The annual Boyne AC sports day made a welcome return on Saturday last, following a two-year absence due to covid, and a postponement due to the recent heatwave.
Always a popular day, this year was no exception, with over 150 athletes taking part in beautiful sunny weather. Travelling from far and wide, the young competitors competed across a variety of events, and gave the large crowd of spectators some amazing displays of performance.
The day was well supported by local clubs, with Dundalk St Gerards AC taking home the Pat Walker shield for best visiting club, and Dunleer ACs u13 boys relay team winning the Killian Ekhator Memorial cup. Clubs from as far as Crossmaglen and Wexford also made the journey to take part on the day.
Boyne AC themselves were well represented on the day, with some of their newer members trying out some of the events for the first time, alongside the more experienced club members, all enjoying the last competition of the local Track and Field calendar for 2022.
In the u9 girls 300m race, Caithlin Hughes ran a great race to take the silver medal, while in the boys u10 race, it was silver too for Cillian Hickey, adding to his bronze medal from the 80m sprint.
Isabelle Winters showed her diversity as she took a bronze in the u11 80m sprint, and a silver in the longer 500m race. Robyn Reilly was also a multiple medal winner as she took a super win in the u12 600m, and added a bronze in the 100m sprint, great results from this hard working young lady.
In the boys u12 600m, Eoin McEntee dug deep to execute his race plan, taking home a super silver medal for his efforts. In the u13 100m sprint, Dara Ellie Winters scooped the gold medal, with Bonnie Hegarty in 2nd place, and in the 600m race, Bonnie secured yet another silver medal in a tight finish with first.
The u14 100m saw Hannelle Raji dominate the field taking the win, with newcomer Sam Doyle taking bronze in the boys race.
Caoimhin McShane with his gold medal in the u16 800m.
In the longer distance 600m race, Shauna Rice showed her grit and determination to stay with the leading pack and take home a well deserved bronze medal. In the u15 boys 100m sprint, it was bronze for Ledley King Abor, while in the u15 800m, Jack Garvey also proved that his hard work is paying off as he finished in 2nd place and took home the silver medal.
In the u16 800m, a gutsy run from Ava Doherty saw her cross the line in 2nd place too. Nina King Abor took an effortless win in the u17 girls 100m, while in the boys race it was silver for Caoimhin McShane, an athlete more used to the longer distance, he backed this up with a super win in his 800m race.
The final individual track event of the day saw a clean sweep for Boyne AC in the u19 100m sprint, with Adam Byrne taking the win from Sean Stratton in 2nd and Max Kingston in 3rd.
In the field events, Caithlin Hughes was back on the podium taking silver in the u9 turbo javelin, while in the u10 boys long jump, Cillian Hickey leapt to 3.29m to take the gold. Bonnie Hegarty tried her hand at the Shot Put, and threw 5.54m to take the win in the u13 girls event, with clubmate Teagen Malone taking the bronze.
Leinster Long Jump medallist, Hannelle Raji won the u14 girls event with a fine jump of 4.46m, and followed this up with a super win in the u15 shot put, with a throw of 8.8m. Oliver Carolan was back to winning ways as he took gold in the u15 Shot Put, throwing 12.53m, and he also took gold in the u16 Javelin.
Hannah Newmann and Aaron Fenell both took the win in their u17 Shot Put competitions, with Hannah also taking the win in her first Javelin competition. In the boys u18 event, Max Kingston threw 42.10m to take the gold medal, with Adam Byrne, aslo trying his hand at the javelin for the first time, taking the silver medal.
Boyne AC would like to thank all who came along on the day, and invite all to come along to the Boyne 5k road race on 18th September starting at 11am in the Lourdes Stadium, further details can be found on the Boyne 5k Facebook page.
