Masters medals won in Tullamore

Twenty four hours earlier there were National Masters golds from Eoghan Furey and Cathal McLaughlin and a double from Danea Herron.

The overnight to Tullamore was worth the effort for the female Spartans, who despite missing three key squad members did enough to grab the runners up spot behind a strong St Abbans team and thus book their place in next years womens Premier Division.

The Midlands club finished on 110 points for the day as the Derry women rallied late to post 103 points and surge clear of Wexford County who had been ahead of the red vests for most of the day long meeting. Wexford finished on 99 points and missed out on promotion as the Spartans finished with a real flourish by winning a nail biting 400m Relay to seal their promotion with aplomb.

It was mission accomplished for the locals who had targeted promotion after making the Division 1 final last year and, conscious that they had a talented mix of youth and experience to draw on, set out their stall for a serious tilt at promotion this summer.

Excellent performances in the two qualifying rounds in Antrim and Dublin got them to the final at the head of the eight qualifiers and even minus the input of Claire Dougherty, Jenni O’Brien and Maggie Donnelly, a real gritty team effort saw them do the job.

“We are so proud of the girls,” said Bridgeen Byrne on behalf of the team management.

“We are absolutely delighted to win promotion. We have a terrific squad, a brilliant mix of youth and experience and they and the club coaches, can all be proud of their contribution to this success at National level and roll on 2013.”

Individual wins for Ciara Armstrong 100m; Anna Barr 400m; Marina Campbell 3000m and Mary Devlin in the Long Jump, plus wins in the Sprint and 400m Relays laid the base for the 100 plus points total. Ciara also finished second in the 200m, Amy Jackson did the same in the 800m, Amy McDaid produced a 1500m personal best for third place and Mary Devlin grabbed more good points with third in the Triple Jump.

Emma McCay scored well in both the 100m and 400m Hurdles, Naomi Morgan stepped up to cover the High Jump for Claire Dougherty and Caitlin Ketelar and coach Danea Herron picked up points in the throws.

Megan Devine, Gemma Thompson, Tamara Boyle and Rebecca McLaughlin worked their socks off as part of the wining relay squads as the team stayed strong throughout a long, hard day to collectively claim the silver medals and deliver the much coveted Premier Division place.

A day earlier it was the Masters athletes on show and Eoghan Furey’s M35 800 metres Gold and Cathal McLaughlin’s M45 800m Gold were the local track highlights with Danea Herron securing a great field events double with F50 Gold in Javelin and Long Jump. The Spartans coach is also a talented Masters athlete with a brilliant National, European and World pedigree. Saturday’s latest success is a tribute to her ongoing dedication to both coaching and competition.

Fellow Spartan Eoghan Furey clocked a good 2 minutes and 3.91 seconds for the M35 gold over 800m and will travel today to Germany for the European championships where he hopes to drop closer to the 2 minute mark and perhaps get into the mix for a podium finish.

Foyle Valley’s Cathal Mclaughlin ran 2 minutes and 7 seconds to clinch the M45 800 metres title and demonstrate once again his track credentials. Philip Donaghy was unlucky in the M40 800 metres, finishing just out of the medals in fourth place with a 2 minutes and 9 seconds run, the bronze going to Finn Valley’s Ciaran Carlin.