Derry Olympian YACs excel at All Ireland Track and Field Championships

Inspired by the recent Olympics, sixteen of Olympian YACs brightest young stars were in competitive action at the recent All Ireland Juvenile Track and Field Championship’s which were held in Tullamore, Co Offaly.

The competition was spread over 3 separate days over 3 separate weekends and was of the highest quality, as the best of the best the country has to offer, pitted their athletic abilities against each other, as they vied for coveted All Ireland Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in every track and field event from u14 to u19 years.

Olympian YAC were well represented at these Championships, with 16 athletes qualifying from the Ulster and N. Ireland Championships, and they were certainly not over awed by the occasion, with every single one of them giving it their all, and in our eyes, everyone of them deserved a medal for the effort they put in.

Maeve Mc Geehin kicked proceedings off in style as she certainly threw her heart and sole into her events as she proved that she is not only one of the best throwers in Ulster but now the whole of Ireland.

After a series of impressive throws in the U14 Girls Javelin, Maeve was head and shoulders above the rest, with a fantastic best throw of 29.95m, just shy of the coveted 30m mark, to claim the Gold medal and crown of All Ireland Champion.

Maeve later competed in the Discus event which was a closely contended competition throughout, with the medals changing hands with nearly every throw. But her best throw of 25.81m was more than good enough for a thoroughly deserved Silver medal.

To highlight how tight a competition it was overall, team mate Ciara Mc Daid was just 9cm away from a bronze medal but did herself proud to finish a very creditable 5th. Maeve also further demonstrated her throwing prowess in the hammer event, launching the ball and chain out to an impressive Personal Best (PB) of 28.87m.

Olympian Dylan Curley, U14B in action in the 200m event.

She was unlucky to not add to her medal tally coming a very creditable fourth, but this was an extremely impressive performance considering she has only taken up the event a few months ago.

Older sister Aoife Mc Geehin was also in powerful form as she claimed a sensational Silver medal in the u16 Girls Javelin with a brilliant PB throw of 37.84m.

This would have been more than good enough in most years to win the competition, but was not to be on the day, with the winner throwing an exceptional, and near championship best throw of 42m. Aoife also just narrowly missed out on the medals in the Discus coming a well deserved 4th overall with a great PB throw of 28.06m.

All Ireland Champion Maeve McGeehin (259), u14 Girls Javelin.

Brianna Doherty, who is relatively new to competitive action, has been in fine sprinting form of late, as she cemented her place as one of the top under age sprinters in the county by powering her way to an impressive Bronze medal in the u14 Girls 200m and gaining a tremendous PB along the way of 26.88secs.

She also just missed out on another Bronze medal in 80m, but for the mere thickness of a vest in a dramatic dip finish to come 4th overall.

Great technical prowess

Ellen O’ Donnell (U19 Girls), in her last year as a juvenile athlete, showed great technical prowess as she threw PB after PB in all of her events. In the Shot Putt, she finished 6th overall with a PB throw of 6.18m.

She was also 6th in the Javelin with another PB throw of 17.51m. She again threw another PB throw of 16.19m in the Discus to finish in the top 8 in Ireland to cap off yet another impressive juvenile championships for one of the clubs most dedicated athletes.

Kellie Carty and Grace Sweeney, u15 Girls Triple Jump.

Kellie Carty showed great technical ability to place 5th overall in the U15 Girls Triple jump with a fantastic jump of 9.65m. Team mate, Grace Sweeney, also contested the same event, coming a creditable 12th overall in her very first outing at this level of competition.

Also contesting these championships individually for the first time was Ashton Forester, who did extremely well in the U14 Boys Shot Putt, coming 9th with PB throw of 9.12m. Other notable first timers were Hanna Carty who came 12th in the U13 Girls Javelin with a PB throw of 17.02m; Zuzia Michalkiewicz was a brilliant 9th overall in the U13 Girls Long Jump; and the ever improving Molly Heaney, who was 9th overall in U17 800m in a PB time of 2min21.35secs.

After an action packed year with plenty of outstanding performances from our young Olympian’s, we would like to thank all the athletes and coaches and parents for all their hard work and dedication throughout the whole year, and we cannot wait to get started on preparations for the upcoming 2024-25 season.

Ciara McDaid and Maeve McGeehin, u14 Girls Discus.

Full Club Results are as follows (PB= Personal Best; SB = Seasons Best):

U13 Girls - Hanna Carty - Javelin-12th-17.02m (PB); Zuzia Michalkiewicz - Long Jump - 9th-4.12m 

U14 Girls - - Meave McGeehin - Javelin – GOLD MEDAL - 1st - 29.95m (ALL IRELAND CHAMPION); Discus – 2nd – SILVER MEDAL - 25.81m (PB) ; Hammer -4th -28.87m (PB); Brianna Doherty - 200m Heat 1 - 3rd - 26.88secs (PB) - Final - 3rd – BRONZE MEDAL - 26.94secs ; U14 Girls 80m Heat - 3rd - 10.58 & Final -4th - 10.46 (PB); - Ciara Mc Daid – Discus – 5th - 24.10m

U14 Boys- Ashton Forester- Shot Putt - 9th - 9.12m (PB); Tei Chen - U14 Boys 80m Heat 2 (of 3)- 6th - 11.14secs; Dylan Curley - Long Jump - 13th -4.05m ; 80m Heat - 6th - 11.42secs ; 200m Heat - 5th - 28.60secs

U15 Girls - Kellie Carty - Triple jump -5th -9.65m; Grace Sweeney - Triple jump -12th -8.14m; Charley Barr -250mHurdles - 5th - 42.69secs

U15 Boys - Martin Corbett -Long Jump -10th- 4.77m (PB) 

U16 Girls - Aoife Mc Geehin - Javelin - 2nd SILVER MEDAL - 37.84m (PB) ; Discus- 4th- 28.06m ; Shot Putt - 6th - 9.30m; Aine Strain - U16G - 200m Heat 1 - 8th -27.82 (SB)

U17 Girls - Molly Heaney -800m - Heat 5th- 2.21.35 (PB) 

U17 Boys - Ismael Fathoun - 1500m - 9th Heat - 18th Overall – 4mins33.49secs (PB)

U18 Girls - Bonnie Gillard - U18G - 200m Heat 1 - 6th- 28.61secs

U18 Boys - Eoghan O’Donnell - U18 100m Heat 2 (of 4) - 7th -12.66 (PB)

U19 Girls - Ellen O’Donnell – Shot Putt - 6th -6.18m (PB) ; Javelin- 6th - 17.51m (PB); Discus -8th-16.19m (PB)

Maeve McGeehin (Gold and Silver u14 Girls Javelin and Discus) with proud Dad and coach, Mossie McGeehin.

TRAINING

We are catered and insured to take athletes from 7years of age right up to senior/ masters level. Club training continues at 7pm every Tuesday and Thursday at Templemore Sports Complex Track.

For further details please contact any of the club coaches or Facebook message on Olympian YAC.