The Athletics Ireland Track and Field Championships 2023 drew to a close last Sunday, with the final weekend of the event taking place in the Tullamore Harriers Stadium.
With all participating athletes having qualified through their provincial championships, the competition was high, with fantastic performances from all those taking part.
On Saturday, young Louis Devitt faced his first national competition with great determination and skill, finishing in a respectable 11th place overall in the boys u14 javelin, with a throw of 24.58m. In the u19 boys Javelin, Max Kingston threw 43.40m to finish just outside the medals in fourth place.
It was then time for the Boyne AC sprinters to showcase their talents, and in the girls u18 100m, Nina King Abor certainly did that with a blistering 12.39s which saw her comfortably win her heat, progressing through to the final, where she just pipped on the line for a well-deserved national silver medal.
Sean Stratton finished second in his heat of the u19 100m sprint, and he too qualified for the final, where a below par run by his standards, of 11.23s, saw him finish in joint fourth place overall.
On Sunday, Harry Devitt, also competing in his first national event, ran a solid race in his heat of the u16 200m, finishing sixth in his heat, just missing out on the final. While clubmate Hannelle Raji finished 7th in the u15 girls Shot Put.
On Tuesday evening, it was the turn of some of Boyne ACs senior athletes to compete alongside some of the older juveniles, with the Athletics Louth Junior, Senior and masters Championships taking place in the Lourdes Stadium.
Andrew White had a great evening finishing 1st in the men’s o/45 1500m and Long Jump, second in the 400m and third in the 200m. Coach Catherine Alhaddad took part in her first competition representing Boyne AC, and was delighted to take home bronze medals in the women’s over 40 Shot Put and Javelin.
Leon King Abor ran a great time of 11.68 to win his u20 men’s 100m sprint, while Hannah Newman also took home a multitude of gold medals with a win in the u20 100m and 200m sprint, and in the women’s Shot Put and Long Jump. Jack Devitt took a comfortable win in the u20 men’s 200m sprint, and also took home the bronze medal in the 400m race, where clubmate Caoimhin McShane ran a super 55.25 to take the win.
Finishing off the evening on a high, Euan Canniffe added even more medals to his already impressive collection, with a win in the senior men’s Shot Put and a bronze in the Javelin.
Boyne AC’s ever popular open sports day will take place on Sunday August 13th, at 1.30 in the Lourdes Stadium. There will be a variety of events available to athletes from age 7 upwards, and is open to anyone to take part.
