On a glorious sunny morning Santry stadium was taken over by lots of enthusiastic juvenile athletes for
the club championships. A sea of orange descended onto the brand-new track with energy and
enthusiasm, with all athletes giving it socks! Athletes had both a sprint and a distance race to try and for
some it was their very first race. It was great to see smiles, high spirits and healthy competition, with
some closely fought races and individual achievements.
Under 9/ 10: 80M and 500M
The first sprint of the day was the U9/U10 girls. The judges had to be on the ball to select the three
medal winners from this tightly fought race. A blanket could have covered them all. Ellen Daly (1 st ) took
the win, with Annabelle Ghitto 2 nd and Ellie Walsh 3 rd .
Next up the U9/ U10 boys sprint race. Luca Belton(1st) who is one of our newer members, took victory
over Jack Farrell (2nd) and Tim McFetridge (3 rd ) with all three boys having a Ding Dong battle all the way
to the line.
In the 500-meter girls race one of our newer members Annabelle Ghitto(1 st ) was an outright gun to tape
winner. Ellen Daly and Ellie Walsh held off the other fast finishers to take second and third place.
Places were also swapped between the boys in the longer 500m , this time Tim McFetridge taking a clear
and comfortable win with Luca Belton 2 nd and Jack Farrell 3 rd .
Under 11 / 12: 80M and 600M
In the 80m sprint Max Bamford (1st) took the win from Andrew Low (2 nd ). Andrew did his trademark lean
to nab second with Rhys Daley (3 rd ) snatching third.
In a very competitive age category, these girls had two heats in the sprint, with the top 4 from each
going into the final. They say good things come in small packages and that was definitely the case in this
80-meter final with Ava Fagan(1st) and Millie Ryan(2 nd ) powering to gold and silver. It was great to see
Fayth Hanlon back, fighting it out all the way to the line with Nessa Byrne. Without the photo finish to
hand the judges were unable to separate these two, giving both of them joint 3 rd position.
Dara Cronin judged his pace perfectly to pull away from his competitors over the last lap to take the win
over 600 meters. In one of the closest finishes of the day Andrew Lowe just about held off Adam Phelan
for second place with only a T-shirt separating the both of them.
In the distance race Fayth Hanlon showed she hasn’t lost her fitness by taking the win over 600 meters,
by closing down on the early leaders. Nina Burton took 2nd place just about holding off Lucy Fagan who
was finishing like a train to take 3 rd place
Under 13/14: 100m , 200m and 800m
Next up was the under 13 and under 14 girls. Lucy McFetridge had a fine win in 100-metre sprint
powering all the way to the finish line. Martha Higgins and Amy Lawler again fought very closely all the
way to the line with Martha just taking second ahead of Amy in 3rd.
In the under 13 and under 14 boys Braxton O’Shea got out fast and there was no catching him as he took
the win in the 100m from Ryan Fagan (2 nd ) and Shane McDermott(3 rd ), who are both probably better
known for the longer distances. In the 200-meter sprint Ryan came back to take the win over our newer
member Jayanne Kartha(2nd) with Aidan McDermott(3 rd ) just nipping in for bronze.
In the 800 meters Shane McDermott(1 st ) got revenge taking the win this time, over Braxton O’Shea(2 nd )
who finished like a train with Cormac Tynan looking very comfortable to take the third place.
In the 800m race Lucy McFetridge showed her versatility by also taking another fine win. Sophia Tenant
got stronger as the race went on and took 2 nd place with Lucy Donnelly also finishing very strong in the
last 200 meters to take 3rd.
Under 15/16: 100, 200 and 1500m
Now on to the big guns
Bradley King tore around the bend to take the win in the 200m sprint over Edward Blaque (2 nd ) in second
with Joshua Chalmers(3 rd ) third. Bradley was our sole competitor in the 100-meter sprint but
nonetheless displayed great form and power all the way to the line to take the 100-meter title also.
In the girls under 15 /16 competition Zoe Mulligan who is clearly enjoying the sprint training, took the
double by winning the 100 meter and 200-metre sprints today. Sandy Rose Kivlehan and Sienna Kelly
traded second and third places over the 100m and 200m. It was great to see a strong turn out from our
slightly older juvenile athletes in these longer sprint races.
Now on to the longer distances, first up was a combined boys and girls 1500-metre race. In very warm
conditions Joshua Chalmers(1 st ) took the win pacing himself well over the three- and three-quarter laps.
There were four or five athletes all in contention for the minor places with one lap to go but it was Liam
Arthur (2 nd) and Edward Blaque(3 rd ) who battled it out right to the end to claim second and third place
respectively.
In the girl’s 1500m Sandy Rose Kivlehan took the lead from the gun. Leah O’Reilly gradually closed on
her over the laps but there just wasn’t enough track with Sandy holding on for the win and being
rewarded for her front running. Leah O’Reilly held on for second place. Ava Aherne judged her pace well
and finished third with Rebecca Finn, also looking very comfortable at the end, finishing in 4th.
All the athletes today really gave it their all with lots of battles going on, in addition other athletes
stepped out of their comfort zone and showed grit and determination to finish strongly. Lots of our
athletes continue to have fun and get stronger at the same time. It was great to see the stand full of
parents /relatives and hear all the cheers for everyone competing to the best of their ability. A special
thanks to all coaches, helpers and parents who helped out on the morning (which ran very smoothly)
and behind the scenes,, it is true many hands make light work! Also, a special thank you to our junior
athletes who were really helpful organizing the younger athletes and presenting medals with our own
international star Efrem Gidey. Finally last but not least thanks to the elder statesman Johnny O’Leary
who despite a very long night and early morning was on hand to oversee the finish area.
Well done everyone.
Emma Cooper
To view lots of pics click: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOW_nw0rkDQhjvdovF-z7tccyvAEnWviDmxbSoFjCBa7ksyAS4xEf61xtqa9Cg2nQ?key=Y2xHd19tZFMzQVVralNMYVAyQ2R3Tm56SXhaRHJB