Tipperary athletes travel to Athlone to represent their club and county over the festive period

While many of us were still enjoying Christmas leftovers, eight dedicated juveniles and one senior athlete from Moyne Athletic Club made their way to Athlone on Saturday December 28th to compete in the 8th North West Indoor Games.

Hosted by Killybegs AC, this was a great opportunity for our athletes to get their indoor seasons underway and experience the indoor arena in Athlone. 

Up first on the morning was the girls u12 600m, where Annie Ely toed the line. Annie ran a good race to finish 7th in her heat in a time of 2.13.05.

Darragh Joyce also took on the 600m distance u12, where a great performance saw him finish 3rd in his heat in 1.57.33, and 9th overall. Tom Renehan in the same event competed in the third heat where he finished 7th in 2.05.94.

Caoimhe Slevin was the next athlete to compete in the middle-distance events, a superb run saw her finish in 2nd place in her 800m with 2.32.84. She faced an anxious wait as she watched the remaining runners before being awarded the silver medal. 

High jump was a popular event for our athletes, with Annie Ely and Meadhbh Hall first up on the morning. Both girls were competing in their first indoor high jump competition and got off to a good start, comfortably clearing the opening height of 1.05m.

Unfortunately, three faults at 1.10m for both girls saw their competition come to an end, with the girls finishing in joint 11th overall.

Tom Renehan was next up in the boys u12, where he jumped the first four heights on his first attempt. It took a couple of tries at 1.20m before Tom again jumped clear, and he cleared 1.25m on his first attempt before leaving the competition at 1.28m, with a great 7th place finish.

In the girls u14, Helen Renehan and Saoirse Joyce took on the challenge. Saoirse, in her debut high jump competition, jumped well but failed to clear the tough 1.20m opening height. Helen went on to clear up to 1.35m on her opening attempt. Her third attempt clearance of 1.40m saw her finish her competition 6th overall.

In the long jump, Lily Murphy and Meadhbh Hall got their indoor season underway with performances in the girls u12 event.

Lily’s opening jump of 3.51m was her best of the day while Meadhbh’s 3.39m in her third jump was her best performance. Saoirse Joyce took on the u14 long jump event, where the best of her three jumps was 3.76m saw her finish 11th. 

Michael Doyle took to the track for the 1000m walk, an event run with a number of age groups on the track at the same time.

A brilliant performance by Michael saw him finish 2nd u14 and 3rd overall with a time of 5.57.53, PB, in a race that truly came down to the wire with just 0.06 seconds separating Michael from the next competitor! A great indoor season ahead for Michael.

Ber Spillane, competing in the senior women 200m put in another great performance, finishing in 29.33 and picking up a bronze medal. Also competing over 200m, Helen Renehan and Faye Murphy both lined out in the u14 girls event. Helen ran in heat 2 with a time of 30.57, finishing second in her heat, while Faye’s time of 29.56 saw her finish third in heat 4.

On the sprint track, a number of athletes took part in the 60m event. With big numbers in these events, Lily Murphy and Meadhbh Hall both toed the line u12.

Lily was up first with a strong performance of 9.56s in heat 4, while Meadhbh ran in heat 5 in a time of 9.80s. In the u14 girls event, Faye Murphy was up in the first heat, with a fast time of 9.08s, while Saoirse Joyce finished in 9.30s in heat 6.

A sub-9 run of 8.84s from Ber Spillane in the master's women 60m, saw her pick up a second silver medal of the day.