Well done to all who took part in the Ulster Track & Field Indoor Championships on the weekend of 21st-22nd February. A total of fifteen Innyvale athletes travelled to the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown over the two days and there were great performances and personal bests galore as our athletes showed how much they have improved over the last number of months.

 

On Saturday, we had two relay teams and four individuals in action. First up was Oisin Tully in the U12 boys 600m race. The field was split up over three heats, with Oisin winning his heat in a time of 1min48.27. Unfortunately Oisin’s time was beaten by another athlete in a different heat, but Oisin was nevertheless rewarded with a silver Ulster medal on his first time running on an indoor track.

 

Next on track for us was Sophie Lynch in the U14 girls 800m race. A very strong finish saw Sophie compete the four lap race in a time of 2min41.47, taking fifth place in her heat and seventh place overall. In the 60m hurdles, Maia Reilly was seventh in a time of 11.75seconds and Íosa Lynch was second in her heat before improving her time in the final to finish in fourth place with a time of 10.62seconds. Íosa was also seventh in the long jump with a hugely improved personal best of 3.94meters.

 

The 4x200m relays rounded out Saturday for us, with impressive results for both our teams. In the U14 girls, Íosa Lynch got the team off to a very strong start, with Riley Condon and Sophie Lynch putting in great performances on their laps to keep the team in contention for a medal before Jamie Condon brought the baton home in third place to claim an Ulster bronze medal for the team. And last up on day one was the U16 girls team. Anna Whitney got the race off to a good start for us in fourth place, with Saoirse Lynch taking over on the second lap and running very well before Isabella Condon battled through a shoulder injury to keep us in contention. Aoife Leddy then set off in hot pursuit of third place, a position she took just meters before the finish line to earn the team Ulster bronze medals.

 

Sunday was a quieter day for us with just five athletes taking part. First up was Aoibhinn Farrelly, who doubled up in the sprint events. She was sixth in the 60m race, finishing in a time of 9.77seconds. And better was to come in her first ever hurdles race, were she claimed second in the heat before huge chunk off her time in the final to come home in fourth place in a time of 11.99seconds.

 

In the U13 boys, Caolan Brady and James Farrelly were sixth and seventh in their heats of the 600m race, completing it in 2min02.17 and 2min05.48 respectively. The two boys also took part in the 60m sprint where they were fairly evenly matched with both claiming sixth place in their heats. Caolan placed 14th overall in 9.62seconds while James was 17th in 9.78seconds.

 

Last up were our two shot putters. In the boys U13 event, Jackson Everett threw the 2kg weight out to 9.63meters to win the gold medal, while in the girls U15s event, Kaitlin Shaw threw the 2.72kg shot a distance of 9.46m to claim an Ulster silver medal

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The All-Ireland Indoor T&F is on 28/29th March and 11th April. We had seven athletes/teams qualify for the All-Irelands:

• Oisin Tully U12 boys 600m

• Aoibhinn Farrelly U13 girls 60m hurdles

• Jackson Everett U13 boys shot putt

• Íosa Lynch U14 girls 60m hurdles

• Kaitlin Shaw U15 girls shot putt

• U14 girls 4x200m relay team

• U16 girls 4x200m relay team

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Thank you to all the parents who brought the athletes this weekend, without whom we could not have achieved the successes we had at this event. And well done to all who took part whether it was a medal or a personal best performance and best of luck to those going forward to nationals. Some photos from the weekend can be found on our Flickr gallery (click here), and results can be found here.