Roscrea Coláiste Phobal students excellent performance at the Munster Schools Athletics Championships

The Munster Schools Athletics Championships were held in Templemore AC on Saturday, May 21 and Coláiste Phobal Ros Cré students put in an excellent performance.

Aaron Dunford competed in the Intermediate finals in both the 200m and 100m.In the 200m he got off to a flying start, maintained his composure throughout and finished in 4th place. A great achievement as Aaron will compete in this age group again next year. He had another good run in the 100m.

His sister, Alannah, then raced in the senior girls 100m. She too will compete in this age group next year, so it was great to see that she was very pleased with her time. Lily-Anne O Meara was next onto the track for the minor 75m hurdles. Despite this  being run in a very fast time, there was an extremely tight finish.

The girls were left to wait patiently while the the officials checked the screen to decide the outcome. Unfortunately the decision did not go Lily-Anne’s way, and by the narrowest of margins, she finished in 4th place. 

Undeterred by finishing outside the medals, Lily-Anne lined up for the minor long jump soon afterwards. After 3 good jumps, she qualified for a further 2 jumps. And then, with an almighty 4th jump of 4.80m, Lily-Anne brought home the gold medal. A personal best and a  wonderful feat, which sees her through to the All Ireland finals on June 4 in Tullamore.

In the meantime, our only field athlete was busy taking part in the minor girls shot putt. Marie Shanahan had a good initial 3 throws, which qualified her for the additional two throws. She held her nerve, and achieved a PB with a throw of 8.45m on both her 3rd and 5th throws. In the final round up, Marie finished in 5th place. It is fantastic to see her attain a PB on the occasion of a Munster Final.

Well done to all the athletes and the very best of luck to Lily-Anne in the All Ireland.