Juveniles triumphant at Munsters and Banteer Open Sports

U14 TO U19 MUNSTER T&F

The Munster T&F Championships for ages U14 to U19 took place on June 18th and 19th at MTU, Cork. Three of our athletes competed excellently once again, and we are so proud of them for traveling to this event. Well done!

Rachael Walsh competed first on Saturday, and she was entered in the U18 3,000m event. Rachael has been with the club for many years and seems to really enjoy running that distance or even further. She finished third overall with a time of 12.03.16. Congratulations Rachael.

On Sunday, U15 Rachel O’Flynn was up early despite winning a camogie final the night before! Her 800m race was on in the morning and she battled through very well finishing first in her heat with a time of 2.29.20 and as there were no finals, the medals were decided on times. Lauren Dinan of Leevale was faster in her heat, so Rachel was awarded a silver. Rachel was also entered in the 1,500m and had to wait until 4pm to compete. She again performed well leading nearly all the way but was just pipped on the line by Lauren. Rachel’s time was 5.00.81 and Lauren’s time was 4.59.74, giving Rachel another silver medal! Well done, Rachel.

In the late afternoon, Fionn Hayes took part in the U14 javelin competition. Fionn was disappointed because his throw, which was far below his typical best, didn’t win him a medal. It can be challenging to train for events while still playing soccer and GAA, but a variety of sports is nevertheless good while they’re young!

Congratulations to our three athletes and best of luck to Rachael who will compete in the All-Ireland in Tullamore in early July. The other Rachel will be away on a well-deserved holiday and will be unable to attend.

BANTEER OPEN SPORTS

Despite the rain and the poor weather forecast for the day, the Banteer Open Sports event held on Saturday, June 25th was a big success. Unfortunately, there were a lot fewer athletes from our club this year than last, but the nine who competed had a terrific time and participated in all the activities that were offered for their age groups.

The entire O’Connor family participated and performed outstandingly as always. Katie and Liam, twins in the U10 age group, participated in the 60m and 500m runs, as well as the turbo-javelin. Their older brother Sean (U12), who was also a competitor, finished fourth in the 600m and fourth in the sprints. He narrowly missed out on winning some nice trophies finishing 4th in both races. Excellent work all three of you.

Brother and sister, Alex and Henry Bagnall, were also fantastic on the day. U13 Alex competed in the sprints, 600m, and the shot put event. She took home a bronze in the shot! Henry who is U12, won gold in turbo javelin, silver in the 600m and bronze in the 60m sprints. Well done to both of them.

U10 Jack McGrath came with his twin sisters who were delighted to win medals in the tiny-tot race! Jack competed in the same events as Liam O’Connor and also did brilliantly so well-done to the 3 of them.

Following her victory at the Munster championships the previous week, Rachel O’Flynn came nice and relaxed to compete in the U16 800m first and then in the 1,500m and she won gold in both events. It was a change for all our young athletes to run on grass after a T&F season on the tarmacadam track. Many thanks to North Cork AC for organising the event and well done to all our athletes that participated.