All Ireland Gold for Sophie Beresford
It was an early start for the Beresford family as the hit the road to Tullamore at 6.30 last Sunday morning to ensure they would be in plenty of time for the 123.ie All Ireland Championships and it was well worth the trip as Sophie claimed her first outdoor All Ireland title. The race walkers were first on the track and it is great to see how the numbers competing and the standard of racewalking has improved over the last few years. First in action was Eabha Hickey in the girls under 17. Eabha Walked steadily over the 3000m distance to finish 5th in 19.03 which was 24 seconds faster than her performance in Munster. Next up was Doireann Hickey in the girls under 19. This was Doireann’s last performance as a juvenile and she finished in 6th place in 17.38 which was ten seconds better than her performance in Munster.
In the girls under 15 walk Sophie Beresford shot into the lead as soon as the gun went off. She has trained solidly all year so you knew she would be able to sustain this effort for the 2000m. She was being chased all the way by last year’s winner Amy Walsh. Despite her best efforts Amy could not close the gap and Sophie crossed the line in 10.18.18 to claim the gold medal. This was a new personal best for Sophie, twelve seconds faster than her winning time in Munster and almost a minute ahead of the time she posted last year when finishing second in the under 14 girls event.
Personal Best for Ava Kiely in Under 14 Discus
It is always a good feeling to come away from the last competition of the year with a personal best performance and Ava Kiely wasn’t found wanting in her first All Ireland Championships. Ava had only two competitions before Sunday’s All Ireland. In the county championships she threw 17m and in the Munster championships she improved to 22m66 and took second place to qualify for the All Ireland. On Sunday she improved that on three occasions throwin 24m12 to finish in 4th place and just 7cms shy of the bronze medal and with the 5th placed athlete just 2cms further back. Eabha also finished as the first Munster athlete in the competition.
It wasn’t the best of Days for Michalina Goclik as she was off her personal best in the shot and missed out on qualifying for the final eight and three more throws. It has been a very rewarding if long season for Michaline she competed in 18 different competition, which saw her improve her distance in the shot by 3m and her discus by 5m as she won the Munster under 16 discus and finished 3rd in the All Ireland.
Personal Best for Naoise MacMhurchadha in under 18 3000m
In one of the final competitions of the day West Waterfords Naoise MacMhurchadha toed the line in the boys under 18 3000m. From the start this was a very fast paced and competitive race. Naoise hung in with the leading pace for the first few laps but after 4 laps the leaders began to pull away. Naoise stuck in there and ground out the last few laps to finish in 11th place with a time of 9.33 which was 12 seconds faster than his previous best. Naoise returns to Tullamore next Saturday to compete in the boys under 18 1500m.
Well done to all the athletes who represented the club over the two days of the All Ireland Championships and competed with determination passion and pride in the jersey.
Family Fun Day in Conna Saturday August 3rd
St Catherine’s AC are hosting a family fun day and Inter club challeng for under 9 to 14 athletes with sprints, middle distance run, long jump and turbo javelin for all ages and a little athletics jamboree for ages 5 to 8. This should be a fun day out for everyone.
