Day two of the Athletics Louth Track and Field Championships took place recently, with Bush post primary school playing host to an unprecedented number of athletes competing on the day.
Boyne AC were out in force on the day, with over 60 athletes competing across a variety of age groups and events with the younger age groups got the day off to a great start, with the short sprints run on both sides of the track due to the huge numbers participating.
In the girls u9 60m race, Caitlin Hughes finished second in her heat, and just missed out on a place in the final, while in the boy’s race, James Geoghan and Liam Dowling both made it through to their semi-final.
In the u10 girls 60 sprint, Aoife McCabe displayed her speed winning her semi-final, and taking home the first medal of the day for Boyne, a silver, in the final. In the boys race, it was another medal winning performance, this time from Cillian Hickey, with a great run to finish 1st in the final, while Charlie Kelly just missed out on a medal finishing 4th overall. Ross Byrne and Harry Kingston were unlucky to miss out on a place in the final.
In the u11 girls sprint race, Hila Raji won both her heat and semi-final, and took home the silver medal in the final. Isabelle Winters was unlucky not to progress to the final despite a strong run in her semi-final.
In the u11 boys race, Luke Rickard ran well to finish second in his heat, while Leyton Byrne, winning both his heat and semi-final, was just pipped on the line in the final, finishing in third place overall.
The u12 girls also ran over the 60m distance, with Ava Hand and Ellie Russell both qualifying for their semi-final, and in the boys race, Riley Byrne was unlucky to miss out on a place in his semi-final.
The u13 girls had the slightly longer 80m distance to run, with Bonnie Hegarty, who, despite winning both her heat and semi-final was unlucky to just miss out on a medal, finishing 4th in the final. Wannita McCabe also won her heat, and it was a great run from Sadhbh O’Donoghue in her heat.
The u14 girls race saw hannelle Raji take home the silver medal in the final, while in the boys race, it was silver too for Callum Byrne.
The u15s had 100m to sprint over, and Rebecca heading had a great run in her heat. In the boy’s race, both Oliver Carolan and Ledley King Abor progressed through to the final, where Ledley finished in the silver medal position.
In the u16 boy’s race, it was a comfortable win for TJ Duramanaxi, and likewise in the boys u19 race, Adam Byrne showed his talent taking home gold.
In the longer sprints it was another gold for TJ Duaramanxi in his 200m, while in the u19 boy’s race, Adam Byrne took another gold, with Jack Garvey taking silver in his first competitive race in recent times.
The distance races are always competitive and they treated the large crowd to some thrilling action. The girls u9 ran over 300m, with a 5th place finish for Caitlin Hughes, while in the boys race Liam Dowling finished in 7th, with Finbar Fagan and Charlie Cooper not too far behind.
The u10 girls ran a tough 500m, with Aoife McCabe taking another medal, a bronze this time. In the boys race, it was another gold medal for Cillian Hickey as he stormed to victory, with clubmates Oran Monaghan, Harry Kingston, Charlie Kelly, Ross Byrne and Garvin Lundon all running well.
The u11 girls 600m saw Isabelle Winters finish in third place to take the bronze medal, while Cara Fagan and Harriet Fitzgerald also ran well, and in the boys race, it was a great effort from Marko Ozolins.
The u12s also ran over 600m, with Ava Hand also taking the 3rd place spot on the podium, with Ellie Russell, Robyn Reilly and Anisha Bala alll running well too. In the boy’s race, Keilan Byrne and Eoin McEntee finished 5th and 6th, with clubmates Riley Byrne and Thomas Collins not far behind.
In the u13 girls race, Dara Ellie Winters fought bravely for a podium spot, finishing 3rd overall, despite sustaining an injury during the race, while Bonnie Hegarty finished in an impressive 6th place.
Ally Fennell just missed out on a podium place finishing 4th in the u14 girls 800m, while Rebecca Heading gave it her all to finish 6th in the u15 800m race. In the boys u15 race, solid runs from Calum Reilly and Jack Garvey saw them both finish in the top ten, while in the u16 girls race, Eva Doherty just missed out on a medal, finishing in 4th, as did Caoimhin McShane in the u17 boys race.
The field events also saw huge numbers of participants, making for some great competitions. Cillian Hickey took his third gold of the weekend in the long jump, with Ross Byrne taking silver, while in the girl’s u11 long jump, it was gold for Hila Raji. The u10 turbo javelin saw Aoife McCabe on the podium again, taking a fine bronze, while in the u11 boys, it was silver for Leyton Byrne.
Boyne AC dominated the podiums in the u12s turbo javelin, with a silver for Ava Hand, with clubmate Georgia Rice finishing in 6th, and for the boys, silver too for Keilan Byrne and bronze for Eoin McEntee, with Rhys Mathew in 5th.
In the u15 boys Shot Put, Oliver Carolan took a comfortable win with a throw of 12.52m, while Jay Doherty was delighted with his 3rd place finish, taking the bronze medal. Finishing off a spectacular day, Hannah Newman, getting used to the medal winners podium now, took silver in the girl’s u17 shot put.
