Barr's gold tops local national juvenile medal haul

TULLAMORE once again proved to be a rewarding weekend venue for local athletes as four National Juvenile Championship medals were won by a talented City of Derry quartet, Anna Barr, Ryan McParland, Jamie Herron and Ciara Armstrong at the midlands track last Saturday.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Jul 2010, 10:58 BST
Updated 27th Jul 2010, 11:02 BST

Anna Barr used her sprinting speed well to claim the U19 Triple Jump with an 11m 40cm effort which gave her a 2cm victory margin over a St Abbans AC rival and underlined her growing reputation. She was unlucky in a closely contested 200m final, not to add to her medal tally, finishing a close up fourth with a 26.11s clocking.

Ryan McParland posted an impressive 23.23s in the Boys U16 final but was pipped for gold by a 23.05s run from a Menaphians AC Wexford athlete.However the young Spartan sprinter/hurdler is in fine form and will look forward to a shot at more honours before the season’s end.

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A brace of bronze medals came via another Triple Jumper Jamie Herron and another 200m runner Ciara Armstrong. Jamie, just back after injury got out to 10m 87cm in the Girls U19 age group and the consistent Ciara ran 26.30s for the U15 200m bronze.

There were a few close calls, particularly Jack McCloskey in the U15 Boys 200m final where he finished a very close up fourth in 25.01s. Less than half a second separated the first four finishers in this one as Jack narrowly missed out again in what so far has been a frustrating season so far. Hopefully his luck will change at this weekend’s NI Young Athletes League Final.

JP Williamson in the Boys U19 1500m final and U16 Hammer Thrower Lisa Dobbins both posted personal best’s in finishing fifth in their respective events. JP improved to 4m 11.23s and Lisa got out to 31m 84cm with fine performances and Lisa will also target the YAL final to go even further this weekend.

Amy McDaid and Sean Harkin were both in 1500m action finishing sixth and eighth in their respective U18 and U17 finals and two Olympian athletes Bronagh Doherty, fifth in the U17 Hammer and Sarah Hannah Ward, 12th in the U15 Javelin completed the local contingent in action.

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Completing the track action Pajo Hamilton was at Saturday’s BMC meeting at the Mary Peters Track and posted his best 800m time for four years with a 1m 56.00s run while in the A graded race David McCarthy finished fourth on 1m 51.05s just three days after an excellent 3m 59.69s Morton Mile last Wednesday night in Dublin.

Kevin Holian and Teresa McGloin of Finn Valley were the Drumhalla, Rathmullan 5K winners on Friday evening with respective times of 16m 15s and 16m 22s. McGloin actually finished third overall, a superb effort and was well clear of Carndonagh 5K winner Hannah Davidson who ran a quick 17m 18s to also finish right up there in seventh spot.

The Buncrana Festival 5K on Saturday morning went to Innishowen AC’s Declan Caldwell whose 16m 56s saw him home ahead of City of Derry’s Eoghan Furey on 17m 02s.

While the annual Jog in the Bog hits the streets again on Wednesday, August 11 over the standard 5K distance and on Sunday, August 29 the distance moves up to 10K for Dessies Run, which will have a 12noon start in the Gransha Grounds. More on both of these and of course the big one, the Waterside Half Marathon, also in Gransha on Sunday, September 12.

Related topics:City of Derry