The trip to Leiria to compete in the European Junior Club Track & Field was a fantastic experience for athletes and officials alike.
After traveling on Thursday and having light training sessions in the stadium on Thursday and Friday, the real action kicked off early on Saturday. A rousing rendition of the “Fields Of Athenry” by the team as part of the opening ceremony got the adrenaline flowing before the competition even started.
Laura McSweeney who was the Captain of the womens team led by example in the field events with a 1st place in the Shot Putt and a 3rd place in the Hammer. Fiona Everard had a storming race in the 800m when she took the pace out early, she paid the price in the 2nd lap but came back strongly to finish 4th and then followed that up later with another great run in the 3000m when she finished 3rd. Fiona Duggan was 4th in the Discus, Ella Nicholson was 5th in the Long Jump and also placed 6th in the 100m sprint. Emma Young had a new Personal Best in the High Jump and finished in 6th place. Sinead Caulfield (7th 1500m, 7th 400m), Helena Murphy (7th Pole Vault) Aisling Kelly (8th 400m Hurdles), Erin Kingston (8th 200m, 8th Javelin) while in the relays the 4x100m team (Erin, Ella, Helena, Sinead) was 8th and the 4x400m team (Emma, Aisling Everad, Aisling Kelly, Fiona Everard) was 8th.
In the Men’s events Scott Gibson had a fantastic win in the 400m race and was also back in the action later to run a great leg of the mens’ 4x100m relay and then the final leg of the 4x400m relay. Davide Mazzali was 4th in the Pole Vault. James French was 5th in the Shot Put. Promise Okafor was 6th in the Long Jump and also placed 5th in the Triple Jump. In the SteepleChase Thomas McCarthy ran a great race to finish in 3rd place, and also placed 6th in the 800m.Gerard Crowley was 5th in the 3000m, Men’s Captain Colin Kington was 6th in the Discus and also took part in the Javelin where he finished in 8th place. Daniel Hathaway was 7th in the 200m, Jake Inglis was 7th in the 1500m, Daniel O’Sullivan was 7th in the High Jump, Christopher Anaba (7th 110m Hurdles), Gavin Hicks (8th Hammer) Franck Djiosta (7th 400m Hurdles) Mathew Draper was an unfortunate victim of the one false start rule and was disqualified from the 100m sprint
In the relays the Men’s team of Scott, Mathew Draper, Daniel Hathaway and Christopher had a great race to finish in 3rd place in the 4x100m while in the 4x400m the team of Promise, Jake, Davide and Scott finished in 7th place. Fiacra Harrington who traveled as sub wasn’t called into action but was one of the busiest athletes on the day as he like the rest of the athletes cheered on and encouraged the other team members.
At the end of the day when all the points were added up, the boys team finished in 7th place and the girls team finished in 8th place, with both teams within touching distance of the teams ahead of them they really gave a great overall performance and should be well proud!
Well done to all the athletes involved, some of whom undertook events which they would not normally be competing in just to help the team. Well done also to the coaches and officials who got them there and back safely and the many people who helped in the fundraising which was done to support the trip and to all the sponsors who assisted in particular Bandon Credit Union and Siemens.
A small selection of the many photos taken on the trip are here, many more to follow