Five Medals for St Abban’s Athletes at National Juvenile Championships
Over 20 St Abban’s athletes qualified for this week’s the National Juvenile Championships in Athlone where the club brought home five medals.
Joshua Crosby put in an outstanding performance taking gold in the Boys U-16 Shot Putt with a new PB of 13.96.
Abbie Delaney was the club’s second medallist when she claimed bronze in the U-16 Girls Shot Putt.
John Delaney medalled in the Boys U-19 800m thanks to a new PB of 1.55.
Lily O’Neill went on to win silver in the Girls U-15 60m Sprint having qualified through her heat in first place.
Roisin Kearney completed the weekend’s haul, winning bronze in the Girls U-13 Long Jump having also qualified through her heat in first place.
Kearney had earlier narrowly missed out on the podium in the U-13 Girls 60m Hurdles when she finished tge final in fourth place.
John Delaney finally managed to break 50 seconds – St Abban’s’ Club Standard – in the Boys 400m, but also narrowly missed out on a bronze medal.
There were new PBs for Annabelle Lawlor (2:30) in the U-18 Girls 800m, and Grainne Doyle (9.28m) in the Girls U-16 Shot Putt.
Milestone win for Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District Laois Senior Road Race
Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District AC hosted the Laois Senior Road Race this week, with the hosts taking both Men’s and Women’s teams titles.
It marked a milestone for the club as it is a first for both their Men’s and Women’s Senior teams to take the titles at the same Championship.
Cian McDonald, Jack McMahon, Eoghan Whelan, Ronan O’Reilly, William Kerr and John Troy were the victorious Men’s team.
St Abban’s, represented by Cian Kelly, Brian Kelly, Stephen Hunter and Colin Coyne, took home silver medals, with Oughaval AC taking bronze.
The Women’s race was won by the Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District team of Kate McDonald, Breda McDonald, Michelle Keenan, Rebecca Condell and Liz McWey.
St Michael’s AC finished second overall with bronze won by the St Abban’s team of Niamh Quinn, Claire Phelan, Aileen Lynch and Sinead Kelly.
Cian Kelly of St Abban’s won gold in the Men’s individual race, with Cian McDonald of the home club taking silver, while Brian Kelly, also of St Abban’s, won bronze.
There was another home win in the Women’s individual race thanks to Kate McDonald, who led the race from gun to tape to win her third individual title in a row.
Kate’s sister Breda added the bronze medal, with Lisa Sweeney of St Michael’s splitting the sisters to win silver.
National title for Ronan O’Reilly
There was more success for Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District when Ronan O’Reilly continued his great vein of form to produce another winning performance.
O’Reilly ran a time of 34:45 to take gold in the M-55 category at the National 10km Road Championships in Dunboyne.
