A small band of 16 Craughwell athletes made the long trip northwards to Antrim at the weekend for days 1 and 2 of the National juvenile track and field championships, including Claire Ryder in the U13 girls 80m and long jump, Ella Bryan in U13 girls high jump, Kelly Harte in U13 girls hurdles, Craig McGill in U13 boys shot putt and javelin, Oisin McNally in U13 boys long jump, high jump and javelin, Maria McNamara in U14 girls long jump and high jump, Caoimhe Quill in U14 girls high jump, Orla McDaid in U14 girls 800m, PJ Kelly in U14 boys long jump, Linda Porter in U15 girls 800m, Paul McGill in U15 boys shot putt and javelin, Tomás Keehan and Niall Rooney in U16 boys high jump, Ruairi Finnegan in U16 boys 800m, Maeve Curley in U17 girls race walking and Rachel Finnegan in U17 girls hurdles. 

The club’s strongest discipline is rapidly becoming the high jump and long jump with 3 medals won and several more escaping our grasp by the slimmest of margins. Jumping performances across all clubs were down on provincial results – most likely due to the absolutely miserable weather conditions that hung over the Antrim Forum like a wet sponge with a never-ending water supply. 

As always with a National track and field, the competition was extremely tough and the club had mixed fortunes over the 2 days – featuring in the top 3 in five events with some great performances and narrowly missing out on the medals in some other events with equally impressive performances. 

The club’s 5 medallists were Tomas Keehan (silver) and Niall Rooney (bronze) in the U16 boys’ high jump, Maeve Curley (bronze) in the U17 girls 3000m race walk, Linda Porter (bronze) in the U15 girls 800m and Claire Ryder (bronze) in the U13 girls long jump.

There was heartbreak for Ella Bryan and Maria McNamara in the U13 and 14 girls high jump coming within whisker of a medal and disappointment also for PJ Kelly who came within 11cm of a bronze medal taking 4th place in the U14 boys long jump. 

Separate articles on this Website provide the details of all performances over the two days.