2018
While our club took its traditional summer break after the final day of juvenile outdoor track and field national championships some of our athletes had some remaining competitions to wrap up the season.
Last weekend there were two national competitions held in Tullamore Harriers stadium.
Jennifer
National Masters:
On the Saturday the national masters track and field competition was held for athletes over the age of 35 on the day of competition. Jennifer Goggin Walsh was our sole representative and was racing the 3000 metres.
In her first year in the F35 category Jennifer was quietly confident going into the race after winning the County and Munster titles.
In a tactical tight race Jennifer took a fantastic silver medal in a seasons best performance and is our first adult to bring home a national medal in many years.
National League Final:
On Sunday the national senior track and field league final was on and we had five participants on the East Cork Athletics Division team in Division 1.
Jennifer Goggin Walsh took on her second day's racing over 3000 meters in her stride with an impressive win to take a valuable 9 points for her team.
Maebh Daly also took maximum points by winning the javelin and also ran a leg of the 4 X 100. Blaithnaid Daly ran a solid first leg for the 4 X 100 relay.
Katie Walsh had four events in a long day starting with high jump at 1130 and finishing with the 4 X 400 at 1730. Katie came second in her favoured 400 hurdles and also ran the 400 flat and helped bring 19 points to the total.
Martha Quain took on the Discus and shot to add 11 points to the final tally.
After an impressive run in the league the final was a bridge too far and with the team missing some of its stronger performers found the going tough finishing seventh of eight teams. Lots of positives all the same and we hope that in the coming years this solid start can be built on.
Community games:
Some of our under age athletes were in action at the community games in LIT last weekend.
Some athletics events are included in the wide and varied program.
Most notable performance was that of Lily O'Riordan in the Javelin with a fantastic silver medal and a fine 29 meter throw.
Look forward:
After our short summer break training for the cross country season kicks off this Thursday at the usual time in the grounds of Colaiste an Chroi Naofa. Keep an eye on our website and FB page for updates and information.
26th July, 2018
Super Sunday closing act of Juvenile season!
Munster Bs:
Last Saturday CITs track and field stadium was the venue for the juvenile Munster B track and field championships.
Four of our under 13/14s competed and brought home three medals.
Ellie Twomey and Kathryn O'Mahony were in action in the girls under 14 800 meters and had good runs to finish 7th and 5th respectively. A good finish to their track season and should help towards their preparation for their favoured cross country discipline.
Two of our solid under 13 boys squad again showed the strength in depth we are lucky to have when Bobby O'Riordan and Cathal Whooley took our three medals.
Bobby jumped an impressive 1:38 PB to win the high jump and also ran a seventh place finish in the 600 meters.
Cathal medaled on the double by winning the 80 meter sprint and also took bronze in the shot put.
Three brilliant medals for the lads and just rewards for their effort and dedication in training all season.
S.I.A.B Games:
Orla Coffey traveled to Scotland with the Irish schools team for the track and field international where she was selected for pole vault.
England, Scotland , Wales and Ireland all field teams in the schools intermediate age group and cover all of the track and field disciplines. This was Orla's second national schools team call up where last winter she was on the indoor multi events under 16 squad.
Orla played her part in a wonderful silver team medal for Ireland behind the overwhelming favourites England by taking an individual bronze in her vault competition.
In tough windy conditions Orla showed yet again what a terrific championship temperament she possesses when she took her medal on count back by skilfully clearing her top height of 3:11 first time.
A huge achievement to take her first individual international medal and proof yet again that hard work and dedication pays dividends.
National Juvenile Championships:
The last day of national juvenile championships took place again in Tullamore last Sunday. Our remaining six had a super Sunday in the sweltering humid conditions.
First into action was Blathnaid Daly in the under 18 girls javelin at the earliest start time of 1000 hrs. In her first ever field event all Irelands Blathnaid only registered two legal throws from her six efforts and still managed to finish in sixth place.
Maebh Daly was our next onto the infield throwing area in the under 19 girls javelin. Maebh's first round throw of 35:84 was a new PB and had her immediately into the lead and she was never put under serious pressure by her rivals. A final round throw of 36:59 moved her PB out even further and cemented her place as 2018 all Ireland champion and capped off her best ever and final year as a juvenile in style.
Lily O'Riordan was our fourth and final qualified javelin thrower of this championships in under 15 girls and acquitted herself well in her first ever appearance at all Irelands. Qualifying fourth out of Munster, lily was seventh on the day and will be a regular at all Irelands in the years ahead with this positive first outing.
Daire O'Sullivan was our sole 1500 meter runner in the ultra prestigious and competitive discipline. With heats and a final to negotiate for the under 17 group Daire won his heat to move onto the final which was the last event of the day. In the final Daire went with the strong pace set by Midleton ACs Paul Hartnett which lined out the field from the gun. As Hartnett turned the screw as each lap unwound three separated from the pack. The two east Cork lads and the eventual winner Irish international Cian McPhilips held off the late charge from behind to take the medals with Daire in Bronze. Three years on the bounce Daire had been fourth in this race and on this fourth attempt he took a well worked and brave medal in a new PB time of 4:14.
Our long hurdlers were the last discipline to get their time to shine and shine they did.
Orla Coffey was in girls under 17 300 meters with a hurdle height of 3ft 6inches. Heats for Orla to negotiate after her overnight transfer from Scotland and she did with ease, winning hers comfortably.
On to the final and running a seasons best of 46:68 she took a brilliant silver behind her Irish schools team mate Seren O'Toole from Galway City Harriers who also had medaled in Scotland 24hrs previously.
Last but no means least Ciaran Nugent was in action in under 19 boys 400 meter 3ft hurdles. This was Ciaran's last race in his last year as a juvenile and he definitely saved his best till last. Having never medaled at national level competition Ciaran put all the years of fourths and fifths to the back of his mind and ran the race of his life. Running like a man possessed and hurdling smoothly he pulled further away from the field at each of the ten barriers and was never threatened as he won by the proverbial country mile. A huge 1.5 second PB and only 2 seconds off the championship record was a feat that was always in this talented young man and came out in this his last race on his last juvenile championships.
Summary:
Four more medals from our super Sunday athletes brings our total for this years championships to ten which equals our unprecedented haul from last year.
Great job from all involved, parents, coaches, supporters and especially all our athletes.
Other business:
Last Saturday a group of club members came together to work to install a Portacabin and toilet on our training grounds in Colaiste an Chroi Naofa. The board of management of the school have given kind permission for us to achieve this small facility as our de facto home base.
The units were purchased with club funds. The building materials and logistic expertise donated by friends of the club eased the substantial financial burden.
Qudos to Alan D for his invaluable expertise , logistics and early start. Alan L for the initial heavy lifting. Murty for shedding a little light on the whole thing and Aileen for the impromptu catering.
Con for his expert eye for ascetics , Martin for hydration control and donating his fingernails. Don for the horsepower. Paul for water divining. Dave for his positive outlook. Ger for his short forearms & Tony for his long arms. Philip for managing to manage from afar!
Well done all and thank you!
Look forward:
The club will take a well earned break from organised training form now until Thursday the 23rd of August. This will be the beginning of our cross country season preparations and all new comers are welcome to come along.
Carraig na bhFear GAA will hold their now annual 5km fundraising road race on the 21st of August and we would ask all members to support this community effort and come along and show their club colours.
Junior athlete Katie Walsh will complete in the 400 hurdles at the national senior championships this weekend at the Morton stadium in Santry.
Our junior ladies will be preparing for the national track and field league final with their East Cork Athletics Division team which will be held in Tullamore on the 19th of August.
Please keep in touch with us on our Facebook page and we'll keep you updated with all the necessary news and info.
21st July, 2018
Orla's in Pole Position!
The Offaly county town of Tullamore was again the center of activity for athletics Ireland and our national qualified juveniles as Day three and four of five national championships took place.
Polar opposite conditions for the athletes on each day with sunshine on the Saturday and persistent rain all day Sunday.
The short hurdles kicked off proceedings on the Saturday and we had two competitors in action, Theo DeSouza (boys under 13) and Orla Coffey(girls under 17).
Both qualified from their heats to make the final with PBs to boot.
Their fates were aligned as both finished fourth in their respective finals. Heartbreak was offset by yet more PBs and for Orla her first time running under 16 seconds with a 15:78 time.
Our long jumpers had much the same story to their championships Michelle Ugwah (under 15 girls) and Orla Coffey in the second of her four events were fourth and fifth respectively. Orla jumped on Saturday and moved her PB out to 5:19 but was just 10cms short of the bronze medal position.
Michelle jumping on Sunday in the rain was a little off her best with a 5:05 in a strong tail wind. Michelle had to settle for yet another fourth place and would have had to produce a big PB to get into the medals let alone defend her title from the impressive Laura Frawley from St Mary's AC who took the title with a 5:70 leap.
Daire O'Sullivan was another defending champion in action in the boys under 17 3000 meters. Another fourth place was to be Daire's fate but running close to his PB and just 3 seconds off a medal was scant consolation for last years champion. Daire will have a second bite at the cherry when he goes in the 1500 next week.
In the middle distance races we had Ava Fitzgerald (under 13 girls) and Nessa Wheeler (under 18 girls).
Ava's race was over 600 meters and laned for the first 100 of the bend start. Ava went out hard and led for 400 meters but as the lactate build up hit, she slipped back as the attacks came over the final 200 and came home seventh.
Nessa had an eight place finish in her race with a seasons best time and will be happy with her days work getting back to her best form.
In the sprints we had Theo DeSouza in the under 13 boys 80 meters. Theo in his third event of this years championships ran a PB in his heat to come third and book a place in the final. His final was ran as one of the last events on Sunday and after a long weekend Theo knocked another tenth off his PB to finish seventh.
Ciaran Nugent was in 400 meter action and qualified for his final with a small q as a fastest loser in his quick heat. In the final Ciaran was home in sixth with the medal times a good bit beneath Ciraran's current PB.
In the throws we had medal success with Martha Quain throwing Discus for a silver medal in Girls under 18. Martha's second round throw of 31:75 was good enough for another national medal in tough throwing conditions. This was yet another national medal for Martha in what has been her most successful year to date for one of our most consistent performers.
Michelle Kearney in girls under 19 discus was at her first ever nationals and found out just how hard national medals are to come by when she finished sixth.
Another medal in boys under 13 javelin for Timmy Colbert put a fine cap on his first track and field season with us. Bronze with a PB throw of 34:75 was Timmy's second national medal of the year adding to his high jump bronze at the indoors. Timmy has been a great addition to our already strong under 13 boys squad strengthening it even further.
Our walking crew had yet another successful outing with Ciaran Hurley taking a silver medal in under 16 boys. Ciaran clocked yet another big PB knocking a massive 43 seconds off his previous best 3km time. This was Ciarans fourth national medal of the year and importantly he's still improving with every race.
Jess Murphy (under 14 girls) in her first appearance at a national track and field event walked to a big PB knocking 30 seconds off her Munster qualifying time. Sixth in the race but a mere 20 meters off a medal in a tight race will give her encouragement for next year.
Sarah Constant in her last race as a juvenile posted yet another PB. Sarah had been chasing the goal of breaking the 20 minute barrier this season and set out her stall early in her fiercely competitive race by clocking two fast laps. Sticking to her race plan she crossed the line in 19:55 smiling with job done and years goal complete with a new PB by 25 seconds.
Leaving the best till last Orla Coffey successfully defended her national pole vault title with a 3:20 clearance in girls under 17. Orla also made three close efforts at the national record of 3:31 but it wasn't to be on the day. A wonderful achievement from one of our clubs star performers and proof yet again what a tough competitor she is as the heavy rain on Sunday didn't make for ideal pole vault weather. Orla now heads to Scotland next weekend with the Irish schools team to participate at the schools international and returns for Sunday's last day of national competition where she lines out in the 300 hurdles hoping for another medal.
Summary:
Four national medals and one national champion added to the two we have from the first two days has us at six national medals with two national champions.
We have been disproportionately lucky in the last 18 months and the day was always coming when the dice didn't fall kindly for us. So many fourth and fifth places shows that we were competitive but lacking the rub of the green needed sometimes to grasp a medal. All our athletes made their respective finals where necessary with PBs galore.
Four medals was more than a respectable return for the number we sent to Tullamore and PB performances from so many means they performed to the best of their ability and that is what we wish for them always.
Look forward:
Next weekend sees the final day of national juvenile competition and our remaining athletes will be continuing their preparation.
Orla Coffey will travel to Scotland this weekend to compete for Ireland in the schools International games competition in pole vault. We congratulate her and wish her the very best of luck.
12th July, 2018
National B all Irelands and relays:
Last Saturday saw the second day of five days of national championships take place again in Tullamore Harriers stadium. The main event was the national relay race competitions with the national B or development championships taking place concurrently. The B championships are open to athletes who have not qualified for any individual discipline from under 12 to 16 age cathegories.
Relays:
We had one relay team qualified in the boys under 13 age group and this was their second year going to nationals.
The team consisted of brothers Luke and Michael Mullins, Ruaidhri Boyle, Bobby O'Riordan and Theo DeSouza. The boys got through their heat with ease to book one of the eight lanes in the final. Last year they had also made the final but were out of medal contention in that race. This year saw a marked improvement as after completing the three baton changes coming off the last bend the lads were just off the medal positions. With the baton now in the hands of Theo DeSouza they had a real chance and he gave it his all to close on the third place and a medal only to come up short by the slimmest of margins. Fourth place was heartbreak but so close that surely if they stick at it by this time next year we will be celebrating a medal.
B championships:
Bobby O'Riordan took advantage of his trip to Tullamore with the relay team to also enter the under 13 boys 600 meter race. With two heats and the winner to be decided on times Bobby was drawn in the faster first heat and came home fifth in his race with the seventh fastest time overall. A good result for this durable multi event specialist and great to get the taste for running on the big stage.
Three under fourteen girls were competing in the the 800 meters race. Sorcha Daly, Ellie Twomey and Rebecca Kelleher took to the line for their heat with the medals to be decided on times. Rebecca had a great run and was unlucky to be just outside the medals finishing in fourth position bringing her recent impressive road racing form to the track. Sorcha and Ellie were a little further back but gaining experience and getting to taste what the big days are all about will stand them in good stead in the years ahead.
National Senior League:
Round two of the national league took place on Sunday in Athlone IT and most of our junior squad were in action with the East Cork Athletics Division women and mens teams.
The girls team were leading the division one standings by six points and were in a strong position to book one of the eight places in the final.
The boys team were placed three off the top eight in eleventh and had a job of work to make the final.
The girls had another stellar days performances in the warmth of the well presented Athlone facility.
Orla Coffey continues on her upward curve with PBs in short hurdles and high jump. Orla also won the pole vault competition and ran another impressive leg in the 4X400 relay win.
Maebh Daly threw a new PB in javelin breaking 35 meters for the first time while winning that competition. Maebh also ran the third leg of the 4X100 relay.
Katie Walsh won the 400 hurdles race and ran a PB in the 400 flat to come home second. Katie also ran her anchor leg of the 4X400 relay like a pro as the girls clocked a four second improvement on their previous outing.
Martha Quain despite having had three teeth extracted midweek won the discus competition and also threw shot to secure fourteen points for her team.
Nessa Wheeler took seven points in the 3000 steeplechase with her second place finish. Nessa also ran the second leg of the 4X100 relay.
Blaithnaid Daly ran in the competitive 1500 meters and took five valuable points with fourth place.
Sarah Constant was third in the 1500 meter walk for six points and a new PB of 9:04.
Jennifer Goggin ran a tough 3000 meters and took five points and moved her "post babies" PB mark ever closer to her target sub 11 minutes.
The girls along with their team mates from Midleton AC and Youghal AC went on to win the day and qualify for the league final in pole position.
The boys team got to work on trying to close the gap on the elusive eighth place and made some inroads into the ten point deficit.
Ciaran Nugent ran a solid 400 meter hurdle race taking 7 points for a very close second place. Ciaran also took 6 points for third place in the pole vault and had put in a tough shift when his 400 flat , 4X100 and 4X400 relay were over.
Daire O'Sullivan ran a PB in the 1500 meter race and did well to take fourth as a sixteen year old up against some fairly handy adults.
Even though they finished fifth on the day the boys were unable to close the gap on the eighth and final place. A good start for the boys team but lots to work on for next year particularly in the lucrative field events.
The girls will now go into the division one final on the 19th of August as one of the favourites and we look forward to another entertaining day out.
Look Forward:
This coming weekend we head back to Tullamore for day three and four of the national juvenile championships. The majority of our athletes will be in action this weekend and it we wish them all the best of luck and success.
Training finishes for our under 13/14/15s this week but our junior squad will continue as the girls getting to the national league final extends their season until mid August.
05th July, 2018
Message from the chairman.
Dear Members,
We had a good turnout at the Community Hall last week to discuss the proposed club base at the School. Various ideas and suggestions were offered and the meeting has decided to proceed with the project and place a portacabin style unit with the kind permission of the School on their lands overlooking the lower training field. The meeting felt that a toilet facility attached to the unit will be an important addition and we will install ...this with the unit completed by mid August. The go ahead was given to source the unit and a budget was discussed in broad terms. The project will put a strain on the club funds (we generally operate at breakeven each year!) and the meeting felt that a call to each family in the club to donate a sum of money of €50 or more if they wish is a reasonable request and please take this note as a request for donations to be posted or handed to Martin Hurley (address no. 2 Kempton Park, Ballyvolane).
At the meeting it was decided to keep you all informed on the work being done. We have a unit sourced and it is being delivered on site in the coming weeks. We may need some members with trades to “volunteer” their services to help with the installation then. We are provisionally looking at Saturday the 21st of July as our day of group action where we aim to get the majority of work done.
Philip
03rd July, 2018
Theo Triumphs in Tullamore!
Last weekend saw the beginning of the national track and field championships in the now traditional Tullamore Harriers stadium in county Offaly. The recent warm dry spell had some seriously hot track side temperatures for all to contend with. Three of our junior women were in action on the Saturday and Sunday saw the first four of our juvenile competitors take the stage.
National Juniors:
The junior age category in athletics encapsulates the under 17 to 20 age groups and can be one of the most competitive and hotly contested of championships.
Three of our junior women were participating in hurdles, jumps and throws.
First into action was Emma Coffey in pole vault. Emma is an under 18 athlete and has two more years as a junior but has already achieved so much in her career with national senior and junior medals already on her trophy shelf. No surprise then when she collected another national medal with a bronze with a clearance of 3:20 and getting back in top form just as her season comes to its climax.
Katie Walsh was in the 400 hurdles final in a competitive line up and blasted out of her blocks to give herself a chance of being in the shake up in the home straight. Finishing with her customary strength over the last hurdles she and two others pulled away from the field and were only separated with a photo finish. Katie took bronze in her second fastest ever clocking over the hurdles and was rightly delighted with her third national medal of the year.
Martha Quain was throwing discus in the afternoon and after a recent run of great improvements was going to be a contender.
Things didn't go to plan for Martha who threw a little below her capabilities and finished in fifth.
Out of character for one of the clubs most consistent performers and a day out to be chalked down to experience and move forward to the next event.
National juvenile under 12/13 field events:
On Sunday the national juvenile outdoor track and field championships kicked off with the under 12 and 13 field events.
We had four of our youngest qualifiers in action in the first of five days of national finals.
First up was Lucy Lynch in the girls under 12 high jump. This was Lucy's first ever appearance at nationals and showing experience beyond her years she jumped a new PB of 1:36 to take a terrific bronze medal.
Clearing her final height in her third attempt when the chips were down showed great character and a cool head for one so young. Testament to the work that she has put in this year proves that effort is rewarded.
Timmy Colbert was also in high jump competition in the under 13 boys category. Timmy has had a magnificent year and has a national medal already in the bag for high jump when he picked up a bronze at the indoors way back in March.
Not to be his day this day thought and Timmy finished in seventh place. He will have another bite of the cherry in two weeks when he's back up throwing javelin where he should be in contention as the Munster champion.
Our last two competitors of the the weekend had qualified in the same event the boys under 13 long jump.
Ruaidhri Boyle and Theo DeSouza qualified fourth and first respectively from the munsters and Theo was the defending champion from last year.
After the first round of jumps Ruaidhri was placed sixth and Theo, drawn to jump last took the lead and never relinquished it. Ruaidhri held his sixth place finish to the end also and that is a fine result for his first appearance at a national field event final.
Theo improved his winning margin as the competition went on with his longest jump of 5:14 meters a new PB by 8cm leaving him nearly a half meter ahead of second. So impressive and consistent was his win that every one of his jumps would have won the competition. Back to back national championships is an impressive feat especially in the competitive long jump discipline.
Summary:
After our first days of national track and field championship finals and first seven competitors we took back four medals, three bronze and one gold. Encouragingly all our athletes were competitive and went there with realistic medal hopes.
Other business:
Last Saturday while our youngest adults were in Tullamore some of our seniors were running the Waterford Viking half marathon. Due to the recent heatwave the organisers took the decision to cancel the full marathon the day before on safety grounds. All entrants were offered the opportunity to run the half instead. A practical and right decision as the morning of the race temperatures in the mid twenties soon rose much higher. Sonya, Cliona , Dave M and Andy had a tough but enjoyable day out. Andy had a particularly good day running a big new PB in spite of the warm conditions.
Look Forward:
Next weekend the track and field season heads back to Tullamore for the national relay championships and B all Irelands. Our boys under 13 4X100 relay team are in action as are a contingent of under 13/14s in the Bs.
On Sunday the action moves up the road to Athlone where our juniors and some seniors are in action with the East Cork Athletics Division women and men's teams in round two of the national league.
27th June, 2018
Tailteann treble!
Tailteann Games:
On Saturday last four Carraig na bhFear AC athletes were competing for Munster in the Tailteann Games held in Morton stadium, Santry.
The games are an extension of the schools track and field season and a selection process for International schools competition.
The Tailteann Games are named after an Irish sporting tradition going back to the 1600s BC where ancient Irish people competed in feats of mainly fighting skills in late summer. After the Norman invasion the games died out and attempts were made in the 1920s to revive them with little success. Athletics Ireland now yearly hold a interprovincial schools competition and have named it after the Celtic tradition.
The top two athletes in every province in each athletic discipline of schools Intermediate age (under 17 on the 1st of July in the year of competition)are selected to compete.
Sometimes if an athlete of the younger junior age group is showing potential or has significantly better results than their older ages they can be "called up" to compete.
This was the case for our first participant Ciaran Hurley who last year guested for the Munster team but this year was their on merit after winning the schools junior all Ireland race.
Ciaran racing now over the longer 3000 meter distance is maturing into a solid consistent performer. Yet again showing his class by taking another national medal with bronze against boys much older than him.
Orla Coffey was following in her sister Emma's footsteps by pole vaulting into another national podium when she took silver in that competition. As always Orla was in a tussle at the top of the leaderboard with Anna Ryan who she also trains alongside. The girls have had a lifelong rivalry that has toed and froed for all that time and again they matched each other's best height and were only separated on count back.
Orla also put her versatility on show when she was selected for the 4 X 300 relay team. Running the anchor leg for the Munster team she took her second silver medal of the day with a narrow defeat on the line by the Leinster squad.
Two national medals on the day was a great return and yet another impressive day in what has been a phenomenal season thus far for Orla.
Joseph Daly was in action in the boys 1500 meters steeplechase in what was nearly a carbon copy of the national schools final at the same grade. In a tightly packed race in the blistering midday sunshine Joseph managed well and hurdled cleanly but on the final lap as the pace opened up the gaps he got distanced slightly and came home just ten seconds off the winner in eight. A great experience for Joseph in his first tailteanns and only his fifth ever steeplechase race. In this event he may have found his calling and only time will tell for this capable versatile young man.
Daire O'Sullivan was also running in his first Tailteann games in the boys 3000 meters. Daire has been working hard in the ultra competitive world of middle distance running and the marginal gains necessary to achieve success are showing, week in, week out. Setting yet another PB over the distance of 9:11 in his fifth place finish was another step towards getting under the magical 9 minute barrier.
Summary:
Three medals from four athletes was a very very satisfactory return from a very competitive days competition. All eyes will now look towards the national selection for the schools international (SIAB) games and the most coveted prize of all, the Irish singlet. Two will be selected from each event to represent Ireland in the home nations tournament.
National league:
Last Sunday in Templemore round one of the national league took place. This year for the first time the East Cork athletics division have committed to entering a women's and men's team in division one of the league. The intention is to give our emerging junior talent in the division a pathway into senior team competition and to give them an opportunity to experience the team aspect of track and field which can sometimes be a very individual sport.
The weather was blisteringly hot and so were some of the great competitions on show.
Carraig na bhFear AC were well represented on both teams and had some impressive performances.
The girls team won the division one days competition with nine event wins out of a possible best fifteen from twenty events.
Event winners on the day were
Katie Walsh in both 400 flat (PB of 60.7)and 400hurdles.
Emma Coffey in pole vault with a back to her best of 3:40 meters.
Martha Quain throwing two new discus PBs with a best of 34:58 meters.
Sarah Constant in the 1500 meter race walk.
Meabh Daly in Javelin.
Orla Coffey in 100 meter hurdles.
Nessa Wheeler in the 3000 meters steeplechase in her first ever time running the barriers.
Katie and Orla were joined by Midleton ACs Jessica Strain and Tamzin Muldowney to also win an exciting 4X400 relay.
The team win sets the girls up nicely going into the second days competition on the 8th of July to qualify for the finals in mid August.
The lads team had a much tougher task on their hands in the division one men's competition. Managing only one event win out of twenty one and seventh place on the day means the lads have it all to do on day two to get one of the eighth final places.
Sean McGrath of East Cork AC got the only nine pointer with an impressive 5000 meter performance clocking a time of 15:17.
Second place Finishes in the 110 hurdles for Ciaran Nugent and Jack O'Shea from Midleton AC in the 1500 meters keeps the game alive for the second day and with some of our stronger performers coming back we may pull it out of the fire yet.
Other Business:
Congratulations to mountainy man Dave O'Riordan who raced the Munster Mountain Running Associations Galtee Crossing last Sunday. An impressive achievement on a scorcher of a day to run the length of the Galtee mountains from Anglesbough in Limerick to Cahir in Tipperary. The race on an unmarked route over a distance of 32 kilometres with over 1600 meters of vertical assent with mandatory checkpoints on top of all the major climbs along the way is on of Irelands toughest tests.
On Monday night three of our juniors participated in round three of the county graded leagues.
Martha Quain won the discus competition , Blaithnaid Daly ran the mile race and Ciaran Nugent ran the 400. Great commitment from all three who had competed so well in Templemore 24 hrs previous.
Look Forward:
National championships kick off this weekend with the Juniors on in Tullamore on Saturday where we have four of our women competing. On Sunday the under 12 and 13 field events are taking place with four of our youngest in action.
Training continues for our 13/14 age group and our 15 to 20 age group. Times and locations on our webpage and FB page.
21st June, 2018
Notice to all Members from the Chairman
We are delighted to announce that the Club has received the kind permission of the College in Carraignavar to install a Portacabin Unit to serve as a home base for the running club in the school’s grounds overlooking the training fields.
The plan is to have the unit installed and connected to services by mid August at the latest. The unit will have an integrated toilet or toilets will be annexed to it.
...
We are holding a special meeting on next Tuesday, 26th June in the Community Hall after training (9.15 pm) to discuss the various aspects of this project and all members are invited to attend. We need to put a tight timeline in place to deliver the project and we’re hoping for everyone’s input and support. Feelers are already out for a suitable unit as it may be possible to source one second-hand. Any firm leads or contacts on this will be welcomed and, ideally, members might be back to us on this by next Tuesday.
Suggestions on fundraising towards the cost of the unit are also invited as, of course, are any voluntary donations or sponsorship that can be sent or handed to Martin Hurley!!
21st June, 2018
Teens Winning in Waterford!
Munster Championships:
Saturday:
On our travels again last weekend as we headed east along the N25 to Waterford to participate in the under 14 to 19 Munster track and field championships.
Held over the Saturday and Sunday we had nineteen of our teenagers in action. Both days were dry with periods of sunshine but the blustery winds blowing up the home straight were the main weather factor to contend with.
First into action on Saturday were our 800 meter runners. Three Carraig girls were on the packed start for the under 14 race. Sorcha Daly, Kathryn O'Mahony and Rebecca Kelleher were well to the fore in the first lap but as the second lap stretched the field out the girls slipped a little and were outside the shakeup for the medals.
Daire O'Sullivan was next up in under 17 boys where a first lap of 59 seconds stretched the field into one long line with Daire coming home fifth in 2:06 on his PB in tough conditions.
Nessa Wheeler and Blaithnaid Daly were in girls under 18 and in another race that went off fast from the gun Nessa tracked the leader all the way to take our first medal of the day with a gritty silver. Blaithnaid was just outside qualifying for her second nationals of the year coming home fifth.
The next discipline on the track was race walking and we had three real medal contenders in the mix.
Jess Murphy ,in her debut year walking ,was crowned Munster under 14 champion with a out in front display knocking a substantial 90 seconds off her PB over the two kilometre race. Jess now heads to her first all Ireland track and field finals in confident mood.
Club athlete of the month for May Ciaran Hurley continued his good vein of form winning yet another title in boys under 16.
Sarah Constant was as consistent as ever in taking silver over 3000 meters in the under 19 girls competition.
Great performances all around from our walkers and we look forward to seeing them at nationals in July.
Short hurdles were next on the program and two of our girls were in action.
Orla Coffey put in an impressive run over the ten two foot six inch high hurdles to win her under 17 title with a bit to spare. Resent weeks working on her start have paid dividends and once she got her neck in front she was smooth over the barriers.
Lily O'Riordan was in the under 15 race over 80 meters and eight two foot six inch hurdles. Lily didn't get the best of starts and even with smooth hurdling she was just outside the top four in a high quality field in fifth.
Meanwhile over in the corner of the stadium grounds the pole vault competition was gradually going through its paces sorting out the medals as the bar gained height.
Orla Coffey was in command of the under 17 competition having gone clear first time up to 3 meters when she had to leave to compete in her 100 hurdles race. When she returned the bar had been raised to 3:20 and with difficult wind conditions she failed to clear and had to settle for a silver medal as her life long rival Anna Ryan had cleared 3:10.
Emma Coffey in the under 18 pole vault had an uncharacteristic blip in her stellar career thus far when she came in at her customary 3:10 meters and failed to clear. Chalk that one down to experience and move on.
The Munster senior vault competition was ran concurrently on the day and Orla also took a bronze medal in that.
The first of our long jumpers of the day started her competition next. Michelle Ugwah was amongst the favourites in the under 15 girls after her school all Irelands victory two weeks previously. Running into the stiffening wind made it hard for the girls to reach their true potential but Michelle got a 4:98 meter jump on the card that was good for bronze on a difficult day.
400 meter sprints were next on the menu for the track athletes and Orla Coffey finished off a busy couple of hours by taking a hard fought bronze in her under 17 race.
Nessa Wheeler and Blaithnaid Daly were again back in action in the under 18 girls race but, after a tough 800 it was too much to ask their legs to carry them into medal contention and came home fifth and seventh.
Ciaran Nugent was involved in one of the finishes of the day in the boys under 19 race. Ciaran ran a blistering first 200 to lead into the bend from lane seven but as the stagger unwound O'Mahony in lane six from Carraig on Suir AC pulled ahead. The two boys battled into the wind down the home straight with Ciaran closing fractions with each stride and eventually taking the victory in a photo finish in a new PB of 51:5. A good time in unfavourable conditions and Ciarans first ever Munster club title.
As the 400s were playing out around her Martha Quain was throwing shot in the Girls under 18 competition on the infield. An improving 8:58 meters was not enough to medal for Martha.
Our next long jumper was Harry Buckley in the boys under 16. In a competition that was ran with the wind into pit two some great legal jumps were recorded and the championship record broken. Harry in his first Munster competition after a few years hiatus found his mark each time and did a huge PB increase of over half a meter. Finishing in fifth place just 4 cm off qualifying for all Irelands is a good return from Harry.
Straight after his long jump Harry was into the heats of the 200 meters. Drawn in lane seven against some quality competition Harry held his own coming home 7th in his heat and tenth overall.
Straight back to the pit two for the under 18 girls long jump where Emma Coffey put her pole vault behind her and showed how versatile a bunch we have when she jumped onto her first Munster podium (outside pole vault) with a bronze medal.
Last but by no means least of the day was Martha Quain in under 18 discus.
The throwing cage in Waterford is on an elevated area outside the track grounds and was feeling the full effects of a stiff cross wind that didn't help the throwers. Martha held her nerve while all around were losing theirs to win with a comfortable margin to take the Munster crown.
Sunday:
Back in the stadium bright and early on Sunday morning were the long hurdlers.
Lily O Riordan was first up in the girls under fifteen 250 meters race. Lily started well and was in contention coming back at the leaders down the home straight but was just caught from behind on the line and pushed into fifth. Another good clean run over the barriers and desperately unlucky to be just outside all Ireland qualification for the second time.
Orla Coffey was next in action in the girls under seventeen 300 meters race. Hurdling cleanly and pulling away with each barrier cleared Orla romped home to victory with no sign of heavy legs from her previous day's exertion.
Ciaran Nugent was our third long hurdlers of the day in the boys under nineteen 400 meter race. Ciaran was up against Jake Vermeer from Carraig on Suir AC who he has been racing all year and had beaten in the Munster schools but this time the tables were turned and Ciaran came home in second.
Steeplechase was next on the track and our recent convert to this particularly horrendous form of torture Joseph Daly was in the boys under 18 2000 meter race. Running well leading the race out front for the entirety Joseph was a comfortable winner in a solid time of 7:00 in only his third race over the barriers and his first Munster title.
Orla Coffey was back in action in under 17 high jump as Joseph wound his way through his race and had a decent three attempts at 1:55 meters to try for a new PB. It was not to be as possibly the heavy race load began to tell but a PB equaling 1:50 and a fourth place was not too shabby.
Blaithnaid Daly was back in action for a second day in the girls under eighteen 200 meters sprint. In a really quick straight final she had her work cut out against the real specialists and came home sixth.
Next up were the 1500 meter races and we had Nessa Wheeler and Daire
O'Sullivan back for a second day's racing.
Daire was first up and was right in the race sharing the lead and setting the pace with Matteo Mary from Waterford AC as the three and three quarters lap race developed. With 200 meters to go a big injection of pace forced a gap that he couldn't close and came home a happy second.
Nessa was in the girls under 18 race and had one of her best results over the distance with a hard fought bronze medal. Two Munster medals over the two days was a great return from Nessa at this championships.
Orla Coffey was in her sixth and final event of the two days in under 17 long jump. Jumping with the wind Orla's longest mark of 5 meters even was a little off her best but good enough for yet another podium as she took yet another medal with a third place bronze. Orla’s sixth medal of the weekend and now qualifying for six events at nationals.
In boys under 14 John Wiggington Barrett had three events nearly all at once on Sunday afternoon. He jumped a little off his best in high jump to finish sixth.
Sixth also in the javelin was also his fate and in the 80 meter sprint he was up against some real specialists and bowed out in his heat.
Meabh Daly was in under 19 javelin in the Sunday afternoon also and was slightly off her usual high standards and came away with a silver medal with her longest throw just less than a meter off gold.
Blaithnaid Daly left the best till last in her jam packed weekend of events when she secured a silver medal in her under 18 javelin competition.
In our last competitor of the weekends action Michelle Kearney was in the throwing cage for under 19 girls discus. Michelle took a silver medal home and will now go to nationals for the first time in her last year as a juvenile.
Summary:
Another busy weekend completed with such great success.
Seven Munster champions crowned and a total of twenty Munster medalists.
Now that the Munster track and field championships is completed we know as it stands that twenty one of our clubs athletes will be heading to nationals. Six of those will be competing in more than one event.
Other Buisness:
On Monday night a 5km road race was held in aid of fundraising for Scoil Naomh Micheál in upper Glanmire. With a large number of our primary age athletes attending classes there it was well supported by club members. Congratulations to Rebecca Kelleher and Ruaidhri Boyle who both took the under 16 prizes on offer.
Look Forward:
Next weekend we have four of our athletes competing for Munster's Tailteann games team in the Morton Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.
On Sunday our club juniors and some coaches are involved with the East Cork Athletics Division team that will be competing in the first round of the national league in Templemore.
15th June, 2018
Throwers to the Fore!
Munster Senior Championships:
After such a busy few weeks for our junior squad of athletes the Munster senior track and field didn't come at a great time with so many commitments, including exams, that only two of our throwers were entered.
Meabh Daly in javelin and Martha Quain in discus made the journey to An Riochts club facility in Castleisland, Co Kerry.
We may have only sent two but they were two good ones and both women won their competitions to bring back two Munster titles.
Both girls are two of our most prolific competitors that consistently perform in competition and are great ambassadors for our club.
Munster Masters 3000 meters:
Also on in Castleisland was the Munster Masters track and field championships and Jennifer Goggin was competing in the F35 3000 meters. Jennifer had another solid run knocking twenty seconds off her previous best to take the Munster title in 11:10 adding to her county title won in May.
Glanmire 4 mile:
On Sunday morning last a strong cohort of Carraig faithful took on the Source health and fitness sponsored Glanmire 4 mile. Ran alongside the adults 4 mile was a juvenile 2 mile race which saw some of our youngsters to the fore.
Rebecca Kelleher topped a Carraig na bhFear AC podium in the girls category with Ellie Twomey and Ciara Keohane completing the trio.
Odhran McCarthy was second in the boys category.
Other Business:
Four of our teenage athletes have been selected for the inter provincial Tailteann games. The competition is a continuance of the schools intermediate grade and is used as a selection tool to pick the team for the international Celtic games to be held in July.
Ciaran Hurley will be competing in the walks racing up in age from junior.
Daire O'Sullivan will be racing for Munster over 3000 meters.
Joesph Daly will be in 1500 meters steeplechase in his debut season over the barriers.
Orla Coffey was selected for pole vault and also for the 4 X 300 relay team.
The competition takes place on Saturday the 23rd in the Morton stadium in Santry.
Look Forward:
This weekend we are back in our travels again as Waterford IT is the venue for the Munster under 14 to 19 track and field championships. Held over the two days there will be lots to look forward to and the battle for the all important and elusive top four placing to get the golden ticket to go to the all Ireland's. Best of luck to all and fingers and toes crossed for everyone.
Training for our youngest age group up to under 12s has taken a break now for the summer and will recommence in August for cross country season. Training for everyone else continues unabated.
07th June, 2018
Theo Topples Record!
Munster Juvenile T&F:
Over the Saturday and Sunday of last weekend the Munster under 9 to 13 track and field championships took place in Lees road, Ennis, Co Clare.
Seven of our younger athletes were taking part in twenty events , who along with our under thirteen boys relay team headed up to fly the flag and much more.
Under 13;
In our under 13 boys group ,where we are blessed to have such depth of talent we had four individuals and the relay team in competition. In fact the competition was so fierce at that age group that four championship records were broken over the weekend.
Now that we're on championship records we had one of our boys break the long jump record by a whopping 9 centimetres. Theo De Souza ripped up the record books and moved the new standard over the 5 meter mark to 5:06. In an enthralling competition Theo snatched ultimate victory and etched his name into history with his final jump to leap ahead of Carraig on Suir ACs Killian Power who surely thought that the title was his when he only a couple of jumps earlier broke the old record.
Pure drama and amongst it all Theo's team mate and training partner Ruaidhi Boyle jumped a PB to take fourth and book a place at the all Ireland finals also.
Timmy Colbert had another huge weekend taking a wonderful gold medal in javelin with a new PB throw of 33:75 meters.
Timmy will now head to all Ireland's as a contender for a national medal and will also compete in high jump with his fourth place finish in that competition.
Their relay team of Cathal Whooley, Theo DeSouza, Luke Mullins, Bobby O'Riordan and Ruaidhi Boyle took a solid silver medal behind an impressive Dooneen AC squad.
13 girls;
Ava Fitzgerald was our sole representative from the girls and she had a weekend to remember. She was crowned Munster 600 meter champion with a mature near perfect execution of her final race to win her first Munster track title. Ava tracked the early blistering pace set by her rivals, sticking tight to the kerb and tracking the moves. With 150 meters to go Ava moved up on the shoulder of the leaders and as she entered the home straight, cracked open the "nitrous", lit the afterburner and accelerated away from the field.
Under 12s;
Lucy Lynch took her first ever Munster track and field medal with a terrific bronze in high jump. Jumping a PB equaling 1:34 she was level with second place but was pushed to third by the dreaded count back. A great result and Lucy can now look forward to having her big day at nationals.
Summary:
Another championships completed with great success and five of our young stars qualified for nationals. Three Munster champions and eight medals was a great return.
Theo setting a championship record was a big moment as he is only our clubs fourth ever Munster record holder.
All Ireland Schools:
Last Saturday the all Ireland schools track and field championships were held in Tullamore.
The day was overcast, dry and not so warm with light breezes. Perfect weather for some of the best competition of the year so far to flourish and it did.
Thirteen Carraig na bhFear AC athletes had qualified for fourteen of the 122 event finals that were scheduled on the program.
First up were two of our walkers in the earliest of the track events.
Walks:
Ciaran Hurley representing Gealcholaiste Mhuire AG was first up and definitely best dressed with his gold medal around his neck after being crowned champion of the junior boys 1500 meters.
Ciaran took the race by the collar from the gun and never let up his relentless pace to win a deserved first schools title.
Sarah Constant from St Vincent's, Cork City was next onto the track in the senior girls 3000 meters. The standard was of such a high level with three international athletes in the field. Sarah held her nerve, stuck to her race plan and produced a huge new PB of 20:41.
Pole Vault:
St Angelas College girls Emma and Orla Coffey were in the senior and intermediate pole vault competitions.
Emma was first up in the senior event and came in at her customary 3:00 meters and cleared first time up to 3:15 which proved enough to take the silver on count back.
Orla was involved in one of the most exciting competitions of the day when she battled it out with her training partner and long time rival Anna Ryan for the top spot of the podium. Both girls set new PBs twice as the lead swung both ways and they finally both topped out at 3:30 meters. The two packed stands looking down on the vault area oohed ,awed and cheered as Anna took the title on count back. Orla was delighted with her new PB and her national silver medal.
400 Hurdles:
Another St Angelas girl was in action in senior 400 hurdles as Katie Walsh put in a storming last 150 meters to come from behind to pinch a bronze medal from a high class field. Putting the disappointment of last years fourth place to rest she had a great run from lane eight to take her medal against the odds.
Ciaran Nugent from Colaiste an Chraoibhin, Fermoy was another senior in 400 hurdles action. Qualifying for his first schools final in his final year of school Ciaran did all he could to snatch a medal from a strong field by setting a new PB but coming just outside the podium in fifth.
Javelin:
Meabh Daly from Gealcholaiste Mhuire AG was in senior 600 gram javelin and had another brilliantly consistent set of throws to take another national medal to add to her growing collection. When the pressure came on in the final of five rounds Meabh threw a new PB of 34:90 to secure a silver medal.
Michael Hand from Presentation Brothers College was in senior 800 gram javelin but due to an elbow injury that he had spent the week leading up to the event resting he was unable to produce his best which would have had him in the medal mix and he bowed out after three throws.
Long Jump:
Michelle Ugwah from Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Blarney was competing in girls minor long jump and took our second championship title of the day.
Jumping her best and most consistent set of jumps so far this season Michelle took the title with a new PB jump of 5:18 meters.
Discus:
Martha Quain was throwing discus for Colaiste an Chroi Naofa in the senior girls competition and took a deserved bronze back to Kilcully. Martha threw two new PBs on her way to securing her podium position and showed yet again what a consistent championship performer she is.
Middle Distance:
Joseph Daly was in his first appearance at the schools all Ireland in the boys intermediate steeplechase race. In one of the most competitive races of the day Joesph played his part right up to the last 100 meters when was out sprinted to the medals. Coming home sixth with a PB just five seconds off the winner was impressive debut.
Nessa Wheeler was in action for her school Colaiste Daibheid in the senior girls 800. In a top class field Nessa stuck with the ferocious pace as the field stretched out and came home in a seasons best time but outside the medals.
Daire O'Sullivan was on the line for the boys intermediate 3000 meters race for his school Colaiste an Chroi Naofa. In another top class race Daire was in the mix right up to the final meters when he just missed the podium by two seconds but set a massive new PB.
Summary:
It was another wonderful day for all involved and more success than we could have hoped for. With only 4% of the athletes that began the schools competition getting to the finals it was always going to be a tough task to expect everyone to take medals home but seven medals from our thirteen was a fabulous return putting them in the country's top 1.5%. With personal best performances from so many they surely are a special bunch and we're immensely proud of them all.
Cork City Marathon:
On last Sunday our adults had one of their big days out of the year when the annual Cork City marathon took place. Warm, dry and humid conditions made hard work for all involved but a great day for the thousands of supporters that lined the streets.
Taking on the full 26.25 miles were Martin Hurley, Paul Ryan, Dave Foley, Ted Whooley, Club captains Jim O'Mahony and Gus Keohane. Our sole woman was the teak tough Mary Fitzgerald who beat all the boys home to win her category and was ninth overall woman.
Amongst the 3000+ that lined out for the half marathon Sonya, Cliona, Liza and Eamon were joined by first timers Shelly and Paula.
We had three mixed teams of five in the relay and a great race unfolded to see who would have bragging rights until next years rematch. " Willies Whippets" won the day , but only just, with only 7 minutes separating all three after 26.25 miles.
Club junior athlete Nessa Wheeler ran the toughest leg four of the relay for her school Colaiste Daibheid and helped them to a third placed finish in the Cork youth challenge competition.
CIT student and Carraig clubman Ruairi Myers ran leg three in his CIT teams 7th place overall in the relay.
Courceys open sports:
A strong cohort of Carraigs younger athletes traveled to the west Cork seaside village of Ballinspittle for the Courcey open sports on a sunny summer bank holiday Monday.
A great effort by all to get another day's competition in after an exhausting weekend.
Graded leagues:
Round two of the Graded leagues was held last Thursday night in CIT. Due to so many of our juniors in action at the schools on Saturday our attendance was down on the first round. Martha Quain threw discus and won her competition setting a new PB along the way which proved an great prelude to her performance at the schools finals.
Blaithnaid Daly also competed in 200 and 800.
Other business:
After what has to have been one of the busiest weekends in the clubs history a word of thanks has to be mentioned for everyone who made it happen.
To all the club supporters out on the marathon course.
The club members who were stewards who gave of their time generously.
The coaches and mentors who sacrificed their marathon day out to travel to Ennis and brought home so much success along with all the children they had been entrusted with.
To Michelle for her photographic masterclass in managing to be in five places at once.
Look Forward:
Training continues unabated and times and locations can be found on our FB page and website.
Munster under 14 to 19 juvenile championships are next on the cards for our teenagers on the weekend of the 16th/17th in Waterford IT.
All the very best of luck to all our athletes taking their state exams in the coming weeks. Our junior cert gang and especially Christine, Rachel, Katie and Ciaran sitting their leaving.
02nd June, 2018
Thirteens take relay Gold!
County Relay and B championships:
Last Sunday the county relay championships for all ages were held in CIT. Running concurrently were the B championships for athletes who didn't take a medal of any type in the two previous days of county competitions up to under 13 age category.
With heats in every age group from under 9 to 19 in 4 X 100 relays it was a long busy day.
There are also 4 X 400 relays for the under 17 to 19 ages.
With teams in most races up to under 14 we took home only one medal but it was a brilliant win for the boys under 13s. Well done to Theo DeSouza, Bobby O'Riordan, Ruaidhri Boyle , Cathal Whooley and Michael Mullins.
Seasoned performers at the relay gig these lads have been on the road for many years already and won their category with a bit to spare.
In the B championships our under 12 group were well represented and top performances on the day went to under eleven boys Dylan Mulcahy(600 meters) and Oscar O'Conor (shot) who both took bronze medals.
Under ten Cian Ryan also took a bronze in his 600 meter race.
In under thirteen boys we had great success with a podium clean sweep in long jump for Ruaidhri Boyle(gold), Michael Mullins (silver) and Zach O'Connor (bronze).
Ruaidhri took his third gold of the day when he won his 600 meter race.
Cathal Whooley had his best ever day in his Carraig singlet when he added two silvers in 60 meters and shot to his gold in the relay.
Summary:
Another successful day out in a busy few weeks for everyone. Great to see so much strength in depth coming through in our boys under 13 age group. Very encouraging for the years ahead. Our county championships are now behind us for 2018 and now the focus moves to Munster championships and the hopes of qualifying for the precious all Ireland final slots.
County Junior championships:
The county junior (under 20) championships were also on in CIT last Sunday. Due to such a heavy racing schedule our athletes that were in schools action over the previous weeks chose not to compete but we did have Emma and Orla Coffey pole vaulting to a podium good and silver. Blaithnaid Daly also took gold in triple jump.
Other Business:
Last Wednesday night Eileen and Christy Murphy headed to the Munster mountain running associations summer league race in Glenanaar in the Ballyhouras for an 8 km trail race. Adam Farrell tagged along for his sins and finished a respectable 22nd overall. Christy and Eileen both were third in their categories. If anyone is interested in mountain running there are loads of experienced mountain goats in the club so don't be shy in asking as they love to tell stories about their adventures.
Look forward:
The schools all Ireland track and field finals take place this Saturday in Tullamore and we have thirteen medal hopefuls making the journey.
The Munster track and field championships kick off this Saturday also in Ennis for our younger athletes up to age under thirteen.
This Sunday is one of the big days of the year for our adult members who will be participating in the Cork city marathon. Great excitement for this year as we have some people doing their first half marathon and three relay teams joining our regular marathon runners.
Best of luck to everyone and don't forget we'll be meeting up after for a "debrief".
24th May, 2018
Carraig athletes top of the class at schools!
Munster Schools:
Last Saturday the Munster schools track and field championships were held in An Riochts impressive facility in Castleisland, Co Kerry. The summer weather prevailed with clear blue sky's, temperatures in the high teens and a fresh breeze throughout the day. Thirteen of our post primary athletes had qualified to take part with six competing in two events.
Pole vault:
Due to the unavailability of the pole vault area in Castleisland the vault competition was held in CIT on the previous Wednesday night. Sisters Emma and Orla Coffey were competing for their school St Angela's College in Senior and Intermediate respectively.
Both girls were at their best and Orla won and Emma took second on count back in their categories showing yet again what excellent championship temperament they have.
Walks:
Back to Saturday morning we go and first up were our race walkers Sarah Constant (St. Vincent's)and Ciaran Hurley (Colaiste Mhuire AG)
Ciaran was competing in Junior boys and put in another Gold medal performance and set a new PB of 5:53 for the 1500 meters distance.
Sarah had some tough opposition in her race but stuck to her race plan to take a bronze medal in the girls senior race.
Hurdles:
In the long hurdle races in schools their are only four races, girls and boys intermediate and senior.
Orla Coffey was in the 300 meter intermediate Girls race and won an excellent Gold in a tight contest only pulling clear of the field after clearing the final hurdle.
Katie Walsh, another St Angela's student, was in the girls 400 meter senior race and took an excellent silver medal with her second fastest ever time clocking 64:56.
Ciaran Nugent took on the boys 400 race and won impressively and took nearly two seconds off his previous best with a 58:07.
Katie Walsh was back in action in the afternoon in the sprint hurdles and had a hard fought bronze to add to her silver in the 400 just pulling her self into the medals over the final flight of the ten barrier 100 meter race.
Steeple Chase:
Joseph Daly in only his second run over the 1500 meter intermediate boys steeplechase barriers had a great race to take silver. Showing some efficient hurdling technique and if it wasn't for a small stumble over the last water jump with 150 meters to go he might have taken Gold back to his school Davis College, Mallow.
Sprints:
Ciaran Nugent took his second medal of the day with a battling bronze in senior boys 400. Not his fastest clocking over the distance but fighting back from a slow start he took bronze on the line with a courageous last 100 meters to take two medals back to his school Colaiste Chraoibhin, Fermoy.
Joseph Daly was back in action in the intermediate boys 400 but with his efforts in the steeple chase surely taking from his power he finished in a respectable sixth.
Michael Hand better known for his javelin exploits was in action with the Pres Boys senior 4 X 100 relay team and took an impressive gold medal to show his flexibility.
Throws:
Before his relay heroics Michael Hand took a solid silver in senior 800 gram javelin throwing a consistent set of 40 meter efforts.
Meabh Daly was at her consistent best when she took gold in girls senior 600 gram with a best of 33:98 meters, heading back to Colaiste Mhuire AG with another title in hand.
Martha Quain competing in senior girls shot and discus in her school Colaiste an Chroi Naofa, Carraig na bhFear colours of black,red and amber. Martha's shot was a little off the podium places but her discus was at her usual high standard. Throws all peppering the 30 meter mark was more than good enough into the stiff breeze to take the gold.
Middle distance:
Nessa Wheeler took her first ever Munster schools track and field medal with bronze in girls senior 800 meters for her school Scoil Daibheid, south terrace.
Daire O'Sullivan of Colaiste an Chroi Naofa, Carraig na bhFear was racing over the 3000 meters in intermediate boys. Front running from the start Daire took Gold unchallenged.
Long jump:
Our youngest competitor of the day was Michelle Ugwah in girls minor long jump. Minor is for students in their first year of secondary education only and Michelle showed experience beyond her years to take a Gold medal for her school Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Blarney jumping into the breeze to a distance of 4:91 meters.
Summary:
All thirteen athletes that went to the championships took home medals.
Five of them medalled on the double for a tremendous total of seventeen medals. Nine Munster champions , four silver and four bronze medalists. All qualified for the all Ireland finals that will be held in Tullamore on the first Saturday in June. Both Orla and Michael qualified for more than one event. They all will be hoping for some national silverware and the opportunity to represent their province in the Tailteann games and Ireland singlets on the cards for the intermediate age group at the schools international.
County multi events:
On Sunday the county juvenile multi events championships were held in CIT. The forecasted bad weather didn't manifest itself and the day held dry for the most part. Six of our younger multieventers took on the five events that constitute underage pentathlon.
Faye O'Riordan in under 11 girls took a silver medal with a storming final 600 meter run to win that event and secure her medal.
Lucy Lynch also won a silver medal in her under 12 competition. Lucy won her 60 meter sprint and her final 600 to take her medal.
Ava Fitzgerald was in fourth place in her under 13 girls competition going into the final event, the 800, but launched herself onto the third step of the podium with a fantastic 2:34 run.
In boys under 13 the three amigos that took the Munster multi events podium clean sweep replicated that result in a powerhouse display. Timmy Colbert took the title with a solid performance throughout and won the high jump event.
Theo De Souza won the 60 meter hurdles and long jump to set himself up for a solid silver.
Bobby O'Riordan won the shot put and secured his bronze with a fabulous gun to tape 800 meters win.
Very encouraging stuff from the three boys and a great achievement.
Summary:
Six medals from six competitors is all we can ask from the day's competition. Hugely encouraging and good to see all their effort in training over the previous months paying dividends.
County Vets Track and Field:
Two of our senior athletes made their presence felt at the senior and vets competitions held in CIT last Sunday alongside the juvenile multi events championships.
Jennifer Goggin Walsh made her debut for the club in the women's 3000 meters and won her F35 category.
Junior coach Rhona Lynch continues to lead by shining example in taking a silver medal in the F40 category also over 3000 meters.
Other business:
Cheetah run;
On Thursday night last a great cohort of Carraig athletes headed to Fota wildlife park for the always popular annual 5 km cheetah run organised by Eagle AC.
This year the added inclusion of a mile race for under 11 to 15s added an extra dimension. Sixty seven youngsters took on the challenge, with ten in Carraig colours amongst their numbers.
Rebecca Kelleher impressively won the girls race with a time of 5:39 on a undulating course. Ciara Keohane and Ellie Twomey were not far behind second and third girls home.
Bobby O'Riordan and Ruaidhri Boyle were fourth and fifth respectively in the boys race.
Junior athlete Adam Foley was second in the MJ category of the 5 km loop around the park.
In the adults race another great spattering of Carraig singlets could be seen and credit is due to club captain Jim for another successful turnout.
Blackwater 10;
On last Sunday a few of our hardy adults headed back on the roads for the hilly 10 mile race in Clondulane outside Fermoy. Club Captains Gus and Jim lead the troops home in a speedy 70 minutes.
Ballymacoda 4mile race;
Club coach Mick Daly was racing on Friday night down in the east Cork village of Ballymacoda in their annual road race.
Well done to everyone for flying the flag and putting our colours on show.
If anyone has any questions where to purchase club gear please contact the Club gear officer Willie Walsh. New clothing will shortly be on stream with a new supplier. Details to follow in the coming weeks.
Look Forward:
Training continues relentlessly as the Munster juvenile championships are just around the corner , the county B/ relay championships are taking place this weekend and the national schools final the week after. Please make sure to confirm your entry into all upcoming championships with your coaches before the relevant closing dates. All upcoming events can be found on the fixtures link on our website and more information can be found in the links section.
If anyone has been inspired by the performances of any of our athletes and would like to try some new discipline in the future please let your coaches know and they will set you on the correct path for the future. It's never too early or late to try new experiences.
15th May, 2018
Schools T&F Out for Summer!
South Munster schools:
The secondary schools track and field season kicked off last week with the south Munster schools held in CIT. The schools competition runs parallel with the club under age championships and is quite prestigious and highly competitive.
There are only four age categories for the six years of post primary entrants. The youngest is minor(first years only), junior, intermediate and senior.
Munster is subdivided into three areas south, east and north to select the cream of the crop that compete for the places in the Munster finals.
Athletes are only allowed to compete in two events. Only the top three go through in each discipline and in laned events (sprints)only the top two, so competition is fierce.
All our athletes compete in south Munster and were split over two days. Both the Girls on Wednesday and boys on Friday had some poor weather conditions to contend with as rain and strong winds plagued each day.
Minor Girls:
Michelle Ugwah was in action in long jump and 100 meters for her school SMGS Blarney. Michelle won her long jump and was fourth in the final of the sprint and will now go forward to the Munster competition in the long jump.
Lily O'Riordan was a bronze medalist in 75 meter hurdles and fourth in javelin throwing up in age in junior as there is no javelin in minor. Unluckily Lily won't go to Munster's missing out by one place in both events but has a medal to take back to her school St Angela's College, Patricks Hill.
Intermediate Girls:
Orla Coffey took Gold in both the Pole Vault and 300 meter hurdles setting a new PB and championship record of 3:15 in the vault also.
Orla will go on to Munster's to represent her school St Angela's College.
Senior Girls:
St Angela's were again well represented with Katie Walsh winning the 400 hurdles and taking silver in the 100 hurdles.
Another Angela's girl Emma Coffey silver in pole vault.
Martha Quain from Colaiste an Chroi Naofa, Carraig na bhFear had a commanding win in her Discus and took bronze in shot.
Meabh Daly was a winner in Javelin for her school Gealcholaiste Mhuire AG.
Sarah Constant took a gold medal back to St. Vincent's in 1500 meter walk.
Nessa Wheeler in her 800 ran a seasons best time to win for Colaiste Daibheid , South Terrace. Blaithnaid Daly was in the same race but just outside the medals running for Colaiste Mhuire AG.
Very encouragingly all our senior competitors will be at the Munster finals.
In the boys competition on the Friday the weather was just as unkind but the lads performed to their usual high standards.
Junior:
Ciaran Hurley won the 1500 meter walk with quite a bit to spare in a time of 6:04 representing Colaiste Mhuire AG.
Intermediate:
Running middle distance Daire O'Sullivan and Adam Foley were in the colours of Colaiste an Chroi Naofa, Carraig na bhFear.
Daire won the 3000 meters and Adam was fifth in the 1500.
Joseph Daly medaled on the double taking silver in both the 400 sprint and 1500 steeplechase for his school Davis College, Mallow.
Senior:
Ciaran Nugent took gold in both his events, the 400 and 400 hurdles and set a new 400 flat PB time of 51:78 for his school Colaiste an Chraoibhin , Fermoy.
Michael Hand was another to medal on the double Gold by winning the javelin and also won as a member of Presentation Boys College 4 X 100 relay team.
A hugely successful two days with so many qualified for munsters this Saturday with realistic medal hopes and expectations of making the national finals also.
County juvenile championships day two:
The second day of counties took place last Sunday again in CIT. The weather deities decided to bestow sunshine and light winds on us to make for another pleasurable and successful day.
Under 9s to 12s:
In our youngest age group the medals were hard to come by on a busy day for athletes and coaches alike. By far the largest attended events with so many heats to whittle down the numbers to eventually give three medals it is as much of a lottery as talent that could see one of our athletes on the podium.
Lucy Lynch was the only one to beat the odds taking an excellent gold in the under 12 high jump.
Under 13/14s:
Our middle group had a wonderful day taking a great haul of medals in a good variety of events.
Theo De Souza was majestic in the boys under 13 winning heats,semis and final in the 80 meter sprint.
Timmy Colbert took a brace of silvers in under 13 boys high jump and discus.
Bobby O'Riordan took a pair of bronze medals in discus and shot put also in under 13 boys.
Leah Dunne took her first steps into javelin and came away with a bronze medal in under 13 girls.
Jess Murphy took her first ever county individual medal with a silver in her first race walk in under 14 girls 2000 meters.
Under 15s to 19s:
Our post primary group were missing some of their top performers after being in action mid week but still managed to pull in the medals.
Lily O'Riordan medaled on the double with silver in under 15 javelin and bronze in 80 meter hurdles.
Alan Davis took his debut in race walking in his stride with a gold medal performance also in under 15s.
At under 16 boys race walking Ciaran Hurley now looks like the real deal as he cruised around to take gold over 3000 meters.
Orla Coffey was at her now uber consistent best winning all three of her events the 100 hurdles, long jump and in the 800 meters setting a new PB of 2:24 in under 17s.
Daire O'Sullivan in under 17 boys 800 took a silver medal.
Blaithnaid Daly had one of her best days ever on the track taking three medals in under 18 javelin(bronze),800 meters (bronze) and 200 meters(silver).
Martha Quain had another successful sortie into other disciplines taking two bronze medals in under 18 hammer and 200 meters.
Sarah Constant in under 19s race walking 3000 metres took an early morning gold to lead by example our growing batch of walkers.
Summary:
After two days the individual county track and field are completed for another year. With the B and relays yet to come we have already had huge success with fifty two medals in the bag. It was greatly encouraging to see our older teenagers so competitive and seeing the younger ages start to dip their toes into the lucrative field events.
A mention must be made of the achievements of Orla Coffey over the fortnight as she took seven gold medals in such a wide array of events and set five PBs in the process.
Other Business:
125 runners turned out for the Macra na Feirme 5k race in Glanmire on Tuesday the 8th of May 2018 and Carraigs Sean O'Sullivan took the victory in a time of 17:30.
Look forward:
Next Saturday the Munster schools takes place in Castleisland, Co. Kerry and we're all looking forward to a change of scenery after so many days in CIT.
All our county medalists will now set their sights on the Munster championships in June and our relay teams will prepare for their events on the 27th in CIT.
08th May, 2018
County Juvenile Track and Field:
Last Sunday the first of two days of county championship track and field events were held in CIT.
The day started at half ten in overcast cool conditions but as the day progressed and the sun broke through and warm sunshine shone for the whole afternoon.
With ages from under nine to nineteen competing it was quick fire rounds for heats on the track and close attention to the PA announcer to make sure not to miss checking in for field events.
In our younger group Faye O'Riordan took a silver in under 11s high jump in her first county event. Lucy Lynch medaled on the double with bronze in her under 12 60 meter hurdles race and silver in 600 meters.
In our under 13/14 age group the schedule was really busy and full of notable performances.
Ava Fitzgerald won the under 13 600 meters with a commanding performance in a time of 1:46.
Ava also took silver in high jump setting a new PB of 1:40 meters and only lost out on gold on count back.
Leah Dunne and Kate Fennessy took two medals with their trip to the discus cage. Silver and bronze respectively for the girls in under 13.
Theo De Souza took gold in under 13s long jump with another smooth performance.
Timmy Colbert took gold in his debut Javelin competition with an impressive 28 meter plus throw in under 13s.
John Wigginton Barrett was another to medal on the double taking bronze in both Javelin and high jump in under 14s.
In our under 15 to 19 ages some really strong performances all round and lots of medals.
Lily O'Riordan took a hard fought silver in under 15s 250meter hurdles.
Orla Coffey had a day to remember taking four gold medals and set new PBs in all four events entered. Her medals came in under 17s high jump, pole vault, long hurdles and 400 meters.
In under 18 girls Emma Coffey took three golds in Pole vault, 100 meters and long jump.
Martha Quain took Gold in Discus and a silver in shot.
Nessa Wheeler took gold in 1500 meters and a bronze in 400.
In under 18 boys Michael Hand comfortably took Gold in both the Javelin and High Jump.
Joseph Daly medaled on the double also with Silver in the 1500 meters and a bronze in the 400.
In under 19s Michelle Kearney took gold in Discus and Ciaràn Nugent took gold in 400 meter hurdles.
Summary:
Another day of great success and new boundaries pushed with twenty nine medals on our first day of county's a magnificent start and a hard act to follow on day two.
Leevale Open Sports:
On the bank holiday Monday five of our Juniors were back in CIT for the Leevale open sports for junior and senior athletes.
Emma and Orla Coffey took first and second in Pole vault and Orla pushed her PB yet again with a 3:15 clearance.
Katie Walsh was second in the High Jump with a 1:60 clearance.
Ciaran Nugent brought down his 400 PB another fraction with a 52:3 clocking in a high class race.
Daire O'Sullivan ran his first 3km of the track season and set his new mark at 9:23.
Midleton AC 5 mile road race:
A strong contingent headed to East Cork last Thursday night to take part in Midleton ACs annual 5 mile road race.
Club Captain Jim O'Mahony led the pack home with his vice captain Gus Keohane hot on his heels as were Dave O'R, Robert, Dave M, Ted, Andy, Liza, Jacinta and Mick.
Other Business:
Club PRO Michelle Whooley has been doing stellar work of late with her camera and this week was another master class. Her work can be viewed on our Facebook page and give a great feel for the variety and atmosphere of the club.
Look forward:
This week sees the schools track and field season kick off with our secondary school athletes taking part in the south Munster schools championships. Girls competition is on Wednesday in CIT and boys on Friday in the same venue.
Next weekend the second half of the county juvenile track and field takes place again in CIT on Sunday.
30th April, 2018
Gold in the hills around Ballynoe!
East Cork road race championships:
Last Thursday night the village of Ballynoe witnessed one of the clubs finest moments for many a year in road running when our women and mens teams were crowned 2018 East Cork road race champions.
Having mustered a squad of twenty one willing athletes by promises of cakes and hopes of glory ,club captain Jim O'Mahony led his charges to Ballynoe for the annual road race championships.
Nervous anticipation and excitement was evident as both teams went out for their warm up, a lap of the now infamous Ballynoe circuit with its lung busting hill.
Warm up completed the nine girls headed to the start line marshalled by club junior coach Rhona Lynch making her return to road racing after a hiatus of a few years.
From the gun(whistle) the team packed well with Rhona and club junior Katie Walsh out front with the leaders after the first time cresting the climb. Off on the second lap they left the village with the cheers of their male counterparts ringing in their ears. As the three kilometre race entered its final 500 meters the dreaded hill reared its ugly head again and our girls came into their own. With the first three to score for the team Rhona and Katie were joined by another club junior Nessa Wheeler to take the team gold by eleven points from neighbouring club St. Nicholas AC.
A strong showing by the club was backed up with our second team on the night in fourth place comprising of Rachel Atkinson, Michelle O'Connor and Blathnaid Daly.
Liza, Anne Marie and Cliona made up our third team a little further back but still all in the top two thirds of the results.
After watching and cheering all the girls over the line the boys headed out of town to start their slightly longer race covering eight kilometres with four circuits of the village including four assents of the dreaded hill.
With four to score for the boys team there was going to be competition among the twelve men to get on the "A" team. Again from the start club juniors Daire O'Sullivan and Joseph Daly were packing well in a group just off the leaders with club mates Willie Walsh and Tony Dunne.
Over the first 2km the group trundled along until the first time up the climb and inevitably people began to be shelled out the back. That was the way the race played out as each lap ticked by. Every summiting of the hill left gaps that invariably went unclosed. The counting of singlets as the laps went by suggested that the team race was between ourselves and St Cathrines AC. On the last charge up the hill first Carraig man over the line, Daire, moved from sixth to fourth in the most significant move of the race. It won the Gold team medal with a one point win over the St. Cathrines boys as Joseph, Willie and Tony completed the scorers. Like the girls , three boys teams were on the results sheet as Adam Farell, Dave O'R, Jim, Adam Foley,Dave M, Dave F, Mick and Andy made quick work of the hills and the tasty post race snacks provided by host club St. Cathrines AC.
A big thank you to club PRO Michelle Whooley who took a fantastic series of photos to document the race and to the younger members who came along to lend such vocal support.
East Cork Track and Field championships Day Two:
The second day of the East Cork division track and field championships was held in tower park in Youghal last Sunday.
Held in bright sunshine for the most part as the rain that plagued the first day's events didn't reappear. With a strong cool breeze being felt we still haven't felt the warm conditions that we associate with track and field but an enjoyable day was had none the less.
Strong showings from all our age groups with athletes in every event testament to the steady growth of our club.
In our under 9 to 12 group Lucy Davis, Faye O'Riordan , Lucy Lynch and Conor Gardiner were on top form.
In the under 13s Ava Fitzgerald won both 800 meters and High jump. The boys took five of the six medals up for grabs.
In under 14s Kathryn O'Mahony and John Wiggington Barrett were our top performers taking medals in both 200 and 1500 meter races.
Our under 15/16s had great success with Lily O'Riordan(200 meter), Michelle Ugwah (long jump) and Alan Davis (200 & 1500) all taking gold medals.
In 17-19 age group Nessa Wheeler and Joseph Daly won their respective 1500 meter races.
Summary:
With the East Cork athletic division program of events now completed until the cross country in the autumn we are extremely satisfied with the standard of performance handed up by all our athletes young and not so young. It was another fabulous week for the club and heartening to see us competitive on so many fronts.
Other business:
Newly transferred athlete Jennifer Goggin was racing the Colaiste an Chraoibhin 5km in Fermoy last Thursday night and won in a time of 20:04. We look forward to Jennifer adding her strength and experience to our women's teams.
Club captains Jim O'Mahony and Gus Keohane ran the Sonia O'Sullivan Cobh 10 mile last Sunday. Gus clocked a speedy 75 minutes and Jim racing for his second time in four days was just behind. Both lads had a good first races back after a successful marathon in Manchester earlier in the month.
Last Wednesday night the club were nominated for an award at the county Lord Mayor awards ceremony held in the county hall. Club Chairman Philip Coffey and guests were in attendance to gratefully accept a certificate to mark the nomination.
Look Forward:
The first day of the county juvenile track and field championships takes place next Sunday in CIT.
Entries have already been made and no late entries will be allowed.
Please check with your coaches about timings.
Leevale open sports for our junior and seniors are on next Monday in CIT and promises to be a good standard of competition if anyone's looking for some athletics viewing on a bank holiday Monday.
Entries for the Schools track and field have to be in this Friday and are through your school liaison teacher.
If you have any questions please ask your coaches.
The south Munster schools competitions will take place on the 9th(girls) and 11th(boys) in CIT.
24th April, 2018
Track and Field season moves up a gear!
Cork Graded leagues:
Last Wednesday night in CIT round one of the John Buckley sports sponsored graded leagues took place.
This year we have decided to make the four rounds a target of the year for our junior athletes.
Individuals and clubs compete in track and field disciplines and are awarded points on a graded standard scale. These points are added up to award prizes to the best male, female and club on each night and over the four event league.
On the night a total of sixteen of juniors and some older lemons flew the flag.
It is an ideal opportunity for trying new events and for our more serious athletes a chance to get competitive competition.
Some high lights were Maebh Daly and Micheal Hand winning both Javelin competitions, Daire O'Sullivans fourth in a good quality mile race and Kate Walsh winning her 100 hurdles race.
Results , photos and videos can be found on the Cork athletics webpage in the results section.
Munster juvenile outdoor pentathlon:
The Munster championships for under 11 to 16 outdoor pentathlon were held in Templemore track last Saturday.
Seven of our growing multi event group were in action and had a terrific day out filled with success and loads of PB performances.
Bright blue sky's , warm temperatures and light breezes made for pleasant conditions more akin to track and field season.
In the boys section we had three competitors , all in the under 13 age group. Arguably the greatest of achievements of the day when they took a clean sweep of the podium.
Newly transferred athlete Timmy Colbert (competing unattached) took the victory with a well rounded mature display. The highlights a new High jump PB of 1:43 meters and a storming finish in the 800 to secure his victory.
Theo De Souza took his first Munster multi event medal in second place showing his power over the hurdles and long jump , but his highlight was surely his battling performance over the 800 to achieve his medal.
Bobby O'Riordan was on the third step of the podium also for his first ever individual Munster medal with a step up in performance winning the shot put competition and setting a new PB in high jump. Bobby's 800 meter run was his highlight as he tracked the hard charging Johnny Murphy of Liscarroll AC to take the Bronze by three seconds from the unlucky North Cork man.
Four of our athletes in the girls section were each in separate competitions with the youngest Faye O'Riordan in under 11s taking a bronze, to add to her indoor bronze earlier this year , was another great result for this young talent. Faye's highlight was a dramatic run in her final event, the 600, where she leapfrogged from fourth onto the podium with a ferocious kick over the last 200 meters taking her second Munster medal in her debut multi event season.
In under 12s Lucy Lynch was also on the podium in the bronze medal position. Winning the High jump competition with a new PB of 1:34 had Lucy in third going into her last event the 600 meters. Lucy ran a measured race to finish in second and hold off her rivals. A mission accomplished for Lucy after losing out on a medal at the indoors in January by only three points this was a step up in performance to take the podium position.
Ava Fitzgerald was in action in a very competitive under 13 age group. A sixth place finish, just 100 points off the podium was hard luck after a PB equalling High jump and a blistering 800 win in 2:36. Ava will be back in action in the county pentathlon and we're sure ,knowing what a competitor she is , it won't be long before she gets the elusive podium finish.
Lily O'Riordan was our oldest competitor in the under 15 group.
In an age group with some of the country's best based in Munster Lily has always had a battle on her hands to get on the podium and again fourth place was her final position. Lily will battle away and as we've seen all too often with our older athletes, with her dedication to training a medal day in the sunshine wont be too far away.
Summary:
With the Munster season of multi events completed we have to be extremely happy with the performances that are consistently on the up and with a competitive group of youngsters things are bright for the future.
Munster Juniors:
Last weekend our junior (under 20) squad had their Munster track and field championships also in Templemore along side the juvenile multi events. Nine athletes were competing in 12 disciplines and had huge success.
Javelin:
Meabh Daly backed up her midweek result in the graded leagues taking Gold in her competition with a close to her PB throw of 34:02. A consistent series of throws all around her winning mark will give confirmation to her training and tops off a very successful month.
Michael Hand was throwing the 800 gram javelin as opposed to his normal under 18 weight of 700 grams and threw nearly identical distance as on Wednesday night at the graded leagues. A good series of throws but two meters shy of a medal in fourth.
Pole vault:
Emma and Orla Coffey were in action in the pole vault competition with all the usual suspects fighting it out for the three medals. Emma overturned the indoor result by taking gold on count back from Blarney/Inniscara ACs Ciara Hickey. Orla had to settle again for fourth but cleared 2:90 meters in her first outdoor event of the year setting a new early season standard for herself.
Discus and Shot Put:
Martha Quain eventually got her outdoor season going with a bang by taking gold in the Discus with a few meters to spare over the field with a throw of 32:62. A good set of even throws into a breeze showed good form as she launches into her season.
Martha also threw shot but was a little off her best and missed the podium by 4cm.
Long jump:
Orla Coffey was cursed by dammed luck again ,coming fourth in the long jump ,even with a PB equalling 5:10 meter jump. Sitting in second for most of the competition she was pushed off the podium in the final round but must take solace in the fact that she is now a consistent 5 meter jumper.
Long and Short hurdles:
Katie Walsh and Orla Coffey were in action in the 400 hurdles where Katie took Gold with an impressive 63:9 clocking , knocking more than a second off her PB. Orla put the two fourth place finishes behind her with a silver medal in her first ever run out over the distance clocking an impressive 67:5
A great season of competition ahead as the new kid on the block will push the current top dog hopefully bringing out the best in both our girls.
Katie also ran the 100 hurdles and added the outdoor title to her indoor gold from January.
High Jump:
Katie Walsh took her third medal of the day in the high jump with an outdoor PB equaling jump of 1:60 and only losing out on a better result on count back as all three on the podium topped out at that height.
Middle distance:
Nessa Wheeler and Blaithnaid Daly took on the 800 meters race trying to replicate the two medals they took in the indoor race over the same distance in January. Blaithnaid was a little off the medals on the day but Nessa put in a battling last lap to take home a bronze medal to add to the gold she took indoors.
Daire O'Sullivan was racing his second race in four days over 1500 meters. After a tough race on Wednesday night , when Templemore ACs Conor Ryan kicked with 300 to go Daire found his legs a bit heavy to react quickly enough but, managed to close gradually to take second four seconds off the winner.
A first junior Munster medal in only his second junior race is still an achievement.
Sprints:
Ciaran Nugent was in action over the 200 and 400 meters. Ciaran had added the shorter distance to his schedule this season to quicken up his first 200 of his one lap favoured race. For his first ever championship race over the distance he didn't qualify for the final from his heats but running into a 2.7ms headwind was a tough test first time out.
Ciaran was back racing over 400 meters in the afternoon and didn't disappoint with a bronze medal and a 52 second clocking right on his PB. Another championship medal from one of our most consistent performers.
Summary:
From nine athletes we took home 10 medals. Five Munster titles , two silvers and three bronzes. Not too shabby for so early in the season.
Leevale open sports:
Theo De Souza was back in action Sunday after his heroic performance the day before at the multi events.
Theo won the under 13 boys long jump with a 4:07 leap, took a second place in the 80 meter sprint and a third place in the 80 hurdles. What a weekend he had!
Other business:
Junior athlete Joseph Daly took a third place overall at the Dromahane 5km road race (organised by Dromahane Road Runners AC)in a time of 18:14.
One of our newest members Adam Farrell (Eileen and Christy's son in law) ran the 25km Cork to Carraigaline "Railway Run" on Sunday in a time of 1:59.
Look Forward:
This Thursday night the East Cork road race championships are on in Ballynoe beginning with the women's 3km race at 1930hrs. The men's 8km will start shortly after. We hope to have a healthy attendance and the club are covering the entry fee.
The second day of the East Cork track and field championships will be held in Tower Park, Youghal this Sunday. Events kick off at 1130 hrs and details can be found on our webpage or FB page.
Entries for the county track and field championships have to be submitted to the competition secretary by this Friday so please talk to your coaches to avoid disappointment if an entry is omitted.
Anyone interested in participating in a relay team for the Cork City marathon is asked to make themselves know to coaches or the club captain as soon as possible so teams can be sorted.
17th April, 2018
Last week was quiet on the competition side but busy none the less with organised training on six of the seven days.
On Saturday our selected junior athletes were in Templemore for the last of the Munster high performance squad training days. The coveted tee shirts were handed out and we'll hope to see the improvements from the high standard technical coaching that was given.
Cork athletics has begun a new initiative this year for athletes born 2003 to 2006 t...o provide coaching and athlete development pathways to gain entry to the national high performance junior squad in 2019 to 2021.
The first day of the Cork Youth Development Initiative was held in CIT last Saturday with a good attendance from Carraig interested athletes and their parents.
If anyone was unable to attend Saturday and is interested in taking part please let your coach know as soon as possible and they will advise you how to register with the county board.
Look forward:
This Wednesday nights training in CIT is canncelled due to the Graded leagues taking place. Our Junior squad will be participating so if your at a loose end why not come along to see them in action.
The East Cork road race championships will be taking place in Ballynoe on Thursday evening the 26th.
Race distances are 3km for women and 8km for men with the club paying entries please let the club captain know if you intend participating.
This coming Saturday the Munster juvenile outdoor multi events and Junior championships are taking place in Templemore. Entries have to be in by midnight tonight so no entries on the day allowed.
The Leevale juvenile sports will be held this Sunday in CIT. Always well attended it promises to be a good run out for athletes before the counties in May.
10th April, 2018
National Indoors:
The third and final day of the national juvenile indoor track and field championships took place last Saturday in Athlone. Rescheduled after the travel chaos caused by the storm "Emma's" snowfall it was the day one program of events. Our final four were Pole vaulters Emma and Orla Coffey, Martha Quain in Shot put and Michelle Ugwah in long jump.
Martha was first into competition in girls under 18 (3kg) shot Put.
Martha has added shot to her training plan for this year and reaching the national final and throwing a PB is a successful end to her indoor season. Sixth place finish in a field of strong competitors was a satisfactory result and encouraging for the outdoor season.
Michelle was competing in the under 15 girls long jump in her first national competition since winning the outdoor title last year. In a big field of 17 it was a competition of two halves as she needed to secure her place in the top eight after the first three jumps with those eight going on to decide the medals with a further three attempts.
Her first jump of 4:82 had her secure in third position after three jumps and with one hand on a medal.
Her fourth jump was no improvement and a foul on her fifth saw her still in third place with one attempt left.
A final jump of 5:04 saw her leap frog into second and take her first ever national indoor medal, a deserved Silver.
Sisters Emma and Orla Coffey have been setting the national pole vault standard in their respective age groups for a couple of years now and both took two more national titles home in girls under 18 and 17 respectively. Great credit is due them for their dedication to training and temperament in competition that we now have such a haul of national pole vault medals and records in our club to be proud of for years to come.
To summarise the three days of national indoor competition. We qualified 13 athletes to national championships with two of those qualified in more the one event. Two Pole vault titles, two long jump silvers, silver in race walking and a bronze in middle distance for a total of six national medals in the ultra competitive indoor events is a great return. A job well done to all involved and another great start to a years track and field.
East Cork Track and Field.
Day one of the East Cork division track and field championships was held last Sunday in CIT. The weather gods were not kind and decided to dump quite a lot of water on the occasion to try and dampen everyone's enthusiasm for a new season starting.
With a program wide and varied to cater for under 7 year olds up to a mum and dads race it was a day for mass participation and trying new events.
Some of the day's highlights were a good standard men's 800 meter race and the juvenile competitions to decide the destination of the Willie Harte trophy for best juvenile club.
Carraig held their own throughout the day and had some good performances in the middle distance races in particular.
Day two will be held in Youghal on the 29th of April where hopefully better weather will bring big crowds out.
Spring Throws Competition:
Javelin aficionado Meabh Daly traveled to Templemore on last Sunday to compete in the Athletics Ireland Spring throws event. Meabh backed up her recent good performance at the Tipperary Throws festival with a new personal best to take bronze medal with a throw of 34:81 adding another national medal to her name.
Manchester Marathon:
Club captain Jim O'Mahony, vice captain Gus Keohane and under age coach Mick Daly completed the Manchester marathon last Sunday as part of their now annual spring marathon pilgrimage. Congratulations to all.
Duhallow 10 mile:
On what was a very busy Sunday for the club four of our stalwarts took to the roads around Newmarket to complete the Duhallow 10 mile.
Well done to Cliona, Sonya, Dave M and Tony. Can't wait to see those lovely orange teeshirts and hats at training for the coming weeks.
Look forward:
With the track and field season now up and running the competitions will be coming hot and heavy. Please keep in contact with your coaches or keep an eye on our Facebook page for all upcoming events.
The road race season is nearly in full swing now with the longer evenings and on Thursday the 28th the East Cork road championships will take place in the now traditional Ballynoe venue. We'll be making a big effort to have a big presence on the night to support a great event.
27th March, 2018
Theo is top performer indoors!
National Juvenile Indoors Day Two:
The second day of three juvenile indoor national track and field meets took place again in Athlone last weekend. In a polar opposite shift in weather over last weekend, the sun was blazing through the glass wall that makes up one side of AITs arena. Six of our athletes would take on middle distance, long jump and short hurdles.
Starting with two of our older juveniles both Nessa Wheeler and Blathnaid Daly took medals at Munster championships to qualify for the national 800 meter under 18 finals. Two heats would provide the finalists with one of our girls in each heat. Both girls had similar stories in their heats where they stuck in the pack up to the last lap only to be unable to stay with the pace and make the top three places to advance to the final. Not the result that they would have hoped for but they live to fight another day with valuable experience of competing on the big stage in the bag.
Two of our younger competitors next in the under 13 600 meters boys and girls were Ruaidhri Boyle and Ava Fitzgerald. Like the girls in under 18 these two had very similar experiences on the day. Heats would decide who would get the coveted final places later in the afternoon and both Ruaidhri and Ava ran very mature heats to make sure they would be hanging around for the day. Ava was third in her heat and Ruaidhi was second both booking the automatic places and not relying on a fastest loser spot.
In Ruaidhri's final later in the day the pace was ferocious from the gun and our man was unable to better his qualifying time of 1:45 as the anti was upped with medals at stake. Another great days racing from Ruaidhri and we look forward to see him put this experience to use as his season develops.
Ava's final was a similar plot with relentless speed from the gun stretching out the field with Ava fighting for every meter as she came home in fifth place running two seconds faster than her heat. Most notably she was first of three Munster girls in the final which is a good marker for her season ahead.
Orla Coffey was taking on the second of her three events that she had qualified in at the under 17 age group. Having long jumped last weekend Orla was running over the 60 meter hurdles this weekend before she takes on her favourite Pole Vault on the last days program.
Two heats to decide the eight lane final would produce some good technicians at this most technical of disciplines. Orla's time of 10:09 was fourth in her heat but not quick enough to make the final eight. Orla will leave the short hurdles behind her as she moves to the 400 hurdles outdoors where hopefully her experience will stand to her.
Theo de Souza was in action in both long jump and 60 hurdles under 13, hoping to keep good early season momentum going.
First up for Theo was his favourite the long jump. Thirteen youngsters were signed in to take three jumps to decide the eight that would go on to three further jumps to decide the medals. Theo's second round jump of 4:40 put him into second place and secure in the final eight.
On to the final he went hoping to defend his place on the podium. After the first of the final three jumps Theo was pushed back to third ,but showing true championship temperament he equalled and then set a new PB of 4:50 to consolidate the silver medal. Off he bounced to the podium to collect his medal and once the ceremony was over had to rush to the call room as his hurdle heats were about to begin. Not phased one bit by the excitement Theo finished second in his heat posting the fourth fastest time of the day.
Theo's final was one of the last races of the day and had a very high standard. Leevales John Cashman won breaking the championship record with Theo in sixth place in a tight race for the other two medals.
Two good consistent runs over the barriers and with the the national standard in Munster Theo will have plenty of high level opposition for the years ahead to develop his craft.
Summary:
Probably due to our now expected high ratio of medals to competitors some might say that the day wasn't a success but a little perspective is sometimes necessary.
Every one of the athletes that competed in Athlone had to qualify and are champions in their own right from their province but only three get to stand on the national podium. When all is said and done what a wonderful experience it is to compete at the highest level in your country on the biggest stage it provides and bring back stories to inspire and encourage your club mates to reach for their highest level.
Mallow 10:
Our adult members were in action last Sunday when eight of them took on the Mallow 10 mile race. One of a handful of 10 milers around this time of year Mallow that has proved very popular with 1241 runners taking part. Cliona, Yvonne, Janet, Anne Marie, Sonya, Dave and Paul were lead home by Club Captain Jim in his first outing in the role. Well done to all.
Cork Athletics awards night.
Last Friday night Cork athletics county board held their annual awards night where five of our junior athletes were amongst twenty five awarded bursaries in the aspiring young athlete category.
Martha Quain (Throws) ,Michael Hand (Throws), Emma Coffey (Pole vault), Katie Walsh(Sprints/Jumps) and Ciaran Nugent(Sprints) received the awards for their performances throughout the 2017 season.
Look Forward:
This weekend we take a road trip to Kilkenny to the Kilmacow open sports to hone our race craft before the outdoor season kicks into gear in the coming weeks. All athletes are encouraged to attend in what hopefully will be a eventful fun day out.
Four of our under age athletes are still waiting for the rescheduled day one of the indoor nationals and once that is over the club juveniles will launch straight into our outdoor season.
All times and training information can be found on our website or FB page and new members are always made welcome.
20th March, 2018
National rewards at the indoors!
National Juvenile indoor championships:
Last weekend the national indoor juvenile championship eventually got underway after the day one postponement due to the travel restrictions brought about by storm "Emma". The postponed day one program was moved to April so the championships kicked off with the scheduled day two program of events. Athlone was the destination for this away trip for the first four of our twelve qualified athletes.
Having traveled up on St Patrick's day to avoid the forecasted bad weather our decision was justified when we opened our blinds on Sunday morning to two inches of snow. After a short uneventful journey to the venue temperatures outside were at -1 and we were glad not to be in Nenagh. The championships were again held in Athlone ITs state of the art indoor facility with full stands making for a noisy, exuberant atmosphere.
First into action was Ciaran Nugent in the under 19 boys 400 meters. Ciaran qualified with a bronze medal at Munster championships and was hoping to improve and to get to the final from his heats. Three heats would supply the six finalists with the winner of each heat going through with the three fastest losers. Ciaran was drawn in the second heat in the inside lane. Not a great lane draw as the bends indoors are much sharper so being on the inside is a distinct disadvantage.
As the gun set them on their way Ciaran tracked the lads outside him and when the lane break came he was caught on the shin by an athlete cutting in which caused him to check his stride slightly. None the less our man stuck to his task and produced a typical Ciaran late surge with 100 to go coming from third to lead into the home straight. With legs screaming with lactate buildup he began to tie up as the end approached and he was caught on the line by one tenth of a second. No place in the final but another new PB for Ciaran knocking almost a second off his previous best.
Ciaran Hurley was next up in the under 16 boys 1500 meter walks.
Ciaran is an old hand at the technical race walking discipline and has numerous national medals to his name being an ever present on the podium each year. Ciarán qualified as Munster Champion in a time of 8:20(PB) and today he was up against his old rival Matthew Glennon of Mullingar who was 35 seconds faster in his Qualifying race for nationals. Matthew led from the gun and was closely shadowed by Ciarán for the first 400m. Matthew then put in three sub 50 second laps which put him clear of the field. Meanwhile Ciarán stayed focused and kept his technique solid to also pull 30 seconds clear of North Leitrims Darragh Mitchell who couldn't hold onto Ciaràn. Matthew won gold with a PB 7:05 and a delighted Ciaran took Silver in a huge PB of 7:40 with Darragh settling for bronze in 8:13. Ciaràn now moves to the outdoor season where his race distance increases to 3000m with this result a launchpad for continued success.
Daire O'Sullivan was busy warming up for the heats of his boys under 17 1500 meters race while the two lads were competing he was surely spurred on as he took control of his heat with 400 meters to go to surge away from the pack winning comfortably to book a place in the final later in the afternoon.
Orla Coffey was in afternoon action also in the girls under 17 long jump. In a twenty strong field Orla would be doing well to make it to the final eight who get an extra three jumps to decide the medals. Orla jumped a very consistent set of three jumps in the high 4:70s to secure her place in the final eight. Jumping in reverse order in the final as seventh she was second to jump. And what a jump she produced 4:99 catapulted her into second with her second longest jump ever. As the round finished her grasp on a medal was short lived as she was pushed back to fourth. With her two remaining jumps she was unable to claw back the 2 cm deficit and finished in the heartbreaking fourth place. A very encouraging set of jumps with no fouls will surely be the building blocks for future success.
Last event of the day was back to Daire O'Sullivan in the boys under 17 1500 meters. Daire had won this race the previous year and was amongst the favourites going to the start line of the final. What a dinger of a race it turned out to be. From the gun Longford ACs Cian McPhilips dropped the hammer setting an unexpected blistering pace. Daire reacted immediately bringing Leevales Tommy Connelly with him. The two boys trailed McPhilips but couldn't match his ferocious pace setting and it became a race between the two boys for silver and bronze. With two hundred meters to go Daire started to tire and came home four seconds behind silver to take a satisfying bronze in one of the races of the day where the winner McPhilips broke the national record and achieved a qualifying time for the European youth olympics this summer.
Summary:
Four athletes were in action on the first day of events and took two national medals home. Our two others set new standards for themselves to confirm their training and leave with positive feelings.
Slí Gaeltacht Mhuscraí:
Club masters athlete Dave O'Riordan last St Patricks Day completed the 73km mountain trail race the Slí Gaeltacht Mhuscraí. The race is ran over various surfaces following a section of the O'Sullivan Beara way through the countryside of west Cork. The underfoot conditions varied from Tarmac, snow, ice and saturated peat bogs but our man made it home in 13 position winning his over fifties category in style to prove that there's life in the auld dog yet!
Look forward:
Next weekend sees five more of our underage head to Athlone for the second day of indoor all Ireland's.
Our club will be taking a road trip to Kilkenny to participate in the Kilmacow open sports on the Monday of the Easter weekend. All ages are encouraged to participate and you have any questions please feel free to discuss with your coaches.
As always club information around training and upcoming events can be found on our website and FB page.
14th March, 2018
Club Clothing Sale!
Next Thursday night @1945 hrs there will be a shop open upstairs in the gym where you can purchase club apparel.
05th March, 2018
Athlete of the month time again!
This months featured athlete is one of our multi talented juniors. A prolific trainer and ferocious competitor who recently bagged a full set of Gold,Silver and Bronze Munster medals at the juvenile indoors.
Third in 60 hurdles,second in long jump with a new PB and winning the pole vault emphatically.
Honored at the east Cork awards for pole vault victories in last years indoor and outdoor nationals and was short listed for athlete of the year....
Earlier in the month while competing at senior national level for the first time in the pole vault final in Abbotstown set a new PB and placed seventh.
Give it up for Orla Coffey!
26th February, 2018
Daire Scoops top East Cork Award!
East Cork awards:
Last Friday night the East Cork athletic association presented an awards night for all national medal winning athletes from the Club 2017 Track and Field and Cross Country seasons. Carraig had thirty national medal winners and took home the trophies for best cross country club for boys and girls. Middle distance athlete Daire O'Sullivan was awarded the East Cork athlete of the year for his performances in track and field. Daire won the Munster 800 and 1500 indoors in under 16 boys, the 1500 and 3000 in the outdoors. His stand out performances were taking the 1500 indoor national title and 3000 meter outdoor crown at nationals also.
Munster juvenile indoors:
Last weekend the Munster under 13 to 19 juvenile indoor track and field championships took place in Nenagh Olympics arena. We had sixteen years in competitors over the two days competing in nine different disciplines. The temperatures were low as usual in Nenagh and warm drinks and long warm ups were the order of the days.
60 meter Hurdles:
We had three competitors in the hurdle events, the youngest being Theo DeSouza in under 13s. This was Theo's first year of hurdle competition at Munster level and he exceeded expectations by not only qualifying for the final by coming second in his heat, but brought his time down again in the final to finish fourth in a really competitive field. Theo now qualifies for the nationals and with some more work will surely be one to watch.
Lilly O'Riordan was in action in the under 15s race. Lilly has come to hurdles from her background in multi events and had a wonderful run in her heat to qualify fourth fastest for the final in another seriously high standard field. With sprints being a bit of a lottery and adding five hurdles into the mix to increase the difficulty factor, catching one or more hurdle can spell disaster. Disaster struck for Lilly in her final when she clipped one of the barriers and came done hard. Bouncing back up and finishing like a true warrior but , cruelly, Lilly's chance was gone. Brighter days ahead for this multi talented girl.
Orla Coffey was in the blocks for the under 17 race which was a straight final. Orla had solid runs over senior and junior 2foot 9inch high hurdles in the munsters in January and was hoping for a good show over the lower 2'6" high barriers at her age category. Never one to disappoint on the big day Orla put in a cracking bronze medal run close to her PB in 10:06 her fastest this year.
Long jump:
Four long jumpers were in action over the two days and really brought home the bacon.
Theo DeSouza was in action again in under 13s. Theo is last years outdoor champion so has a bit of pedigree in the event. Jumping a solid first three jumps he was in second place going into the final three jumps when the fifteen strong field was cut to eight.
Theo laid down another three solid jumps but didn't improve on his longest of 4:30 meters but, held on to take a silver medal and goes to nationals in his second event as a real contender.
Michelle Ugwah was also another national outdoor champion from last year competing for the first time this season. Michelle is a long jump specialist and will be a force to be reckoned with as the season develops. Jumping a little below her last years best Michelle took bronze on the day with a jump of 4:90 meters and will now go on to nationals with some valuable competition under her belt.
Bolu Ugwah is Michelle's younger sister and is following in her sisters footsteps in the sandpit of the long jump. In her first ever Munster competition Bolu competed in under 13s and showed that she's made of the same explosive ability as her sister with a sixth place finish. Putting in six consistent jumps hitting the board each time is promising and will she is one to watch as her season unfolds.
Orla Coffey our under 17 multi event star put in yet another championship performance by breaking the 5meter barrier for her first time in competition. Putting in a consistent series of jumps her new PB of 5:06 meters was good enough for silver and only an agonising 1 cm off the winning jump. This was Orla's first ever individual Munster long jump medal and she now heads off to nationals in a confident mood.
High jump:
Bobby O'Riordan was in action in boys under 13 high jump in his first Munster indoor outing. Bobby is another multi eventer and has trained consistently to improve his jumping over the winter and it paid off with a new PB of 1:30 meters and a fifth place finish. Bobby will go into Munster multi events in April with a spring in his step and hoping for more progress.
Ava Fitzgerald is another who has found a taste for multi events and has been putting some work into improving her high jumping technique. She certainly achieved that with a new PB of 1:30 and a sixth place finish from a field of seventeen is seen a huge progress by everyone involved.
Shot Put:
Martha Quain was our sole putter in action over the weekend. Martha specialises in Discus and has multiple national medals to her credit and this season she has decided to add another string to her bow and educate herself in the dark arts of the shot. Having competed in Munster juniors in January to get a feel for the technical side of the event. Martha seems well on her way now throwing a new PB to take a silver medal in the under 18 competition.
Sprints:
Ciaran Nugent was in action in both the 400 and 200 meters in under 19s over the weekend. Ciaran ran very close to his PB to take a hard fought bronze medal in the 400 on Saturday and will now go to nationals hoping to continue the improvement he has shown already this season.
On Sunday Ciaran stepped down to the 200 meters for the first time in a bid to improve his 400 times by racing the shorter sprints this season to gain the ever elusive hundreds of seconds each improvement requires. Running the fifth fastest time of the day wasn't enough to get into the four lane final but was a decent first race marker.
Blaithnaid Daly made her debut at Munster indoor 400s in under 18 girls hoping to set down an early season mark as she experiments with the sprint distances coming from a middle distance background. Mixing it with the speed merchants for the first time didn't phase Blaithnaid and she posted the seventh fastest time of the day.
Middle distance:
Ava Fitzgerald and Leah Dunne were toeing the start line of the girls under 13 600 metres. Coming off the back of a long and successful cross country season the girls were drawn in the same heat which was the second of five used to divide the twenty strong field. With medal positions being decided on times overall it was a bit of a lottery with kids hoping to get a fast heat and then trying to win or place in the top three.
Ava won her heat and Leah was third in the same heat so they could do no more than wait to find out the results of the timing clock.
Ava's time of 1:54 was good enough for a fabulous bronze and Leah's clocking of 2 minutes flat saw her in 10th place overall.
Ava now goes on to nationals where heats and a final will decide the medals and Leah will ponder what might have been. This is the cruel world of track running but Leah will have better days over the season.
Bobby O'Riordan and Ruaidhri Boyle also had to participate in the heat lottery in under 13 boys 600 meters. Twenty eight boys split into four heats made for busy races. Bobby was in the first heat and finished strongly to come home fourth and an overall placing of eleventh.
Ruaidhri's heat three was a different affair as our man ran from the front in a brave solo effort to lay down a winning time. Ruaidhri won his heat by eleven seconds in a time of 1:49 but, with the fourth and final heat to come he had to wait and see if his time was good enough. The last heat was a good standard with the first two times coming from it and four of the top eight. Ruaidhri ended up in an agonising fourth overall and with only three going to nationals he missed out by 25 hundreds of a second.
Kathryn O'Mahony and Rebecca Kelleher were running their first race over 800 meters amongst twenty other girls split into three heats. Medals decided on times again for the girls meant that getting in the fastest heat was crucial. Rebecca got the fastest first heat and ran well to come home fourth for an overall placing of eleventh. Kathryn came in second in her second heat but with it being slightly slower than the fast first she placed ninth overall. Valuable experience for the girls as they dip their toes into track and field and find what distance suits their abilities best.
Nessa Wheeler and Blaithnaid Daly were in the straight final of the under 18 girls 800 race and had our most successful race of the day. Nessa took the victory comfortably to win her first Munster title and Blaithnaid ran a storming last 200 meters to pinch bronze by less than one second for her first ever Munster medal at this distance. Both will now go to nationals and will have a month to prepare.
Joseph Daly was back in action after a period out with illness and he was a little off his best in the under 18 800 meters. In a high quality field the pace got to him from the outset and he was surely still feeling the effects of being ill. Joseph will bounce back and get back to his best for junior outdoors in late April.
Pole Vault:
Orla Coffey was vaulting in under 17 girls and won comfortably with a best of 3:00 meters. Orla moved the bar to 3:16 for a cheeky but ultimately unsuccessful attempt at the championship record which is held by older sister Emma. Maybe the start of a sibling rivalry to spice thinks up for the future between two of Munster's most promising vaulters.
Summary:
Another hugely success filled weekend where we took ten medals and eight qualified for nationals from the sixteen competitors that traveled. Added to this our two qualified walkers Sarah Constant and Ciaran Hurley plus Daire O'Sullivan and Emma Coffey who availed of an open entry we'll have twelve going to nationals. Two Munster champions and loads of new personal bests is a bonus. It was encouraging to see that all our athletes were competitive in their fields and not merely making up the numbers. Great to see kids trying out new disciplines and finding that they're suited to them and all positive feelings going into the track and field season.
Look Forward:
With the Munster indoor season behind us our athletes heading for nationals will be upping their efforts for Athlone in March. The focus for everyone else will be moving to the beginning of the outdoor season in April where we hope to reveal and develop the next generation of Carraig stars.
Cork Athletics International Awards Night:
Five of our Junior track and field athletes are being presented bursaries by the county board this Friday night at a ceremony in the Imperial hotel. Martha Quain ( Discus) ,Emma Coffey (Pole vault) ,Katie Walsh (Sprints/Jumps) , Ciaran Nugent(Sprints) and Michael Hand (Javelin) were selected by a sub committee in the aspiring athletes(under 17-20) category.
Training times as always can be found on the website and FB page. New members are always welcome and now is a great time to start at the beginning of the track season. Please let your coaches know if you would like to try some new discipline for the 2018 season.
20th February, 2018
Coffey's Conquer Abbotstown:
National senior indoors:
Last weekend Pole vaulting siblings Emma and Orla Coffey travelled once again up the M7 to compete in a national competition. This time the national senior Pole vault saw them compete against each other in the premier event.
Orla is under 17 this year and therefore eligible to compete at senior level and so far this year hasn't been out of her depth. In a field of fourteen Orla put in another championship performance to set a new PB of 3:05 meters and finish in seventh place.
Emma is in her second year at senior level and last year took bronze in this event. Hoping to replicate that result or better Emma had her work cut out with an improving cohort of young vaulters vying for the three medals. The class leader is Ellen McCartney from City of Lisburn AC who won the under 20 title three weeks earlier with a clutch of women including Emma hot on her heels.
In pole vault, like high jump, count back is used to separate athletes who archive the same height. This was the case for Emma when she snatched a bronze medal from training partner Clodagh Walsh of Abbey Striders by clearing all her attempts first time. Topping out at 3:20 was a little off her best but she has to be happy and proud as we are with yet another national medal. Ellen
McCartney went on to take the title and set a new national junior record of 3:72 meters.
East Cork awards night.
Every spring time the East Cork athletics association host an awards night for all national medalist in the previous year. 2017 was a year of phenomenal success for the club across all disciplines of athletics and therefore we have thirty athletes invited to attend the awards night in the Midleton Park hotel this Friday night. Underneath is a small piece on each athlete written by club secretary Mick Daly.
Faye O’Riordan GU11 XC
2017 was a super year for Faye both on the track and in XC. In the Munster U10 XC Faye produced a storming run to win the gold medal for the second year running, she finished off her year in superb form with a gun to tape victory the All-Ireland ‘B’ XC Championships.
Conor Gardner BU11 XC
Conor had his breakthrough year in 2017. He trained well all year and kept improving as the XC season progressed culminating in a super run in the Cork singlet in Waterfordwhere he helped his county team to the Bronze medals.
Lucy Lynch GU12 XC
Lucy competed strongly in multi events and a number of track events in 2017 but she really came to form in XC winning her counties and helping her Girls U12 team to East Cork & County gold medals, Munster silver medals, and the All Ireland Silver medals in Abbotstown.
Sinead Hurley GU12 XC
Sinead was a new addition to our club last year. She was a fantastic addition to our girls U12 XC team helping them to the East Cork & County gold medals, Munster silver medals, and the All Ireland Silver medals in Abbotstown.
Kate Fennessy GU12 XC
Kate was another new addition to our club last year. She was a fantastic addition to our girls U12 XC team helping them to the East Cork & County gold medals, Munster silver medals, and the All Ireland Silver medals in Abbotstown.
Ava Fitzgerald GU12 XC
Ava had an incredible year in 2017, competing strongly over 600m on the track but she really excelled in XC. Ava led both her Girls U12 team and the Girls U13 team to National silver medals, and in the process also helped her Cork and Munster teams to glory.
Leah Dunne GU12 XC
Leah had a superb year in 2017. While she showed great speed on the track it was in her favoured XC that she really excelled helping her Girls U12 team and the Girls U13 team to National silver medals, and also helping her Cork team to glory.
Isabelle Kelleher GU12 XC
Isabelle had great success in XC in 2017. A talented gymnast she put in a lot of effort during the XC season and improved with each race, helping her Girls U12 team to the East Cork & County gold medals, Munster silver medals, and the All Ireland Silver medals.
Sam O’Sullivan BU12 T&F
Sam had an excellent year in 2017. Competing in relays, sprints and long jump Sam was no stranger to the podium but the highlight of his year was winning a bronze medal for long jump in the All-Ireland ‘B’ T&F Championships.
Theo De Souza BU12 T&F
Theo had an excellent year in 2017. Competing in relays, sprints and long jump Theo was no stranger to the podium but the highlight of his year was winning the National gold medal for long jump with a PB of 4.47m.
Ruaidhri Boyle BU12 XC
Ruaidhri had a very good year in 2017. He was very impressive in multi events and especially in 600m track races but it was in XC that he really excelled leading his boys U13 team to much success, he finished his season winning an All-Ireland medal with Cork in Abbotstown.
Mary Dorgan GU13 XC
Mary has been a very consistent performer on Carraignavar XC teams over the last few years and 2017 was no exception, Mary helped her team to East Cork, County and Munster Gold medals and National silver medals.
Ciara Keohane GU13 XC
Ciara had an outstanding year in 2017. Competing in middle distance on the track she built up great speed which she put to good use in her best ever XC season helping her team to East Cork, County and Munster Gold medals and National silver medals.
Rebecca Kelleher GU13 XC
2017 was a super year for Rebecca. Competing strongly in Middle distance on the track, she worked incredibly hard in XC where she helped her team to East Cork, County and Munster Gold medals and National silver medals and also won medals on Cork U13 & U14 XC teams.
Kathryn O’Mahony GU13 XC
Kathryn was superb in 2017, both on the track and in her favoured XC. On the track she showed incredible speed from 200m to 800m then in XC she helped her team to East Cork, County and Munster Gold medals and National silver medals.
Ellie Twomey GU13 XC
Ellie had an outstanding year in 2017. She was part of a very strong U13 team winning East Cork, County and Munster medals. She had her best race of the season in the All-Ireland ‘B’ XC where she won an individual bronze medal with an excellent 9th place finish.
John Wiggington Barrett BU13 XC
John only took up athletics in the XC season and he was an instant success, leading his team to County gold medals in both U13 & U14. At the All-Ireland ‘B’ XC in Galway John produced his best run ever winning an individual bronze medal and a gold medal with the Cork team.
Michelle Ugwah GU14 T&F
Michelle missed most of the 2017 T&F season only making her debut in the Munster T&F Championships she came a very good 2nd in the Long Jump. At the All-Ireland T&F she showed her potential with a huge PB of 5.14m to claim the gold medal.
Ciaran Hurley BU15 T&F
Ciaran continues to go from strength to strength in the race walking event. In 2017 Ciaran won Munster gold medals both indoors and outdoors and was second in both the indoor and outdoor National T&F Championships.
Cliona Lynch GU15 XC
Cliona missed the track season and most of the XC season due to injury but she bounced back in the Munster B XC where she helped her Cork team to the gold medals. At the All-Ireland B XC she had another strong run to help Cork to the silver medals.
Orla Coffey GU16 T&F
Orla had a fantastic year in 2017. She competed strongly in multi events and middle distance but her biggest success came in the Pole Vault where she won both the indoor and outdoor National Championships.
Daire O’Sullivan BU16 T&F
Daire had an incredible year in 2017 over all the middle distance events. In the Indoor T&F Daire took gold over 1500m in both Munster and Nationals. In the outdoor T&F he was equally impressive over 3000m winning both Munster and National gold medals.
Martha Quain GU17 Discus
Martha was in superb form again last year. In her chosen event of Discus she was a hard lady to beat, she won both the county and Munster gold medals before throwing a new pb in the All-Irelands to claim the silver medal.
Emma Coffey GU17 PV
Emma was once again unstoppable in Pole Vault competitions both indoors and out. She won the Munster and National pole Vault championships both indoors and outdoors breaking records all the way.
Joseph Daly BU17 XC
Joseph had a mighty year in 2017. He competed strongly on the road, in T&F and in XC. A very strong run from Joseph saw him secure a bronze medal with the Cork team in the All-Ireland U17 XC Championships.
Michael Hand BU17 T&F
Michael had a very impressive year in 2017. He kicked it off with a gold medal for javelin in the Counties then repeated the feat in the Munsters throwing a new pb of 45.86m. At the National T&F Michael finished his year with a superb bronze medal.
Maebh Daly GU18 T&F
Maebh had an incredible year in 2017 in all her Javelin competitions. She won both County and Munster titles then followed that up with superb silver medal finishes in both the National schools T&F and the All-Ireland’s
Christine O’Flynn GU19 XC
Christine was in great form again throughout the XC season. She ran well all season which she rounded off with a bronze medal with the Cork team at the All-Ireland XC Championships in Waterford.
Katie Walsh GU19 T&F
Katie had an incredible year in 2017, winning national medals in both track and XC. At the All-Ireland T&F Katie won silver medals in both High Jump and 400m Hurdles then in the National XC Championships she won a Bronze medal with the Cork team.
Rebecca Kearney GU19 T&F
Rebecca had an outstanding year in 2017. All her hard training paid off with a win in the 3k walk event at the Munster T&F which she followed up with a victory in the Nationals in July.
12th February, 2018
Fantastic Faye's national gold!
National juvenile B cross country championships:
Last weekend the very last juvenile cross country event of the 2017 season took place in Clarinbridge, Co Galway. The national B cross country championships are open to any athlete who did not take a medal of any sort in the even or uneven age championships in late last year.
Carraig have always had a great deal of success at these championships and last Sunday was another huge day for our young guns.
Having had such a success filled national A championships taking 27 medals, our teams were stripped of so many that it was a great credit to the coaches and parents to get two teams out for girls and boys under 13s.
We also had two individual entries with Faye O'Riordan in under 11s and Cliona Lynch in under 15s.
First into action on a bitterly cold morning was Faye in the under 11 race. Running up in age Faye wasn't intimidated one little bit by her 103 strong opposition as she tore into the 1000 meter race up the front with the leading pack as they fought through the first uphill 500 meters. As the race turned to come back down to the finish Faye moved to the front and as she turned the corner on to the finish straight their was no footprints in the snow ahead of her as she was 20 meters clear in the lead. Holding her advantage Faye crossed the line as all Ireland champion. A fantastic achievement for Faye and for the club as Carraig also won this race last year with Lucy Lynch who was there cheering on her training buddy. Faye also lead Cork to County team gold.
The under 13 teams were hit by the winter flu bug and lost some of their team mates late on. The girls team went to the start line with three where Ellie Twomey, Odhrna Hurley and Jessica Murphy bravely battled the conditions like true warriors.
Ellie ran the race of her career so far right up the front and took her first ever individual medal coming home in ninth place. A fabulous national individual medal added to by being third scorer on the silver medalling Cork team was a big statement from this ever improving young woman.
The boys team were desperately unlucky to be only five points off a bronze medal in fifth place.
Disappointment was eased by the terrific performance of John Wiggington Barrett who took an individual medal with a fourth place finish. John added a county gold team medal as the second scorer on the Cork team and now surely puts himself in the one to watch for the future category. The team scores were completed by Bobby O'Riordan, Cathal Whooley and Odhran McCarty.
The strong squad of young men we have at this age saw a second team on the score board consisting of Adam McCarthy, Conor Dalton, Aaron Sheehan, Rian O'Luasa and Luke Mullins. A great experience for the lads and hopefully a launchpad for future adventures.
Our last competitor of the day was Cliona Lynch in the under 15 girls race. Conditions had deteriorated with snow now falling heavily on our athlete and supporters to add another level of difficulty to the task. Cliona had a fantastic run coming home third scorer on the silver meddling Cork team. A great end to her long cross country season.
So to summarise the days labours. From the fifteen young athletes that travelled to Galway they brought home seven national medals. Three individual medals with one national champion. A great return for their efforts in difficult conditions and more invaluable experience gained to bring with them as they grow and develop as competitors.
Munster indoor walks:
Two of our juvenile walkers kicked off their season in style at the Munster indoors in Nenagh last Sunday. Sarah Constant and Ciaran Hurley both medaled in their 1500 meter races.
Ciaran defended his Munster title from last year in under 16 boys and Sarah took bronze in the under 19 girls race. Both now will prepare for national indoors in March.
Inter-varsities indoors:
Carraig senior athlete Ruairi Myers ran the 3000 meter race at the IUAA indoor championships last Friday in Athlone ITs indoor arena. Ruairi was representing CIT and ran close to his indoor PB coming fifth in his heat. Ruairi will next be in action for CIT at the inter-varsities cross country championships.
John Treacy Dungarvan 10 mile:
Nine of our prolific road racers traveled to Waterford on Sunday the 4th of February to take on the Dungarvan 10 mile. Jim, Gus, Martin, Mick, Paul, Liza, and Cliona all declared to be delighted with their efforts. Top performers on the day goes to Mary Fitzgerald who was 6th in her category and Dave O'Riordan who lead everyone home with a 15th place finish in his category.
Look forward:
With the club cross country 2017 season now completed, all eyes now focus on Track and field events. Preparations are well underway for the juvenile Munster indoors on the final weekend of February. Some of our adults are winding up for their spring and summer marathon efforts. Times and locations of training as always on our website https://sites.google.com/site/carraignabhfearac/home and Facebook page.
29th Jan, 2018
Emma secures medal in the vault!
National junior indoors:
Athlone was where the action took place last weekend as the best and brightest of up and coming talent competed for honours at the national junior and under 23 indoor championships. Two of our junior athletes were participating in the ten strong field in women's pole vault. Orla and Emma Coffey were optimistic off the back of a successful trip to Wales the previous week to push for more improvement on early season good form.
Orla was first into the competition when the bar reached 2:40 meters. Keeping the all important clean card through to 3:00 meters she bowed out at that stage after equalling her outdoor PB and securing a fourth place finish. A brilliant new indoor PB from a great championship performer.
As Orla was leaving the completion after her three attempts at 3:10, Emma was just getting started. Going clear to 3:30 she now had a bit of work to do. Taking three attempts to clear she was secure in the silver medal position and now had three more attempts at a new indoor PB of 3:40. Always the entertainer , Emma took to her third attempt to clear 3:40, but did so to huge cheers from the enthralled crowd. Making three solid efforts at 3:50 to keep City of Lisburn's Ellen McCartney honest who went on to claim victory at that height.
Another national medal for Emma and another incremental step forward for both girls has to be deemed a great success to the days efforts.
South Munster Schools Cross Country:
Last Friday in the Tramore Valley park on the south city link the South Munster schools cross country was held. Two of our junior athletes were competing in the school intermediate grade.
Nessa Wheeler was representing Scoil Colaiste Daibheid in the 3000 meters girls race. Nessa came home in an excellent seventh place off the back of a solid recent block of training.
Daire O'Sullivan continues his rehabilitation to full fitness with a good fourth place in the 4000 meter boys race. Representing Colaiste an Chroi Naofa, Daire will now go on to Munster schools on the 23rd in Waterford IT with confidence.
Look forward:
Training continues to gather pace and focus as the juvenile indoors approaches. Some teams are preparing for the all Ireland B cross county championships and our adults are well into their spring marathon programs.
AGM:
Note from the Chairman.
On Thursday 15th of February 2018 at 8 pm at the Community Hall in Carraignavaar.
All adult club members, parents and interested junior members are welcome and urged to attend at this year's AGM. It is a great opportunity for you to see the workings of your athletic's club from the inside, see how the finances work and hear about the successes and hopes and plans for the coming year. It also allows you to have a direct input into the Club and there is always a great welcome for anyone who wants to help out or assist as an officer of the Club.
Clearly the Club is growing in terms of numbers of members and experiencing great interest and success particularly at juvenile and junior level. We want to keep that going and holding a vibrant and informative AGM will be important to frame and focus the Club for the year ahead.
We look forward to seeing you on the 15 th February !!
Philip Coffey
Chairman
23rd Jan, 2018
Podium for Katie at nationals!
National indoor pentathlon:
We had one competitor in Athlone IT last Saturday taking part in the national indoor pentathlon championships. Katie Walsh was putting her versatility to the test when she took on the Junior women's event. Indoor pentathlon for junior women differs slightly from the juveniles in small technicalities, but as the saying goes, "the devil is in the detail".
First event of the day was 60 meters hurdles. The difference in adult hurdles from the youths is that the height goes to 2foot 9inches and they are spaced further apart. Katie has put in some good showings in Junior and Senior Munster indoors improving her times with each event. Lining up on the blue tartan of Athlone for the first time alongside some of the countries elites inspired another PB performance. Katie knocked three tenths off her previous best, bringing her within three one hundreds of a sub 10 sec clocking.
A two hour break before her next event ,the high jump. All the women and youth competitors were jumping on one mat together and with over twenty competitors the positioning of marks and warm up to the end of competition took two hours and fifteen minutes. Katie came in at 1:45 meters with the bar going up in increments of 3cm meaning a new PB was on the cards if she could manage to stay in the competition until 1:61. She did just that and cleared it first go and gave 1:64 a fair rattle also. That PB moved her into third place in the overall in the junior competition with a 170 point lead over the fourth placed athlete.
She would potentially need every one of those points as she now moved into her weaker events shot putt and long jump. Having only ever dabbled in the two events as a juvenile she hoped not to haemorrhage too many points to hold onto her podium place. Managing to get in an above her average effort in both events with only three attempts per discipline was good enough for her to hold onto her lead but worryingly it was cut to fifty points.
Down to the last event it went , as it seems to in the majority of cases, the 800 meters.
Needing to not lose by more than five seconds to her closest rival, Katie did much more. Running the third fastest time of the day and setting another PB with a fantastic last 200 meters burst of speed to secure Carraigs first national medal of the year.
Another first for a young woman who's not afraid to challenge herself and push out of her comfort zone. A worthy leader of our growing multi events squad.
Vault Cardiff:
Pole vaulting siblings Emma and Orla Coffey traveled to Cardiff over last weekend to participate in the vault Cardiff open meet. One of three annual events put together by UK athletics to promote pole vaulting the girls have participated in London last year and traveled again this year to help kickstart their seasons. Both girls vaulted close to their bests, were happy with their efforts and most importantly enjoyed their weekend away.
AGM:
Note from the Chairman.
On Thursday 15th of February 2018 at 8 pm at the Community Hall in Carraignavaar.
All adult club members, parents and interested junior members are welcome and urged to attend at this year's AGM. It is a great opportunity for you to see the workings of your athletic's club from the inside, see how the finances work and hear about the successes and hopes and plans for the coming year. It also allows you to have a direct input into the Club and there is always a great welcome for anyone who wants to help out or assist as an officer of the Club.
Clearly the Club is growing in terms of numbers of members and experiencing great interest and success particularly at juvenile and junior level. We want to keep that going and holding a vibrant and informative AGM will be important to frame and focus the Club for the year ahead.
We look forward to seeing you on the 15 th February !!
Philip Coffey
Chairman
Look forward:
Training continues to roll forward despite the best efforts of the winter weather as we prepare for Munster indoors and all Ireland B cross country. Times and locations as always on our Facebook and web page. Some of our teenagers will be stretching their legs this Friday in the south Munster schools cross country, the start of the school XC season.
23rd Jan, 2018
Four out of four at senior indoors:
Off to Nenagh again last Sunday. Four of our track and field athletes took on six different disciplines at Munster senior championships. The temperatures were thankfully higher than the previous weekend making for a more pleasant experience for all.
First into action was Katie Walsh in the 60 meters hurdles. Putting in some racing over the shorter hurdle distance as she prepares for junior all Ireland pentathlon next weekend Katie knocked two tenths off last weekends clocking on her way to taking her first ever senior gold medal.
After a short break Katie was back in the infield area taking part in long jump. Not one of her stronger events, it was all about getting some competitive experience in.
Minutes after completing her six jumps the competitors were called to high jump, her next event.
Jumping on tired legs she was slightly off her best but still did enough to take Silver behind Killarney's Ciara Kennelly who set a new championship record.
In men's 3000 meters Ruairi Myers took on a strong field of eight runners. Clocking a time of 9:33 in his first year as a full senior Ruairi took Bronze for his efforts. A great result from this young man who's constantly improving.
Ciaran Nugent was next on the track tackling his favourite discipline the 400 meters. Drawn in the outside lane in the third heat of three Ciaran had a real flyer inside him, Dan Finnerty in the singlet of home club Nenagh Olympic.
Finnerty hit the afterburners from the gun and was up on Ciarans shoulder well before the stagger had unwound. Through 200 in 25seconds and Ciaran was struggling to hold the Nenagh man until 100 to go and our man started to reel him in. Down the home straight and Ciaran squeezes the last bit of energy out of his legs to get ahead and stop the clock at 53:68. An improvement on last weeks time and good enough for another bronze medal, Ciarans first senior silverware and confirmed his good showing the previous week.
Last competitor of the day for Carraig was Emma Coffey in senior pole vault. Looking for an improvement on last weeks performance Emma did just that, equaling the best jumps of her competitors and taking Silver on count back with three women on 3.15 meters.
So another day of success and firsts for the athletes and club with all four who competed taking medals home.
Performance of the day was Ruairi Myers taking bronze in the 3k men's race. What steady improvements he has made in his junior and under 23 years have turned him into a competitive senior athlete and great role model for our younger members.
Trail running:
Carraig masters athlete Dave O'Riordan continues 2018 where he started last year by competing in the Munster mountain running associations Corrin hill race. Coming in third in his category sets him on his way to a competitive season in the winter league.
Look forward:
Katie Walsh heads to Athlone this Saturday to compete in junior national indoor heptathlon and Pole vaulting sisters Emma and Orla Coffey are heading to Cardiff to take part in an open international Pole vault meet on Sunday. Information on the Cardiff event can be found here http://www.vaultcardiff.co.uk/home/4590910896
Training continues unabated with national B cross country and Munster indoor championships creeping quickly up on us.
Club membership is due and a registration night will be held on Thursday the 18th upstairs in the Gym at 1930hrs.
Juvenile membership is €35, Senior membership costs €40 and includes:
· AAI registration.
· Insurance.
· Entry to AAI championship events.
· Subsidised club gear.
· Group training ,coaching and training advice.
First time registrations (New members) who intend to compete in AAI events will be obliged to purchase a singlet on registration.
€15 for juvenile and €25 for adult sizes.
20th Jan, 2018
Notice of AGM
Notice of AGM for Carraig na Bhfear AC
On Thursday 15th of February 2018 at 8 pm at the Community Hall in Carraignavaar.
All adult club members, parents and interested junior members are welcome and urged to attend at this year's AGM. It is a great opportunity for you to see the workings of your athletic's club from the inside, see how the finances work and hear about the successes and hopes and plans for the coming year. It also allows you to have a direct input into the Club and there is always a great welcome for anyone who wants to help out or assist as an officer of the Club.
Clearly the Club is growing in terms of numbers of members and experiencing great interest and success particularly at juvenile and junior level. We want to keep that going and holding a vibrant and informative AGM will be important to frame and focus the Club for the year ahead.
We look forward to seeing you on the 15 th February !!
Philip Coffey
Chairman
01st Jan, 2018