| Saturday saw our sprint squad travel back to Nenagh to take part in the National Indoor Relays and there was plenty to cheer about as Menapians had two teams qualify from the heats to the final of the 4 X 200m relay. David Hynes just ran out of track on the last leg as he chased down a determined Leevale athlete who just hung on to secure gold for the Cork club with Menapians taking silver and bronze behind them. This is a fantastic result when you consider we had such a young team out on the day and team coach Shane McCormack was delighted with the performances. The athletes who took part in the final were David Hynes, Chris Burke, Ross O'Loughlin, Adrian Jackman, Connor Wilson, Aaron Meyler, Barry Upton, Ger McGahy and Craig Maher. Meyler and Maher then went on to take two bronze medals in the Long Jump relay to add the clubs earlier haul of 8 national medals to bring the tally to an impressive 10. Well done to all these athletes and best of luck in the coming competitions. Congratulations also goes to 4 of these athletes who have been selected to represent Leinster at u17 and u20 level in Scotland in 3 weeks, the athletes are Aaron Meyler, Chris Burke, Craig Maher and Connor Wilson.
Sunday saw Greg Fitzgerald compete in the National Indoor Masters where he was looking to win the 400m title for a third consecutive year. Despite leaving it until the last 50m to go to the front Greg won with considerable ease and showed he has only got stronger since taking up the event 3 years ago. Greg now remains unbeaten in Master competition both indoor and outdoor in Ireland over the 400m and this is an incredible acheivement.
Menapians have also this week started up a Milers Club.This is a series of 1 mile races throughout 2010 on the track in Rosslare. These races will be run on a monthly basis, where the athlete will be given a time for each race. Each athlete will then be given a training programme and hopefully will improve their time in each race. Friday last saw the first of these races , there was a big turnout and there was some very good times recorded. Already the athletes are looking forward to the next race ,which will take place in February.You dont have to be an elite athlete to take part in these races,anyone can come down and set themselves a realistic target time. Anyone interested should contact Jimmy O Neill who is the coach and co-ordinator for this event at 053 9146210. |
