Kerry AAI County Championships (Day 2) –12/05/08 (Masters)

Another successful day was had for our Masters athletes. As always these men dominated and took home a massive haul of medals. First up, John Foley demonstrated a magnificent athletic display winning the V3 100m and long jump, and taking silver in the high jump, shot putt and 56lbs distance. Another tremendous athlete Pat Canty never fails to impress in the V4 category 100m, easily winning gold in this event, the long jump, high jump, shot putt and 56lbs distance. No stranger to the podium, Donal Crowley also had a great day winning gold in the V5 category long jump, high jump and 56lbs distance while taking silver in the 100ms and shot putt. Well done also to Martin Mc Donagh who won gold in the shot putt and 56lbs distance. The Masters Men Medley Relay of Michael Godley, Pat Canty, Damien McLoughlin and John Foley took home gold in a very respectable time of 52.05s, with very solid performances from all athletes.

Congratulations to all the Masters for their fantastic performances.

Kerry AAI County Championships (Day 3) - 18/5/08

The club had a hugely successful day on day two of this event and day three promised to be equally prosperous. Some of our top athletes are carrying injuries at the moment and their usual high standard performances were missed over the series of the competition. A speedy recovery is wished for Dearbhail Foley, Claire Fitzgerald, Ben McGilton and Michael Godley. The day started well however, when Molly McGilton added to her three medals from last week, winning a silver medal in the girls U16 2000m walk and later winning gold in the U16 girls medley relay, taking a total of five medals. Courtney Ryan soon followed and added to her collection of medals from Day 1 to win bronze in the U13 girls’ 60mH and later winning bronze in the U12 4x100m relay. Mary Doody and Clara Heindrick ran well to qualify for the final of this event also. Without a doubt the outstanding performer of the championship would have to be Eoin O’Carroll. This tremendously talented, affable athlete won another four individual gold medals on Sunday bringing his total tally to 9 gold medals (including 2 relay medals) and one bronze. This surely must constitute a record for county championship performances! Eoins’ gold medals this Sunday were for wins in the U14 800m, U15 75mH, U15 shot, U15 long jump while finally tying forces with Fearghail O’Nuallain, Danny Pierse and Brian Barry who also qualified for the final of the hurdles (Shane O’Sullivan-sub). All of these boys ran extremely well and are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming Munster Championships. Ciara Walsh won the U17 80m hurdles in style with Sinead O’Connor battling well for joint third. Ciara finished off a tremendous weekend of athletics with a bronze in the U16 800m also, bringing her total medal tally to six for the championship, including gold in the medley relay. Sinead added to her trophy collection winning silver for a fantastic jump of 9.55m in the U17 triple jump, a new p.b. Molly McGilton and Ciara Walsh put in good performances in this event also, which is new to all the girls. Sinead took a total of seven medals in this championship, the second biggest medal haul for the club, a podium spot she shares with Danny O’Connor. Clarence Kennedy caused a stir as newcomer to the club, winning gold in the U17 boys 100m hurdles, bronze in the U17 triple jump and bronze in the U16 boys’ medley relay. This added to Clarence’s performance last week, coming to a total of six medals over the course of the championship. For the relay Clarence was joined by Philippe Barnett, a returned and very welcome Eoin Sheehy, both of whom ran magnificently and Michael Godley, who tested his injury to ensure bronze in the final leg. Danny O’Connor won two silvers this Sunday, in the U17 100mH and the U17 triple jump finally winning bronze in the U18/19 medley relay, bringing this athletes medal total to seven also. Hannah Ryan ran a tough U15 800m race to win bronze and later moved up an age to join the U16 girls to win gold in the medley relay. Well done to Hannah.  Running in magnificent style with Hannah were Molly McGilton, Sinead O’Connor and Ciara Walsh. A middle-distance performer with huge talent, Aisling Ni Nuallain stayed true to form to easily win gold in the U18/19 girls 1500m race. Megan Dunne returned to win gold in the U18/19 shot putt an event that the talented Ben McGilton turned his hand to, taking bronze in the U18/19 boys competition. Ben later ran in the U18/19 boys medley relay where he was joined by Danny O’Connor and Cian Foley and an 800m endurance test for Jamie Byrne who came across the line to rapturous applause, ensuring silver in this event. Well done to all. The younger age group relays also did well with Rebecca Ryan, Rachel Bowler, Emer Brosnan and Emma McCarthy winning silver in the U10 girl’s 4x100m relay, with the B team of Jade Smullen, Emma Godley, Elena Mc Loughlin and Orla O’Reilly, narrowly missing out for third place.

Also taking home silver were the girls U12 team of Orna Foley, Courtney Ryan, Grace Hickey and Clara Heinrick. A bronze medal was won by our U12 boys Michael O’Donnell, Donnagh O’Buachalla, Sean Fitzmaurice and Diarmuid O’Sullivan. All of these athletes recorded excellent performances in their efforts. Other performances of note, although unsuccessful in their medal quest were the U10 boys, Ciaran O’Reilly, Gearoid Fitzgerald, Eoghan O’Buachalla and Brian Kennedy and the U12 boys B team Tomas Leen, Jason Roche, Cathal O’Reilly and Andrew Phillips. A lot of these boys were running out of age and gave some fine performances.

By close of business yesterday, Tralee Harriers had 190.5 points to Gneeveguilla’s 197 pts, who were just piped by St. Brendan’s 199.5 pts. Congratulations to both of these clubs for a fantastically competitive championship. As is obvious from the points tally there was little between these clubs but Tralee Harriers achievements in the track and field events of Day 2 coupled with the achievements of our up and coming younger athletes show that preparation for the big events of the outdoor season, the Munster and National championships are well on the right track!

Congratulations to all Tralee Harriers who performed in the North Munster Schools Championships and to those who qualified for the Munster Schools in Limerick on the 18^th of May.

Well done to Mary Mullins for winning the spring series of the Fit4Life running league. This popular, disciplined runner is an example to all of us of what can be achieved. Well done to all the league performers on their individual successes. Sincere congratulations also to Ailish Deane on her many achievements of late.

EVENTS: AAI Senior and Junior Combined events-May 24^th/25th in Greystones. Munster Senior T&F Championships and Juvenile Combined Events-Sunday 25^th May, Castleisland. County Primary School Sports, Tuesday 27^th May-Castleisland. Best of luck to all athletes attending these competitions.

TRAINING: Masters circuits training continues on Monday nights at 8pm in the KDYS. Training for all U9-19s: Tuesday 7pm at ITT, Thursday 7pm at An Riocht, Castleisland and Saturdays in An Riocht at 10.30am (selected athletes only).

RUNNING LEAGUE (Fit4Life): The running league continues on Friday evening at 6.30pm from the Aquadome and Wednesday evenings at 6.30pm from St. Brendan’s Church. This league is primarily geared towards the casual runner/walker 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.