2 National Silvers for Saragh

The pinnacle of the National Track and Field Season took place over the weekend with the
National Track and Field Championships taking place in Santry. The club had strong
representation throughout the weekend across a range of events. Events were split
between Saturday and Sunday with many track heats taking place on Saturday but the field
events had plenty of medals on offer. In the jumping pit, Saragh Buggy put together 2
consistent jumps to claim a silver medal in the Ladies Triple Jump. Saragh broke with her
first attempt, but settled herself down for round 2 when the leap measured 12.54m. In her
next jump she went further again, reaching 12.74m, the mark which won her a silver medal
behind Daphni Douplatais of Raheny Shamrock A.C. Saragh’s teammate Katie Baldwin
jumped 10.41m which was good enough for 6th place. On the track Maisy O Sullivan safely
navigated her way into the Senior Women’s 800m final when she finished 2nd in the Heat 2.
In the Senior Women’s 1500m Emily O’ Shea also qualified for the final when she finished 4th
in Heat 2. Rachel Ayers gained great experience when running in Heat1 of the Senior
Women’s 1500m where she finished 11th . In the Senior Men’s 1500m Cian Kelly made the
early running in the Heat 2, but eventually had to settle for 9th place in a time of 4 minutes.
Niall Harvey finished in 12th in the same race in a time of 4:16.
Day 2 saw a bumper crowd in Santry with many of last years Olympians on show across the
day. In the first race of the day Cheryl Nolan battled all the way to the line to finish 5th in the
Women’s 5000m. An early pack of 3 broke away from the field, with Cheryl heading up the
chasing group almost all the way only to be passed in the final few metres. Nonetheless
Cheryl ran a new PB of 16:13. Also on the track, Emily O’Shea finished in 8th place in the final
of the Women’s 1500m. Emily was positioned well throughout and will earn great
experience from this final. The final athlete in action on the track was Maisy O’Sullivan in
the Women’s 800m. Maisy has made good progress throughout the year on the track and
finished in a time of 2:08 which was good enough for 8th place. In the field events, Ger Kelly
was in action in the Senior Men’s Hammer and Weight for Distance. In the Hammer Ger
came 10th place with a best throw of 43.09m while his best in the Weight for Distance went
out to 5.69m. Aoibhinn McDonald finished 6th in the Senior Women’s Pole Vault with a best
vault of 2.80m. Saragh Buggy was the final athlete in action for the club when she took silver
in the Senior Women’s Long Jump. Saragh had a very consistent set of jumps ranging from
5.78 in the first round, 5.88 in the 2nd round and her medal winning jump of 5.96m in round
4. The competition was won by Lauren Callaghan of Finn Valley with a jump of 6.24m. A
huge well done to all who took part over the weekend, representing the club with great
pride throughout the competition. Well done also to their coaches and families who support
these athletes throughout the year in preparing for these events. It was also great to see
huge numbers of our juvenile athletes up supporting the senior athletes and also getting to
see their heroes in action.