HIGHLIGHTS: Men’s team came 4th in the final of the NATIONAL TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE premier division with strong performances from Jack Raftery, Paul McDermott, Daragh McAuley, James Bolton, Rory Burke, Niall Allen and Didier Da Costa. Niall Allen 3 gold medals, a silver for Emmet O’Briain and bronze for both Fiona Smith-Keegan and Faith Hopkins (and a new club record) in the NATIONAL MASTERS TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS. Abdel Laadjel 4th in the BOBBY DOYLE 5-MILE ROAD CLASSIC in Rhode Island.
REPORT: <report/results by Gerry Naughton & Florence Curley> It was a gallant effort, but it wasn’t meant to be! The Donore Harriers men’s team came 4th of 8 teams in the final of the NATIONAL TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE premier division at Tullamore on Sunday.
With several of the club’s leading athletes not available it was always going to be a tall order for the team to get among the medals. The event became a day of honest endeavours with several athletes heroically attempting events for the very first time in search of those valuable league points.
Didier Da Costa was certainly a hero! The 49 years-old Frenchman, who is more at home running ultra-distance races, did his first race-walk practice just 5 days before taking on an entirely new athletics challenge – the 3,000m Race Walk. He settled early into 2nd place and remained unperturbed by the issue of a warning card at the halfway stage. Didier later explained: “I just decided to lower my pace a little and focus on my technique”. It worked! Da Costa completed the 7 and a-half laps in 20.52.23, placing 2nd and took a wonderful 7 points for the team.
When Oran O’Brien and then Alex Conway became unavailable to compete in the Hammer and Shot Putt a last-minute call went out for club newcomer Emmet Naughton to compete. Naughton struggled to get to grips with the Hammer technique and fouled his opening throw. He then played it safe and threw a couple of ‘markers’ – the best of 10.28m getting him 6th place from 6 competitors – and 3 points.
Naughton then competed in his first Shot Putt event and used the basic standing pose and fast arm technique to throw a first effort best of 7.75m to place 5th of 8 competitors. He was just one-centimetre shy of 4th placed athlete Hugh Finnegan of Ratoath AC. His combined 7 points, coupled with Da Costa’s 7, helped to keep Donore Harriers in touch with the leaders on the scorecard.
The very consistent Daragh McAuley took 2nd place and 7 points in the 400m Hurdles, narrowly losing out to Sean Carmody (57.72) of Leevale AC. He managed to withhold the challenge of both Timmy Crowe (58.70) of Clonliffe Harriers and Robert Hayes (59.67) of DSD AC in one of the most exciting races of the day.
The club’s leading male sprinter Paul McDermott also put himself in the deep end by competing in the Long Jump for the very first time. A fourth and last round effort of 5.38m elevated McDermott from 8th to 5th place and secured 4 points towards the overall score.
The 4 x 100m relay team of Adam Halpin, Zak Higgins, Paul McDermott, and Jack Raftery came 4th in 43.50 and picked up 5 points.
The team did not have a competitor in either the 110m Hurdles or the Pole Vault, thus after 8 events Clonliffe Harriers led on 53, with Leevale AC on 42, Nenagh Olympic on 35, and Donore Harriers on 26.
Despite running from the inside lane, a dominant Jack Raftery (48.27) picked up the team’s only 9-pointer by winning the 400m sprint ahead of James Ezeonu (49.27) of Leevale AC.
In the 1,500m seventeen years old James Bolton (4.03.96) ran within a fraction of his personal best to place 4th in a competitive field. The race was won by Johnny Wahn (3.59.52) of Clonliffe Harriers with Irish international Paul O’Donnell (4.02.09) of DSD AC just one place in front of Bolton.
Likewise, it was a full-hearted run by Rory Burke in the 3,000m steeplechase to get 4th place in a personal best time of 10.12.58. This was Burke’s second time to compete in the steeplechase, the first being two weeks previous when he ran 10.39.46 in the league qualifier at Athlone. The only dampener on his run was being caught on the line by 3rd placed Shane Spring of Raheny Shamrocks.
Next on the track for Donore was Paul McDermott (22.13) who narrowly lost out in a three-way dive for the line to James Ezeonu and Andrew Egan of Galway City Harriers – both of whom were timed at 22.09.
Michael McCarthy got a first-attempt clearance over 1.50m to finish 6th in the High Jump and Niall Allen gained 5 points with 4th in the Discus throw with a best of 30.61m.
After 14 of the 21 events were completed Clonliffe Harriers were on 92, Leevale AC 84, Nenagh Olympic 74 and Donore Harriers 63. The next best was DSD AC on 46.
Jack Byrne was up next in the 800m. What a brave run! He gave it socks! He took an early lead, kept it, momentarily lost it at the 500m point – but then quickly surged to regain the top spot. If only the race was 750m and not 800m! The big hitters charged in the final 50m to relegate Byrne (1.59.64) to 5th, as Fintan Kerins (1.57.79) of Clonliffe Harriers sprinted to victory.
In the 5,000m race Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (15.16.02) ran a track PB to pick up 6 points behind Robert Frewen (15.07.39) of Raheny Shamrocks AC and Ian Guiden (15.11.87) of Clonliffe Harriers. The Nenagh Olympic athlete James Tanner came 4th, thus Donore were making little gains here and there in the battle for the bronze – but those gongs seemed more and more elusive as the day progressed.
Out in the field, Niall Allen (5.96m) – tired from competing in 3 events in the previous day’s National Masters – only made a mark with the 3rd of his 4 attempts. It was good enough to get him 2nd position and 7 points, albeit Nenagh Olympic took 6.
Zak Higgins, competing in the Javelin for only the second time, came 6th with a best of 33.11m – and Michael McCarthy (11.51m) was 5th in the Triple Jump.
With just two events remaining Donore Harriers were 12 points down on Nenagh Olympic. Paul McDermott (11.09) ran a brilliant 2nd in the 100m sprint to claw back 3 points.
The 4 x 400m relay became the Jack Raftery show! Conor Fox opened, then it was Jack Byrne, and then Daragh McAuley who gained from 5th to 4th. Raftery, the recent World Mixed Relay finalist, took the baton a distant 4th and started to ‘eat up the ground’. Suddenly the impossible became possible! He gained to 2nd place with a 47.7 (hand-timed) circuit. Ratoath AC won in 3.26.34 with Donore Harriers on 3.27.41 and Nenagh Olympic AC 3rd with 3.28.50.
When the points were tallied, and the 4 lowest events discarded from each team the final score (subject to clarification) read 1. Clonliffe Harriers 126, 2. Leevale AC 112, 3. Nenagh Olympic 103, 4. Donore Harriers 95, 5. Ratoath AC 71, 6. DSD AC 70, 7. Raheny Shamrocks AC 68, 8. Galway City Harriers 32.
On the previous day the NATIONAL MASTERS TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS took place at the same venue in almost 30 degrees of heat. Niall Allen came away with three gold medals. He won the M45 2kg Discus with a best of 29.01m ahead of Ronan McKenna (26.27m) of Glaslough AC.
Allen (11.32m) also overcame the challenge of McKenna (9.62m) to win the Shot Putt. His third gold medal came in the 56lb Weight-For-Distance with a best mark of 6.26m, thus relegating the challenge of Colm Donoghue (5.40m) of Lusk AC to the runner-up spot.
Emmet O’Briain (4.23.12) took silver in a competitive M45 1,500m race won by Lee Fulcher (4.21.09) of Liffey Valley AC with Paul Fleming (4.23.75) of Rathfarnham AC narrowly failing to beat the Donore man in the sprint finish.
Aidan O’Rourke, in his first race of the year, found himself in a tactical M35 800m final. The 6-man field passed the halfway mark in a slow 72 seconds, so the final 300m became a burn-up. Pre-race favourite James Ledingham (2.08.42) of Kilkenny City Harriers took top spot with O’Rourke having to settle for 5th place in 2.13.39 after a 61 seconds final lap.
Fiona Smith-Keegan and Faith Hopkins were busy in field events, and they won a bronze medal each. Smith-Keegan (0.95m) came 3rd in the W45 High Jump – and Hopkins (6.73m) came 3rd in the W45 Shot Putt.
Smith-Keegan (13.32) placed 4th in the 1kg W45 Discus and 5th (19.03m) in the 600g Javelin. Hopkins (10.85m) came 7th in the Javelin and 4th in the 28lb Weight-For-Distance. Despite the disappointment of just missing a medal in the latter, Faith had the satisfaction of improving her club record for the event set two weeks ago by 16 centimetres. The new mark is 4.48m.
An interesting competitor in the championships was Christina Smith from Moy Valley AC. Smith, a W80 category athlete and the mother of Fiona Smith-Keegan, took a late decision to enter to 3 events. She won all 3! Her best marks in the Shot Putt and Javelin were 3.04m and 5.49m, whilst she ran the 100m sprint in 42.59.
Also in attendance at the championships was regular club race-walker Anne Gormley, who was Team Manager for the successful 89 strong Irish team at the World Masters Championships held in Tampere, Finland in June 2022.
First season athlete Wayne Waldron (17.20) took 9th place in last Friday evening’s inaugural KELLS HERITAGE 5KM ROAD RACE. The winner was Peter Somba (15.08) of Dunboyne AC. 364 runners completed the out and back course.
Abdel Laadjel opened his 2nd season in the States with 4th place in the BOBBY DOYLE 5-MILE CLASSIC at Narragansett, Rhode Island on Sunday evening. The scenic race in memory of the Long Island running legend Bobby Doyle was run in 33 degrees heat. Laadjel ran a time of 24 minutes flat and can claim a club Under 20 record for the distance.
Also Stateside was Suzie Henley-Willis who placed 129th and 34th woman in the ADVENT HEALTH 5KM ROAD RACE at Orlanda, Florida on Saturday.
Top performances in this week’s PARKRUNs were Dylan McKenna, an Under 17 category athlete, who was first finisher at WATERSTOWN. Jean Murphy W35 and Katie Delaney U17 were 1st and 3rd woman home at the same venue. Sinead O’Reilly was the 2nd woman finisher at the Royal Canal Parkrun in KILCOCK. More results below.
Results in brief:
KELLS HERITAGE 5KM ROAD RACE (12.08.2022)
9th Wayne Waldron MS (17.20)
364 finishers
NATIONAL MASTERS TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at Tullamore (13.08.2022)
M35 800m FINAL: 6th Aidan O’Rourke (2.13.50)
M45 1,500m FINAL: 2nd Emmet O’Briain (4.23.12) SILVER
W45 HIGH JUMP: 3rd Fiona Smith-Keegan (0.95m) BRONZE
W45 1kg DISCUS: 4th Fiona Smith-Keegan (13.32m)
M45 2kg DISCUS: 1st Niall Allen (29.01m) GOLD
W45 4kg SHOT PUTT: 3rd Faith Hopkins (6.73m) BRONZE
M45 7.26kg SHOT PUTT: 1st Niall Allen (11.32m) GOLD
W45 600g JAVELIN: 5th Fiona Smith-Keegan (19.03m), 7th Faith Hopkins (10.85m)
W45 28lb WFD: 4th Faith Hopkins (4.48m PB & club record)
M45 56lb WFD: 1st Niall Allen (6.26m) GOLD
NATIONAL TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE FINAL at Tullamore (14.08.2022)
MEN’S PREMIER DIVISION
100M: 2nd Paul McDermott (11.09) – 7 points
110M HURDLES: no competitor
200M: 3rd Paul McDermott (22.13) – 6 points
400M: 1st Jack Raftery (48.27) – 9 points
400M HURDLES: 2nd Daragh McAuley (58.27) – 7 points
800M: 5th Jack Byrne (1.59.64) – 4 points
1,500M: 4th James Bolton (4.03.96) – 5 points
5,000M: 3rd Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (15.16.02 PB) – 6 points
3,000M STEEPLECHASE: 4th Rory Burke (10.12.58 PB) – 5 points
3,000M WALK: 2nd Didier Da Costa (20.52.23) event debut – 7 points
LONG JUMP: 5th Paul McDermott (5.58m) event debut – 4 points
HIGH JUMP: 6th Michael McCarthy Snr (1.50m) – 3 points
TRIPLE JUMP: 5th Michael McCarthy Snr (11.51m) – 4 points
POLE VAULT: no competitor
SHOT PUTT: 5th Emmet Naughton (7.75m) event debut – 4 points
DISCUS: 4th Niall Allen (30.61m) – 5 points
HAMMER: 6th Emmet Naughton (10.28m) event debut – 3 points
JAVELIN: 6th Zak Higgins (33.11) debut – 3 points
56LB W4D: 2nd Niall Allen (5.96m) – 7 points
4 x 100m RELAY: 4th Donore Harriers <Adam Halpin, Zak Higgins, Paul McDermott, Jack Raftery> 43.50 – 5 points
4 x 400m RELAY: 2nd Donore Harrriers <Conor Fox, Jack Byrne, Daragh McAuley, Jack Raftery> 3.27.41 – 7 points
MEN’S TEAM SCORE: 1. Clonliffe Harriers 126, 2. Leevale AC 112, 3. Nenagh Olympic 103, 4. Donore Harriers 95, 5. Ratoath AC 71, 6. DSD AC 70, 7. Raheny Shamrocks AC 68, 8. Galway City Harriers 32.
ADVENT HEALTH 5KM ROAD RACE at Orlanda, Florida (13.08.2022)
129th & 34th woman Suzie Henley Willis (22.28)
BOBBY DOYLE 5-MILE CLASSIC at Narragansett, Rhode Island (14.08.2022)
4th Abdel Laadjel (24.00 club U20 record)
PARKRUN (13.08.2022)
BRICKFIELDS: 28th Ciaran McCarthy M45 (30.54)
CASTLETOWN: 53rd Joan McTernan W60 (26.24)
CORKAGH: 92nd Terry Mee M75 (32.08)
GRIFFEEN: 51st Charlie O’Neill M65 (26.13)
HARTSTOWN: 8th Tom Fagan M50 (21.29)
MARLAY: 12th Patrick Moriarty M45 (19.01)
ROYAL CANAL, KILCOCK: 6th & 2nd woman Sinead O’Reilly W40 (21.03)
WATERSTOWN: 1st Dylan McKenna W15-17 (20.41), 6th & 1st woman Jean Murphy W35 (25.00), 13th & 3rd woman Katie Delaney W15-17 (26.55), 47th Andrew Maguire M55 (48.44)