in 15:18. Her sister Molly continues to show great progress in the walks and placed fourth in the U14 2000m event. She was unlucky not to medal but gained valuable racing experience.
Taking in three events over the weekend was John Fitzpatrick who claimed an excellent bronze medal in a high quality U15 boys High Jump with 1.63m to add another national medal to his large collection. He also competed well too in the 80m Hurdles and Shot Put achieving top six finishes in both.
For El’nathan Okoh, there were also top six finishes in the U14 75m Hurdles and High Jump with good showings in each. Doubling up in events at the same age group was Sam Davis who competed well in the Long Jump and the Hurdles gaining more competition experience. As too were Tiernan O’Reilly in the U15 High Jump and Emily Oge Nnachi in the U13 Long Jump with both registering good measurements.
Seán Grealy came into the weekend in flying form having ran a brilliant 10.95 seconds personal best for the 100m in Navan on Wednesday. Come Tullamore on Saturday, he advanced to the U18 100m final in which he got out strongly from the blocks going on to cross the line at the exact same time as another athlete with both vying for bronze. The finish line camera, with the ability to hone in to the thousandth of a second, separated the two and unfortunately Seán had to settle for fourth place following what was a fantastic run.
Also running well in the sprints was Kevin English in the U14 80m. Flying the flag for Ardagh were Rian McCaffrey and Max Gallagher. Another strong display by Rian in the U16 3000m crossing the line in 9:23 while Max also put in a good run when taking on the U18 2000m Steeplechase.
The last Longford athlete to take to the track on Sunday was Oisín Dillon in the U16 800m final. Having advanced from his earlier heat, and not feeling one hundred percent, Oisín still put in a strong run in the humid conditions for an eight-place finish and continued what has been a good summer of results for him in the two-lap event.
A very positive weekend of performances by Longford athletes at a national championship. Well done to all and congratulations to the medalists. Thanks to parents and coaches for their support and encouragement. For some athletes, the season continues on into July with Tullamore the venue again in two weeks as the remaining juvenile events take place.
