Celtic Games 2015
The 40th edition of the Celtic Games International Track and Field competition between Ireland, Scotland and Wales took placed in Grangemouth Stadium on Saturday 1st August. The event was expertly organized by Scottish Athletics whose President, Leslie Roy, took part in the very first Celtic Games in Aberdeen in 1976.
Scotland won the overall title with 170 points from Ireland on 156 and Wales on 147. Ireland took the u16 Girls title. There were 8 Celtic Games records of which two came from Irish athletes, James Kelly in the Shot Put and Amaris Borel in the Sprint Hurdles.
The management of the team would like to thank and compliment all the Athletics Ireland team who took part. They were a credit to their families and clubs and everyone competed well and supported each other throughout the day and hopefully some will be back on the team for Swansea 2016.
Under 16 Girls
The victorious Under 16 girls were captained by Patience Jumbo-Gula (Dundalk St Gerard’s) who led by example in taking victory in the 200m with a new PB of 25.18. The 80m Hurdles was the first track event of the Games and resulted in a blanket finish with Miriam Daly (Carrick-on-Suir) given third place in 11.89. One of the performances of the day came from Amy Rose Farrell (Blackrock) in the 1500m. This race was run as a combined u16/u18 event with Amy Rose smashing her PB to record 4.38.89 and finish fourth overall and second in her age category.
More PBs were on order out in the field with Marguerite Furlong (Adamstown) taking victory in the Discus in 32.03 and Ciara Deely (Kilkenny City Harriers) winning the High Jump with 1.70 in the worst weather conditions of the day.
Under 16 Boys
First into action for the boys was Tony Odubote (Ennis Track Club) who took second place in the sprint hurdles in 13.64. This was followed by a victory from team captain David Murphy (Gowran) in the 100m in a swift 11.22. Mark Milner (Tullamore Harriers) took second place in a tactical 800m in 2.02.24 where all the places were decided in the home straight.
Star of the show in the field events was James Kelly (Finn Valley) who overtook his brother John’s Celtic Games record in the Shot Put with a huge throw of 17.68, nearly 3m ahead of the second placed athlete. David Ryan (Moycarkey Coolcroo) added 11cm to his PB on finishing in second place in the Long Jump with 6.88. Also in second place, Liam Connaughton (Dunleer) threw a solid 49.69 in the Javelin.
Coming into the relay the Irish team of Patience Jumbo-Gula, Ciara Deely, Tony Odubote and David Murphy looked particularly strong and were first team across the line. However a zone infringement led to the dreaded DQ.
U18 Girls
Amaris Borel (Greystones and District) got the team off to a flying start in the 100m Hurdles when she broke the Celtic Games Record taking first place in 14.53 which was also a PB. In the 400m, Ellie O’Toole (Newbridge) took the race on with a strong front running performance over the first 300m, but faded slightly in the home straight to finish third in 57.59. Janine Boyle (Finn Valley) was up against a string field and ran well to finish third in 12.21. Rachel Dunne (Dundrum South Dublin) in the 400m Hurdles in 65.83 and Amy Hamill (Glaslough Harriers) in the 800m in 2.18.44 matched this place when also finishing third. Mollie O’Reilly (Dundrum South Dublin) and Carla Sweeney (WSAF) went one better when placing second in the 200m in 25.14 and 1500m in 4.38.14 respectively.
Bravest performance of the day came from Toni Moore (Omagh Harriers) who injured a calf muscle in the first lap of the 1500m Steeplechase but refused to quit and picked up points for the team when finishing fourth in 5.56.63.
Top performances in the field events went to Ellen Larkin (Emerald) who added 15cm to her Pole Vault PB when taking first place in 3.05m in a rain delayed event and Lydia Mills (Ballymena and Antrim) who took victory by 1 cm with a long jump of 5.77. Aisling Vaughn Witts (Borrisokane) and Grace Casey (Eire Og) were slightly below their PBs in finishing fourth in the Hammer in 49.65m and third in the Javelin in 39.92 respectively. Niamh Fogerty (Mullingar Harriers) doubled up in the Shot Put (second in 12.86) and Discus (first place in 35.93). Team Captain Shannon Sheehy (Cushinstown) had to face the wind and rain as well as her opponents but secured a good second place in 1.65.
Disaster struck the 4x100m relay team when Ara Freeman (Greystones and District) suffered a horrific hamstrung pull 50m into the race. In the 4x400m, Rachel, Amy and Ellie were joined by Eva Donovan (Navan) determined to make up for below per performances in the individual events. With splits of 60.02, 56.30, 58.85 and 58.84, the team took the lead on the last leg and managed a good victory over a fast finishing Scotland.
U18 Boys
Matching the girls start, Jack Murphy (Leevale) won the 110m Hurdles with a clear victory in 14.68. Chris O’Donnell (North Sligo) also took maximum points with a win in the 400m in 49.26. Ben Fisher (City of Lisburn) ran 10.92 taking third place in the 100m. In the 800m, Oisin O’Callaghan (Newry) just lost out in sprint for the line to finish fourth in 1.59.54. Shane Hughes (Mullingar Harriers) was content to let others lead out the 3000m into a torrential shower but eased ahead over the last 400m to take the win in 9.03.39. Ciaran Barnes (City of Lisburn) in the 400m Hurdles was involved in a close race to the line but had to be satisfied with second in 55.73. Cillian Greene (Galway City Harriers) ran a good race finishing third in the 200m in 22.57. Fearghal Curtin (Youghal) employed his usual strong front running tactics to wear the field down over 1500m, but when his opponents came past him with 200m to go, Fearghal fought back down the home straight to place second in 4.01.61, just 0.02 off the winner.
In the field events, Andre Christie (Leevale) added 4m to his hammer PB throwing 60.96 placing second. Robert Ivers (Raheny Shamrocks) took a gamble for victory in attempting 4.00m in the Pole Vault, but three good attempts did not quiet come off and he had to settle for fourth with 3.80m. Bryan Ndego (Galway City Harriers) was also unlucky in the High Jump when finishing second on count back with a 1.90m leap. In the Shot Putt, Darragh Gaffney (North Westmeath) faced off with a World Youth medallist and competed well to take third place with a throw of 13.99m which matched his Discus placing (42.02). Michael Gaffney (North Down) was a late call up in the javelin but finished a good second place with a throw of 58.76. Tom Deasy (Belgooly) finished fourth in the Long Jump with a best of 6.10 while Jordan Hoang (Tullamore Harriers) was second in the Triple Jump in 13.82.
Luke Morris (Newbridge) joined up with Jack, Ben and Cillian in the 4x100m to place third in 43.89. In the 4x400m, Chris was joined by fresh legs of James Holden (Dundrum South Dublin), Richard Keogh and John Fitzsimons (Kildare). John anchored the team to victory in a see saw battle with Scotland on the last leg to finish in a good time of 3.20.18.
Report by Ciaran Doyle
