Sarah Healy signed off on her T&F season with a fantastic Bronze medal in the Girls U13 600m in Tullamore yesterday. In ideal weather conditions, it was another great few days for our athletes as they continue the “learning curve” at National level with a string of PB’s in the process.

Whilst Ireland’s University participants got off to a flying start in the very impressive Kazan in the new look “Modern Russia”, the more humble surroundings at Tullamore Harriers AC played host to the National Juvenile Championships. AAI had a busy few days as they tried to keep pace with the outstanding performances from the country’s underage athletes who were re-writing the history books with a string of new National records and once again Sarah Healy showed her class on the National stage.

The following athletes competed over the two days:

• Eva Moloney, Will Hickey and Rory Linane were in action in the Turbo Javelin and Javelin competitions. They enjoyed the experience and deserve great credit for reaching the Nationals as we continue to “invest” in the Field Events.

• Will was also in action in the Shot Putt where he secured a PB on his third and final throw. Well done Will.

• Patrick Tucker and Evan Walshe both achieved PB’s in the Boys U12 600m. The race itself was dominated by the Leinster athletes in what was a very impressive winning time. Well done lads and we know they are itching to get on the XC circuit after the summer holidays.

• Patrick also competed in the 60m sprint where he narrowly missed out on a place in the final.

• Jennifer O’Brien was competing for the first time at this level after a string of good performances over the 60m hurdles in Dublin. whilst she didn’t progress beyond the heats it was a great experience and no doubt it will motivate her for future championships.

• Robyn O’Brien had only returned from holidays last week but still got a great workout in over the 75mH and 80m sprints in the girls U14. Whilst a little disappointed not to progress, she is a seasoned campaigner at this level and will have the 200m and relays in a few weeks. Good luck with those events.

• Her brother, Tommy, was also competing over the 80mH and the 250mH and it was a case of so close but yet so far away for him. On Saturday he was coasting through his heat when he clipped the last hurdle and narrowly missed out on a final place. And then yesterday morning he ran a PB in the final to narrowly miss out in a very tight race over the longer distance. Well done Tommy on a fine set of races over the two days.

• Natasha Twomey was up against it in the U14 800m with a blistering pace set from the gun. She was in the mix with 200m to go and battled bravely down the final strait to improve her PB by a massive 3.5 secs. Whilst she will be hugely disappointed with the result, she will take some consolation with her time of 2.24.24. Well done Natasha.

• Sarah Healy was in flying form coming in to these championships and again like all the middle distance races on the day, it was a blistering pace from the off. She was part of a strong surge with 300m to go and although she got slightly boxed in on the final bend she did remarkably well to get herself back in position and it was a three way tussle down the last hundred with nothing to separate them on the line. Sarah’s time of 1.41 was a PB (by 2 secs) and another fantastic performance by her over the shorter distance. Well done Sarah.