Major Club Success at Munster Juvenile Track & Field 2023

Saturday June 10th was the first day of the Munster Juvenile Track and Field and the club saw 15 athletes take to the track in Castleisland, Co. Kerry. On what was a warm day, with huge numbers of competitors in each event, athletes did themselves proud in their performance across seven disciplines.

The day got off to an excellent start as Gerard Delaney cleared 1.44m, setting a new PB in the boys U13 high jump to claim Munster Gold. This was a tough competition, and an excellent performance, Gerard will now go on to represent the club at the National Track and Field Championships.

Meanwhile, across the track, Aoibhinn Phelan was taking part in the U9 girl’s turbo javelin. This was a new event for Aoibhinn and she threw 5.44m, well done Aoibhinn!

Despite a broken arm, Isabelle Murphy lined out in the U13 girls javelin. She threw 16.76m in her second throw to make it through to the final 8, in 8th position. As she went through her final three throws she improved consistently, throwing a huge 24.39m in her last throw, and claiming a bronze medal. It is wonderful to see club athletes having such great success in these challenging field disciplines.

On the track, Annie Ely was the first athlete to toe the line in the girls U10 500m. The race got off to a tough start as they were called back to the line for a restart. Following this it was a quick race, and Annie fought hard to finish in a time of 1.59.13.

Next, it was the turn of the sprinters, with the girls U9 and U10 covering a distance of 60m. This was a timed event, with no semi-finals or finals. The U9 girls went first, in a race that contained 9 heats, Aoibhinn Phelan went in heat 3 with a time of 13.02s, Daisy Lyons in heat 4 (11.65s), Orla Campion in heat 5 (11.52s) and Aoibheann Doyle in heat 6 (10.60s). The U10 girls were then called from their long jump to their 60m, with three athletes lining out in the 10 heats. Lily Murphy (9.97s), Meadhbh Hall (10.06s) and Orla Costigan (10.41s) were challenged in a very fast race. After a long wait, the results of the paired competition revealed Lily and Meadhbh placed 2nd overall, and have qualified for the children’s games.

At the same time, long jump competitions were in full swing. In the U9 girls, Aoibheann Doyle broke the three metre mark with an opening jump of 3.03m. Daisy Lyons followed up with a jump of 2.82m and Orla Campion with 2.67m.  As the track and field events finished at the end of the day, Aoibheann and Daisy were announced as the bronze medal winners in the girls U9 paired competition and will represent the club at the children’s games on July 1st. In the U10 girls Long Jump, four athletes took part in a field of 58.  Meadhbh Hall (3.31m), Órlaith Costigan (3.20m), Lily Murphy (3.10m) and Annie Ely (2.89m).

Back on the track, the girls U12 competed in a very tough field in the 60m. Faye Murphy (9.38s) finished second in her heat, narrowly missing out on a place in the semi-final. Saoirse Joyce (9.89s), finished 4th in a very fast heat 2. Faye stepped up the plate again to compete in the U12 girls shot putt with a throw of 5.90m.

The last events on the track were the relays which kicked off with the girls U9 team of Orla, Daisy, Aoibhinn and Aoibheann. After a long wait, the girls finished in a great time of 1m16s. Next up were the girls U13 team of Abbie Delaney, Isabelle Murphy, Helen Renehan and Faye Murphy with subs Muireann Casey and Caoimhe Slevin. This was a tough race, and the girls ran excellently to clock a sub minute time of 59.20s. Finally the U10 girls took to the track. Meadhbh Hall, Annie Ely, Órlaith Costigan and Lily Murphy ran in heat 2, finishing in a time of 1.05.82. They anxiously waited for the final heat to cross the line, before celebrating a silver medal in the event and a place at the national relay championships.

Day two of the Munster Championships for Moyne AC juveniles and it was another day to remember.

In the Under 9 events, there was great success for the U9 Moyne AC boys.

In the 300m, Tom O’Shea broke the one minute barrier to finish 8^th in his heat in a time of 59.89. Noah Ryan ran a stormer to finish 3^rd in his heat in a time of 58.31 and Tom Esmonde powered home in his heat to finish second in a time of 56.14. On top of that Tom Esmonde and Noah Ryan finished second in the team event to win silver in the Boys U9 300m and qualify for the all-Ireland.

In the Boys U9 Sprint, Moyne AC were represented Tom O’Shea who finished 5^th in his heat in a time of 11.06 seconds and Aaron Hanrahan also finished 5^th in his heat in a time of 11.01 seconds – two fantastic performances from these young athletes. The pair finished 11^th overall in the team event.

Tom Esmonde also put in a fantastic performance in the U9 Turbo Javelin.

To round off a fantastic day for the U9 boys. The team of Aaron Hanrahan, Tom O’Shea, Noah Ryan and Tom Esmonde finished 3^rd overall for a bronze medal and qualified for the all-Ireland. Their time was 1:10:05, a PB for the team and over two seconds of an improvement on their county winning time.

In the U10 boys, Moyne had one competitor in Darragh Joyce and what performances he had. He finished 5^th in his heat in the 500m in an excellent time of 1:42:46. He followed this up with 5^th in his heat in the 60m sprint in a time of 10.55 seconds – well done Darragh.

Moyne AC were well represented in the boys U11 events. In the Turbo Javelin, Daniel Delaney threw 14.29m to finish 17^th overall, Zach Ryan threw 13.78m to finish 19^th overall and Matthew Esmonde finished 22^nd overall with a throw of 11.59m. The boys finished 7^th overall in the team event. Well done to the three boys.

In the Boys U11 600m, Moyne AC once again put in strong performances with Tom Renehan delivering a great time of 2:13:8 and Darragh Maher crossing the line in 2:16:2. Together the boys finished 13^th overall in the team event.

In the Boys U11 sprint, Daniel Delaney crossed the line in 10.08 to finish 6^th in his heat; Geoffrey Morrisey also finished 6^th in his heat in a time of 10.19 and Tom Renehan was 7^th in his heat in a time of 10.30 – three great times by the boys, well done. The boys finished 13^th overall in the team event.

In the boys U11 long jump, Zach Ryan put in a great jumping performance. So too did Geoffrey Morrisey jumping 3.10m and Darragh Maher jumping 3.02m, meaning the boys finished 14^th overall in the team event, a great performance.

In the boys U11 relay, the team of Geoffrey Morrisey, Matthew Esmonde, Daniel Delaney and Darragh Maher finished 5^th in their heat and 13^th overall in what was a very competitive field.  Their time was 1:06:89 and they continue to show great potential in this event.

In boys U13 60m hurdles, Moyne AC was represented by Gerard Delaney who finished second in his heat in a time of 10.98 seconds and he went on to deliver a new PB of 10.82 seconds to finish 5^th in the final. Gerard continued his good run at the Munsters where he threw a new PB of 26.16m in the Javelin to secure silver and his place in the national championships.

The girls were also in action today in U12 and U13. In the U12 Turbo Javelin, Moyne AC was represented by Faye Murphy who threw a fantastic 16.27m, a PB for Faye and she finished 8^th overall.

In the girls U13 high jump, Helen Renehan put in a great performance to clear 1m20, a PB for Helen and she finished 13^th overall. Caoimhe Slevin cleared 1m10 to finish 15^th overall – well done to both girls.

In the girls U13 600m, Moyne was represented by Caoimhe Slevin who stormed home to finish an excellent 6^th in her heat in a time of 2:03:81 – a fantastic performance by Caoimhe.

Finally, we had the girls U13 sprints and another three strong performances for our county sprint stars, Isabelle Murphy, Abbie Delaney and Helen Renehan all delivered sub 13 second times – very strong performances all round. These three girls alongside Faye Murphy also delivered a PB in the U13 girls relay. The team will go on to represent the club in the national championships.

With an individual silver medal winner, a team silver and a relay team bronze, it was a wonderful day for Moyne AC and all these medal winners will now get the opportunity to represent their club and province in the all-Ireland national Track & Field Championships in Tullamore in July.

Over the two days, Moyne AC secured an unbelievable 18 medals at the Munster Championships 2023, a huge thanks to all the athletes, coaches and parents for all their hard work and commitment, it is a weekend the club will remember for a long time.