Dundalk St Gerard's excel in the sun at Leinster Juvenile Championships

It was a memorable day for Dundalk/St Gerard’s AC earlier this month at the Leinster U12-U13 Championships in Tullamore.

Kicking off the day’s events in the glorious sunshine, the U10 Girls’ pairing of Anna Gladyzs and Éabha Durnin competed in the Long Jump, with outstanding Personal Best performances from both girls, earning them Leinster Bronze for the superb efforts.

Both girls have shown significant gains since the Louth Championships a few weeks ago. They paired up again for the 60m Sprints, where they clocked fast times and were unlucky not to be in the final shakeup for medals in a highly competitive field.

The U9 Boys Long Jump event saw a 1-2-3 for St Gerard’s in the individual stakes with Cian Rafferty, Harry Trimble and Tommy McCourt each recording Personal Bests with outstanding jumps.

Cian and Harry took provincial Gold as far as the official pair was concerned, but what an outcome to have the top three U9 Boys Long Jumpers in Leinster from the same club.

The three boys lined up for the 60m Sprint too, with Cian and Harry claiming their second Gold, while Tommy was less than a fifth of second outside them. There’s huge potential in these young boys too, with very little between them. They are already excelling on the Leinster stage.

Fionn Weldon Grant and Jack Cunningham took to the track in the Boys Under 10 600m distance race and ran well, placing 6th and 7th in their timed heats. The boys paired up again for the 60m Sprint, placing 4th overall, just outside the medals.

The girls U11 pairings offered up some great excitement. Autumn Moran and Lucy Molloy represented DSG in the Long Jump and came agonisingly close to a podium finish, placing 4th overall.

Lucy paired up with Katelynn Woods in the 600m distance race, where both girls dug deep and delivered a combined time which earned them Leinster Silver.

Katelynn and Autumn then paired up to compete in the 60m Sprint, which saw both girls place 1st in their respective heats to go through to the final, where they clocked a combined time of 18.77 seconds to claim Silver overall for the pairing.

Adam Mulligan and Senan Conlon competed in the Boys U11 600m distance race and placed 7th and 8th in their heats. They were only getting warmed up however, as the boys paired up again for their second event, the Turbo Javelin, putting in huge throws to claim Leinster Gold in the pairs. 

The U12 Girls 600m distance race was a thrilling event for St Gerard’s. The club had six girls competing, with all six placing either 1st or 2nd in their respective heats to qualify automatically for the final.

The final did not disappoint. Robyn Browne claimed Leinster Gold with Kallie Fisher close behind to take Silver. Chloe Browne placed 5th with Lily Rogers in 6th, Aimee Quinn in 10th, and Robyn Garland in 11th. A very impressive feat, six girls from the club in the top 11 in Leinster.

Roll forward the U12 Girls 60m Sprints and the same level of nail-biting excitement ensued. Charlotte Trimble, Caoimhe McEvoy, Lucy Rogers and Kallie Fisher all placed first in their heats, progressing to the Semi Finals.

Charlotte, Lucy and Kallie progressed further to the final shakeup. In a tough race, in the searing sun, Charlotte took a well-deserved Leinster Silver, with Lucy claiming the Bronze.

Aimee Quinn and Robyn Garland competed in the U12 Girls High Jump, placing 6th and 8th respectively. Aimee was then the sole DSG competitor in the Shot Put event, delivering a great performance, throwing 6.38m to earn her a Leinster Silver medal to complement her two PBs in the 600m.

The Boys 60m Sprint was another exciting affair. Calvin McCourt, Evan Cheshire, Ryan Dowd, Sam Curran and Patrick Murphy lined up in various heats, with Calvin, Evan and Sam progressing to the Semis.

Calvin and Evan made it all the way to the final, with Sam just missing out on the final shakeup. In what was a cracking final, Calvin took Silver in 8.74 seconds with Evan claiming Bronze with 8.84 secs.

The U12 Boys Shot Put saw four of the lads have a go. Calvin McCourt took the spoils overall, with a Gold medal winning effort of 8.9m. Evan Cheshire placed 10th, Fane Kelly was 13th and Sam Curran finished in 18th.

Three of the boys competed in the High Jump. Evan Cheshire claimed Leinster Bronze, obliterating his PB with a jump of 1.30m. Ryan Dowd and Fane Kelly placed in joint 6th spot.

Patrick Murphy and Sam Curran ran very well in their heats of the U12 Boys 600m, with both boys qualifying for the final, placing 4th and 5th in their respective heats.

In a tough final, Patrick dug deep to finish in 9th place overall. In the U13 boys’ events, Shay Curran competed well in the Shot Put and the Sprint.

To round off a great day for the Dundalk club, the much-anticipated Intercounty relays took place. In the U11 Girls event, DSG made up three quarters of the team with Katelynn Woods, Autumn Moran and Anna Gladysz joining Aoife McCabe from Boyne AC. The girls romped home to victory in style to take Leinster Gold for County Louth.

In the Girls U13 event, Charlotte Trimble represented Louth, with the Wee County also claiming provincial Gold. Calvin McCourt took his place on the U13 Boys Louth team that placed 3rd.