Athletes young and old impress for St Peters AC

The National Indoor Arena was the setting for the recent Senior Indoor Track & Field Championships which were held earlier this month. Among the many competitors descending on Abbottstown was St Peter’s Cian Gorham.

He moved up from the Juvenile ranks to take his place on the start line in heat three of the men’s 800M race. A lot of young athletes with lots of potential can be over awed by the big stage, but Cian looked very comfortable in his new surroundings.

He gave his all and ran a new Indoor Personal Best of 1:55.09 to finish fourth in his heat and narrowly missed out qualification for the final by just 1.17 seconds. Hopefully Cian can keep his form intact as the Juvenile Championships commence at the beginning of March.

As Cian was competing in Dublin, Tom McGrane was also in action in Sheffield, England. Tom was competing as a guest in the British Masters Championship for the last time in the M55 category.

He managed to throw 8.97M in the shot put, earning himself a third place finish and pocketing a bronze medal in the process.

Meanwhile the last of the local Cross-Country races until the Autumn took place when the annual Dunleer AC organized Ras Na hEireann took place in the new venue of Lawlesstown.

The first athletes in action for the St Peter’s club were Ella Murphy and Ellen McCourt. Both girls had really strong runs on the challenging course and finished just outside the medals.

Next up in the boys U11 race was Colm Duff, who after a bad start worked his way through the field for a very strong finish. The girls U13 Race saw the always eager and ever improving Sadhbh Sheelan go to battle. She enjoyed a solid run and will now look forward to the upcoming track season. 

The boys U13 event had three St Peter’s athletes in action. Conor Duff was in the business end of the race from the start and managed to hold onto his podium finish in a well-earned fifth position. Tommy O’Donoghue and James McCourt ran very bravely in the same race and will have gained valuable experience for the future.

Finally, Laura Duff ran very well in the girls U15 race and flew past a lot of athletes in the closing stages to finish high in the final rankings.