Athletics

As the curtain came down on the 2008 track season in perfect summer conditions in Tullamore on Sunday Shercock AC produced their best ever team result and announced their progression into the top three athletic clubs in Ireland with a series of outstanding individual and team performances in the final of the premier division of the national league.  James Ruxton played a captain"s role and led by example when he followed up a spirited win in the 400m hurdles with an equally impressive second place in the 400m sprint, in which he set a new personal best of 49.84 seconds. Kevin McCloy came from behind to win an absorbing 800m contest by the slimmest of margins on the line. Paul Smith led the way in the field events with a winning effort of 6.60m in the long jump while Brian Flatley was in the form of his life, picking up valuable points with second place finishes in the high jump (1.90m) and 110m hurdles, where he set a new personal best of 15.59s. Brian also finished third in the pole vault. Paul Fitzpatrick also broke into new territory, setting personal bests of 12:33 when finishing second in the 3km walk and 10:25 in the steeplechase in which he finished fifth. Craig Lynch survived the heavily disputed start of the 100m, in which two athletes were disqualified, and gained valuable points with a third place finish. Craig also came fourth in the 200m. In the distance events Noel Carroll made a successful return to competition after a long lay-off due to injury and finished fifth in the 5000m while John Joe Rogers came in seventh in the 1500m. The throwing events proved to be a sparse territory for Shercock in terms of points however there was a positive result for Albinas Kiltinavicius in the javelin in which he set a new county record of 42.74m. Elsewhere Hugh Fitzpatrick finished fourth in the weight for distance and Matthew O"Reilly was sixth in both the shot putt and discus. Gerard O"Reilly was a late substitute in the hammer throw and produced a good effort of 20.19m to finish seventh. In the end it all came down to the final event, the 4x400m relay, an event in which Shercock had been unable to field a team through the qualifying rounds. It was a very different story in the final on Sunday, however, as the club"s strongest ever 4x400m team lined out with the intent of taking maximum points. Kevin Ruxton got the squad off to a great start with a battling opening leg and sent his brother James into the second leg in third place. James fought hard all the way to the change zone and passed to Craig Lynch in second place behind Clonliffe Harriers. Craig held his form and his position well and passed to Kevin McCloy for the final leg, still in second place. Kevin stormed into the lead on the back straight and powered home to take the win in a perfect finish to a great day"s competition. The team had the added satisfaction of dipping under the 3:20 mark for the first time, setting a new club record of 3:19.71. When the points were added, Shercock had finished in second place on the day behind Clonliffe Harriers, but dropped back to third when the bonus points from the qualifying rounds were included. Overall it was the club"s best ever performance and moves Shercock AC firmly into the top three clubs in the country. With a young and fast improving squad the future looks very positive indeed.   Overall Result: Men Premier Division - 1. Clonliffe Harriers 114 points; 2. North Down 103 points; 3. Shercock 102 points; 4. County Meath 95 points 5. Leevale 90 points; 6. DSD 76 points; 7. Menapians 72 points; 8. Tullamore Harriers 71 points.