RESULTS: Nenagh was again the venue for the athletics scene this weekend and some fantastic results for the club were recorded here. From a national perspective, an exciting competition was witnessed at the AAI Indoor Games held on Sunday, where participants were treated to a fine display of excellence with a new Irish indoor record being set by Kelly Proper of Ferrybank for the long jump (6.25m) and Niall Counihan of Dooneen for the triple jump (14.30m), a new Irish junior record. Tralee Harriers had three competitors attend the games, each clocking up some good performances in their already illustrious athletics careers. Patsy O’Connor achieved second place in the men’s Shot Putt, with a throw of 11.98m. Patsy features regularly in these notes due to his great competition successes at all levels. Another fine performer, Philip Kearney, noted for his excellent hurdling performances, did not disappoint with a time of 8.66 in the 60 meter hurdles, seeing him finish second in this event. Philip also competed in the 400m with a finishing time of 52.92. Claire Fitzgerald who featured as ‘one to watch’ in a Kerryman sports article recently due to accolades here and on an international level, was also in fine form at these games. Claire achieved first place in the women’s shot putt competition with a throw of 12.55m. Well done to all three athletes.

Turning to the National juvenile combined events, the club was represented by two athletes. This is an interesting competition as diversity is required of the athletes and a solid performance is necessary in 5 disciplines. The club has a small but excellent pool of competitors in this event as the results of the Munster indoor competition bore testament to. The Nationals underlined this as both competitors returned to Tralee with medals. The U14 boy’s competition was very competitive with some excellent results recorded in each discipline. This was no threat to gold medal winner Eoin O’ Carroll however, whose dominance in this competition was demonstrated early in the day. His results of 10.1s in the 60mH, 1.38m in the HJ, 9.47m in the shot, 4.99m in the LJ and 2.36.7 in the 800m, gave him a total of 2804points.

Michael Godley was delighted to claim silver in the U16 age group after a nail-biting competition between the first and second place athletes. Michael’s totals of 9.8s in the 60mH, 1.55m in the HJ, 8.75m in the Shot, 5.12m in the LJ and 2.22.8s in the 800m, gave him a total of 3225. The hotly competed day culminated in a dramatic 800m race. Despite a magnificent finish to win the race, Michael remained just 22 points off the gold spot. Congratulations to both boys and their coaches who worked so hard for these events.

SCOTTISH INDOORS: Entry for the Scottish Juvenile Indoors is now closed.

EVENTS: the next event to take place is the Munster Senior/Juniors Indoors in Nenagh on Sunday 20^th January.Good luck to all competitors.

TRAINING: Masters circuits training continues on Monday nights at 8pm in the KDYS. Indoor juvenile training for U11-U20 at 7.30pm in the Green school hall. Outdoor training for juveniles takes place in the ITT at 7pm on Thursdays and on Saturdays in An Riocht at 10.30am

RUNNING LEAGUE: The running league continues on Fridays at 6.30pm from O’Donnell’s, Mounthawk. The route is the same as last year with a ~1 mile, ~2 mile and ~3.5 mile circuits available. This is primarily geared towards the casual runner and is intended to be a mass participation event for all standards of athlete. All newcomers are welcome.

CLUB E-MAIL: The club has set-up an e-mail system so athletes and members can receive regular updates by e-mail. Athletes and members can register their e-mail address via the website at www.traleeharriers.com.