A small but mighty group of young athletes from Boyne AC made the journey to Athlone at the weekend to compete in the Leinster Indoor Championships at the impressive AIT Indoor facility, with coaches Keith Byrne and Ken Meier along to guide and support.
Day 1 on Saturday last saw super sprinter Sean Stratton take his first medal of the weekend with an impressive win in the u19 boys 60m sprint, clocking a quick time of 7.22s, and he was back on the podium on Sunday, this time taking the silver medal in the u19 200m race.
Also competing in the u19 60m, Adam Byrne ran a great race to finish inside the top 10. Sisters Hannelle and Hila Raji will need to build an extra room at home for all the medals these two talented young ladies are accumulating recently, with another 3 Leinster medals returning to the Raji household.
Hila, in her first Leinster Indoor competition, started her weekend off in style with a super 1st place finish in her heat of the 60m sprint, and was unlucky to just miss out on a place in the final, finishing 4th in the semis.
On Sunday, she certainly proved what a talented all round track and field athlete she is, as she took a win in the u12 High Jump, clearing the bar at 1.32m, in only her first major competition in this event, and she then followed this up with a super 3rd place finish in the u12 Long Jump, with a fine jump of 3.94m, from a huge field of 60 competitors.
Hannelle Raji, takes top spot on the podium as under 15 Leinster Shot Put Champion.
Sister Hannlele was not letting Hila have it all her own way however, as she too topped the podium in the u15 Shot Put, with a super throw of 9.97m, with a 2.72kg shot, and finished just outside the medals in the Long Jump, with a new PB of 4.44m, finishing in 4th place.
In the 60m sprint, Hannelle was unlucky not to progress to the final, despite a super 2nd place finish in her heat, likewise for clubmate Ledley King Abor, who finished just outside of automatic qualification in his u16 sprint race.
It was also a new PB jump for Rebecca Heading as she competed well in the u16 girls long jump, jumping 3.60m, while teammate Hannah Newman also secured a new pb as she lept 4.36m to finish 6th in the u18 girls event.
In the longer distance races, Isabelle Winters ran well in the u12 600m race, finishing 9th in her first major indoor competition, while Dara Ellie Winters proved she is making a strong comeback following injury as she ran a speedy 2.35.91 to finish 2nd in her heat of the u14 girls 800m, securing a place in the final, where after a long wait, she ran a super 2.34.35 to finish 6th overall, a great return for this young lady. All those who finished in the top 4 now qualify for the National Finals at the end of the month.
Under 19 60m Leinster Champion, Sean Stratton.
