Tallaght girls strike gold at Indoor Championships
TALLAGHT Athletic Club’s Under 16 Girls 4x200m Relay team went top of the podium at the National Juvenile Indoor Championships in Athlone last weekend.
After qualifying with ease from their semi-final on Saturday morning, there was quiet confidence that the title was within reach.
Niamh Gibson set off on the first leg and held the lead when handing the baton to Aisling McGuinness, who, despite being passed by two other runners, fought back bravely to within two metres of the leaders before releasing Lauryn McDermott
Halfway through her leg she regained the lead for Tallaght before handing off to anchor runner Rhasidat Adeleke who quickly put daylight between herself and the pursuing runners, crossing the line in a fantastic time of 1.45.25, which was more than two seconds clear of silver medal winners Finn Valley.
There was further success for the club with Rhasidat storming to victory in the 60m in a new National record time of 7.55 to add to the silver medal she won the previous day in the long jump with an impressive leap of 5.20m.
Jennifer McAdams turned in a fine performance in the Under 16 1500m Final where, for the first five-and-a-half laps of the contest, she kept close tabs on her rivals before breaking away with Saoirse O’Brien from Westport AC with little over two laps remaining.
The two produced a great battle over the final 300m with McAdams having to settle for the silver medal in a fine time of 4.51.35, less than half a second off the winner, but more than eight seconds clear of the bronze medallist.
Christopher Duffy took silver in the Under 18 400m in 51.20 while Saoirse Reihill cleared 1.40m to win bronze in the Under 19 High Jump.
Eoghan Keaney just ran out of track when he produced a storming run over the closing 150m of his Under 18 1500m Final in which he finished fourth in a new personal best time of 4.09.94, while both Daniel Soyemi and Michael Ogunsiakan finished seventh in their Under 18 and Under 19 60m finals in 7.40 and 7.50 respectively with Lauryn McDermott emerging eighth in her Under 16 60m Final in 8.12.
Dean Conway qualified from the Under 19 1500m semis, but unfortunately had to retire halfway through his final with cramp while Fionn Carroll had to pull up early in his Under 19 400m heat with hamstring trouble.
There will be plenty to look forward to on the third and final day of these Championships at the same venue next Saturday when a number of young Tallaght athletes have a chance of making the podium.
In the previous few weeks Tallaght athletes did well in a number of events with Laura McDonnell crossing the line in sixth overall and the first woman home in the recent Balbriggan Half Marathon, almost 14 minutes clear of her nearest rival and 1.25 quicker than the time recorded for her win in 2015.
Further afield on the same day in Ballycotton 10 Mile Road Race, Paddy Lyons was the first of the Tallaght contingent to cross the finish line, finishing 51st in the large field of 2,969 runners.
