Tipperary Juvenile Athletics News

18^th January 2010

4 National Indoor Medals for Tipperary

The Woodies DIY Junior Indoor Championships took place last Saturday in Nenagh Indoor Stadium. Tipperary did very well winning 3 National Silvers & 1 National Bronze on the day. Dara Kervick of Carrick-On-Suir A.C. was in sparkling form in the 200m winning Silver in a time of 23.26secs while Shane Prout of Coolquill A.C. had a great day jumping 12.29m in the Triple Jump winning him a Silver medal (he was also 6^th in the Long Jump (5.93m)). In the Junior Women’s Long Jump, Aoife Bartley maintained her winning form by scooping Silver with a jump of 4.91m (she was also 5^th in the Triple Jump) while Eimear Lynch won Bronze with a great performance of 61.45secs in the 400m (Eimear also competed very well in the 60m & 200m). Other Tipperary athletes who performed very well but who were outside the medals were:- Patrick Lynch, Newport in the 60m & 200m; Mel Corbett, Nenagh Olympic in the 60m; Shane O’Dwyer, Carrick-On-Suir 4^th in High Jump (1.70m); Hannah Trehy, Carrick-On-Suir in the 400m & Sarah Berkery, Newport 6^th in the 800m.

The Munster Juvenile Cross Country Relays took place in Carraig Na Bhfear, County Cork on Sunday last. Tipperary fared well on the day winning 3 sets of Silver medals & 2 sets of Bronze medals. A special word of thanks to our Cross Country Secretary, Mary Doyle who went above & beyond the call of duty working well into Saturday night to ensure teams in all ages. Thanks also to all the athletes who made a big effort to turn up for their races & who represented the county so well. It is very disappointing when athletes fail to turn up for races & so casually sweep aside the honour of donning a Tipperary singlet to compete for their county.

First race up was the Girls U/10 where Tipperary were well represented by Olivia Moylan, Margaret Quigley, Alannah Deering (all from Nenagh Olympic) & Emma Fagan (Newport). All the girls ran very well on the day amid strong competition from Kerry & Clare. Olivia Moylan maintained a 3^rd place position throughout her race & handed over to Margaret Quigley for the second leg who battled it out with her Kerry rival & handed over to Emma Fagan in 3^rd place. Emma Fagan maintained her 3^rd place position & handed over to Alannah Deering for the final leg with Tipperary finishing in 3^rd place behind Kerry & Clare.

Our Boys U/10 team were Jack Fallon, David Ryan, James Dillon (all from Moycarkey Coolcroo) & Kevin Bracken (Thurles Crokes). Jack Fallon led off the team to a strong start taking the lead & stealing about 10 metres on the rest of the competition. He handed over to David Ryan who also stormed off leaving the competition behind to hand over to James Dillon. James maintained the lead with Kerry & Clare pushing strongly from behind. The final leg was run by Kevin Bracken who displayed great strength & determination by fighting off tough competition from Kerry & Clare. This was the most exciting finish of the day as Kerry just edged ahead by a whisker at the line to deny Tipperary the gold medal. But a good day for the boys who won a well deserved Silver medal.

Our Girls U/12 team was Leah Farnan, Ciardha Maher (both Nenagh Olympic), Karen Kennedy & Sarah McKevitt (both Thurles Crokes). Leah Farnan started the race well for Tipperary & handed over to Ciardha Maher in 5^th place. Ciardha ran strongly passing Cork for 4^th place. Karen Kennedy moved swiftly around the course to move up into 3^rd place. Sarah McKevitt ran a good steady race & maintained her position to finish in 3^rd place behind Clare & Kerry. Well done girls.

The Boys U/12 team was Richard O’Donoghue, Craig Morgan (both Nenagh Olympic), Seosamh Ryan & Michael Purcell (both Thurles Crokes). All the boys ran good 500m legs & finished in 4^th place amid very tough competition.

The Girls U/14 team was Ciara Cummins (Moyne), Orlaith Moynihan (Clonmel), Orla Deering (Nenagh Olympic) & Nicola Loughnane (Thurles Crokes). Ciara Cummins started the Tipperary charge easily leading the field & handed over to Orlaith Moynihan. With Cork chasing hard & mounting a challenge for the lead, Orlaith pushed herself & opened up a considerable gap before handing over to Orla Deering. Orla was also challenged by Cork with both girls battling it out for the lead. Orla surged ahead & handed over to Nicola Loughnane well ahead of the rest of the field. Nicola ran very well but the challenge from Cork was still present & very strong. Cork prevailed in the last 250 metres winning the gold medal with Tipperary winning a well deserved Silver.

Our Boys U/14 team was Liam Finn, Niall McIntyre, Con Whelan (all Nenagh Olympic) & Rory Purcell (Thurles Crokes). All 4 boys ran very well in their 500m stages maintaining a 2^nd place position throughout to win the Silver behind a very strong Limerick team.

Congratulations to our fellow County Officer & Track & Field Secretary Emby Walsh who was bestowed with the Sean Lyons Sports Executive Award recently. Emby has dedicated many years of her life to athletics at County, Munster & National level & we are delighted that she has received this award. May you have many more happy sporting years Emby.

Congratulations are also due to Sean Tobin who has been chosen to represent Ireland at the Antrim International Cross Country & Celtic Games on Saturday 23^rd January. We wish him luck in his endeavours on the day.

We also extend our congratulations to the following athletes who will be presented with Munster Star Awards at the Munster Star Awards Banquet in the Brandon Hotel in Tralee on Saturday 30^th January:-

Best Tipperary Juvenile Track & Field Athletes 2009

Aoife Bartley & Shane O’Dwyer

Best Juvenile Male - Cross Country 2009

Sean Tobin

Best Triple Jumper 2009

Aoife Bartley

Tipperary will also receive an award for the best Juvenile Indoor County in 2009.

Aisling Hoey

P.R.O.