Donore star Lynch lands bronze at Nationals
By Hayden Moore
DONORE Harriers’ sprinter Aoife Lynch recorded an excellent bronze at the National Senior Track and Field Championships in Santry at the weekend.
The 22-year-old was among the stand-out performers in the Women’s 100m Final, having qualified second in a time of 11.81 from the heats on Saturday morning.
Aoife Lynch competing in the Women's 400m heats
The card was stacked with fierce opposition and while she was unable to get ahead of Tallaght AC’s Rhasidat Adeleke, who registered 11.46, or Molly Scott of St Laurence O’Toole AC (11.69), she filled the final place on the podium.
Albeit, a mere one-thousandth of a second separated Lynch on 11.685 from Ciara Neville on 11.686 in fourth.
Her impressive run came in under the European Under 23 qualifying standard, but with the wind gauge measuring more than 2.0 metres per second, her time could not be sanctioned.
On the same day, Donore’s 4x100m Women’s Relay team also took bronze with Eva McPartlan, Sarah Lahiff, Roisin Rynn-Cahill and Lucy Hurley combining to clock a time of 52.60 that saw them finish up behind DSD and Crusaders.
Abdel Laadjel then recorded a new PB of 8:27.93 on his way to third place in the Junior Men’s 3000m Final.
His club mate Gavin Curtin also set a new PB of 8:49.42, crossing the finish line in eighth place with the winner, Nicholas Griggs of Mid Ulster AC home in 8:11.15.
Griggs’ time replaces the championship record set by John Travers of 8:12.79, which he registered in 2010.
On Day Two, Donore picked up another medal when the Women’s 4x400m Relay team recorded an impressive time of 4:13.56 to finish third.
Made up of heptathlete Lara O’Byrne, newcomer Adelle Heskin and Under 18 athletes Sara Higgins and Emma Stacey, the team made the podium.
“They were all brilliant out there” said team manager Leonie Newman.
“Lara was delighted that we had a team – and Adelle, Sara and Emma will definitely benefit from the experience.”
O’Byrne later went on to record a new PB of 14.40 in her Women’s 100m Hurdles for a fourth place finish.
Elsewhere, Stacey put in a silver medal display in the Under 18 Girls 1500m Final at the Dublin Juvenile Track and Field Championships in Tallaght AC.
She crossed the line in 5:05.00 while Claudia Redmond, in her first track race, clocked a time of 5:29.10.
On the road racing scene, Des Tremble won in the M50 category at the St Coca’s 5km Road Race in Kilcock.
Meanwhile, Jack Raftery, Aoife Lynch and Louis O’Loughlin were selected to represent Ireland at the European Under 23 Championship in Tallinn, Estonia next week.
TAGS Sport
