First All Ireland Medal for Michalina Goclik
All roads led to Tullamore last Sunday for Day 1 of the 123.ie National Championships. Having qualified through their provincial championships the biggest and brightest stars of juvenile athletics were on show in Tullamore.West Waterford had 5 athletes in action two on the track and three in the throwing events.
In the under 16 Discus Michalina Goclik had an up and down competition. In the early rounds where competitors have three throws she threw two out of the sector but her second effort of 24m 27 was enough to get her into the final eight where she would have three more throws. Going into the final round Michalina was in 5th place but she pulled out all the stops on her last throw and the discus was measured at 28m39 almost two and a half metres further than her personal best and enough to put her in the bronze medal position.
Saoirse Quinn in the girls under 19 was also having difficulty keeping the discus in the sector but did enough in the initial stages of the competition to make the final eight. Her fifth round throw looked like it would put her in 3rd place but the official judged she had touched the rim of the circle and it wasn’t measured. She gave it all in her final throw which looked around the 30m mark but unfortunately it was wide of the sector and Saoirse finished off her juvenile competition in 4th place.
In his first All Ireland Mario Zakis threw 23.02 in round two which was just 5cms shy of his best throw. He just missed the cut by 20cms for the final 8 but finished as the 3rd Munster athlete which was an improvement on his 4th place in Munster. This was only Mario’s second competition ever with the javelin and we look forward to big improvements from him in the coming years.
Tough Competition on the Track
There were some great battles on the track in both the sprint hurdles and 800m events. The 800m races are always tough at this level as the provincial championships are very competitive. Isabelle Gaffney was first in action and after 200m it was clear that Isabelle was not on form. She struggled in a race she would normally have no difficulty qualifying from and showed the toll a bug picked up during the week can have on a performance at this level.
Noah Commins was next up in the boys under 16 800m having qualified 4th in Munster it was always going to be a tough ask to get into the top half the race but Noah went at it from the start stuck with the pace and finished well in 7th place and had the satisfaction of being the second Munster man home on the day.
123.ie All Ireland Day2 Tullamore June 21st
Day 2 of the championships will be held on Sunday July 21st again in Tullamore. West Waterford will have 7 athletes in action
Ava Kiely under 14 Discus
Sophie Beresford under 15 Walk
Michalina Goclik under 16 Shot
Eabha Hickey under 18 Walk
Naoise Mac Mhurchadha under 18 3000m
Doireann Hickey under 19 Walk
Dubhalta Mac Mhurchadha under 19 3000m
The timetable for the 21st is on the Athletics Ireland website on the fixtures page.
