Louth athlete becomes National Steeplechase champion

The biggest weekend in the athletics calendar in Ireland took place last weekend when the Athletics Ireland National Track & Field Championships took place at Morton Stadium, Santry.

This is where the top superstars of Irish Athletics battle out to become national champions. The event drew massive crowds, which is a reflection of the increasing popularity of Irish Athletics.,

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St Peter’s Athletic Club, Louth has enjoyed huge success at juvenile and junior level in recent years, but senior athlete Abbie Sheriden took this success to a whole new level when she became National Senior Women’s Steeplechase Champion.

Abbie was in second place for most of the race keeping the lead athlete in her sights but with two laps to go managed to close the gap, she then attempted to take the lead with 300M to go but the lead athlete Alexandra Joyce from Tuam AC held her off.

But Abbie went again with 200M to go and Joyce had no answer as they approached the last water jump there was only going to be one winner as Abbie’s water jumps had been impeccable throughout the race.

The last one was no exception powering down the home straight to an emphatic victory shaving thirty five seconds of her PB to finish in a time 10.05.72 to become National Senior Champion.

This was the first time since 2009 that a St Peter’s athlete stood on the top of the National senior Podium when Olivia McDonald won the senior Javelin and the first ever to win Gold on the track at the Senior Championships.