Rising stars take medals

The Aura Leisure Complex Letterkenny Co Donegal was the venue for the Ulster Childrens Games and u12 and 13 Ulster Track and Field Championships on Sunday 7th June 2009. As Cavan had disposed of neighbours and rivals Fermanagh in the opening round of the Ulster football Championships on the evening before the mood of the large Cavan Athletic contingent who made the long journey to Letterkenny was to say the least buoyant.. Childrens Games a relatively new concept adopted by Athletics Association of Ireland a number of years ago pairs athletes in the u9,10 and u11 age groups into teams of two and awards points which are combined over a number of athletic disciplines. As mentioned earlier a large number of Cavan athletes who traveled to the event were extremely successful and were indeed winners in all age groups and across all the scheduled disciplines. This indeed is a great testament to the coaching and dedication which has been revitalised over the past number of years within the county and which has now come to fruition with our athletes gaining at county, provincial, national and international Shane Duffy finished individual second in the u11 60m and along with team mate Liam Kieran took 3rd placed team in the u11 Ball throw Shauna Fay and Nina Mc Intyre were 3rd placed team in the u10 Long Jump while in the girls u11 60m Leanne Kiernan and Ciara Smith were 2nd placed team with Aoife Smith taking individual silver in the u11 long jump Michaela Carolan jumped well to take bronze in the u12 long jump with Conor Smith showing his usual determined style to take bronze in the u12 600m and showing his athletic versatility took silver in the u12 long jump. To round off a good day for the club the girls u11 relay team took bronze The girls u10 60m pairing of Abbey Sexton and Claire Young took team bronze with the same pairing very dominant when they took team gold in the u10 500m with Clair Young taking individual bronze in this event for good measure. Orla O Brien was throwing strongly on the day and was duly awarded individual gold for her efforts. Fergal O Reilly was in top form on the day when he took individual silver in the u10 60m and along with team mate Sean T Murphy took team gold. The same pairing blitzed the opposition when they took gold in the u10 500m and with club mates Ciaran O Reilly and Cormac Donohoe finishing strongly to take 2nd placed team All Ireland indoor long jump champion Aine Brady was in top form when she took the premier podium position in the u12 60m , long jump and high jump with ease Sean Og Lawlor was another athlete in form when he took gold in both the u12 long jump and high hump Clodagh O Reilly jumped well to take the silver medal in the girls u13 high jump Paul Sexton All Ireland Indoor Hurdles Champion showed his athletic prowess when he again took gold in the 60m hurdles and in the u13 80m,Aodhagan Watters battled all the way to the line to take bronze in the u13 60m hurdles with John Nulty jumping well to take silver in the u13 long jump Innyvale Athletes had their finest day in Letterkenny when the blitzed the opposition across all the age groups Lauren Mc Vitty was in fighting form and took individual gold in the u9 60m and bronze in the long jump The u9 partnership of Cian Boylan and Dapo Oleranaju were in top form when they took team gold in the u9 60m with Cian taking individual bronze Ryan Smith and Cian Boylan battled each other in the u9 300m with Ryan taking individual gold and the partnership taking the silver team. It was Innyvale dominance of the u9 long jump with Emmet Boylan, Dapo Oleranaju and Ryan Smith taking all three podium places with Emmet and Dapo crowned Ulster team champions Emmet Boylan was outstanding when he took gold in the u9 ball throw out throwing his nearest rival by a large margin Peter Smith was in true fighting form when he stormed to victory in the u10 60m and along with partner Ayomide Ogundene were Ulster silver team winners, Peter out jumped everyone to win the long jump and along with Brandon Boylan were gold team winners Brandon Boylan and Cian Brady battled all the way to finish taking 3rd placed team in the u10 500m Ayomide Ogundene and Darren Sheils continued the Innyvale dominance when they took 3rd team in the u10 ball throw Cathy Sheils and Hannah Egan were brilliant when they took 3rd team in the girls u11 600m with Hannah along with team mate Jasmine Brady taking 3rd team in the long jump James Millar Smith and Cianan Kelly jumped well to take 3rd team in the u11 long jump with James taking silver individual in the ball throw and with partner Oisin James Kiernan silver team winners in the same event In the u12 High jump Caolan Galligan and club mate Stephen Smith were tied with Caolan taking the bronze medal on this occasion when count back was taken into account Darren Galligan was a bronze medal winner in the u12 shot putt. Dovydas Zvalauskas threw strongly in the u13 shot putt taking the bronze medal for his efforts It was in the relay events that Innyvale athletes really came into their own when they completely outclassed their rivals with gold in the u9boys, u10 boys and girls and silver in the u10 boys Next event for Cavan athletes will be the Ulster u14,15,16,and 17 Track and Field Championships on Saturday and Sunday 20th and 21st June 2009 in the Antrim Forum and the All Ireland Childrens Games Finals in Templemore Co Tipperary on Saturday 27th June