We returned on Sunday and Ciara was on form again in her third competition of the championships and another medal to add to the collection as she got a silver medal in the discus. Kathryn Weir was next up with her first event of the championships and she kept the medal tally going as she also got an excellent silver medal in the Girls Under 16 shotput throwing the 3.25Kg shot an impressive 10.92m. This truly was a memorable weekend with 2 athletes competing in 4 events and coming home with a gold and three silver medal.

Ciara Dunnes' achievement this weekend was astonishing, anyone who has been around athletics for any length of time will tell you it is an incredible feat to win any All Ireland medal, and to win three in three different individual events is truly awesome.

And its not over yet, Kathryn Weir has to wait another three weeks (24th July)  for her chance to contend for a Discus medal, and on the following day (25th July) our Under 13 girls Tara Breen, Katie Quigley, Laura Quigley, and Cliondha O'Connor (currently with Naas)  will represent Kildare at the All Ireland relay finals - good luck to all the girls who I'm sure will do us all proud on that last weekend of All Ireland Track and Field competition for 2010.

Kildare League Round 4, Crookstown (27th June 2010)
The final round of the league ran off today in great conditions and with a great atmosphere.  On the down side, we just don't have the numbers we need to pick up points for the Club in our league but with 3 individual trophies from the 13 athletes who competed over the 4 rounds you should all be very proud.

In the U/8s Tara Finn threw 14.35m in Ball Throw and in her very first race for the club Rachel Keane came 3rd in 150m.

Sean Moore and Molly Aspell competed in the U/10s with Sean jumping 3.58m in the Long Jump, coming 2nd in his 150m and going on to win the highest scoring individual trophy in that age group.  Molly came 4th in her U/10 100m and then in one of the best races of the day fought hard all the way and claimed 2nd place in the 150m.

In the U/11s Aoife Kelly, who is improving all the time, put in two great races and came 2nd in her 80m and 3rd in 150m.  Sean Finn came 4th in the U/11 60m and 5th in the 150m. Lisa Aspel competed in the U/12 Long Jump and 600m and picked up a 2nd.

Tara Breen, Katie Quigley and Laura Quigley had 600m and Ball Throw in the U/13s.  Once again the girls finished 1,2 & 3 with Katie getting the honours this time.   Laura went on to win the girls U/13 individual Highest Point Scorer.

Aaron Hennessy and Ciara Dunne were U/14 with Ciara coming 2nd in her 60m final and then ending the day with a win in the 1000m and also going on to win the U/14 Highest Point Scorer trophy.  Aaron won his U/14 150m well and went onto finish 3rd in 1000m.  

Well done to you all and thanks to you and your parents for your support in the League.....



AAI U/9-U/11 Pairs Championships, Templemore (26th June 2010)
Sean Finn & Eoin Curley had qualified in the Leinster Competition for U/11 Ball Throw and competed today in Templemore.  With some great throws the boys combined total of 47.43m meant they came 4th.  Well done. 



Leinster T&F Championships, Tullamore (19th & 20th June)
After 2 long and very hot days our athletes had every right to go home proud of their achievements.  With 5 Leinster medals and a lot of new PBs it was a successful weekend.  On Day 1 we had Katie Quigley, Laura Quigley & Tara Breen U/13, Aaron Hennessy & Ciara Dunne U/14, Kathryn Weir U/16 and Daniel Kearney U/18.  In the U/13 Long Jump, with 46 other athletes it was going to be a tough competition.  All girls jumped well and although Katie made it through to final 8 no medals were won.  

Next up was the U/13 Shot with Personal Bests being set for all the girls of 5.49m for Tara, 7.64m for Katie & 7.08m for Laura.  Unfortunately these were not enough to secure Leinster medals.  Kathryn Weir was in the next Shot Putt and lead from the start with some fantastic throws and a personal best of 10.70m to secure a gold medal.  Ciara Dunne followed this with an impressive throw of 11.99m in the first throw of the U/14 Shot putt to set a new Leinster Outdoor Record and also win gold.

Aaron was first on the track in the U/14 200m race but after fast paced heats was unable to secure a place in the final.  Danny ran in his first Leinster Competition in the U/18 100m and although did not make it through to his final ran a very respectable race.

To finish the day Katie, Laura, Tara & Cliondha made up the U/13 Kildare Inter County Relay team and with great baton changing took 3rd place.

Day 2, started with Kathryn Weir in the U/16 Long Jump and with a personal best jump of 4.77m finished just out of qualification in 5th place.  Laura Quigley was on the track in the U/13 600m for her heats.  In a comfortable run Laura qualified for the finals to be run at the end of the day.  Unfortunately, after a poor start in her 600m final she was unable to make up lost ground but finished a respectable 6th.  Well done Laura.

In the U/14s Ciara Dunne had another successful day with a 3rd place medal in Long Jump and a Gold in Discus.  In the Long Jump, Ciara was placed 2nd going in the final 8 with fantastic jumps coming from all athletes including a personal best from Ciara of 4.77m.  In Discus, Ciara was on form and went into the lead with a throw of 25.22m.  Well done Ciara.

Kathryn Weir competed in the U/16 Discus and with some good throws threw 23.29m to secure a silver medal, her second of the Championships.  Well done Kathryn.

In the U/13 80m sprints there was a large field of athletes.  Katie Quigley competed in the first heat and qualified for the semi final.  Tara Breen ran in the second heat but was unable to qualify.  In the semi-finals Katie ran a great race in 11.77s to qualify for the final.  The U/13 final was a great race and Katie got a fantastic start out the blocks but was unable to hold her place and finished a very close 5th.  Hard Luck but well done Katie.

Good luck to Ciara in Kathryn in the All Irelands in 2 weeks time.



County Javelin Championships, Celbridge (15th June 2010)

On a glorious Tuesday evening four of our athletes made the trip to Celbridge to take part in the the Kildare County Javelin competition. Dean Clifford, Ciara Dunne, Kathryn Weir and Charles Weir waited patiently for the Hurdles competition to complete and then limbered up for the throwing contest that followed. Ciara got proceedings started in style winning gold in the girls under 14s competition. Dean was next in a very close boys under 14 competition where he was awarded silver with a superb throw in excess of 26m. Kathryn came a respectable 4th in the girls under 16s, and Charles finished up the evening with a silver in the Under 18 boys competition. Well done to all four competitors

Lucan Harriers AC Open Sports (29th May 2010)
With only 4 athletes today in Lucan we came home with 13 medals. First up was Molly Aspell in U/10 60m where she came 4th. Laura Quigley and Katie Quigley were up next in their U/13 80m and safely secured silver and bronze.  In the Long Jump Pit, Molly was jumping well but unfortunately didn't get a medal, Laura was also jumping well and was tied 2nd but due to count back came 3rd. Next event on the track was the girls U/13 600m, Laura battled it out with an athlete from DSD to come 2nd with Katie following in behind her in 3rd.  In the girls U/16 & U/17 shot putt Kathryn Weir won gold in both.  Next up was Molly in her 500m doing very well, considering the pace was fast.  In ball throw Crookstown secured 1 bronze from Molly in the U/10s and a silver from Laura in the U/13s. On the track Molly, Katie, Laura and Kathryn found relay teams and did very well.  Katie and Laura joined up with Lucan and MBS to come 2nd. Molly's team came 2nd,and Kathryn joined up with Celbridge and also secured 2nd. WELL DONE GIRLS.



Kildare League Round 3, Le Cheile (18th May 2010)
First of all thanks to all the parents who brought our athletes to Leixlip.  We know it wasn't easy getting there for the 7pm start, and then the heavens opened........

In the first race of the evening Tara Finn ran in the U/8 60m, qualified for the 1st final and came 6th overall.  Then after also qualifying for the 100m final came 5th in her second race.

Molly Aspell & Sean Moore competed in the U/10 event with both athletes qualifying for the first finals in their 80m sprints.  Molly went on to finish 5th and Sean 2nd.  Their second race of the evening was 200m where they both improved their positions and Sean finished once again back in 1st place in the boys and Molly finished 3rd in the girls.

Aoife Kelly, our only U/11 athlete had 2 very good races finishing 2nd in the girls 80m and 4th in the 300m.

In U/12s Lisa Aspel had Ball Throw and 150m.  In the Ball Throw, Lisa threw 19.78m for 3rd place and came 1st in her 150m race.

Over at the Long Jump Brendan Aspel came 3rd in the U/13 Boys with a jump of 3.18m and picked up a 5th in the very last race of the evening which was the U/13 600m.  Also in U/13s were Tara Breen, Katie Quigley & Laura Quigley.  In the 80m sprint Katie & Laura were given joint 1st with Tara very close in 2nd.  And again in the 100m sprint the girls came in 1st Laura, 2nd Tara and 3rd Katie.

Aaron Hennessy jumped 3.48m in the U/14 competition to get 2nd place then finished 3rd in 300m.

Well done to you all.



Kildare County Championships Day 2, Naas (16th May 2010)
Out came the picnics, rugs and chairs for the start of the final day of the County Championships. The sun managed to disappear before the start but the day remained warm and rain free despite the rolling clouds.

For our U10’s athletes Sean More continued his gold medal run with a win at the 100m. Molly Aspell competed in the ball throw and long jump, and made it to the finals in the 100m.

Sean Finn and Aoife Kelly our U11’s, ran well in the heats, Sean running the 200m and Aoife the 80 and 600m.

Lisa Aspel, the only athlete for the U12’s jumped well in the long jump and took bronze in the 200m.

The U13’s girls were well represented by the club with Tara Breen, Laura Quigley and Katie Quigley. Laura and Katie both made it to the finals of the 100m with a very close finish in which Katie took the bronze with Laura close on her heels in fourth. In the 600m the girls took the lead from the start with Laura taking the gold and Katie the silver. In the shot put Kate took the gold and Laura the bronze when she was pushed from second to third with a throw just one cm further. Tara finished in fifth position.

Aaron Hennessy had a long wait for his first competition in the U14’s, coming fifth in the shot putt and taking the bronze in the 100m which was a very close final.

Kathryn Weir had to jump two age groups from the U16’s to the U18’s to compete in the Long jump and finished with silver.  John Byrne also had to jump an age group from U17’s to U18’s to compete with Charles Weir in the shot put.  John finished in fourth position with Charles taking the silver.

Our athletes went home with a total of 10 medals today. Over the course of the championships a whopping total of twenty three medals in all, eight gold, nine silver and six bronze. Congratulations to all athletes who took part and a big thank you to the coaches and parents a like who made it all possible.

 


Kildare County Championships Day 1, Celbridge (2nd May 2010)
Sunday the 2nd of May saw the the 2010 Kildare County championship kick off at Cellbridge A.C.  A handful of athletes braved the strange spring weather to have a very successful day.

One very successful athlete was Sean Moore who won all the U10 gold medals of the day in long jump, ball throw and the 80m.

Tara Breen and Katie Quigley of the U13 girls did very well in the long jump getting silver and bronze. Tara Breen with a new PB of 3.53m. Aoife Kelly took silver in the U11 girls long jump with a huge jump of 2.93m.

In the U13 girls 200m Katie Quigley and Laura Quigley both made it to the final of which Laura took bronze. 

Another gold medal was won by Sean Finn in the U11 boys 600m which was a fantastic race.

Kathryn Weir won a gold in the U18 shot putt even though she moved up two ages. 

Congratulations to the girls U14 relay team who got silver. it was a great race ran by Laura Quigley, Tara Breen, Lisa Aspel and Katie Quigley.

We would just like to wish Tony Aspel luck and a swift recovery from his knee injury he picked up in the 800m.

Congratulations to all the athletes that took part and overall the day was a great success.

Crookstown Open Sports (18th April 2010)
On our own track today and our athletes did very well .  We had new athletes who had never competed before along with athletes who have been competing for a number of years.  The number of athletes competing for the club is definitely on the increase which is great and can be seen from the 24 medals won by Crookstown.

Competing today were:  Jack Whelan U/8, Oisin Gurferrty, Tara Finn U/8, Luke Hennessy U/10, Sean Moore U/10, Molly Aspell U/10, Daragh Gurferrty U/11, Sean Finn U/11, Leanne Clifford U/11, Aoife Kelly U/11, Iona Gurferrty U/11, Lisa Aspel U/12, Tadgh Hennessy U/12, Brendan Aspel U/13, Katie Quigley U/13, Laura Quigley U/13, Tara Breen U/13, Aaron Hennessy U/14. Ciara Dunne U/14, Dean Clifford U/14, Kathryn Weir U/16, Tony Aspel U/16, John Byrne U/17, Charles Weir U/18.



Kildare League Round 2, Celbridge (11th April 2010)
Going into the second round of the League the sun was shining and Crookstown were in 1st place in the Bs.  What a great start.

We had 13 athletes competing in the league and everyone completed their 2 events of the day and once again put in a fantastic effort - we can't ask more than that so very well done.

For the girls we had Tara Finn in U/8 finishing 4th in Long Jump with a jump of 2.10m and 6th in 80m.  In U10 Molly Aspell finished 2nd in 100m and 6th in 60m.  Aoife Kelly jumped 2.52m in Long Jump and finished 1st in the second final of the 100m.  Lisa Aspel in U/12 threw 4.70m in Shot Putt and finished 1st in 200m.  Tara Breen, Katie Quigley & Laura Quigley competed in U/13 with jumps of 3.17m, 3.22m and 3.47m then a successful 300m with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.  Finally for the girls Ciara Dunne U/14 threw 11.08m in Shot Putt and came 2nd in the 800m.  

For the boys we had Sean Moore and Luke Hennessy in U10.  Sean came 1st in 80m and 2nd in 100m.  Luke came 6th in 80m and 7th in 100m.  In U/11 Sean Finn threw 23m in Ball Throw and came 4th in 100m.  Brendan Aspel in U/13 threw 24.0m in Ball Throw and finished 7th in 200m.  Finally for the boys we had Aaron Hennessy U/14 who threw 5.21m in Shot Putt and came 4th in 600m.

Once again well done to you all and Happy Birthday to Aaron.  Looking forward to seeing you all compete next week at our Open Sports.



St Laurence O'Toole AC Open Sports, Carlow (5th April 2010)
The first Open Sports of the season was very busy and very blustery.  Not the weather for setting any personal bests but with 15 Athletes competing for the club we came away with 18 medals so well done to all.

Tara Finn was first on the track in the U/8 80m.  Tara did well to finish second in her heat but missed out in her final.  Also competing in the 80m were Molly Aspell, Sean Moore, Aoife Kelly, Sean Finn, Katie Quigley, Brendan Aspel, Laura Quigley, Tara Breen, Lisa Aspel.  With great runs by all: Sean Moore, Sean Finn, Katie, Laura, Molly & Lisa made it to their finals and Sean Moore secured an U/10 silver medal.

Kathryn Weir was next up with 100m in the girls U/16 and with a straight final finished in 3rd place.  Then Tony Aspel's U/16 100m was also a straight final and he finished 2nd!! 

Meanwhile at the Junior Men's Long Jump Danny Kearney put in a great show but failed to win a medal.  This was his first competition for the club so things can only get better.   Also in field events Charles Weir went up an age to compete in the Junior mens Shot Putt.  Over at the U/16 Long Jump Kathryn Weir won 3rd place with a good jump which was tough under the conditions as all the girls were jumping straight into the wind.

Sean Moore didn't run in the 300m due to an injury but stayed to compete in the U/11 Ball throw.  Again straight into the wind, Sean threw 20.70m which was a great throw and with that won a silver medal.  In the girls U/11 Ball Throw Molly & Aoife took part but found it hard throwing into the wind.

Back to the Shot Putt with the U/13 girls where Katie, Laura & Tara were competing.  Katie came 4th with a Personal Best of 6.78m.  Well done girls.  Next was the U/13 boys Shot Putt where Brendan Aspel threw a fantastic 6.78m to win a bronze medal.

Back at the track were the 300m, 500m, 600m & 800m races.  First up was Laura Quigley in the U/13 300m and with a great run finished 3rd then went on to finish 3rd in the 600m as well.   Also up were Sean Finn, Molly Aspell  & Aoife Kelly who finished just outside of the medals and Lisa Aspel who came 3rd to win a bronze medal in the U/12 girls 500m event.  In U/16 Boys this was Tony Aspel's first middle distance race since his injury and after a hard race came 3rd - welcome back Tony.

Last on the track were the relays and our U/13 team moved up an age to U/14 and after a fast and closely contested race were awarded silver.

In the final field events of the day, Ciara Dunne won the U/14 Long Jump with a jump of 4.04m, Lisa Aspel in the U/12 Long Jump finished 3rd with a jump of 3.09m.  Straight onto Shot Putt where Kathryn went up to compete with the Junior Women and threw over 9.0m to win a bronze medal.  Last event was with Ciara who went up an age to U/15 and came 3rd with a throw of 9.16m.

You all did really well today......keep up the good work.  The County Championships are only a few weeks away.



AAI Indoor Championships, Nenagh (27th & 28th March)
It was a fantastic weekend of athletics at Nenagh, the All Ireland finals always have a sense of occasion about them, and four of our athletes made the early morning trip to Tipperary full of excitement, anticipation, and a little bit of nerves (although they might not admit it!). 

The weekend started for Crookstown on saturday morning (Day 1) when Charles Weir competed in the Under 18s Shotput, Charles looked small in amongst the competitors but fought hard and managed an excellent 5th position with a throw of 10.19m with the 5Kg shot. 

Next up was Lisa Aspel in the Under 12s Long Jump, it was a great experience for Lisa as it was her first All Ireland final, and she finished 13th with  a jump of 3.27m. 

Day two (Sunday) started well for the club with Kathryn Weir improving a place on last year securing a Silver medal with a throw of 10.43m  (3.25Kg shot). The  success  and excitement continued as Ciara Dunne battled hard in the closest of competitions and also achieved a silver medal (2Kg shot) and was only 14cm off the top spot.