Tralee Harriers weekly report from Paul Griffin

Competitions 

1.      Munster Senior and Masters 

Tralee Harriers athletes were in Cork on Sunday 11th at the Munster Senior and Masters Track and Field Championships.

With horrendous conditions for all athletes high winds and heavy showers our athletes did very well to stay grounded and give it their all.

Patsy O’Connor threw everything in all his throws today and brought home 4 gold in the O60, Shot, Discus, Javelin and WFD, not alone gaining 4 gold, he also set three new records

Discus              Old Record was 35.21 from 2014       New record 40.54

Javelin            Old Record was 30.98 from 2008     New Record 40.04

Shot                 Old Record was 11.04 from 2008       New Record 13.16.

Leading the way for all up and coming athletes. Well done to a true athletic inspiration.

Son Alan, tried to match Dad, and did very well taking gold in the senior Discus and Bronze in Senior Shot

Martin Flaherty brought home Double gold in the O50 Discus and WFD

Rachel Bowler brought home Silver in the Senior Triple and 4th in the Senior Long Jump

Well done to everyone who took part.

2.      U9-U13 Munsters 

The Irish Life Health Munster U9 – U13 Track and field Championships took place at the Lees Road Sports Complex in Ennis co. Clare over the bank holiday weekend

The standard was very high this year with some great performances over the two days. 24 athletes attended the championships with all of them performing very well despite the rain and wind that blighted the two days.

It was two days of some very big highs, an odd low moment but most of all great fun, lots of smiling, laughing, gritted teeth, joys of new pbs, bottle flipping, determined running, short lived disappointments, spiked ankles and medicine made from spittle, chocolate covered faces, gammy legs (mine), fighting for the line, hoarse voices, followed by questionable looks from other attendees at our cheering, (mine again) delight at friends achievements, hugs and high fives and The Muppets wanting to stay U14 for a few years.

The following club athletes won medals and the U13’s taking spots at nationals

Young Sean Murphy brought home the Kingdoms and Clubs only Gold medal. Sean competed in the U9 Turbo Javelin wining with over a two meter lead ahead of the field with a throw of 15. 87

A Team Bronze went to Conor Crean and Fionnan Ryan in the U11 Turbo Javelin with Fionnan throwing above 18M and Conor mid 13’s. They two were smiling like chesser cats all day, probably slept that way too.

In the championship events Cathal Murphy competed in the U13 Javelin, battling the strong cross winds he settled for the silver medal only a few cm’s behind the winner. We are hoping for calm conditions on the 8th July

Paddy Falvey set a new PB and was awarded bronze on the dreaded Count-back in the U13 high jump with a leap of 1.45m. This is fast becoming a favoured event of Paddy’s and he is gung ho to get his butt and training leg over the 1.50 bar.

Darragh Cunnane took on the U13 hurdles battled hard for the line coming off the last hurdle taking 4th place on the dip and a spot on the National start list.

Other athletes in action..

Rachel O Mahoney U12 Competed in the following events. High Jump finishing in 7th with a jump of 1.10m, 9th in the Long jump with a new pb and jump of 3.67. 600m finishing in 16th on 1.59.99 Rachel also competed in the 60m and the U12 relay.

Lucy O’Connor U11 competed in the following events, in the 60m sprint she was 2nd in her heat and finished 6th overall on time of 9.49, in the long jump she finished 10th on 3.40. Lucy ran the last leg in both the U11 and U12 relays.

Grace O’Donnell U11 competed in the 60m finishing in 17th on 9.79s she jumped really well in the Long Jump taking 12th on 3.35m , Grace ran a great leg of the relay brining the girls back into contention.

Caoimhe Murphy U11 competed in the 60m finishing in 23rd on 9.87, she also took part in the Long jump reaching 18th on 3.22m Caoimhe started the relay giving the girls a fighting change

Eoin Moriarty U11 competed in the 600m finishing in 15th on 2.00.51 also taking on the 60m finishing in 31st on 10.04. eoin ran the second leg of the relay and pulled the boys back into middle of pack

Jack Collins U9 competed in the 300m finishing in 17th 59.71, Jack was due to take part in the 60m but alas fell ill before the race. Jack will rest before attending the St. Brendan’s open sports in Ardfert Today.

Rachel Mulgrew U12 competed in the 600m and made the final 14, where she ran very well finishing in 12th overall, she also competed in the Long jump taking 17th with jump of 3.49, in the 60m she ran well but was outside the qualifying times Rachel ran the opening leg of the relay handing over to Sorcha.

Ellen Collins U11 competed in the turbo javelin finishing in 12th on 8.66 and in the 60m she finished 19th on 9.83s Ellen ran in 3rd position in the relay and ran a great bend

Ciara Gallagher U11 Competed in the Turbo javelin finishing in 13th with a throw of 8.59, in the Long Jump she jumped 2.07 finishing in 51st. Ciara was a sub on the relay team.

David Walsh U10 competed in the 600m and with a time of 1.53.10 he finished in 26th, in the 60m he finished in 27th with a time of 10.32, David ran a fantastic last leg of the U10 relay .

Bobby Byrne, U13, Placed in 8th in the high jump with a jump on 1.20m he also competed in the 60m on Saturday making the Semi finals he picked up an injury and had to pull out. Bobby returned Sunday and took part in the Javelin finishing in 12th on a throw of 14.44. Bobby gathered his energy and rested his leg and ran the third leg of Relay getting the baton cleanly to Darragh.

Fionnan Ryan U11 took part in the Turbo javelin where he finished 4th and along with Conor Crean took the team bronze. In the 600m he finished 19th on 2.02.18 Fionnan ran the third leg of the relay handing over to Tadhg.

Shane Crossan U11 competed in the 600m Shane battled hard and finished in a time of 2.15 in 32nd in the Turbo Javelin he threw well but the wind was against him on all throws he finished in 21st with 11.96. Shane ran a great opening leg to the relay.

Lucy Mulgrew U11 competed in the long jump reaching a jump of 2.44 and 49th place, in the 60m she clocked a time of 10.30 and placed in 38th place, She was also a sub on the U11 team

Sean Murphy U9 after taking the Gold in the Turbo Javelin, Sean took on the long jump, he placed in 24th with jump of 2.73m

Paddy Falvey U13 had a great championships after taking the bronze in the high jump he went on to finish 7th in the long jump on a jump of 4.27m, he Made the semi finals of the 60m and finished in 6th in the final of the hurdles in a time of 12.72. Paddy ran the first leg of the Relay handing over to Cathal.

Sorcha Casey U12, was another athlete who did very well. In the 60m she was just outside of qualifying for the semis, in the long jump she jumped 3.54 finishing in 12th. In the 600m she finished in 19th with 2.02c Sorcha ran a truly great 2nd leg of the relay pulling up 4 places.

Cillian Griffin Jr U10 took part in the 500m where he finished in 34th in 1.59.36. he also jumped well in the long jump with a jump of 2.57. Cillian ran the first leg of the Relay and set the boys up for a great run

Cathal Murphy U13 while the Javelin is Cathal’s thing. He also took on a few more events. He took part in the Shot Put with a throw of 5.76m placing 13th Cathal made the finals of the Hurdles finishing 8th in 13.49, Cathal Ran the second leg of the Relay trying hard to keep up with the bigger sprinters.

Ben Horgan U10 competed in the Turbo Javelin finishing in 11 with throw of 11.55, taking on the Long jump he tried hard and with a jump of 3.00m he took 35th place. Ben ran the 2nd leg of the relay, and ran very well.

Tadhg Healy U11 competed in the 60m in 10.28 finishing in 40th doing better in the 600m he finished in 12th in the field in a time of 1.57.11. Tadhg ran the last leg of the relay and flew home to pull the boys up in the rankings

Jack Costello U10 was very lively and all set to compete in the 60m. He ran well finishing in 20th in 10.14, moving to the long jump he gritted teeth and finishing in 36th with a jump of 2.98, Jack ran the Third leg of the Relay picking up from Ben.

Conor Crean U11 was delighted with his Turbo Javelin team medal with Fionnan having come 15th with a throw of 13.76m. He also took part in the 60m he ran a good time for him finishing 47th in a time of 11.45. Conor was the Sub on the relay

Darragh Cunnane, U13 had a good championships having only taken up hurdles a short time ago he finished in 4th getting a place at nationals he also competed in the 60ms running well in his heat falling short of the semi’s in the Javelin he came 11th with throw of 16.56, in the Long Jump he finished 15th with a Jump of 3.88m. Darragh ran the last leg of the Relay and proved that he is an all round athlete.

Tralee Harriers AC congratulates all the 24 athletes who took part and wishes them continued success for the rest of the season and for many many more years to come.

3.      Irish Schools Nationals

On Saturday 3rd June in Tullamore the Irish Life Health National Schools Finals took place. There was a good turn out from Kerry Schools with Mercy Mounthawk taking the Best Seniors Girls School Award, and the Junior boys took second spots.

Top performer and school of the day was Mercy Mounthawk’s with Mervyn Shalemba who took the Junior 100m and 200m titles in fine style.

Aoibheann O’Brien took the Senior Girls Long jump title with a new pb of 5.87m.
Lauren O’Grady brought home the Bronze in the Senior Discus.

The senior Girls relay put in a gusty run just to be beaten in the last few strides coming home with Silver.

Also from Mercy Mounthawk and just short of the medals were Rachel Bowler Senior Triple Jump, Darragh Courtney Inter High Jump, Aaron Malik Inter Discus, Cathal Fitzgibbon Inter 1500m, Lauren O’Grady in Hammer, the Junior Boys relay finished in 4th place.

Well done to one and all…

Leaving and Junior CERT

Tralee Harriers would like to wish the following athletes the greatest of success with their exams over the coming days.

Remember, this is difficult, and the stress and pain and tough times you are going through will pass… It’ll pass like a kidney stone… but it’ll pass!!!

Aoife O’Carroll, Aoibheann O’Brien, Luke O Carroll, Fergal O Brien, Sean Quilter, Jack Falvey Cathal Fitzgibbon Louis Byrne, Oisín Spillane, Harry Emerson Cian Wall/O Halloran, Ava O’Mahoney, Andrew O Connell Basit Oyebanji, Aaron Malik, Darragh Courtney,

Upcoming events 

1.      U14 to U19 Munster Championships 17th /18th June CIT Cork

2.      Kerry Community Games  24th / 25th June Castleisland

3.      Kerry Primary School Sports 28th June 6pm Castleisland

4.      National Juniors & U23’s 1st July Tullamore

5.      National Masters 2nd July Tullamore

6.      Day 1 Kerry U9-U16 Championships 2nd July Castleisland

7.      Day2 Kerry U9-U16 Championships 5th July Castleisland

Training Up dates

Last week of training for those attending Munsters

1.      All U9 – U14 athletes will Train on Tuesday and Thursday ONLY

2.      200m Sprint Training Tuesday 6.30-7.30 with Dara

3.      Long Jump Training Wednesday 6pm to 7.30pm with Paul

4.      GYM session with Michelle all the usual suspects. 7.30-830

5.      Friday evening, 7-8pm relay baton work. All U16’s and 17 have to attend where possible.

See Facebook for more details

Best of Luck to the following athletes who compete this coming weekend

Rachel Bowler, Louis Byrne, Katelyn Cashman, Conor Commane, Cathal Fitzgibbion, Cillian Griffin, Owen Healy,  Jordan Kissane, Hannah Mitchell, Darragh Murphy, Luke O’Carroll, Andrew O’Connell. Roise O’Donnell, Colm O’Heartain, Orla, O’Reilly, Basit Oyebanji, Mervyn Shalemba, Oisin Spillane, Cian Wall, Tony White.