June 5th - Irish Schools Track & Field Championships 2004

The annual schools championships always produce some of the best track and field displays of the season and this year was no exception. While the highlight for many will have been the invitational mile event, in which no fewer than three athletes dipped under the four minute barrier led by James Nolan and watched by special guest Sir Roger Bannister, the original four minute miler, there was no less drama in the juvenile events where competition was intense both on the track and in the field.

Shercock's Gerard O'Reilly, representing Bailieborough Community School, pulled off the first track double of the day when he added the junior boys 100m title to the 200m he had won earlier. Gerard has had an outstanding season this year and the double gold, a first for a Shercock athlete at the Schools, confirmed his status as one of our leading under age sprinters. Gerard was out on his own in the 200m final, which he won in 23.45 seconds, matching his PB for the distance. In the 100m he was run close by Monaghan's Patrick McCarron, recording a very useful 11.4s for the distance. Gerard and Patrick are pictured left following the medal presentation for the 100m.

Sean Smith was also representing Bailieborough Community School when he lined up for the senior 5000m final. Competing in only his second 5000m race, Sean was up against a strong field which included schools cross country champion Andrew Ledwidth, runner up Richard Yeates and last year's 5000m champion Jamie McCarthy. The temperature had risen into the mid twenties by the time the race started and this, combined with high humidity, made for an unenviable task for the distance runners. The field packed well for the opening 2km, which they covered in 6 minutes even, led by McCarthy. Ledwith took the initiative on the third kilometer and opened up a gap as the field started to break up. At this stage Sean had moved ahead of McCarthy into second place but he was soon overtaken by Colin Turner who led him through the fourth kilometer. Ledwidth had the race sewn up at this stage, running even splits to eventually win in just under 15 minutes. Sean overtook Turner  with 800m remaining however the Limerick man tucked in behind and was still in contact at the bell while the rest of the field were well strung out behind as the heat took its inevitable toll. At the sound of the bell Sean, who had looked comfortable throughout the race, raised the pace and started to pull away from Turner, opening up a clear lead on the back straight. As they entered the final straight, the Cavan man moved up a gear and accelerated away from Turner, opening up a wide gap before he crossed the line for a hard earned silver medal in what was undoubtedly one of the toughest races of the day.

The Shercock racewalking squad were well represented in Tullamore with competitors in all three age groups. In the senior 3km event, Peter Muldoon pulled off his best schools result yet as he covered the distance in 14:00 minutes for a new personal best and secured the silver medal for O'Carollans School, Nobber. Hugh Fitzpatrick came off the better in a tight battle with Donegal's Brendan Boyce to secure the bronze medal for St. Patrick's College Cavan, also setting a new PB of 14:07. James Muldoon (left) put in a great effort in the intermediate 2km walk, leading the race until the closing stages when he was overtaken by Paul Murphy from Limerick. James held on for the silver medal in a useful time of 9:16. Younger sister Bernadette, competing in the junior girls 1200m walk, put in a cautious effort and finished safely in eighth place while in the same race another Cavan racewalker, Orla Smith, finished fifth. Paul Fitzpatrick contested the inter boys walk with James Muldoon and finished in sixth place in a time of 10:35. Right: James Muldoon, 2nd Inter 2km, Hugh Fitzpatrick, 3rd Senior 3km and Peter Muldoon, 2nd Senior 3km.

James Ruxton had a far from ideal preparation for the senior 400m hurdles final as he was delayed by heavy traffic and only arrived in Tullamore shortly before the start of his race. James focussed on the task ahead of him and despite an inadequate warm-up produced his best race to date. After a shaky start, James was holding second place coming off the final bend with Waterford's Barry Upton holding a clear lead, however Tom Deane, the 2003 schools champion closed down on him from an inside lane and the pair crossed the final hurdle together (right). After battling all the way to the line Deane crossed first to take the silver medal behind Upton and James had to settle for the bronze, however he was well rewarded for his effort with a new PB and Shercock club record of 55.65s.

Philip Daly had little expectation of success in the intermediate pole vault, having just scraped out of Ulster in third place, however he showed no lack of conviction in Tullamore as battled his way through the competition on a borrowed pole. Philip's final clearance of 3.35m was a new personal best and he was delighted when it put him in third place and secured an unexpected bronze medal. Also competing in the jumps from Shercock were Anne Marie Burns and Josie McGee, both representing the Louis Convent, Carrickmacross. Anne Marie finished just outside the medals in fifth place in the senior triple jump with a 10.40m effort and Josie finished sixth in the senior long jump with a leap of 4.69m.