HIGHLIGHTS: Donore Harriers men’s team recorded a surprise win in the 2nd qualifying round of the NATIONAL TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE. The women’s team came 5th as Deirdre NicAnna (steeplechase) and Faith Hopkins (28lb WFD) set new club records. Amy Moriarty 3rd woman in IP TELECOM 10KM NIGHT RUN. Wayne Waldron 1st in INNER CITY RC HALF-MARATHON.
REPORT: <report/results by Gerry Naughton & Florence Curley> It was mixed fortunes for the Donore Harriers teams in the 2nd qualifying round of the NATIONAL TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE at Athlone Track on Sunday. The men’s team (127 points) recorded a notable win by edging out Clonliffe Harriers (125) and Ratoath AC (120) in a thrilling contest. A much-depleted women’s team – without stars Lara O’Byrne, Aoife Lynch and Caoimhe Mackey – came 5th on 64 points behind a strong Tipperary County team (155).
The men’s team did well in the throwing events. Oran O’Brien won the Hammer with a best of 28.45m and came 2nd in the Shot Putt with 12.14m. Likewise, Niall Allen (6.42m) took 9 points in the 56lb Weight-For-Distance and added seven more when 2nd in the Discus with a mark of 28.99m. Michael McCarthy (26.23m) came 3rd in the Javelin and his six points gave Donore Harriers a solid 38 points in the throws.
Gavin Curtin returned to competition after missing the summer season with injury and won a tactical 5,000m race in 15.43.22. Curtin closed with a 67-seconds last lap to overtake Stephen Cashin of Clonliffe Harriers. More maximum points were gained by Rory Burke (10.39.46) in his very first 3,000m steeplechase competition. Jack Byrne (2.00.87) came 3rd in the 800m, and Michael McCarthy (5.28.87) stepped into the breach to place 4th in the 1,500m to pick up a valuable 5 points.
Paul McDermott came 2nd in both the 100m and 200m. First, he narrowly lost out to Andrew Egan (21.87) of Galway City Harriers in the 200m by just six-hundredths of a second, and later ran 10.95 to finish 2nd to Chris Sibanda of Clonliffe Harriers in the 100m.
The ever-consistent Daragh McAuley (58.94) won the 400m Hurdles with plenty to spare. Conor Fox (56.23) came 4th in the 400m sprint to add another 5 points to the team total.
The recent World mixed-relay finalist Jack Raftery came equal first in the High Jump with a personal best effort of 1.80m. Having cleared all the heights from 1.50m to 1.75m he failed his first attempt at 1.80m. He touched the bar with his next effort, but it somehow managed to bounce up and rest back on the bar pegs, so the big man got to share top points with Keith Marks of Clonliffe Harriers.
The versatile and busy Michael McCarthy (11.46m) came 2nd in the Triple Jump and Zak Higgins (3.64m) was 4th in the Long Jump.
Donore Harriers came 2nd in the 4 x 100m relay in 43.91. The quartet included Adam Halpin, Paul McDermott, Conor Fox and the fast-finishing Jack Raftery.
The 4 x 400m relay team (3.39.10) of Daragh McAuley, Jack Byrne, Conor Fox and Adam Halpin came 4th after holding 2nd place for most of the race.
Despite coming a disappointing 5th, the women’s team came away from Athlone with two new club records. Deirdre NicAnna running in the 3,000m steeplechase for the first time had an excellent race helped by good hurdling technique to place 2nd behind Aine O’Farrell (12.17.16) of Galway City Harriers. NicAnna’s time of 12.23.18 is a new club record time for the event and well inside the previous club best time set by Ruby Jane Kelly in 2019.
Faith Hopkins, on her competitive debut, threw the 28lb Weight-For-Distance 4.32m to finish in 4th place. Her throw was 5 centimetres beyond the previous club record mark set by Michelle Pilkington in 2005. Hopkins also threw 6.64m to place 5th in the Shot Putt.
Anne Gormley, who began her competitive day by placing 6th in the 1,500m Race Walk in 10.47.93, came 4th in the Hammer with a best of 7.45m and 6th in the Discus with a 3rd throw effort of 14.22m.
Sarah Lahiff (17.64m) came 5th in the Javelin.
In the middle-distance races Audrey Gahan (5.44.36) came 5th in the 1,500m and Diorela Escalera-Claros (2.50.06) was 6th in the 800m.
Sophie O’Farrell (13.88) came 5th in the 100m sprint and Lauren Flaherty was 6th in the 200m in 28.19.
In the Jumps Sophie O’Farrell (3.94m) came 5th in the Long Jump, Sarah Lahiff (1.25m) 6th in the High Jump, and a busy Diorela Escalera-Claros (6.70m) came 5th in the Triple Jump.
The women’s team came 5th in both relays. In the 4 x 100m the quartet comprised of Lauren Flaherty, Sophie O’Farrell, Diorela Escalera-Claros and Sarah Lahiff and they recorded a time of 56.78. The 4 x 400m team had just one sprinter and 3 distance athletes, so it was a tall order against teams with national and international class athletes. The four who braved and returned a time of 4.57.82 and 4 points were Lauren Flaherty, Deirdre NicAnna, Diorela Escalera-Claros, and Audrey Gahan.
With the final team scores from the fixtures at Carlow and Athlone still to be confirmed the expectation is that the men’s team have qualified to the League final to take place in Tullamore on the 13th of August, whilst the women’s team return to compete in the premier division again next year.
Amy Moriarty made a positive return to competition by finishing 3rd woman in the IP TELECOM DUBLIN 10KM NIGHT RUN at Park West on Tuesday evening (26.07.2022). Her time was 43.37 and she placed 39th overall out of 280 finishers.
On the same evening the club had 4 competitors in the BHAA SOUTH DUBLIN SPORTS PARTNERSHIP 6KM RACE at Kiltipper Park (26.07.2022). Padraig McGreal (24.14) was 14th overall and 3rd in the M50 category. Next for Donore Harriers was Fred Kiernan in 23rd spot. He was 3rd in the M45s and recorded a time of 24.49. Des Gill (26.50) was 3rd M55 when finishing 35th overall, whilst Terry Mee (37.04) came 81st and 2nd in the M75 category.
Aideen Burke and Katherine Marsh competed in the IRISH MOUNTAIN RUNNING ASSOCIATION BALLINASTOE RACE at Ballinastoe Wood near Roundwood on Wednesday evening. The race distance was 10.5km with a total elevation of 500 metres. Burke (1.08.11) placed 49th of 118 finishers overall and was the 7th woman home. Marsh (1.20.50) came 82nd and was the 13th woman finisher.
In the CARTON TRAILS 6KM RACE at Carton House Estate near Dunboyne on Wednesday Mary McDermott placed 107th of 250 finishers in a time of 30.18. She came 5th in the W50 category.
Wayne Waldron won the INNER-CITY RUNNING CLUB 21.1KM RACE around a lapped course early on Saturday morning. His winning time was 1.17.07 and there were 72 finishers. The race started at Henrietta Street, went up Dorset Street past Drumcondra, turned onto Collins Avenue, then returned down Ballymun Road, Mobhi Road, Botanic Road, past Broadstone and looped again.
In the KINSALE REGATTA 5-MILE ROAD RACE on Saturday Aisling Kirby (36.27) came 111th out of 346 finishers and was 17th woman to finish.
In the PARKRUN series Will Morris (18.13) and his son Liam (18.27) were 1st and 2nd at CORKAGH, Alasdair Brown (18.10) was 1st at ORANMORE, whilst juvenile members Dylan McKenna (20.57) and Katie Delaney (26.05) were 2nd and 6th at WATERSTOWN. More results below.
Results in brief:
IP TELECOM DUBLIN 10KM NIGHT RUN at Park West (26.07.2022)
39th & 3rd woman Amy Moriarty (43.37)
280 finishers
BHAA SOUTH DUBLIN SPORTS PARTNERSHIP 6KM RACE at Kiltipper Park (26.07.2022)
14th & 3rd M50 Padraig McGreal (24.14)
23rd & 3rd M45 Fred Kiernan (24.49)
35th & 3rd M55 Des Gill (26.50)
81st & 2nd M75 Terry Mee (37.04)
85 finishers
IMRA BALLINASTOE 10.5KM at Ballinastoe Wood, Roundwood, Co. Wicklow (27.07.2022)
49th & 7th woman Aideen Burke W35 (1.08.11)
82nd & 13th woman Katherine Marsh (1.20.50)
118 finishers
CARTON TRAILS 6KM RACE at Carton House Estate, Dunboyne (28.07.2022)
107th & 5th W50 Mary McDermott (30.18)
250 finishers
INNER CITY RUNNING CLUB 21.1KM RACE (30.07.2022)
1st Wayne Waldron (1.17.07)
72 finishers
KINSALE REGATTA 5-MILE ROAD RACE (30.07.2022)
111th & 17th woman Aisling Kirby (36.27)
346 finishers
NATIONAL TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE 2ND QUALIFYING ROUND at Athlone (31.07.2022)
WOMEN’S PREMIER DIVISION
100M: 5th Sophie O’Farrell (13.88) 4 points
100M HURDLES: no competitor
200M: 6th Lauren Flaherty (28.19) 3 points
400M: no competitor
400M HURDLES: no competitor
800M: 6th Diorela Escalera-Claros (2.50.06) 3 points
1,500M: 5th Audrey Gahan (5.44.36) 4 points
3,000M: no competitor
3,000M STEEPLECHASE: 2nd Deirdre NicAnna (12.23.18 PB & club record) 7 pts
1,500M WALK: 6th Anne Gormley (10.47.93)
LONG JUMP: 5th Sophie O’Farrell (3.94m) 4 points
HIGH JUMP: 6th Sarah Lahiff (1.25m) 3 points
TRIPLE JUMP: 5th Diorela Escalera-Claros (6.70m) 4 points
POLE VAULT: no competitor
SHOT PUTT: 5th Faith Hopkins (6.64m) 4 points
DISCUS: 6th Anne Gormley (14.22m) 3 points
HAMMER: 4th Anne Gormley (7.45m) 5 points
JAVELIN: 5th Sarah Lahiff (17.64m) 4 points
28LB W4D: 4th Faith Hopkins (4.32m PB & club record) 5 points
4 x 100m RELAY: 5th Donore Harriers <Lauren Flaherty, Sophie O’Farrell, Diorela Esclera-Claros, Sarah Lahiff> (56.78) 4 points
4 x 400m RELAY: 5th Donore Harriers <Lauren Flaherty, Deirdre NicAnna, Diorela Escalera-Claros, Audrey Gahan> (4.57.82) 4 points
WOMEN’S TEAM SCORE: 1. Tipperary County (155), 2. Galway County (129), 3. Sligo County (112), 4. Clonliffe Harriers (109), 5. Donore Harriers (64), 6. Monaghan County (54)
MEN’S PREMIER DIVISION
100M: 2nd Paul McDermott (10.95) 7 points
110M HURDLES: no competitor
200M: 2nd Paul McDermott (21.93) 7 points
400M: 4th Conor Fox (56.23) 5 points
400M HURDLES: 1st Daragh McAuley (58.94) 9 points
800M: 3rd Jack Byrne (2.00.87) 6 points
1,500M: 4th Michael McCarthy Snr (5.28.87) 5 points
5,000M: 1st Gavin Curtin (15.43.22) 9 points
3,000M STEEPLECHASE: 1st Rory Burke (10.39.46 PB) 9 points
3,000M WALK: no competitor
LONG JUMP: 4th Zak Higgins (3.64m) 5 points
HIGH JUMP: =1st Jack Raftery (1.80m PB) 8 points
TRIPLE JUMP: 2nd Michael McCarthy Snr (11.46m) 7 points
POLE VAULT: no competitor
SHOT PUTT: 2nd Oran O’Brien (12.14m) 7 points
DISCUS: 2nd Niall Allen (28.99m) 7 points
HAMMER: 1st Oran O’Brien (28.45m) 9 points
JAVELIN: 3rd Michael McCarthy Snr (26.23m) 6 points
56LB W4D: 1st Niall Allen (6.42m) 9 points
4 x 100m RELAY: 2nd Donore Harriers <Adam Halpin, Paul McDermott, Conor Fox, Jack Raftery> (43.91) 7 points
4 x 400m RELAY: 4th Donore Harriers <Daragh McAuley, Jack Byrne, Conor Fox, Adam Halpin> (3.39.10) 5 points
MEN’S TEAM SCORE: 1. Donore Harriers (127), 2. Clonliffe Harriers (125), Ratoath AC (120), 4. Galway City Harriers (88), 5. Crusaders AC (00)
PARKRUN (30.07.2022)
BUSHY: 89th Thomas Halton M65 (32.31)
CASTLETOWN: 31st Joan McTernan W60 (28.01)
CORKAGH: 1st Will Morris M45 (18.13), 2nd Liam Morris M11-14 (18.27), 45th Nicola Dowdall W45 (25.44)
ORANMORE: 1st Alasdair Brown (18.10)
WATERSTOWN: 2nd Dylan McKenna M15-17 (20.57), 6th & 1st woman Katie Delaney W15-17 (26.05)