The Louth senior men’s and women’s athletics teams were in action recently in the final of the National Inter-County League in Tullamore. Both teams performed well, with the women finishing in sixth place overall and the men in seventh. 

The star performers from the Wee County on the day were Eimear Cooney (Ace), who won the women’s 1500m, and Euan Canniffe (Boyne), who emerged victorious in the men’s javelin. 

Several athletes finished in the top three in their events. On the women’s team these included Dearbhlá Allen (St Peter’s – 2nd 2000m steeplechase), Abbie Sheridan (St Peter’s – 2nd 3000m) and Isabelle Adel (Dundalk St Gerrad’s – 3rd javelin). There were also strong performances by Niamh Brady (St Peter’s), Emma Conway (Redeemer), Rosemary Gibson (Blackrock), Erika Juozapaitė (Blackrock), Gráinne Moran (Dundalk St Gerard’s), Ciara O’Connor (Ace), Victoria Ovie (Dundalk St Gerard’s) and Mary Scanlon (Blackrock). 

Top three finishers for the men’s team included Jonathan Gibson (Blackrock – 2nd pole vault), Charlie Sands (Ardee & District – 2nd 110m hurdles) and Andrew Kelly (Drogheda & District – 3rd 400m). Matthew Fitzpatrick (Dunleer), Jack Garvey (Boyne), Jordan Kelly (Drogheda & District), Lochlan Mattison (Blackrock), Thomas McGrane (St Peter’s), Danny Nugent (Ace), Tadg Reilly (Dunleer), Adam Russell (Ace), Aaron Spaight (Dunleer) and Jamie Williams (Dundealgan) also contributed valuable points to the team score. 

Some other athletes were in action for the county teams in the preliminary round in Athlone in early July, where they helped ensure qualification for the final. These included Daniella Adebola (Ace), Anastasia Drakoulaki (Ace) and Josephine Fagbemi (Dundalk St Gerard’s) for the women, and Jimmy English (Drogheda & District) Donnchadh Mac Aodha (North East Runners), Eseosa Omoregbe (Dunleer), Dillon Rowland (Blackrock) and Stevie Wong (Ace) for their male counterparts.