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History - England 2010


Following the very successful St Peter’s AC trips to the Pitreavie AAC Young Athletes’ Trophy meets in Dunfermline in 2006 and 2009, the club decided to look for a similar competition in 2010, which would also cater for athletes in age groups older than Under 17. After some research it was decided to travel to the Southport Waterloo AC Open Medal Meet in Liverpool on Saturday 4th September.

A team of 17 athletes from the club departed from Dublin Airport on a Ryanair flight to Liverpool on the afternoon of Friday 3rd September. Accompanying the athletes to England, and contributing greatly to the success of the trip, were club coaches Angela McDonald and Kathleen McConnell and parents Geraldine Fussey, Angela McGinn and Catherine Rogers.

After a nice meal and a good night’s sleep in the Liverpool North Premier Inn, everyone was ready for a busy day’s action on Saturday. The end-of-season competition attracted athletes from near and far to the Litherland track in the north of the city. The windy conditions militated against fast times in all the track events, although otherwise the day was quite pleasant for a track and field meet.

The occasion had a real international flavour, as the Irish presence in the shape of St Peter’s AC was complemented by several visiting athletes from Welsh clubs, along with an athlete from Saudi Arabia. Naturally clubs from across the North of England were especially well represented and there were also athletes from the Midlands and South of England who made the trip to Merseyside.

When the medal count for each club was tallied at the end of a hectic day’s competition, St Peter’s AC emerged as the fourth best club overall behind three big Merseyside clubs – Liverpool Harriers, the host club Southport Waterloo AC and Liverpool Pembroke Sefton AC. However 38 other clubs, including local Merseyside clubs St Helens Sutton AC and Wirral AC, trailed in their wake. In what was a remarkable day in the club’s history, the team won six gold, four silver and nine bronze medals.

Nikayla Hamill was the star performer on the day as she won double gold in the Under 13 High Jump (1.25m) and Long Jump (3.73m) and battled her way to silver in the 800m (2:44.1). Mark Rogers also won three medals – gold in the Under 15 High Jump (1.75m) and bronze in both the 800m (2:16.7) and Shot (11.38m).

The other gold medallists from St Peter’s AC were Emily Rogers in the Under 17 High Jump (1.64m), Lauren Finegan in the Under 15 Long Jump (4.04m) and Liam Fussey in the Under 13 Javelin (21.41m). Lauren also finished fourth in the Javelin (21.02m), while Liam was seventh in the Shot (4.42m).

Niamh Fussey was in great form in the Under 17 events as she took silver in both the 100m (14.7) and 80m Hurdles (14.4) and bronze in the Long Jump (4.63m). Megan Finnegan made it a one-two for St Peter’s with silver in the Under 15 Long Jump (4.02m) behind Lauren and she also finished fourth in the 300m (50.7).

Éamonn McManus was a double sprints bronze medallist in the Under 15 100m (13.9) and 200m (28.7) and also finished fifth in the Shot (10.07m). Philip Larney did well at Under 17 level to take bronze in the 400m (1:00.7) and to finish fourth in both the 200m (28.3) and Long Jump (4.57m).

St Peter’s AC won three bronze medals in the Senior Men’s events through Darren Tuite in the High Jump (1.65m), Ian McDonald in the Long Jump (5.40m) and Tom McGrane in the Shot (9.05m). Ian was also fourth in both the 100m (12.4) and Javelin (32.04m).

Orlaith McMahon was most unfortunate to miss out on a medal as she finished in fourth place in both her events – the Under 13 75m (11.8) and Long Jump (3.40m).

Also recording fourth place finishes were Elizabeth Bell in the Under 15 Long Jump (3.64m), Heather Rogers in the Under 13 Shot (6.11m) and Martin McGrane in the Under 13 Shot (7.40m). Elizabeth also finished seventh in the 200m (34.1), while Heather was ninth in the 75m (12.7).

Pádraic McGinn did well at Under 15 level, finishing eighth in the 100m (17.3) and ninth in the Shot (5.84m).

These performances included several personal bests and it should also be noted that several St Peter’s AC athletes were competing outside their normal age groups. Among the club’s medal winners in the Senior events, Ian McDonald and Darren Tuite will still be Junior (Under 20) athletes until the end of 2011, while Tom McGrane is currently in the Masters’ Over 45 age group. In the underage events Elizabeth Bell, Lauren Finegan, Megan Finnegan, Niamh Fussey and Pádraic McGinn will all be in the same age groups again next year.

Later that evening all enjoyed a fine meal in The Baker’s Dozen pub near the hotel. Following the meal the boys went to a leisure complex where they enjoyed a game of ten-pin bowling followed by a 20-minute session of Quasar. Darren Tuite emerged as the best bowler among the older boys, while Pádraic McGinn had the highest score in the younger group. In the Quasar contest Philip Larney led the Green team to victory, with Darren recording the highest score on the Red team.

The following day everyone enjoyed a couple of hours free time in the centre of Liverpool before it was time to take the bus to Liverpool Airport for the short flight back to Dublin. There was unanimous agreement that this had been undoubtedly the best ever overseas trip in the annals of the club to date. They were also very grateful for the hospitality extended to St Peter’s AC by Southport Waterloo AC.