Day two of the Leinster Juvenile Indoor Championship, provided more excitement and a Leinster gold, for the Striders, who had fourteen athletes in action. Starting with the U14 age group, Tommaso Hickey and Sean Lennon lined up for the 800m heats. With both performing really well, Sean squeezed into the final, and then really upped his game to record a PB in the final finishing 7th, shaving 6 seconds off his time in the heats. The highlight of the weekend, for the Striders was certainly the boys U15 800m event. All four Striders came through their morning heats and faced the starter in the afternoon final. Myles Hewlett blitzed the field in the final, with a time of 2:08, to win Leinster gold, in some style. Aidan Kehoe led home the remaining Striders, Eoin Shannon and Finn Kelly, in a very competitive final. Given the level of competition, it was quite an achievement to have four in a Leinster indoor final. Also over 800m, the U16 boys had three in their final, with Darragh Flannelly, Aidan Shannon and Owen Lennon finishing a fantastic 5th, 6th and 10th respectively. In this age group, Oisin MacEochaidh, medal winner the previous day, ran a great 200m heat, recording the 8th fastest time, just missing out on a spot in the final. Adam O’Connor and Patrick Doyle, who both won medals on day one, managed fourth place finishes in their 800m final and 200m heat respectively, capping a great weekend for these lads.
Claire Doyle and Aoife NiEochaidh were our Striders girls in action today. After both doing really well on day one, they were busy again on day two. Both ran fine 200m heats, narrowly missing out on a spot in the final. In addition, Claire placed 5th in the sprint hurdles event and Aoife 7th in the Long Jump, with a best of 4:08.
Well done to all our juveniles who competed over the weekend, in an event that attracts elite athletes from the best clubs in our province. Congratulations to our latest Leinster Champion, Myles Hewlett, our other medal winners Isabel, Oisin, Adam, Patrick and Ryan, and to all others who have trained hard and competed so well over the weekend.
