Athletics | Busy period sees Blackrock AC stockpile the medals

A busy period for Blackrock AC kicked off on Easter Monday when a few hardcore members took to the roads for the annual Mountpleasant AC road races.

The morning saw some great performances from U8 athletes Faith Scanlon, Cormac Green, Daisy Kierans, Grace McEvoy and Rocco Kierans. U10s Sean McKenna, Jenny Hawe, Megan McEvoy and bronze medal winner, Jack Greene also showed up very well.

The U12 girls were represented by Sophie Hawe, Lauren Reilly and the club’s second medal winner on the day, Rebecca Baldwin, who collected a bronze.

Sean Reilly and Ethan Doherty gave their all in a competitive boys U12 800m and Oisín and Donnacha Hughes represented the club in the juniors mens category in the 5k race. Well done to all.

Pre-Louth Championships

No fewer than 54 athletes represented the club with flying colours — with many competing for the first time — at the Pre-Louth Championships in the Lourdes Stadium last weekend.

It was a great day for the boys U8 squad, made up of Oisín McGuiness, Adam Byrne, Donnachadh Rogers, Emmet Kearney and Cormac Greene.

Between them they picked up six medals with Cormac bagging a gold in the 300m and silver in the 60m, Adam winning gold in the turbo javelin and bronze in the 300m.

Donnachadh collected silver in the 300m and bronze in the turbo javelin with Oisín pipped twice on the line for a medal in the 60m and 300m. This was a simply brilliant performance from these young athletes on their debut at a county competition.

There were no individual medals but many great performances from the girls U8 squad up of Faith Scanlon, Grace McEvoy, Aisling Finnegan, Sarah Matthews and Lara Smyth.

The girls gave their very best in all their events with Lara and Grace coming close in the 60m final. However, this group proved that they have strength in numbers when they produced the goods in the relay to collect bronze.

Jenny Hawe and Bonnie Walsh were the clubs U9 girls representatives on the day and gave a great account of themselves with Bonnie doing well to reach the 60m final.

The boys U9 squad, consisting of James Scanlon, Hugo Nolan, Daniel DeLasa, Ross McCabe and Sam Jeytoo performed admirably with James making the 60m final and the rest of the lads giving their all.

Grace Reilly, Caoimhe Doherty, Megan McEvoy and Ailish Fee flew the flag for the girls U10 squad with Grace collecting bronze in the 80m and the all the girls doing themselves proud in the other events.

A large U10 boys squad took part with Oscar Conway, Dillon Rowland, Jack Greene, Sean McKenna, Conor Ward, Eoghan Traynor and Ronan Traynor representing the club.

Sean was the star sprinter of the group, reaching the 80m final with Jack proving his long distance ability by picking up from where he left off in Mountpleasant to collect a bronze medal in the 500m.

The girls U11 squad consisted of Jessica Scanlon, Sophie Hawe, Emmy Jeytoo, Ruby Nolan, Isabelle Smyth and Erin Finnegan. All of the girls did very well in what was the largest group of competitors on the day, producing many fine performances on both track and field.

Cormac Broe, Alex O’Kane, Ralph Tinsley and Oisín O’Rourke made up a small but deadly boys U11 squad with three of the four making the 80m final and Ralph picking up a silver medal. A bit of luck in the other events would have seen them add more medals however it was a great effort all round from the four lads.

Katie Clarke, Lauren Reilly, Grace Rodgers and Rebecca Baldwin competed in the U12 girls events with Rebecca maintaining her great early season form to pick up bronze in the 80m and double up with another bronze in the 600m. There was no luck for Lauren, Katie or Grace in their events but as usual they gave their all with a smile on their face.

Two fine athletes, Sean Reilly and Ethan Doherty, represented the club in the boys U12 events with Sean picking up a silver medal in the 600m. The boys were unlucky not to add another medal in the U12 relay by losing out on third place by less than a second. Ralph Tinsley and Oisín O’Rouke were the other members of the team.

Alex Gormley was the club’s sole representative in the boys U13 events, doing well to reach the 80m final and coming close in the 600m and long jump events.

Faye Tinsley and Kendall Kamptchou gave a great account of themselves in the girls U14 competitions with Kendall doing well to qualify for the final of the 100m.

With no boys U15 athletes taking part, it was up to the girls to deliver the goods and they did it in style with Aoibhín McMahon and Kirsten Doherty completing a one two in the 100m sprint. Kirsten also doubled up when she collected a gold medal of her own as part of a winning U16 relay team.

It was business as usual for the McMahon sisters in the shot put competitions as Aoibhín doubled her gold medal tally by winning the U16 event and Shauna added to her medal collection by winning the U18 competition.

Sarah Clarke began the day well for the U16 girls squad by picking up a silver medal in the long jump competition. This was soon followed by a bronze for Hannah Reilly in the 100m sprint with a good day being completed when Laura Jane Hearty picked up a gold medal with Sarah and Hannah in the U17 relay.

Oliver Gormley was another of the club athletes who had a good day, picking up a gold medal in the U17 long jump and collecting a silver medal in the 100m.

However, it was Kellie Breen who proved to be Blackrock AC’s star athlete on the day, winning the girls U17 100m and 800m and collecting a third gold medal as part of the victorious U17 relay team.

All in all it was a terrific effort by Blackrock AC’s athletes in an event with more than 500 entries. There were some great debut performances from the club’s youngest athletes and solid performances from the more established members.

However, more importantly, it was a great day of friendly competition enjoyed by athletes, coaches and parents alike.

Next up is the Louth Championships in early May.