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Reports - June 2007


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27 June 2007

Last weekend was a relatively quiet one for St Peter's AC, with just two athletes from the Dromiskin-based club in action. Kevin McManus and Hilary Kerr travelled to Tullamore once again on Saturday, this time for the Tailteann Games. This is the annual schools' interprovincial match at Under 17 level involving the four Irish provinces. Both St Peter's athletes were representing Leinster.

Kevin was a little below his best as he cleared 1.70m for 4th place in the High Jump. He was particularly disappointed as his form had been improving steadily over recent weeks, and he had jumped 1.80m at the same venue the previous weekend. Hilary was once again over 5 metres in the Long Jump as she got out to 5.02m, which is very close to her best this summer of 5.08m. On the day this was not far enough for one of the leading places in the competition, but Hilary will be eligible for this age group again next year.

This coming Friday several of the club's younger should be in action on the roads around Seatown in Dundalk. The annual Dundealgan AC Road Races is a very popular event and the juvenile races start at 7 p.m. There will be a 600m race for Under 10s, an 800m race for Under 12s, a 1000m race for Under 14s and a 1500m race for Under 16s. Then at 8 p.m. the Junior, Senior and Masters' athletes will race over 5km.

Meanwhile regular club training sessions continue each Tuesday and Thursday evening at 6.30 p.m. These are held in the athletics field behind St Joseph's GAA field in Dromiskin. Younger athletes (8 to 12 years old) finish at 7.30 p.m. while older athletes train until 8.00 p.m. The club has a number of experienced coaches with expertise in the full range of track and field events. Any prospective new members, whether from the Dromiskin area or further afield, will be made very welcome at this friendly but progressive athletics club.

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20 June 2007

Last weekend was another busy and also very successful one for the athletes of Dromiskin-based St Peter's AC. The athletes in the Under 13 to Under 19 age groups were in Tullamore on both Saturday and Sunday for the Leinster Championships, from which they returned with a magnificent haul of 6 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze medal. They also claimed two 4th places, which was very significant in this particular competition, as the first four in each event qualified for next month's Irish National Championships. Some of the club's younger and older athletes were in Antrim on Saturday for the Ulster Senior Championships, and in Shercock on Sunday for an Open Sports meet.

Two St Peter's athletes became double provincial champions at the County Offaly venue. Olivia McDonald won both the Under 18 Girls' Shot Putt (7.53m) and Javelin (33.97m). Hilary Kerr was victorious in the Under 17 Girls' 100m and Long Jump (5.03m). In addition, Laura O'Neill threw 29.39m to add the Under 16 Girls' Javelin title to the Leinster Schools' title she won last month. Kevin McManus improved yet again after his slow start to the season to take the Under 17 Boys' High Jump title with a 1.80m leap.

Kevin also claimed two silver and one bronze medals, finishing 2nd in the Triple Jump (11.53m) and 300m Hurdles, and 3rd in the Long Jump (5.25m). St Peter's claimed two further silver medals in the Girls' Javelin events. Sorcha Conway threw 30.00m to finish 2nd behind Olivia in the Under 18 age group, while the club's youngest medallist in Tullamore was Brianán Conway at Under 15 level with a 24.66m throw. Eoin Gernon and Ian McDonald will also be returning to Tullamore for the Irish Championships next month. Eoin was 4th in the Under 17 Boys' High Jump (1.55m) and Ian was 4th in the Under 16 Boys' Javelin (28.20m).

Among the other athletes from the club who competed in the Leinster Championships were Amy Galligan, Aisling Gernon, Caoimhe Hoey, Ellen McGuinness, Caoimhe McMahon and Amy Samson. They all did themselves proud, especially considering that they were up against athletes from throughout Leinster.

Peter McDonald travelled to the Antrim Forum on Saturday for the Ulster Senior Championships. He finished 6th in the Javelin with a 44.18m throw. These championships are open to all comers, and drew athletes from as far away as Australia and Slovakia, as well as from Ireland and Great Britain.

In Shercock, where the Open Sports attracted athletes from throughout South Ulster and North Leinster, Maria Duffy competed in four Senior Women's events. She finished 3rd in the Javelin with a 19.01m throw, and also threw well in the Shot Putt, as well as competing in the 100m and High Jump. Her son Oisín Duffy also came away with a medal after an excellent run in the Toddlers' race. Tom McGrane, who like Maria has been a Master for a few years now, was planning to compete just in the Masters 100m, but this event was cancelled, so he ran in the Senior 100m instead.

Three of St Peter's Under 10 Boys' squad were also in action at the County Cavan venue. Declan Gernon qualified for the finals of both the 100m and 200m, but finished just outside the medals in both finals. His teammates, Cian Duffy and Martin McGrane, ran well in the heats of both these events. All three then competed in the Ball Throw, where once again Cian proved the club's best in this event with a 25.05m throw, while Declan (22.00m) and Martin (18.85m) were not too far behind.

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13 June 2007

Last Sunday 10 athletes from St Peter's AC made the 100-mile journey from Dromiskin to Crettyard, Co. Laois to compete in the Leinster Under 10 and Under 12 Championships. At this level athletes compete in pairs, with the combined distance or time of the two partners determining their finishing place in the competition. Although St Peter's did not win any medals, the athletes thoroughly enjoyed competing against their peers from throughout the province on the hottest day of the year so far. The youngsters themselves, along with the parents and coaches who accompanied them, were very pleased to achieve several personal best performances.

Nikayla Hamill (15.84m) and Orlaith McMahon (13.13m) were St Peter's strongest combination on the day, finishing 8th in the Girls' U10 Ball Throw. Declan Gernon (3.27m) and Cian Duffy (2.78m) also performed strongly to finish 9th in the Boys' U10 Long Jump. In fact Declan's jump was only bettered by one other athlete in the competition. Nikayla Hamill (2.85m) and Orlaith McMahon (2.83m) combined again in the Girls' U10 Long Jump to take 12th place. St Peter's next best combination was Martin McGrane (17.58m) and Jack O'Brien (12.51m), who finished 14th in the Boy's U10 Ball Throw. In the same event Cian Duffy (29.15m) combined with Ciarán Conway (no valid mark) for 15th place. Cian's throw was the 4th longest of all the athletes in this event. In the Boys' U12 600m Liam Fussey (2:22.90) was partnered by Ruairí Conroy (who unfortunately had to pull up) and they finished in 20th place. Ciarán Conway (2.75m) teamed up with Alex Hanneffy (2.33m) for 23rd place in the Boys' U10 Long Jump, while the other St Peter's partnership in this event ? Jack O'Brien (2.60m) and Martin McGrane (2.27m) - finished 24th. Liam Fussey (2.77m) and Ruairí Conroy (2.62m), tired after their exertions in the 600m, teamed up again for 27th place in Boys' U12 Long Jump. Declan Gernon and Alex Hanneffy also competed in the Boys' U10 60m, but the official result was not available at the time of writing. However Declan ran strongly to claim 2nd place in his heat, while Alex, although finishing further back, will still be eligible for the Under 10 age group next year.

Next weekend several St Peter's athletes will make the journey to Tullamore, Co. Offaly to compete in the Leinster Championships for the Under 13 to Under 19 age groups on Saturday and Sunday. And for the younger and older athletes in the club there is an Open Sports in Shercock, Co. Cavan on Sunday.

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6 June 2007

Last weekend the athletes of Dromiskin-based St Peter's AC were in action in three different competitions ? the Carrick Aces AC juvenile road races in Carrickmacross on Friday night, the Irish Schools' Championships in Tullamore on Saturday, and the Louth county finals of the Community Games in Bush on Sunday.

Three athletes from the club travelled to Tullamore on Saturday for the Irish Schools' Championships and they were rewarded with two silver medals and one 4th place finish. Both medals came in the girls' javelin events. Olivia McDonald, representing Coláiste Rís, Dundalk, whose participation in the championships was in doubt until the last minute due to her recent injury, threw 33.46m for 2nd place in the Senior (Under 19) Girls' Javelin. This was a tremendous performance in wet and windy conditions and she was just 11cm behind the winner. Despite the inclement conditions, Laura O'Neill of St Louis, Dundalk threw a magnificent 29.55m to claim the silver medal in the Junior (Under 15) Girls' Javelin. This performance was over 2.5 metres further than her winning throw in the Leinster Schools' Championships a few weeks ago, and was also better than the Louth record of 29.39m which she set at the Louth County Championships at the beginning of May. Kevin McManus (Coláiste Rís) continued his recent pattern of improving his performances from one competition to the next with a leap of 1.75m for 4th place in the Intermediate (Under 17) Boys' High Jump. He was up against an extremely high standard of opposition in this event, with the three medallists all exceeding the height of the winner of the Senior Boys' High Jump.

Laura O'Neill followed up on her success at national level with a convincing victory at county level in the Under 16 Girls' Javelin in the Community Games in Bush on Sunday. Hilary Kerr was also victorious in the Under 16 Girls' 100m in Bush, and so will join Laura in the national finals of the Community Games in Mosney on the last weekend in August. Hopefully they will experience better weather then, as the conditions in Bush were most unseasonal. Only the winners in the county finals qualify for the national finals. Declan Gernon also ran very well in Bush, winning a bronze medal in the Boys' Under 10 100m, and Nikayla Hamill was a finalist in the Girls' Under 10 100m. At the Community Games the St Peter's athletes represent the Fane area, which encompasses Darver, Dromiskin and Haggardstown.

Martin McGrane made the short trip to Carrickmacross on Friday night where he ran well to finish 12th in the Under 11 Boys' 200m race on the town's Main Street. These races were part of the Carrickmacross Festival and attracted athletes from Counties Monaghan, Cavan, Louth and Meath.

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