Many congratulations to Le Chéile Athletes who did the club proud in very tough conditions on saturday. The weather conditions were awful for most of the day. First up was Basit in the U18 Long Jump, he finished in a very respectable 5th place having jumped 5.87m and has just miseed out on qualification to National, the winner on the Day was Tony Staffor from Menapians with a fantastic jump of 6.48M, basit also competed in the 100m sprint event. Next up was Conor Murphy in the 800m, Conor put in a stong performance and was always a contender but was beaten into 2nd Place. Next up was U15 Athlete Darragh Nolan, Darragh had been waiting all day to run the 3.5laps and put in a very guttsy and respectable performance. The last races were the inter County Relays which saw athletes from the various Kildare Clubs compete for their County. Le Chéile were due to have members compete on the U15 and U19, sadly due to illness the U19 team were a man down on the day and Conor and Basit lost out. However they all cheered Sean flanagan who was running on the u15 team, Sean ran the first leg as his is Kildare Champion and he got his team off to a flying start passing to Jack Kyle of Celbridge, the team finished in 3rd place in a very fast 4x100 realy, well done to you all. Thanks to the parents for their support on the day. While we were there we were thinking of everyone else back in Leixlip at the 24hr Race.
Day 2 saw a much brighter start for Le Chéile, and first up was Fina Hayes in the girls u13 600m, her debut track & field Leinster race, Fina was supported by her family (I just missed the race), Fina did the club pround and was the only female athlete representing the club. Next up was Liam Murphy and this too was his first T & F Leinster, Liam put in a strong performace and he qualifed for the final later in the day. Next up were Conall Hayes (son of Pat) Conall was running in the U14800m, Conall went into the race as Kildare Champion, Thomas Connolly and Patrick Flanagan, heats were the order for this race with first 4 from the two heat and 2 fastest qualifing for the final. Thomas ran well in his first t & f Leinster but didnlt make it to the final, hard luck Thomas, it was the same for Patrick who gave a brave attempt over the last 100m but didn't qualify for the Final. Conall ran a very tactical heat and qualified in 4th position, I will admitt that i was a bit worried when I saw the boys who were in 5/6th place sprint hard in the last 60m to make a move on Conall but it was in vain. It was a long wait before Sean ran his 800m, Sean put in a solid performance and saw off a number of challanges but in the last 200m the positions didn't change and Sean finished in a very respectable 3rd place, his race was a straight final. Conor Murphy ran in the 1500m U18, he tells me he was went rested from his efforts in his 800m, Conor and the other U18boys were all hedging their bets and none was perpared to make a move in a very slow first 2 laps, now i mean slow, first 400m was 82 secs, second was no faster, then a move was made Conor attempted to move on Noth Laois athletes but 2 others moved past his shoulder, in what came down to a 800m race in the end, Conor had to settle on 3rd place. So we were down to the sprint finals and then onto the 600m final and the last races of the day the 800m finals. Liam U13 stepped onto the line and gave it his best shot, it was a very fast 600m in which Liam did his best but was out of the medals on this occassion. Conall was up next and he had been told to focus on his own race and not try to prempt what anyone else may or may not do. The race started with a fast pace and Conell was well placed in 3/4 position in the first quater, he then made his move and went up a place coming into the final lap he took the lead and with an injection of pace he was clear of his fellow athletes, down the back straight with 200m to go Conall was out in front and was leading by about 8m, he never lost his lead and he finished in fine style in a terrific race and to the cheers of his fellow team mates and parents he took the title of Leinster Champion. What a race!! it was fantastic and what an achievement for Conall.
Conall, Sean and Conor will go forward to the All-Ireland Championsips which take place on 9th/10th and 23rd/24th July. Continued success to you all. Many thanks to coaches and parents without whose support the athletes could not train and compete to the best of their ability. "No one said it was easy".
Next competition is Round 3 of the League Sunday 26th June 2011, Venue Naas AC. U8 - U15 athletes, please confirm your attendance we are currently leading section "C".
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