Strong Irish Performance at the SIAB Track & Field International
The SIAB Track & Field International took place on Saturday, 18th of July in Grangemouth Stadium, Scotland. The Irish Squad contained a strong selection of Irish School Athletes who achieved second place (358points) in the combined team scores, beating Scotland and Wales but missing out to England who topped the table with 520.50 points.
Field Success
The Irish team had a day of success on the field as they claimed many medals across a variety of events.
Sommer Lecky produced a typically consistent performance as she claimed the Girls U16 High Jump competition with 1.74m to stay ahead of English Athlete Octavia Cavill. Ciara Deely placed tied second in this event at 1.71m to claim another medal for Ireland. Elsewhere in the Field events, Brendan O’Donnell placed second in the U15-16 Hammer Throw with a huge throw of 63.78m. Stephen McCorry narrowly missed out on a bronze medal, however a strong performance of 57.73 ensured fourth place for the Irish athlete. Shane Martin claimed bronze in the Boys 15-16 Pole Vault later in the day.
Kate O’Connor competed in a well contested Javelin competition at the U15-16 category and managed to place second and gain further points for Ireland after a throw of 44.38m. Fergus Cox won the male event by .08 of a meter!
Track Glory
In the track events, Kevin McGrath won the Boys U15-16 800m race with an impressive time of 1:56.19 to hold off English and Scottish opposition. Molly Scott continued a successful day on track for the Irish athletes when she claimed gold in the 80m Hurdles in 11.11s. Daniel Ryan achieved silver in the 100m Hurdles as an explosive finish left the top four in close contest.
Race Walk Medals
Niamh O’Connor and Rachel Glennon placed 2ND and 3RD in the 3000 meter race walk. O’Connor finished in 15:26.04 with Glennon following close behind to increase the tally of Irish Medals. In the male race Gearoid McMahon and Andrew Carroll took 3rd and 4th spot with McMahon finishing in 13:58.59.
Close Fight for Places in the Relays
In the 15-16 4X100 relay, the Irish Girls took victory in a close race with a time of 46.32s while the male squad narrowly missed out on top spot when they ran a strong time of 41.68, only .06 of a second behind the English team! The 4x300 and 4x400 races produced close races where both Irish teams finished in third spot.