The second and final weekend of the rescheduled Irish Life Health National Senior Track & Field Championships took place in Santry last weekend. As on the previous weekend, the events were split into two sessions on both Saturday and Sunday and officials ensured that the health and safety protocols put in place were followed to the letter. The lack of an audience did not appear to bother the athletes with many simply happy to be competing. The overall standard was good and there were a good number of closely fought contests. All the action was shown on the Athletics Ireland YouTube channel.
The weekend saw two medals going to Wexford athletes, both in field events. Michael Bowler of Enniscorthy AC took bronze in Pole Vault, clearing 4.40m. In Men’s Discus (2kg) Padraig Hore of DMP won gold U23 (4th overall) with a best effort of 43.01m.
Young Menapians AC multi-eventer Eimear Halpin achieved a PB of 28.82m in Senior Discus, her first time competing in the event at this level. Her clubmates, Michael Deady and Aaron Tierney Smith, lined out in the 200m heats, both placing 5th. Aaron’s time put him 7th overall in the U23 section. Michael ran a season’s best and was just 0.6 seconds off his PB.
On Saturday next, September 5th, Morton Stadium hosts the Irish Life Health National Junior T&F Championships (plus National U23 Walks). The following day the National Masters event takes place, also in Santry.