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Reports - July 2012


31 July » 24 July » 17 July » 10 July » 3 July »

31 July 2012

On Tuesday 17th July Emily Rogers of St Peter's AC was in action in what was possibly the highest quality track and field competition staged in Ireland this year – the Cork City Sports. Competing in the Senior Women's High Jump, she faced opposition from Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Scotland, Spain and the United States.

Emily enjoyed successful first-time clearances at 1.50m, 1.55m and 1.60m. She then cleared 1.65m on her second attempt before going close to matching her personal best when the bar was raised to 1.70m. This fine performance earned her joint 7th place in the event, with just one Irish athlete placed ahead of her.

The same night the second round of the Louth Juvenile Summer League was staged in Ardee. Event winners from the Dromiskin-based club included Lauren Finegan in the U16 800m and Shot (8.14m), Chloe Finley in the U15 800m and Long Jump (4.45m), Daniel Finley in the U17 Long Jump (5.06m), and Mark Rogers in the U17 800m and Shot (11.30).

Others to perform well and contribute valuable points to the club's total included Elizabeth Bell, Gabriel Bell, Judith Bell, Ava Brennan, Conor Durnin, Luke Finley, Rachel Lowry, Dean McDermott, Emma McDermott, Pádraic McGinn, Claire McKenna, Eamonn McManus, Caitlin Meenan, Rachel Muckian, Ciara Murphy, Hazel Murphy, Katie Murphy, Heather Rogers, Marie Claire Rogers, Jessica Smith, Lauren Smith, Alana Tinnelly and Dearbhla Tinnelly.

Five athletes from the club represented the County Louth Senior team in the second round of the National League Division One at Santry in Dublin last Sunday week. These were Conor Durnin, Aaron Finley, Daniel Finley, Emily Rogers and Mark Rogers. Emily's winning leap of 1.60m in the High Jump helped ensure that the Women's team qualified for the Final, which will be staged in Tullamore on Sunday 19th August.

The Bush track was the venue for the Louth Junior, Senior and Masters' Championships last Tuesday night. Daniel Finley won the Under 20 200m (25.13), Shot (8.44m) and Javelin (37.75m). Maria Duffy was also a triple gold medallist with victories in the Over 45 100m (15.58), Shot (7.24m) and Javelin (20.66m). In the same age group Tom McGrane took gold in the Shot (8.91m). Aaron Finley, who has been hampered by injury recently, finished 3rd in the Under 20 Javelin (33.36m).

In the final event on the programme Aaron, Daniel, Maria and Tom teamed up for the Mixed 4x100m relay. It proved to be an effective blend of youth and experiences, as they won their race in a time of 56.92, over five seconds clear of the 2nd placed Glenmore AC quartet. This performance placed St Peter's AC in 3rd place overall out of eleven teams, as the first two teams in the other race recorded faster times.

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24 July 2012

The athletes of Dromiskin-based St Peter's AC will be busy on the competitive front once again during the coming week. Tonight (Tuesday) sees the staging of the Louth Junior, Senior and Masters' Championships at the Bush track, in which all the club's athletes from the Under 17 age group upwards are eligible to compete. Bush will also be the venue for the next round of the Louth Juvenile Summer League next Tuesday night (31st July), in which all the club's athletes from the Under 9 to Under 19 age groups inclusive are eligible to compete. The action at the Cooley venue will get underway at 6:30 p.m. on both nights.

Sandwiched between these two local events is the second weekend of the Irish Juvenile Championships in Tullamore on Saturday and Sunday next. Those who have qualified to compete include Conor Durnin (Under 17 inter-county 4x100m), Aaron Finley (Under 19 Shot Putt), Chloe Finley (Under 15 200m and inter-county 4x100m), Daniel Finley (Under 17 Shot Putt, Javelin and inter-county 4x100m), Orlaith McMahon (Under 15 inter-county 4x100m), Emily Rogers (Under 19 High Jump) and Mark Rogers (Under 17 Shot Putt and inter-county 4x100m).

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17 July 2012

Last Saturday was the first day of the 2012 Irish Juvenile Track and Field Championships. The venue was Tullamore, as has been customary in recent years, and it proved to be another very successful day for St Peter's AC. The team of six teenage athletes from the Dromiskin-based club won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals, and they all recorded top eight finishes.

Having won silver in these championships in 2009, 2010 and 2011, Lauren Finegan finally made it to the top of the podium with a great gold in the Under 16 Girls' Javelin. She added 3 metres to her previous personal best to take the title with a 33.59m throw. Having also won the Irish Schools' title last month, she is now indisputably the country's top javelin thrower in her age group.

Niamh Fussey showed that her big breakthrough earlier this year when she took silver in the Irish Indoor Championships was no flash in the pan. She repeated that feat on Saturday, as she crossed the line in 2nd place in the Under 18 Girls' 100m Hurdles, stopping the clock at 16.11 seconds.

Mark Rogers added yet another national medal to his impressive collection when he claimed bronze in the Under 17 Boys' High Jump with a clearance of 1.80m. Earlier in the day he had raced to a 5th place finish in the final of the 100m Hurdles, in which he registered a time of 15.60 seconds.

Aaron Finley, now in his final year in the juvenile ranks, won his first national medal in the colours of St Peter's AC, as he took bronze in the Under 19 Boys' Javelin. His best throw on the day was measured at 37.02m.

Conor Durnin came within a mere 8cm of his personal best in leaping 6.39m in the Under 17 Boys' Long Jump. This earned him 4th place in a high quality field.

Liam Fussey, Niamh's younger brother, was competing in a national championships for the first time and he acquitted himself extremely well. He advanced to the final eight at the end of the first three rounds of the Under 16 Boys' Javelin, and can be very pleased with his 8th place finish with a personal best of 35.89m.

Additional results from Sunday:

BU17 Mark Rogers competed in the 300m Hurdles and finished in a creditable 4th place. Clubmate Niamh Fussey who won the silver medal in the 100m Hurdles on Saturday, also competed in the 400m Hurdles on Sunday. Despite having to run a heat and a Final, Niamh ran well finishing in 5th position. GU15 Chloe Finley took 5th place in the 250m Hurdles. Chloe went one further in the Shot Putt winning a bronze medal in convincing style. GU13 Emma McDermott in her first ever national final finished with a personal Best in the Shot Putt in 5th place. BU17 Conor Durnin added to the tally of medals winning a gold medal in the Triple Jump. This was Conor's first outdoor national medal.

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10 July 2012

Last weekend the country's premier athletics competition – the Irish Senior Track and Field Championships – was staged at the Morton Stadium in Santry, Dublin. It turned out to be an occasion to celebrate for Dromiskin-based St Peter's AC, and in particular for 17-year-old Emily Rogers, as she finished joint 2nd in the High Jump to claim a medal in these prestigious championships for the first time.

The Women's High Jump was staged on Sunday afternoon in cool, damp conditions, which were not conducive to record breaking or personal best performances. Nevertheless Emily got off to a great start with successive first-time clearances at 1.50m, 1.55m and 1.60m. She knocked the bar on her first attempt at 1.65m, having perhaps lacked a little speed on her approach, but made no mistake on her second attempt, as she executed a flawless clearance. The bar was then raised to 1.70m, equal to Emily's own lifetime best performance, and she had three valiant attempts to clear this height, but, unsurprisingly in light of the weather conditions, it was not to be on the day.

The competition was won by the defending champion Deirdre Ryan (DSD AC) with a clearance of 1.80m. This was the eighth victory in these championships for the current Irish record holder who also finished 6th - Ireland's highest placed finisher - at last year's World Championships in Daegu, Korea, and who will compete once again on the world stage at the Olympic Games in London next month.

Tying with Emily for 2nd place was Sorcha Murphy (Ferrybank AC), so both Emily and Sorcha were presented with silver medals, while there was no bronze medal awarded. At the end of two days of very high standard competition, featuring nearly all of Ireland's top athletes, this was the only medal won by an athlete representing a County Louth club.

On Saturday Conor Durnin, who has just turned 16, had got the weekend off to a great start for St Peter's, as he leapt a personal best of 12.86m to claim 5th place in the Triple Jump. Conor only competed in this event for the first time last month, but has improved his PB in each of his three competitions since then.

Later on Saturday afternoon Mark Rogers, Emily's brother who is still only 15, leapt 1.85m, 3cm short of his personal best, before narrowly failing at the next height of 1.90m, for 7th place in the High Jump. He was very happy to be back to his best, especially as he had a few disappointing competitions recently.

Conor was back in Santry on Sunday to compete in the Long Jump. With the effects of the previous day's Triple Jump still in his legs, he was a little below his best in this event, as his best jump of 6.08m earned him 14th place.

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3 July 2012

A team of 21 athletes from Dromiskin-based St Peter's AC travelled to Tullamore last weekend to compete in the Leinster Championships for the U13 to U19 age groups. The young athletes were rewarded with a magnificent medal haul of 7 gold, 6 silver and 7 bronze medals in their individual events. Five of the team won additional silver medals as part of Louth teams in the inter-county relays. There were also four 4th place finishes, which is particularly significant in these championships, as the top four in each event qualify for the Irish Championships, which will be staged in Tullamore over two weekends later this month.

Conor Durnin (U17) won gold in both the Long Jump (6.30m) and Triple Jump (12.69m), and silver in both the 400m (54.42) and 300m Hurdles (43.51). Mark Rogers (U17) won gold in both the 100m Hurdles (15.63) and 300m Hurdles (43.15), silver in the Shot (10.57m), and bronze in the High Jump (1.70m). Aaron Finley (U19) won gold in the Javelin (38.99m), bronze in the Shot (8.81m), and finished 4th in the High Jump (1.55m). Emily Rogers (U19) won gold in the High Jump (1.66m), while Lauren Finegan (U16) won gold in the Javelin (29.69m).

Daniel Finley (U17) won silver in the Javelin (35.62m), bronze in the Shot (10.47m), and finished 4th in the 300m Hurdles (47.50) and 5th in the High Jump (1.55m). Niamh Fussey (U18) won silver in the 400m Hurdles (1:13.46) and bronze in the 100m Hurdles (16.96), while Liam Fussey (U16) won silver in the Javelin (34.61m) and finished 9th in the Shot (8.85m). Chloe Finley (U15) won bronze in both the 200m (27.39) and Shot (10.46m), and finished 4th in the 250m Hurdles (40.20), while Emma McDermott (U13) won bronze in the Shot (9.49m).

Heather Rogers (U15) finished 4th in the Shot (9.15m) and 7th in the High Jump (1.30m). Martin McGrane (U15) finished 5th in both the Shot (10.70m) and Hammer (23.40m), and 8th in the Discus (21.97m). Eamonn McManus (U17) finished 5th in the 100m (12.86), 6th in the 200m (25.65), and 8th in the Shot (9.27m). Luke Finley (U16) finished 6th in the Javelin (22.44m), while Nikayla Hamill (U15) finished 8th in the 800m (2:44.91), and Claire McKenna (U13) finished joint 8th in the High Jump (1.15m).

Orlaith McMahon (U15) finished 10th in the Long Jump (4.23m) and 6th in her heat (11th overall) in the 100m (14.25). Marie Claire Rogers (U13) finished 4th in her heat (10th overall) in the 60m Hurdles (12.25), while Pádraic McGinn (U16) finished 11th in the Shot (7.20m). Ciara Murphy (U14) finished 6th in her heat (12th overall) in the 200m (30.70) and 14th in the Shot (6.65m). Sarah Larney (U14) finished 12th in the Long Jump (3.37m) and 6th in her heat (17th overall) in the 80m (12.82).

In the 4x100m relay Chloe Finley and Orlaith McMahon linked up with Niamh Kelly (Boyne) and Gina Moses (St Gerard's) on the Louth U15 team for a fine silver, while Conor Durnin, Eamonn McManus and Mark Rogers combined with Keith Dunne (Boyne) for another silver at U17 level.

Two of St Peter's Leinster medal winners also competed in the recent Connacht Championships in Galway, where both enjoyed good victories. Emily Rogers won the U19 High Jump (1.65m), with Niamh Fussey triumphing in the U18 100m Hurdles (15.86).

Meanwhile, closer to home, Catherine Rogers enjoyed her run in last Sunday's Seaside 10K Road Race in Clogherhead, in which she clocked 57:39.

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