All Ireland Titles for Kate Hickey and Kate Veale
The Kit Kat All Ireland Schools Championships were held in Tullamore over the June ban holiday weekend. This event featured the best young athletes in the country with the top three in each province qualifying for the All Ireland finals. West Waterford athletes competed for their schools on the track in the jumping and throwing events. One of the first in action was Kate Veale representing St Augustines in the junior walk. Once again Kate demonstrated her potential in this event with a flawless performance that earned her a gold medal in a record time of 5m 27.27 beating the previous record by 17secs. Later in the afternoon Kate finished 4th in the junior 1500m in a time of 5m 01.28
Kate Hickey (St. Declans) is another West Waterford athlete who has made a huge improvement this season. In the Munster schools Kate threw over 30m for the first time to take second place. At the All Ireland she again improved her performance throwing 33m 44cms in the junior girls discus to win her first All Ireland title and relegating the Munster champion to second place.
Three Pole Vault Titles for Houlihan Family
In the intermediate boys Thomas Houlihan retained his Pole Vault title with a jump of 3m 70cms. His sister Lisa continued the family tradition with a win in the intermediate girls with a jump of 2m 60cms while the youngest of the trio Laurence won the junior boys with a jump of 2m 70cms. All three were competing for St Augustines. Aisling Fennell won the senior girls event with a jump of 2m 20cms.
Silver for Zoe Scanlon and Katie Laffen
In the intermediate girls discus Zoe Scanlan of the Ard Scoil threw a personal best of 33m 18cms to win the silver medal while Katie Laffen (St Augustines) took silver in the junior girls pole vault with a jump of 2m 10cms. Leann Herlihy finished 4th in the same event with a jump of 2m 00.
Claire Collins (Ard Scoil) had an early start with the intermediate high jump getting under way at 9.00a.m. She jumped 1m 50cms to equal her personal best.
Lisa Houlihan finished 6th in the intermediate triple jump with 10m 38 and Anna Fennell won a bronze medal in the intermediate pole vault with a jump of 2m 20cms. Meg Fitzgerald (St. Augustines) threw 28m 34cms in the intermediate hammer to finish in 5th position. There were also 5th place finishes for Rory Moloney in the senior boys 500m in a time of 16m 08.24 and Joe Conway of St. Augustines in the intermediate walk in a time of 10m 13.09.
Justin Campbell had his first taste of competition at this level and finished 4th in the junior boys hammer with a throw of 34m 18. Rebecca Maher and Clodagh Gallagher Ardscoil were competing gor the first time at All Ireland level and finished 9th and 10th in the mile under 16. Jim Curran C.B.S. competed in the intermediate steeplechase and Brandon Barry made it into the final of the junior boys triple jump.
Munster under 10 – 14 Championships
Last weekend the 10 –14 Munster Championships were held in Templemore. The girls were in action on Saturday on one of the warmest days this year and the boys competed in much cooler conditions on Sunday. The standard of competition was very high and though only one medal was won by Kate Hickey in the under 14 javelin there were many personal best performances. Kate also threw a personal best of 10m56 to finish 4th in the shot and qualify for the All Ireland. Stephen Mc Mahon made a return to the track this season and finished 4th in the under 14 boys shot to also qualify for the All Ireland. Caoimhe Dwyer had a new personal best of 3m 33 in the long jump under 10 and Sarah Morrissey also passed 3m for the first time. Caoimhe and Rachel Wyley had a great run in the 300m to finish in 5th place where just one second separated 3rd 4th and 5th places. Lorna Cummins had a very good run in the 500m but was just caught over the last 200m. Lucy O’ Brien improved her times in both the 800m and 1500m knocking 12 secs off her time in the 1500m. Full results next week.
Club Championships Next Wednesday
The first round of the club championships will take place on Wed next June 11th. The first event for each age group will be the sprint. On Friday night we continue with the long jump for girls and the ball throw for boys up to under 11 and the shot for the older boys. Wed 18th will see all ages competing in the distance race and we will conclude on Friday 20th with the boys long jump and the ball throw or shot for girls. The presentation of prizes will take place on Wed 25th.
Tailteann Games
The following athletes have been selected to compete on the Munster Schools team for the Tailteann Games:
Claire Collins –High Jump
Lisa Houlihan – Triple Jump and Pole Vault
Anna Fennell – Pole Vault
Zoe Scanlon – Discus
Meg Fitzgerald – Hammer
Patrick Palmer – Triple Jump and Pole Vault
Thomas Houlihan – Pole Vault
Michael Devine – Pole Vault
