The Juvenile Striders were in great form, putting in many great performances and winning lots of county medals, at day one of the Wexford Track & Field Championships. With all sixteen clubs from around the county participating, in big numbers, our athletes needed to be in top form to compete. However after some great training sessions and recent outings at open events, the Striders were ready to perform.
The girls got us off to a great start in the hurdle events. Aoife Muldoon won the first gold of the day for the Striders, in the 300m Hurdle event. Cheyenne O’Farrell Molloy, Rebecca Bawden and Hayleigh Bawden all added to the medal total, with great performances over 250m and 300m Hurdles.
In the throwing events, Cosmo Hewlett was our star performer, winning gold in the Turbo Javelin, 
finishing just ahead of his Eoin Shannon, who took silver. Also winning silvers were Oisin McEochaigh and Erinn Shannon, who threw very impressively in the Shot Putt, to gain their medals. Also throwing really well in the Shot Putt and just outside the medals were Ciara Murphy, Owen Lennon and Mikie Murphy.
More success followed in the jumping events. Aidan Shannon was our sole medal winner in the Long Jump event. The High Jump provided more medals with Leona Berry and Myles Hewlett, who beat an unlucky Finn Kelly on countback, both taking bronze medals. Ciara Kelly continues to be our standout jumper, taking gold with a 1:35m jump, in her age group.
The Striders had good participation in the sprint events, over 100m for all age groups. Sam Myers won our first sprint medal with a bronze. Shortly afterwards, we recorded a quick fire double sprint gold with Adam O’Connor and Aaron Browne leading home quality fields. Katie Murphy and Aoife Muldoon finished second and third respectively, in their final and the last sprint medal went to Hayleigh Bawden, who took bronze.
The relay events proved very profitable for the Striders, with gold medals for our BU13 (Aidan Shannon, Darragh Flannelly, Owen Lennon & Oisin McEochaigh), BU15 (Cian Flanagan, Aaron Browne, Patrick Doyle & Adam O’Connor and GU17 (Katie Murphy, Aoife Muldoon, Grainne Flannelly & Rebecca Bawden) teams. Silver medals went to our BU11 (Luca O’Connor, Sam Myers, Ronan Shannon & Sean Lennon), GU15 (Erinn Shannon, Meadbh Rogers, Aoife Ni Eochaigh & Louise Doyle) and Mixed U18 (Hayleigh Bawden, Ciara Kelly, Elaina Browne & Aedan Rogers) teams.
Following our best ever cross country season and some great spring training sessions, it was no surprise to see the Striders excelling at the middle distance events. Over 500m Ronan Shannon and Sam Myers gave it a real go and finished up in second and third places. Myles Hewlett continues to impress on the track, taking gold and Eoin Shannon edging out Finn Kelly, after a bold showing, for bronze, in the same race. Current Leinster champion Aidan Shannon and Darragh Flannelly were first and second over 600m, in their age group. Louise Doyle always performs well at the Enniscorthy track and she took bronze will a well judged run. Just as they did in the sprints, Adam O’Connor and Aaron Browne, won golds in their middle distance events also. Both Striders settled nicely into their 1,500m events and showed a devastating change of pace to settle matters. Cian Flanagan took bronze behind Aaron, with a strong performance. Grainne Flannelly, Rebecca Bawden, Aisling O’Brien and Joanne Kelly filled the first four places home, in their event, in what must be a club record. The Striders athletes dominated the older age groups with impressive wins for Katie Murphy, Elaina Browne and Aedan Rogers.
Apologies to all the Strider athletes that didn’t get a mention, but all of whom performed fantastically. We had many athletes who came through heats and semi finals to make their sprint finals, finishing just outside the medals. Most Striders finished in the top ten of their middle distance events and many achieved PB’s in their jumps and throws events. With a total medal haul of forty medals, lots of great performances and high level of participation in all events, this was a great day for the club. Well done to all.
