The Club won three gold medals at the All Ireland Masters Track & Field C’Ships in Tullamore on Sunday 15th August.  John Lennon making a welcome return to competition had a great win in the over 55 5km walk.   Pat Mahon had an excellent jump of 5m50 to win the over 50 Long Jump.   John Gorman won gold in the over 70 200m and also won silver in both 100m and 400m.   Mick Kelly finished 4th in the 035 1500m and Denis Cormack finished 8th in the 045 1500m.

FOURTH PLACE FOR PAUL DEEGAN.

Paul Deegan running in his first race since December finished a good 4th in the St Abbans 7km road race on Friday 20th August. Lyndon Barcoe ran well to finish 15th and Denis Cormack was 1st over 45 finishing in 22nd place.

SOPHIE FINISHES 8TH IN BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sophie Parkinson finished 8th in the u17 Discus at the British AAA Track & Field C’Ships in Bedford England on Saturday 21st August.  Sophie was a member of the Athletics Ireland Team.

Sophie Parkinson competing with the Irish Schools Athletics Team turned in the performance of her life to win the bronze medal in the Discus at the International Schools Track & Field meet in Scotstoun Stadium Glasgow on Saturday last the 17th July.  Sophie’s best throw of 35m 73cm came in the first round and was a new personal best performance which saw her finish 3rd behind the two English girls and ahead of the Welsh and Scottish competitors.  Also competing with the Irish team was Diarmuid Hickey who finished 7th in the Shot his best throw of 13m 30cm was also a personal best.

DANESFORT 10KM

Tommy Evans had a good win in the Danesfort 10km race on Saturday the 17th July with Kevin Fenlon finishing 2nd and Lyndon Barcoe 10th.

DANESFORT HALF MARATHON

Chris O’Neill had an easy win in the Danesfort Half Marathon also held on Saturday 17th July.

PILTOWN 10KM

Pat Kavanagh finished 10th in the Piltown 10km held on Friday 16th July in a time of 36m 06s with Robbie Magee 11th in 36m 32s and Jimmy Barcoe 23rd in 37m 35s.

TOMMY EVANS 3RD IN  BALLYTORE

Tommy Evans Finished 3rd in the Ballytore 8km Road Race on Friday 23rd of July

GOLD & TWO BRONZE IN ALL IRELAND TRACK & FIELD

Sophie Parkinson rounded off a great season with a brilliant performance to win the Gold Medal in the Girls u17 Shot at the All Ireland Championships in Tullamore On Saturday 24th July with a Putt of 11m 55cm.  Diarmuid Hickey was also in great form winning Bronze in both Shot & Discus in Bu17.  His Putt in the shot was 13m 18cm and in the Discus 34m 64cm.
Mary Ellen Doyle finished 4th in the Gu17 1500m in a time of 5m 01.94s.  Cormac Buggy  finished =7th in the Bu14 1500m in a time of 4m 50.84s a new personal best. Shawn McCormack finished 12th in the Bu18 1500m in a time of 4m 25.56s.

ALL IRELAND SILVER FOR SEAN O’NEILL

Sean O’Neill won a silver medal with the Kilkenny Bu15 4×100 relay team at the All Ireland Relay held in Tullamore on Sunday 25th July.

GOOD RESULTS AT ‘B’ ALL IRELANDS

Sinead Naddy won the silver medal in the Gu15 High Jump at the ‘B’ All Ireland Track & Field Championships held in Tullamore on Sunday 1st  August.  Sinead’s best jump of 1m 33cm was the same height as the winner but won the silver on countback.  Keith Flavin won a bronze medal in the Bu16 800m in a time of 2m28.81s. In the All Ireland Senior Womens Pentathlon held in conjunction Ann Doyle finished 5th with a score of 3065pts.

JOHN MURPHY 3RD IN MOUNTAIN RUNNING TRIAL

John Murphy had an excellent run to finish 3rd in the Junior Mens Trial Race held to pick the team for the upcoming World Mountain Running Championships to be held in Glendalough Wicklow in September next, so its finger crossed for the next couple of weeks till the team is announced.

Kevin Fenlon had a great win in the  Kilmore Quay Festival 5km Road Race on Saturday evening last the 10th  July.  Five of our Senior Men travelled to the race and came away with the major share of the prizes.  Kevin was about 40 metres behind the leaders starting the final 800m but a great sprint finish saw him get ahead in the final strides and lead the team to first place,  he got great support from Chris O’Neill who finished 6th Simon O’Dwyer finished an excellent 11th and Tom Brennan completed the team in 14th place. Denis Cormack finished in 25th place and was 1st over 45 to finish.

9TH PLACE FINISH FOR NIALL SHEEHAN
Niall Sheehan had an excellent run to finish 9th in the 5000m at the All Ireland Senior Track & Field championships held in Santry Stadium on Saturday and Sunday 10th & 11th July.  Ann Doyle finished 8th in her heat in the 800m.

The Club had two Gold medal winners at the All Ireland u13 to u19 Track & Field Championships which took place in Tullamore on Saturday & Sunday last the 3rd & 4th  July.   Aoife Naddy won the Gu13 High Jump with a great jump of 1m43cm.  The event was held in very windy conditions but  Aoife was not to be denied to win her third All-Ireland title in a row having won the u12 high jump last year and the u13 indoor gold this year.   Sophie Parkinson won gold in the Gu17 Discus held in wind and rain.   Sophie’s winning throw was 31m17cm to add to her recent win in the Tailteann Games.   Christine O’Donnell was also in great form in winning Silver in the Gu13 60m Hurdles.  Her time of 9.93s was inside the old championship best performance.  Sorcha O’Connor won a Bronze medal in the Gu17 2000m Steeplechase in a new personal best time of 8m 29.78s.
Fourth place finishes were had by Shawn McCormack in the Bu18 2000m S.Chase in a time of 6m 47.83s.  Shawn also finished 9th in the 800m.  Mary Ellen Doyle also finished 4th in the Gu17 800m in a time of 2. 26.27s. Rebecca Kennedy finished 5th in the final of the Gu14 75m Hurdles  in a new personal best time of 12.22s and was unlucky to have her three throws fouled out in the Discus. Rose Kennedy finished 7th in the Gu16 800m in a time of 2m 35.17s.

ALL- IRELAND BRONZE FOR SOPHIE

Sophie Parkinson capped a very busy week-end by winning the bronze medal in the Discus at the All-Ireland Junior Track & Field Championships in Tullamore on Sunday 27th June.  Sophie’s best throw of 33m 35cm was just short of her personal best set the previous day.  She also finished 5th in the Shot with a throw of 10m 11.  Shawn McCormack finished 7th in 800m heat in a time of 2m 5 secs.

EXCELLENT RESULT S AT TAILTEANN GAMES

Four Athletes from the Club represented Leinster at the Tailteann Irish Schools Interprovincial Games held in Tullamore on Saturday 26th June  and all turned in brilliant performances.  Sophie Parkinson won the Girls Discus with a new personal best throw of 33m 96cm to win her place of the Irish team for the Schools International to be held in Scotland on 17th July.  Sophie also finished 5th in the Shot Putt.  Diarmuid Hickey was 2nd in the Boys Shot with a putt of 12m 96 cm. And also won his place on the Irish team.  Diarmuid finished 6th in the Discus with a throw of 33m 71cm.  Mary Ellen Doyle had a great run to finish 2nd in the Girls 3,000m in a time of 10m 46.1 secs  having finished 3rd in the recent Irish Schools Championships.  Mary Ellen was picked as reserve for the event for the Irish team.  Seppi  Lysaght finished 6th in the Boys Pole Vault with a jump of 3metres which equalled his personal best.

GOLDEN  HAUL  AT LEINSTER CHAMPIONSHIPS

Club athletes won 12 gold medals at the Leinster U.13 to U.19 Track & Fleld Championships in Tullamore on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th June.  Mary Ellen Doyle won double gold with great wins in the 800m and 1,500m U 17.  Sophie Parkinson also won double gold with wins in the Shot and Discus  U.17. Not to be outdone, Diarmuid Hickey did likewise winning the Shot and Discus U.17Boys.  Christine O’Donnell had a great win in the G. U.13 60m Hurdles and in the process set a new Championship best time of 10.38 secs.  Sorcha O’Connor also set a new record in winning the G.U.17 2000m Steeplechase in a time of 8m 39.04 secs.  She also finished 5th in the 800m.  Shawn McCormack was the third athlete from the Club to set a new Championship figure when he won the B. U.18 Steeplechase in a time of 11m 5.82 secs.  Shawn also won bronze in the 800m and was 6th in 1,500m.
Rebecca Kennedy had a great win in the G. U.14 75m Hurdles in 12.83 secs.  She also won silver in  the Discus and was 5th in the 800m.  Seppi Lysaght had an excellent win in the U.17 PoleVault with a leap of 2m80, and he also won the bronze medal in the 2000m Steeplechase and was 6th in the Triple Jump.  To complete the golden twelve, Aoife Naddy had a brilliant win the the G. U.13 High Jump with a new personal best leap of 1.44, just 1 cm shy of the Championship best.
Bronze medal winners were Cormac Buggy in the B. U.14 1500m. Rose Kennedy won bronze in the U.16 800m, was 4th in the Discus and 5th in the 250m Hurdles.  Sean O’Neill won bronze with the Kilkenny 4×100 Relay team U.15.  He also qualified for the All-Ireland Championships by finishing 4th in 80m Hurdles.  He was also 7th in the High Jump and 6th in 200m heat.  Evan Foley finished 4th in the U.15 Shot and 8th in 200m heat. Tyler Lennon was equal 5th in U.13 High Jump.  Pauli Lysaght was 8th in U.13 Javelin.  Phillip O’Donnell was 5th in the final of U.14 75m Hurdles.  Kay Drea was 9th in 1500m U.17.  Dusan Rabat was 9th in High Jump and 7th in Javelin U.15.  Aoife Kehoe finished 6th in 100m heat U.17.  Sinead Naddy was 7th in High Jump U.15.

GOOD WIN FOR KEVIN FENLON

Kevin Fenlon had an excellent win in the Kilkenny10km Road Championship held on the outskirts of Gowran on Friday 25th June.  Tommy Evans led the race from the start and had a 12 second lead by half way.  However due to illness he had to stop at the 8km mark where Kevin took over to run out an easy winner.  Simon O’Dwyer had a steady run to win the bronze medal and with Robbie Magee making a great return after a long injury spell in 4th place and Tom Brennan an excellent 5th, the Club easily won the team title.  The Club “B” team won the bronze medals through Jimmy Barcoe, Muiris Bric, Tommy Evans  Denis Cormack, Lyndon Barcoe,  Gary Farrell,  Toddy Farrell, Gerry Fogarty and Eamon Hickey.
In the Womens 3km race, Lisa Hennessy finished 8th and Martina Prendergast 9th.

HUGE RUN BY CHRIS O’NEILL

Chris O’Neill travelled to South Africa on the last week-end in May to compete in the Comrades Marathon held over a course of 89.5km (56 miles).  Chris finished 197th in a time of 6hrs 54 minutes and won a silver medal which is awarded to those who finished between 6 and 7.5 hours.  There were 23,000 entries in the race with 16,500 finishers.  This is the second time Chris has competed in the race.

Val Gunner had an excellent run to finish 52nd in the Cork Marathon on Monday 6th of June in a personal best time of 3hrs 1m 18secs.

John Lennon making a welcome to competition won the Gold Medal in the masters men over 55 3000m Walk at the Leinster Masters Track & Field Championships in Tullamore on Sunday 6th of June also in Gold Medal winning form was Pat Mahon who produced a brilliant jump of 5m 71 to win the masters men over 50 Long Jump, Muiris Bric competing in over 45 age group won two Silver Medals in finishing 2nd in 100m and 200m, Eddie O’Mahony won three Medals finishing 2nd in Javelin, 3rd in both Discus and Shot in over 45 age group, Denis Cormack finished 8th in over 45 1500m.

Mary Ellen Doyle turned in a great performance to win the Bronze Medal in the Girls Intermediate 3000m at the All Ireland Schools Track and Field Championships held in Tullamore on Saturday 5th of June, Mary Ellen was back in 8th place after 800m but gradually worked her way in to contention and a great finish saw her win the Bronze Medal in a new personal best time of 10m 47.50secs. Also in Intermediate grade Sophie Parkinson finished a close 4th in the Discus with a throw of 30m 27cm just 7cm away from a medal , Sophie also finished 5th in the Shot Putt with a throw of 9m 56cm, In the Boys Intermediate grade John Murphy finished 5th in the 3000m in a time of 9m 05.74secs he also finished 7th in the 1500m. Seppi Lysaght finished an excellent 5th in the Intermediate Pole Vault with a personal best Vault of 3 metres.

Grace O’Donnell put in a great performance to win the Silver Medal in the Girls under 12 60mts Hurdles at the Leinster Championships in Tullamore on Saturday 29th of May, she also finished 5th in the Long Jump with a jump of 3m72cm, In the Girls under 11 Pairs Event Ruth Kennedy and Nicole Carter were 5th in 600m and 6th in the Ball Throw , Conor Cleere and Brogan McAviney teamed up to finish 5th in the 300m and 9th in the 60m under 9.