National Masters Track & Field Championships

Although all roads led to Croke Park on Sunday August 18th, they also led to Tullamore Harriers for the National Masters track and field championships where we had 4 athletes competing at this high level of competition.  Sinead Tynan made her outdoor national debut in the W45 high jump where she got off to a jittery start and failed to clear her first jump. But she gained her composure and cleared every jump until 1m 30cm. On the count back, she narrowly missed out on a silver medal due to her 1st jump. However, a bronze medal is a fantastic result for the hard work and dedication she has put in over the past few months. Congratulations Sinead!  Also making her national debut was Michelle Percy who ran in the W45 800m. The conditions were far from perfect with plenty of showers and a stiff breeze on the first bend. Michelle finished in 6th position in 3:05.61. Well done! Ray Power competed in the M55 100m, 200m and 400m which proved to be quite a competitive age category. He finished 7th in 15.08 in the 100m and 6th in the 200m in 31.82. Both races took place in very wet conditions. Thankfully, the sun had come out for his 400m where he finished 7th. Well done Ray.  Bernadette Spillane ran in the W35 200m where she finished 6th with a pb of 30.34. She also competed in the 400m where she finished in 4th position (time unavailable when sending to print). Well done to all the athletes who participated in these track and field championships. A huge thank you must go to the coaches who have given their time to train, guide and support the athletes.  

Cross Country Training

Training for the forthcoming cross-country season will commence for all athletes from 7 years of age and up who are taking part in the championships this week.  Training will return to the usual Tuesday and Friday nights at 7.30pm.  We hope to see all athletes back in action. 

Lotto

The club had a big winner this week.   Congratulations to Vincent Kiely who was the winner of €1,000.   Many thanks to everyone who has and continues to support the club by being members of the lotto.  This is very much appreciated by the club.

5k Run/Walk

The club are helping to organise a fundraiser for our local defibrillator group in the form of a 5k Run/Walk.  The parish is very lucky to have four defibrillators, two in Moyne and two in Templetuohy, but the upkeep of these machines is very expensive.  Pads and batteries currently need to be replaced.  The 5k Run/Walk will take place on Sunday 1^st September at 12 noon from Moyne Athletic Track.  Entry is €10 with children free.  We hope that all club members will support this event or if you cannot make it on the day all donations will be very much appreciated.  Hopefully, you might never need to use one of the machines, but you never know. 

National Masters Track & Field Championships

Best of luck to our master athletes as they travel to Tullamore on Sunday to take part in the National Masters Track & Field championships.  Competition at this level is very strong but having put in some great training sessions over the past while our athletes will not lack in preparation and hopefully, we might see some success come their way on Sunday.  Taking part are Sinead Tynan (W45) HJ, Michelle Percy (W45) 800mts, Brigid Gleeson (W45) 800mts, Ber Spillane (W35) 200/400mts and Ray Power (M55) 100/200/400mts. 

Community Games

Best of luck to our three athletes, Leona Maher, Alana Spillane and Adam Phelan as they represent Tipperary at the National Finals of the Community Games in Limerick this weekend.  Leona competes in the U/16 100mts while Alana and Adam compete in the 2k cycle on grass. 

Cross Country Training

Training for the forthcoming cross-country season for all athletes aged 11 years and older continues each Monday & Wednesday night at 7.30pm.  We hope to see our athletes attending these sessions and there is also a very warm welcome for new athletes wishing to take part in the cross-country championships. 

Lotto

Congratulations to Ailbe Hayden our Lucky Dip winner of €20 this week.  Many thanks to everyone who has and continues to support the club by being members of the lotto.  This is very much appreciated by the club. 

5k Run/Walk

The club are helping to organise a fundraiser for our local defibrillator group in the form of a 5k Run/Walk.  The parish is very lucky to have four defibrillators, two in Moyne and two in Templetuohy, but the upkeep of these machines is very expensive.  Pads and batteries currently need to be replaced.  The 5k Run/Walk will take place on Sunday 1^st September at 12 noon from Moyne Athletic Track.  Entry is €10 with children free.  We hope that all club members will support this event or if you cannot make it on the day all donations will be very much appreciated.  Hopefully, you might never need to use one of the machines, but you never know. 

What a great Sunday it turned out to be for the club at the final day of the All Ireland Juvenile Track & Field Championships.  One individual gold and one set of silver relay medals were the order of the day from our two club entries – what a 100% return. 

First up on the day was young Sarah McGinley who competed in the Girls U/12 Shot Put.  Her first throw of 5.91mts saw her lead the competition.  A second throw of 6.12mts saw her consolidating that position.  With further throws of 5.99mts and 5.84mts over the four rounds she dominated her opponents with none getting with half a meter of her best throw and she was thus crowned National “B” U/12 Shot Put champion for 2019.  Well done Sarah on your achievement and indeed to Adrian who has been there all the way with her. 

The weather took a turn for the worst in the second half of the day, but the rain and wind did not seem to faze our U/18 Girls Relay team who had faced the same conditions in the Munster Championships in Castleisland earlier in the season.  In these National Championships seven teams from Galway, Tipperary (2), Dublin (2), Mayo and Kilkenny faced the starter with our girls out in lane 7.  What a start Jessie Newman got, flying out of the blocks from the gun.  Running on the bend she kept pace with the other six competitors to hand over to Katie Bergin.  Running down the back straight, into the rain and wind, Katie kept the momentum going with a fantastic display of sprinting to hand off to Rachel Butler.  With the rain and wind side-on for Rachel she kept her form to power around the bend before handing over to Aisling O’Dwyer.  At this stage the stagger had begun to unwind, and Aisling took the baton in third place.  Once into her running she sprinted for home and her determination over the final 50mts saw her claw back her opponent from DSD and with Tipperary’s other entrant, Carrick-on-Suir, hot on her heels, she never relented and crossed the line in second place with a time of 52.69.  Not alone national silver medals but a new club record to boot. 

If there was ever a definition for teamwork, then what we witnessed on Sunday would have all the hallmarks of it.  Slick and precise hand-off of the baton between all four athletes contributed enormously to this excellent result and when you add in all the hours of hard work, commitment and dedication to training put in by these girls you can easily see how much it meant to them.  While being serious about their athletics there is also a lot of fun and enjoyment at sessions and the comraderie shown between them all has contributed much to this success.  Combine this with the coaching abilities of Martin Flynn and you get an unstoppable combination. 

The parents and families of all these young athletes must also be commended.  Without your support to both your children and the club none of this could have happened.  You have kept the show on the road for the past six months or so and anything asked of you has been accepted without question.  It is now time for you to sit back and enjoy a well-earned break. 

Once again congratulations to all four girls and indeed also to the unfortunate Emma Gleeson who was part of the squad but because of injury was unable to participate in the various competitions this year.  Recovery has been slow but there is light at the end of the tunnel for her. 

The final of the National track & field league took place in Tullamore on Saturday and huge congratulations to all on the Tipperary Ladies team on a fantastic result and our own Katie Bergin.  Katie represented the County in the 100mts where she finished fourth in a time of 12.94 sec and in the 4 x 100mts relay which came 3^rd in 50.04.  It was certainly worth the wait for the results, as in a very tight competition which went right down to the very last event, the ladies finished third behind DSD and Galway County.  Again, congratulations to all involved, both on and off the field, in the success. 

The National Masters Track & Field Championships take place in Tullamore on Sunday 18^th August.  Training for this group of athletes is ongoing and again great commitment is being given.  Please bear in mind that the closing date for entries is Wednesday August 7. 

All Ireland Juvenile Track & Field Championships

Katie Bergin, Jack Hickey and Sean Burke were the club representatives at Day 2 & 3 of the All Ireland Juvenile Track and Field Championships held on Saturday and Sunday, July 13 & 14, in Tullamore.  In the Girls U/18 100mts Katie finished 5^th in Heat 2 of the 100mts in a time of 13.32 but despite her best efforts it was not enough to make it through to the final.  However, in her favoured event, the 200mts she ran a cracking race in her heat to finish 3^rd in a time of 27.24 and an automatic qualification for the final.  On an extremely warm day she took her place in that final and produced yet another superb performance to finish 6^th in an even quicker time of 27.11.  Well done Katie.  Jack Hickey entered the 100mts, 200mts and 400mts and again in such competitive surroundings he produced three great performances.  In the 100mts it was a straight final where Jack finished 7^th in a time of 12.03.  In the 400mts he raced in Heat 1 and following a quick race finished 5^th in a time of 55.14 but unfortunately did not proceed to the final – missing out by just .15 of a second.  His 200mts event was also a straight final with eight athletes in contention and Jack powered around the track to finish an excellent 5^th overall in a time of 24.33.  Great running Jack.  Our final athlete at these championships was Sean Burke who participated in the U/19 400mts and was listed in Heat 2 of the event.  Having the advantage of seeing the times from the first heat, the athletes involved raced very strongly and resulted in the top five qualifying for the final but unfortunately for Sean he was the sixth man over the line in 57.43 to end his competition.  Well done Sean on a terrific race.  It takes a fantastic effort to make these championship finals and all three athletes should be very proud of their achievements.

Another year down and another great occasion.  Blessed with a lovely evening, following the earlier downpours, the club pulled out all the stops to produce another top-class track & field competition.  Athletes travelled from all corners of the Country to participate and each one to a man/woman was so delighted with how the event was organised and ran.  Everything went like clockwork so much so that our final event of the night commenced ahead of schedule.  A huge word of thanks must go to all those who put in so many hours of preparation beforehand, those who helped to clean up and set up the track, those who stewarded on the night, those who provided refreshments and those who manned the kitchen and served up the fantastic food to all the athletes and spectators.  To all our officials, our starter, timer and pa, thanks for a great job, it really meant a lot to the club for your support and assistance.  In fact, a special word of thanks to everyone on the night for your help and support in whatever capacity this was. 

We had several club athletes participating on the night and great credit is due to them for their fantastic performances.  Our first athletes to take part were Aaron Moore and Adam Phelan and both gave a great display of running in the U/14 600mts with Aaron timed at 1.53.09 and Adam 1.59.89.  Then followed the U/12 relays and what support these young athletes got on the night – a great response to their dedication over the past few weeks.  The Girls team of Roisin Wall, Eleanor Doyle, Alanna Spillane, Niamh Cleere and Ruth Phelan came home the victors with a time of 1.06.85 while the Boys team of Max Doyle, Joey Doyle, Mark Campion and Denis Brolan raced to 1.09.56 in their event.  In the Master Ladies 400mts Ber Spillane finished third in a new pb of 68.71 while Katie Bergin and Aisling O’Dwyer finished first and third in the Junior Ladies 200mts in 27.04 and 28.57 respectively.  Jack Hickey and Sean Burke took part in the Junior Mens 200mts to finish second and third in 24.14 and 25.30.  In the Senior Ladies Mile Sharon Cantwell finished fourth in 6.15.98 while in the Men’s “B” Mile Dylan McLoughlin finished 7^th in 4.52.50 and Nathan Bowe 10^th in 5.09.29.  Lorraine Healy and Louise Fogarty were participants in the Ladies 800mts and finished fourth and fifth in 2.28.87 and 2.31.37.  In the field events Leona Maher had a pb in the Long Jump with a leap of 4.62mts while Ned Dwyer finished second in the Men’s Weight for Distance throwing 5.28mts with Naomi Morrissey third in the Ladies equivalent with a throw of 4.67mts.  The club also had senior ladies and men relay teams with the team of Jessie Newman, Katie Bergin, Rachel Butler and Aisling O’Dwyer claiming victory in 53.04 while the team of Louise Hickey, Ber Spillane, Aoife O’Dwyer and Leona Maher finished third in 55.46.  The mens team also claimed victory in 49.00 with a combination of Sean Burke, Dylan McLoughlin, Nathan Bowe and Jack Hickey.  Once again well done to all our athletes.  You did the club proud and kept the green and gold singlets to the fore. 

For the third week in a row our athletes will again be travelling to Tullamore for more National Track & Field Championships.  This time we have Sarah McGinley taking part in the Girls U/12 Shot Putt and Katie Bergin, Rachel Butler, Jessie Newman, Aisling O’Dwyer and Emma Gleeson competing in the Girls U/18 relay championship.  We wish all the athletes the very best of luck. 

Congratulations to this week’s winner Michael Moriarty and Rosie Cleere.  Many thanks to everyone being part of the club lotto.  Fundraising is not easy, but the club really appreciates all your support. 

Wednesday July 10 saw the second running of an open track and field competition by Moyne Athletic Club and in much the same vein as last year’s “70^th Anniversary Games” the 2019 edition launched as the “Summer Games” proved to be a tremendous success and was a hit with athletes and spectators alike.

Club athletes, Tipperary athletes and athletes from Dublin, Kildare, Down, Kerry, Cork, London, Limerick, Galway and Clare made it a truly remarkable night of athletics.  Whilst the records for the two main events, ladies 800mts and mens mile were not broken, there was three other meet records set while some individual athletes set new pb’s for their own events.  What more could be expected from a “meet” that is still in its infancy, though by the reaction of the athletes themselves, this is one event that is getting the “thumbs up” and don’t be surprised to see several more seasoned track and field athletes participating next year.

With over 60 athletes participating, from juvenile to master, there was some great competition on show for the spectators who really got behind the athletes and drove them on, particularly down the home straight.  From the moment the games began to the last race everything went according to plan so hat’s off to everyone involved. Continue reading →