Numbers were at a record high
this year at the first day of the Cork County Track & Field Championships,
with nearly 1500 juvenile athletes registered to compete. With such high numbers in attendance, qualifying
spots for the County finals would be a huge task. Weather conditions were ideal with light winds
and sunshine.
Aidan Collins had a great
run and was first to represent the Club in the boys under 10, 500m followed by
Beibhinn Horstmanhoff in the girls under 13, 600m semi final. Beibhinn ran a very strong 600m gaining places
as she ran around the track, qualifying for the final later in the day. Lily
Collins put in a great effort in the girls u. 13 600m and missed out on a
qualifying place for the finals. Finnian
Lawton also showed signs of continuous improvement having a fantastic run in
the boys u. 12, 600m.
Aidan Collins, Davin Ross, Damien
Williams and Sean McCarthy were fast off their marks in their 100m sprints as
were Caoimhe Cotter and Ellen Collins, who both narrowly missed out by hundredths
of a second on making the County finals.
In the longer distance races, Sean
Lawton, Colm Hegarty & Fionn Harrington competed in the boys u. 14 1500m
final. Sean was to the fore of the leading
group throughout and finished very strongly in the home straight to become the 2018
u. 14, 1500m Cork County Champion. He
was followed closely home by Fionn in 5th position and Colm in 8th.
Ellen Collins had a great run in her second
race of the day, the girls u. 15, 1500m final and was well in the middle of the
group throughout. Aoibheann Lawton had a great race in the girls u 16, 1500m, the
first 400m of which was ran at a ferociously fast pace, but this did not stop
Aoibheann who fought hard until the finish line, coming in 4th
place. Sean McCarthy had an impressive
run and was very much in the mix of the boys under 16 1,500m final.
Beibhinn Horstmanhoff was the last
of our athletes to run in the final of the u. 13, 600m. This was another race that took off at a ferociously
fast pace but Beibhinn ran strongly and gave it her all. Well done to all who took part and thanks to
Joe McCarthy and Mary Lawton for volunteering to help out on the infield.
The
second leg of the County Track & Field will be held next Sunday at the same
venue. Details here - https://www.corkathletics.org/events/eventdetail/2607/14/cork-athletics-juvenile-t-f-championships-day-2-2018.html
Meanwhile, we wish the best of luck to all from the Club who will be competing for their Schools at the South Munster Schools Track & Field Championships this week.
Official results here
Photos here
