Round 1 of the Athletics Ireland National League took place in two locations, Templemore AC Track and Mary Peters Track, Belfast on Sunday 22nd May.

The East Cork Divisional Men’s and Women’s teams competed in Division 1 at the Templemore AC venue.

There is a great set of photos showing the athletes in action in the following Link: Photos

It was a really enjoyable day out and a great introduction to Senior National Championship competition for some of the Athletes.

Our Women’s team had a super day, scoring highly in all events. We are currently lying in 7th place overall after Round 1 in a tightly packed competition where just a handful of points separate the 3rd to 9th place teams. With a busy schedule recently including the Munster Schools T&F taking place the previous day and exam season upon us, we travelled with a small team. However, with some outstanding performances the team collected a points tally of 97.5 (best 15 events) putting themselves in a strong position going into Round 2. The top 8 teams after Round 2 qualify for the final.

This was a great team effort with some athletes covering multiple events to score points for the team and individual wins for Blessing Alamu in the Discus and Rebecca Watson in the Weight for Distance.

The following athletes competed for the Women’s Team:

100m   –   Lily O`Riordan (Carraig na bhFear AC)

100mH   –   Lily O`Riordan (Carraig na bhFear AC)

1500m Walk   –   Odhrna Hurley (Carraig na bhFear AC)

200m   –   Isobel O’Meara (Carraig na bhFear AC)

400m   –   Orla Coffey (Carraig na bhFear AC)

400mH   –   Aine Sheridan (Carraig na bhFear AC)

4 x 100m Relay   –   Blessing Alamu, Lily O`Riordan, Caoimhe Geoghegan, Isobel O’Meara

4 x 400m Relay   –   Isobel O’Meara, Sarah Morrison, Orla Coffey, Lily O`Riordan,

800m   –   Sarah Morrison (St. Nicholas AC)

Discuss   –   Blessing Alamu (Carraig na bhFear AC)

Hammer   –   Leah Parker (Midleton AC)

High Jump   –   Lily O`Riordan (Carraig na bhFear AC)

Javelin   –   Maebh Daly (Carraig na bhFear AC)

Long Jump   –   Blessing Alamu (Carraig na bhFear AC)

Pole Vault   –   Orla Coffey (Carraig na bhFear AC)

Shot Put   –   Orla Coffey (Carraig na bhFear AC)

Weight for Distance   –   Rebecca Watson (Youghal AC)

Again for the same reasons plus some injuries we travelled without a full strength Men’s team. We entered 11 of the 21 events, with the objective of scoring as many points as possible to stay in contention going into Round 2. The team finished with 62 points, which was great return from 11 events. With a possible 15 events out of 21 to count it shows what could be achieved with a full team as there is no shortage of talent within the Division. Barry Healy, no stranger to this level of competition finished 1st in the Discus and 1st in the Weight for Distance to claim a maximum 18 points giving the team a big boost. Cathal Nugent also took an individual win with a very impressive performance in the 400mH. While we are still waiting on the official results, it looks like we are approx. 20 points behind the 8th place team. With a full squad in Round 2 its not impossible to claw back that margin.

The following athletes competed for the Men’s Team:

1500m   –   Daire O’Sullivan (Carraig na bhFear AC)

3000m S/C   –   David Maher (Carraig na bhFear AC)

400mH   –   Ciaran Nugent (Carraig na bhFear AC)

4 x 100m Relay   –   Cathal Whooley, George Alamu, Daire O’Sullivan, David Maher

4 x 400m Relay   –   Cathal Whooley, Daire O’Sullivan, David Maher, Willie Walsh

5000m   –   Matt Horrigan (East Cork AC)

800m   –   Paul Hartnett (East Cork AC)

Discuss   –   Barry Healy (Youghal AC)

High Jump   –   George Alamu (Carraig na bhFear AC)

Triple Jump   –   George Alamu (Carraig na bhFear AC)

Weight for Distance   –   Barry Healy (Youghal AC)

Thanks to all the Athletes, Officials and Coaches who participated on the day.

Round 2 will take place on 31st July in SETU Carlow with the top 8 teams going through to the Final in Tullamore on August 14th.