JuniorCru @ National Indoors

Some of our new young juniors had a tough introduction to national athletics in Nenagh over the weekend. As expected the rest of the country produced much stronger, more accomplished athletes than were on view in the Dublin qualifiers.


The relatively experienced Sarah Fleming (U18) came closest to a medal. However her best shot putt of 8.88m was below par for Sarah and left her in fourth position.

Indeed the shot competition produced our other two top-eight finishes. Isabel O'Leary did excellently to finish 7th of 15 in the U12 competition while Brian Gray's 8.92 earned him eighth place in the U16 category.

On Saturday James Woods (U12) got boxed in his 600m heat and didn't go forward to Sunday's final. Matthew Behan, the smallest athlete in the field, was overpowered in the U14 sprint hurdles when clocking 10.99. Similarly Alix Hughes was simply outmuscled by bigger girls and didn't make the cut of the U14 shot.

Olibhia Collins (U12 shot) and Patrick Keegan (U16 60m and long jump) also wore the Crusaders singlet with pride in the championships.

So no medals and our athletes now have a better idea of what it takes at national level. And next Sunday we have three relay teams (U12G, U13G and U19M) travelling to Derry to contest the All-Ireland relay championships, so good luck to all involved.

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