| Saturday saw our junior sprinters travel to Nenagh for the National indoor juniors and there were some speedy performances indeed from all who travelled. Craig Maher, Connor Wilson, Aran Meyler and Chris Burke were all unlucky not to make the final of the 60m having finished just outside the top 8 qualifiers, but were to have better luck in the 200m where Meyler and Wilson made the "b" final where Meyler took second spot with a personal best to boot. There were also best times for Burke in the 60 and 200 who like all our sprinters has improved in leaps and bounds this season due to his hard work and commitment to training. There will be plenty more to follow from these young athletes this season.
Sunday saw David Hynes and Barry Upton compete in the Senior AAI games and there was again some impressive running from Hynes, who was making a return to competitve action after a year out to finish his exams. Hynes was immediately back in the mix with his first run over 60m where he ran his fastest ever opener of 7.06 coming in with the same time as the national indoor 200m champion from last year, Christopeher Russell. These two provided one of the most exciting indoor 200m races for a long while approximately an hour later when Hynes seemed to have blowen Russell out of the water with his first 150m but Russell showed through grit and determination to pull Hynes back on the line in an impressive 22.35 to Hynes 22.62. The national seniors in 3 weeks in Belfast is set up for an almighty head to head between these top 200m athletes.
Barry Upton was an outright winner in his 400m race coming in 40m ahead of the field in a solid 52.02. There will be alot more to come from this athlete over the coming indoor season and all eyes will turn to Nenagh again next Sunday where Upton and Hynes will hopefully help Menapians secure National titles in the Senior Relays.
The u10 team of Arron Smith, Ryan Furlong, Darragh Nolan and Conal Clancy took home a gold medal in great style.Darragh Nolan ,running in his first race for Menapians , ran a great leg, and looks a very talented athlete indeed. All 4 runners looked very strong and should do very well coming into the new Track and Field season.
The u12 team of Conor Kilgannon, David Macdonald, and Sam and Luke O Neill also won gold. This team are well used to winning relays and are the current National Champions over 4x100m. The cross country relay distance was 4x250m which was a lot further than what the boys are used to, but still wasnt a problem. well done to both teams.
Indoor training resumed last week for all juveniles and once again there was huge numbers in attendance. The club now has a total of 16 coaches who are at every session ,so all the young athletes are well looked after and thought the different events of the sport in a very safe envirnoment. Anyone interested in joining Menapians should contact Ann on 9146210 or Shane on 0879955505. |
