News
July 1st
Just a reminder that we’ll be holding the McDonald’s Little Athletics Jamboree on Sunday coinciding with the County Championships. The Championships start at 12.00 at the track at Newbridge. We’ll be holding the Jamboree there for the 5-9 year olds who are too young to participate in the championships. Please feel free to bring the little ones along and we’ll ensure they get to participate in the days events.
Regards,
Pat Ryan
Director of Development
Athletics Ireland
Mobile 087 262131
E-Mail patryan@athleticsireland.ie
January 10th
Leinster Star Awards 9th Jan. 2011 at the 7 Oaks Hotel Carlow
Congratulations to the Kildare athletes who received star awards for the top female and male juvenile athlete and the top senior athlete in the county. Rachael Smyth St.Coca’s A.C and Michael Kenny Kildare A.C won the juvenile award and Sandra Lawlor Celbridge A.C. won the senior award. We wish them continued success in the years ahead. The athletes were well supported by their families and club members at the ceremony. Carmel Kelly and Gerry Robinson showed they are not only talented coaches but also accomplished movers and shakers. They were the first on the dance floor each time and shimmied the night away. Well done to the Leinster Committee for a superbly organized event.
Outstanding Service award
Congratulations also to Paddy Doyle Crookstown Millview A.C. who received the award for outstanding service to Athletics. Paddy has been involved in athletics since the late 40’s as an athlete, coach and administrator in his club .Through the years he has remained enthusiastic and committed to his sport. Paddy was accompanied on the night by his proud wife June, family and grandchildren. He celebrates his 86th birthday next March. We wish him many more years of good health and contentment.
January 4th
The AGM of Athletics Leinster will be held in Newbridge AC Clubrooms on Thursday the 17th of February 2011 at 8.00pm sharp.Please find attached Nominations Form (Click above), which along with all Motions should be forwarded to myself before Monday the 24th of January 2011 in order to facilitate the timely dissemination to all County Boards in advance of the AGM. Motions received after this date will not be accepted for consideration.
Motions being put forward for this AGM will be considered by a Standing Orders Committee convened for such purpose, in advance of the AGM.
Can I please press upon each County Board the importance of this AGM and encourage as many Nominations and Motions as we look to put together our Team for 2011 and promote and develop Athletics within our province.
All Nominations and Motions to Martin J Heery at:Hammondstown, Castlepollard, Co. Westmeathor
mjheery@yahoo.com
December 23rd
Seasonal Greetings from Raheny Shamrock AC. A reminder that the 2011 AXA Raheny 5 road race takes place on Sunday, January 30 at 3pm. On line entries now open at www.rahenyshamrock.com. Entry fee is €20. Looking forward to seeing you on January 30.
August 15th
Back in early June when I received the news that Kildare Athletics had been sent to Antrim for round 1 of the National Track and Field League, I had just composed an email to the league co-ordinator to say that we would not be able to make up a team when I stopped myself and said I would leave the decision to the athletes…..I texted all of the eligible team members and left it to them….. What happened next was a journey which brought us to NATIONAL SENIOR TRACK AND FIELD medals. From a small group of 8 athletes who travelled to Antrim to a bigger squad who made the shorter journey to Santry our team went into the League final today lying in 6th place but with a belief that we could make it big. When all the events were completed and the points tallied Kildare finished on 105 points winning Silver medals and gaining promotion to the Premier division next year – in fact our team were only 2 points behind the winners Galway county.
The day started out with the 100m hurdles and Sinead Lawlor took to her marks in place of her sister Sandra who had to withdraw during the week with a foot injury. Sinead led all the way just clipping the final hurdle to finish 2nd and gave the team a great start with 7 points. Sarah Bourke was in action in the 1500m walk and finished a solid 4th place and Cera Nolan had another fine run in the 400m hurdles to take 4th place. Meanwhile Fiona Hill was in action in the Long Jump and just after the competition started I got a call from her Dad to say that she had pulled her hamstring but was lying third! She did not take any more jumps and went to have it looked at – and was awarded 4th place as another athlete jumped the same as herself but was given 3rd on countback. The relay was up next and we took the decision to rest Fiona and Rachael Smyth took her place….and what a relay. Niamh Field got the team off the a great start, passed over to Fiona who passed to Sophie Ellis who made a fantastic change to Claire Brady who took the baton in full flight and ran on past two athletes to get our first 9 points…..Kildare had arrived! Out on the field Pauline Kenny had been in action in the Hammer and Discus finishing 5th and 6th respectively.
After her excertions in the relay Rachael Smyth lined up in the 1500m and ran strongly to finish 6th and Chloe Abbott also ran well to finish 6th in the 3000m. It was at this stage that the Kildare women really started to motor with four straight 9 pointers by our European championship athletes. Roseanne Galligan winning the 400m in a fantastic time from lane 8 and went on to win the 800m just over an hour later. Claire Brady also showed her class to claim the top spot in the 100m and 200m. Erica Dixon gained 3rd place and 6 valuable points in the Javelin and Evelyn Morris also had a 3rd place in the Shot. After her earlier injury Fiona Hill jumped into top position and maximum points in the Triple Jump.
It was then down to the last event of the day the 4x400m relay. The announcer had called out the scored after 11 events and Kildare were lying 3rd just 1 point ahead of Clonliffe so we knew the results would be very close. It was a most exciting relay with Clonliffe taking a strong lead. Rachael Smyth started for Kildare and handed to Niamh Field. Lying in about 5th place Sophie Ellis ran strongly to narrow the gap but there was a lot of work to do in the last leg….Roseanne took the baton still in 5th and chased after the field….she picked off 3 athletes in the process to get up to 2nd place and crossed the line for 7 points. It was all done at that stage, nothing more that any of the athletes could do but wait for the results. After what seemed like hours Georgina Drumm called the teams to the podium and called the results…..in reverse order. It got to the top three and Kildare still had not been called….excitement….not third….we waited….”on 105 points Kildare County” Silver medals to cheers and roars. Up to the podium to receive our medals and then Galway county were crowned champions of the Division….just two points ahead of us.
It was a marvellous team performance from the entire team from round 1 in Antrim to todays final. I have never worked with such a terrific group of athletes and there was a fantastic team spirit in evidence. Kildare county now have 20 NATIONAL SENIOR TRACK AND FIELD MEDALISTS.
It is Premier Division next year and we get a chance to mix with Kelly Proper, Ailish McSweeney, Niamh Whelan and the like…..
Kildare’s heros – in no particular order are Sandra Lawlor, Claire Brady, Aoife Sheehy and Sinead Lawlor (Celbridge AC), Cera Nolan, Chloe Abbott and Claire Mooney (Naas AC), Pauline Kenny, Evelyn Morris, Roseanne Galligan, Sophie Morris and Fiona Hill (Newbridge AC), Rachael Smyth, Aislinn Hurley, Niamh Field, Sarah Bourke,Emily Milner and Sinead Kelly(St Cocas), Erica Dixon (Le Cheile) ….. and me!
The journey was over………………..for this year!
Carmel Kelly
August 9th
Athletics Kildare women will be in action in the final of the National track and Field league next Saturday. Next to the Senior Track and Field Championship this is the biggest domestic competition for club/county teams. Kildare expect to be almost at full strength on Saturday and will have the services of European championship athletes Roseanne Galligan and Claire Brady. Roseanne set a marvellous personal best in the 800m to edge close to the magic 2 mins and Claire was part of an Irish record breaking 4x100m relay team who just narrowly missed out on a final place. They will be joined on the team by all the other Kildare club athletes who have competed so well in the first two rounds to get the team to the final. Newbridge A/C have 4 other athletes along with Roseanne who are part of the squad – Fiona Hill, Sophie Ellis, Pauline Kenny and Evelyn Morris. From Naas club Claire Mooney, Cera Nolan and Chloe Abbott and Celbridge A/C athletes Sandra Lawlor, Aoife Sheehy and Sinead Lawlor along with Claire Brady. St Cocas have Niamh Field, Sarah Bourke, Emily Milner, Aislinn Hurley and Rachael Smyth and Le Cheile Erica Dixon and Aine O’Connor. This is a great achievement by the county and they will be up against some big clubs on Saturday – Clonliffe Harriers, Raheny Shamrocks, City of Derry, Galway County, Wexford County, Tullamore Harriers and West Waterford. Kildare will be in action in Division 1 of the competition and there will be some great competition in the Premier Division also. Plenty of support is needed on the day to encourage the team – we expect to be in the final shake up. Competition starts at 11.30 in Tullamore so if you have a few hours to spare why not come along and give our team all the encouragement you can.
July 23rd
Round 2 of the National Track and Field League took place on Sunday 18th in Santry and Kildare ladies had another terrific outing. Going into the day the team had 98 points and gathered another 104 points to almost certainly guarantee their place in the final on August 14th. The team had a number of notable victories on the day the most exciting probably being the 4x100m relay. It was super to see the girls cross the line first in front of more well established clubs such as Clonliffe Harriers and Raheny Shamrocks. Sandra Lawler (Celbridge) got the team off to the best possible start with a win in the 100m hurdles. She followed this up later in the evening with a 2nd place in the Long Jump. Claire Mooney (Naas) made her first appearance for the county a winning one when she came from behind to take the 400m in a fabulous race. Sophie Ellis (Newbridge) also had two super runs in the 100m (2nd) and the 200m (3rd). These three girls combined with Niamh Field (St Cocas) to get a famous victory in the sprint relay. It was not only on the track that Kildare ladies were going well, the Newbridge pair of Pauline Kenny (Discus and Hammer) and Evelyn Morris (Shot Putt) came 2nd in their events to take some valuable points. Fiona Hill (Newbridge) also took the top spot in the Triple Jump and followed it up a short time later with a great 1st leg of the 400m relay. The team of Fiona, Claire Mooney, Aislinn Hurley (St Cocas) and Emily Milner (St Cocas) crossed the line 4th in a top class race but there was a query over the winning team running out of their zone (result to be confirmed later). As in round 1 Cera Nolan (Naas) threw caution to the wind and ran a fabulous race in the strength sapping 400m hurdles to finish 3rd and Aislinn Hurley (800m) and Emily Milner (1500m) both finished 4th. Chloe Abbott (Naas) had a real battle to the line in the 3k finishing 5th and Aoife Sheehy (Celbridge) came 3rd in the Walk. This was a tremendous performance by each and every one of the team and a small team of supporters gave the girls lots of encouragement. We hope to get support from across the county for the final as we now have a real chance of taking national medals.
The week ahead sees Paul Robinson (St Cocas) in action in Canada at the World Junior Championships. Paul is competing in the 1500m heats on Tuesday and final (hopefully) on Thursday. He is also entered in the 800m. To follow Pauls progress www.iaaf.org and take the link for Motncom 2010. The following week the European Championships will be taking place in Barcelona and county Kildare has 3 athletes in action. Roseanne Galligan (Newbridge) 800m, David McCarthy (Le Cheile) 800m and Claire Brady (Celbridge) 100m relay. Everyone in the county wishes Paul, Roseanne, David and Claire the very best of luck at the championships.
June 14th
National Track and Field League – Round 1
It was a case of Mission Impossible early last week to Mission Accomplished in Antrim Forum on Sunday as the Kildare county ladies team made an impressive start to the National Track and Field League. When the draw for venues was made late on Monday night and our team were drawn in Antrim it was going to be a tough ask to get a full team to travel with exam commitments. We were also up against some strong opposition with Clonliffe Hrs, Raheny Shamrocks. Crusaders and City of Derry in the same pool. However with a few of the girls very anxious to compete a big effort was put in to get as good a team as possible to the event. Sandra Lawlor was one of a number of stars on the day and her two wins in the 100m H and Long Jump gave the team a great start. Sandra has been a great servant to the Kildare cause over the past number of years and gives great example to the other athletes with her can do attitude. Sarah Bourke took time out from her Junior Cert studies and was very well rewarded with a big win in the Walk. Pauline Kenny also made a massive contribution to the cause with 2 second placings in the Hammer and Discus improving dramatically on her throws from last year. Aislinn Hurley contributed massively to the cause with a great 3rd place in the 400m. Cera Nolan was perhaps the bravest athlete on the team, running in the 400m H in an absolute downpour she came into the home straight in this gruelling event in 3rd place but battled hard from the last hurdle to claim 2nd place and 7 valuable points. And in true team spirit she also competed in the shot and discus where she got 4th in both. Sophie Ellis gave it her all too in the 100m and 200m running brilliantly after a bad start in both races to take 2nd place. Rachael Smyth is another athlete who has the true team spirit took on the High Jump, 1500m and 800m where she came 4th in them all. Chloe Abbott ran well in another downpour in the 3K finishing 4th. If our records are correct we have a total of 98 points which is a marvellous start to the competition. On the day all the athletes performed magnificently, with a brilliant attitude, many of them having to double up to get points for the team. That’s what the league is all about. The next round is taking place on Sunday 18th July in either Santry or Athlone and hopefully with our Leaving cert students available for selection we can again make it to the National Final where we expect to be in the hunt for the top prizes. This is a great teambuilding exercise for the Kildare girls in what is normally an individual competition. It also gives the up and coming athletes some senior competition at a level which is appropriate.
After the excitement of the past few weeks Kildare athletes managed to make the National headlines again this weekend on foreign shores. Pride of place must go to St Cocas Paul Robinson who was in action at a BMC event in Watford. Running in the 1500m for the second time in two weeks he again managed to get a new PB…..and what a time 3.43.83…just under 3 seconds faster than last week and edging nearer to the National Junior record of 3.41.5 set by Ray Flynn back in 1976. Paul has almost certainly booked his ticket to Canada for the World Juniors and the only question now is whether he runs the 800m or 1500m. Another athlete who has probably booked her way to the European Championships is Celbridge AC Claire Brady who was part of an Irish relay team who set a new Irish record of 44.03 in Geneva. The team which comprised of Derval O’Rourke, Kelly Proper, Niamh Whelan and Claire broke the 4 year old record. Claire hopes to make it to the 100m start line in Barcelona also and will be in action in Hungary for the European Team Championships. David McCarthy (Le Cheile) also had another good run in the 800m in Watford.
June 6th
The premier schools athletic event took place in Tullamore last Saturday when the Woodies DIY All Ireland Schools kicked into action at 10am with the promise of drama, excitement and top class athletics. It did not disappoint. Kildare clubs were well represented on the day. Celbridge AC Seye Ogunlewe (Kings Hospital) had a marvellous double in the senior 100m/200m with times of 11.02 and 21.91. Earlier on his clubmate Christine Campion (St Wolstans) was a clear winner in the junior hurdles in 11.81. A fantastic gold medal for Crookstown/Millview AC Kathryn Weir (Cross and Passion Kilcullen) in the junior shot and silver for St Cocas Sinead Burke (Maynooth PPS) in the junior walk. Also in action in the junior events was Naas AC Eileen Woods (St Marys) who finished 6th in a top class Long Jump and St Cocas Samuel Allen (Salesian) 7th in the 1500m. Newbridge AC athletes Aileen Kyne and Eoin Murphy (both Newbridge College) in the Intermediate category were in action in the Long Jump and 800m events. Aileen 6th in the Long Jump and Eoin 8th in a very fast 800m where he had been in contention up to the last bend. Also competing at Inter level was St Cocas Sarah Bourke (St Wolstans) in the walk where she finished 4th. In the senior girls events Naas AC Claire Mooney (Institute of Education) battled all the way to the line and hung on for the silver in the 400m having led the race out for the first 200m. St Cocas Aislinn Hurley (Bower Athlone) Le Cheile Erica Dixon (St Wolstans) Celbridge Aoife Sheehy (St Marys) and Newbridge Fiona Hill (Holy Family) were also in action in the Senior events. Aislinn finished 6th in the 800m, Erica also 6th in the Javelin, Aoife 4th in the walk and Fiona 5th in the 400m and Triple Jump. St Cocas Sophie Courtney (Kings Hospital) finished 7th in the U16 mile. It was great to see such a big representation from Kildare clubs and shows the commitment by the club coaches. Well done to all concerned. Many of these athletes will be in action for their clubs over the coming weeks with the NATIONAL TRACK AND FIELD LEAGUE commencing next weekend and County Kildare will have a Womens team in Division 1.
Irish Milers Club
The Irish Milers club held one of their most successful events in conjunction with the Irish Schools in Tullamore on Saturday. The brilliant weather and marvellous athmosphere helped the athletes to some fantastic times and many PB’s too. Le Cheile David McCarthy had every reason to be satisfied with his impressive win in the 800m race as his time of 1.48.18 is a qualifying time for the Eurpoeans in Barcelona in late July. Kildare native Alan O’Brien (Crusaders) narrowly missed out on the time finishing 2nd. It was however the 1500m race which proved to be the race of the day. Twenty one starters and at the finish 7 men ran under 3.48 with St Cocas Paul Robinson running a second PB in a week to make the 1500m standard for the World Juniors in Canada in July. His time of 3.46.83 was well inside the standard with Letterkenny man Darren McBrearty also making the standard.
National Track and Field League
The first round of the National League will take place next Sunday 13th June and Kildare expects to make a good start to the competition. Many of the girls who were in action over the weekend at the All Ireland Schools and Leinster Senior and Masters have made a commitment to the team. It is important to make a good start to the competition but with Leaving and Junior cert exams it will be tough. However the team spirit of the girls is marvellous and they are all looking forward to getting stuck in and making a good start. Sandra Lawlor hurdles, Sophie Ellis 100 and 200, Fiona Hill Triple Jump, Rachael Smyth 800m, Emily Milner 1500m, Cera Nolan long Hurdles, Sarah Bourke and Aoife Sheehy walk, Ailsinn Hurley 400m and relay, Sinead Lawlor Long Jump and relay, Erica Dison Pauline Kenny and Evelyn Morris throws and Aine O Connor High Jump all look set to start on Sunday. The team will be selected on Thursday when the availability of the athletes in known. With Claire Brady, Roseanne Galligan and Claire Mooney to call on later in the competition the county has a fabulous chance of gaining promotion to the premier division. Please contact league co-ordinator Carmel Kelly 086 1650971 or carmel.kelly@hotmail.com if you have an athlete who is in good form and is available to compete for the county.
June 4 th
The Annual Mid Summer 5Km Road race takes places in St Anne’s Park, Raheny on Sunday, June 20th at 11am. Walkers, joggers and beginners welcome. On Line Entries Now Open: €10. Prizes in all categories. Souvenir momento to all finishers.
For further information see www.rahenyshamrock.com. Celebrate Mid Summer in St Anne’s!
