2018 NATIONAL INDOORS DAY 2

There surely must be a path worn from all parts of Kilkenny to Athlone at this stage – such is the frequency of our visits.
The Boys u/16 200m produced the best results of the day with the much anticipated competition between two Thomastown resident athletes Jordan Knight and Zak Bays-Hammond. Jordan competing for St Josephs and Zak for Thomastown. With both coming strongly through the heats, the final was a thrilling contest. Zak managed a PB in the heats of 23.72. Jordan Knight had a fantastic run in the final finishing 2nd, just ahead of Zak. It is great to see two Kilkenny athletes on the podium for this event.
Jordan then went on to compete in the 60m Hurdles and unfortunately he hit the first hurdle and never regained his rhythm for the remainder of the race. Also competing for St Joseph’s today was Evan O’Toole who finished 6th in the Boys u/15 60m Hurdles.
Rachel Gardiner (Gowran) produced a massive PB of 7m 63cm to take the bronze medal in the girls u/12 shot putt. This is a huge improvement on the 6m 85cm that qualified her for this event. With a few months to go before the Leinster Track and Field, this young girl is bound to progress to a greater distance. Gowran AC had two more athletes who competed Eoin Murphy was 8th in the boys u/16 shot and Ellen Purcell was 6th in the u/18 60m Hurdles.

With a clash of events and rescheduling of other competitions St Senan’s AC were left with just one competitor this weekend – Sophie Jackman. Sophie who only started athletics 2 years ago, competed in her first Indoor season this year and came into the Nationals as u/16 800m champion. She came 4th in her heat, just not enough to make the time cut for the final. But a great achievement to reach this level of competition in such a short space of time.
KCH were without Ciara Deely today in the 400m but had five other athletes who competed. Medals were thin on the ground for Kilkenny athletes today, but the club had some wonderful performances. Their best performance came from Louis Raggett who at 11 years of age has already displayed considerable talent in the jumping events. Louis finished 5th in the Boys u/12 Long Jump. His club mate Alex Cullen finished 6th in the Boys u/13 Long Jump. Ciara Duggan competed in the Girls u/12 Shot Putt and finished 13th. The Leahy sisters Rachel and Jennifer seem to have a genetic disposition for the hurdles, perhaps inheriting it from Mum Eileen whose speciality was hurdles in her competitive juvenile days. Rachel was 5th in her u/15 60m Hurdles heat with Jennifer managing 6th in the u/17 60m Hurdles final with a new PB to boost.