JUVENILE NEWS
Our Thursday night Little Athletics & Juvenile Training finished in style on Thursday 8th of June with fun obstacles, relays and games and a highly anticipated visited from the Ice-cream man.
A huge thankyou to all the coaches and volunteers.
Keep an eye on Juvenile WhatsApp group for updates on return to training in September!
Summer Camp
Our very popular Summer Camp will take place in Ballymastone 17th - 19th July. This years camp is now fully SOLD OUT
TRACK & FIELD
June has been a very busy & exciting month for Track & Field, huge thank to Enda Gavigan for always keeping us up to date on All the Action.
All Ireland Schools and Dublin Champions for LSA - 3rd June 2023
LSA Track & Field athletes had another very productive week with Championship medals at All Ireland and Dublin level.
Dublin Graded 4 returned to the new UCD Belfield track on a hot Saturday afternoon where Anthony Sharkey showed his class again, being crowned Dublin Champion in the gruelling 10,000m in a very impressive 34:55.41. Michelle Branigan ran her first 1500m in a time of 5:51.55 and continues to add to her points tally in the Grand Prix competition, currently running third with 284 points. Meanwhile, sister Alison Branigan makes a welcome return to competition, opening her account in the 400m with a time of 1:14. Good news also for Eabha O’Farrell whose recent good showing at 400m sees her promoted to Grade B for the rest of the series.
Also on Saturday, Eabha O’Farrell and Anna Gavigan travelled to Tullamore to represent Loreto Balbriggan a the prestigious All Ireland Schools finals. It was disappointment for Eabha in Inter Hammer where a couple of fouls took her out of the final reckoning but a super achievement for her to make it this far. Anna taking Gold in Senior Discus with another consistent series of big throws and a best of 46.23m to retain her National Title and the Ned and Mary O’Brien Discus award. Congratulations to all.
Days 2,3 and 4 of the Dublin Juvenile Championships - 9th-11th June 2023
You couldn’t ask for a better location for Days 2,3 and 4 of the Dublin Juvenile Championships (ok, maybe Diamond League, Paris) than the lovely new DSD facility, basking in sunshine in the foothills of the Dublin mountains.
Éabha O’Farrell kicked things off in the Friday session in U17 Hammer with a best throw of 35.88. Not only was this the best Juvenile throw of the evening, it also netted her the U17 Gold medal and a place in the Nationals.
Michelle Branigan U18, just finding her feet at 1500m continued in the same vein, completed the 3 and 3/4 laps in 5:41 to bag the Silver medal, also qualifying for the National finals.
Switching back home to Donabate , you couldn’t ask for a better Saturday morning location for a Park Run than a hot and sunny Newbridge House. 3000m runner Sinéad Farrell was using it for her ‘long run’ and clocked a very nice PB, going under 21mins for the first time with 20:53. No doubt there’s plenty more to come from Sinéad!
Saturday noon saw Eabha and Michelle back in action in DSD in the 400m. Two more PB performances, Eabha edging ever closer to one minute with a 1:03.29 for Bronze U17 and Michelle a 1:07.41 for Silver U18 and a place in the Nationals for both in this event also!
As if that wasn’t enough, Michelle was back in action yet again on Sunday for the U18 Javelin where a 17:34m best netted her yet another Silver to add to her previous two, a very productive weekend indeed!
Well done also to Eabha who, because of her success at the recent Leinster Schools now goes on the compete in U17 Hammer at the Tailteann Schools Interprovincial Championships.
Week of 12th June Success for LSA in Track & Field continued....
Success for Anna Gavigan at the Northern Ireland and Ulster Senior Championships. Anna continues to build on a very good season, taking Gold in the Women’s Senior Discus with a best throw of 46.38m.
Dara Carr had a very useful first visit to the new DSD track for the DSD Games, with a 14.22 in 100 for fourth in her heat and a 29.63 for a seventh placing in her 200m heat, useful mileage ahead of the upcoming National League.
Eliza Hussein had two great performances in the Dublin Juveniles U14, taking gold in the Discus with 19.34m and Bronze in Hammer with 21.20m. Both performances qualify for the National Juvenile Finals
National League 25th June 2023
A day of high excitement for the Ladies team at the National League.
On Sunday 25th June our Ladies team were in action for the National League preliminary round. The National League is a team event for Clubs and Counties across the country with about 30 teams taking part on the day . Each team fields a team of athletes where one athlete competes for the team in each of the Track and Field disciplines. Points are scored with 17 for a first place, then working all the way down to 1 point. Every point gained can make a difference to the final standings.
Action commenced at 11am on Sunday with Eabha O’Farrell kicking off for LSA in the High Jump. Eabha had a lovely jump at 1.30m to secure the first points for the team but then had to immediately rush to the Hammer cage where she was our designated Hammer thrower. Eabha was up for the challenge though, and despite throwing the heavy 4kg implement, she produced an excellent 6 place finish securing 11 points for LSA.
Ellen Gavigan who hasn’t competed recently was drafted in to assist the team in the 1500m walk. Well used to speed walking to make the train for school, Ellen completed the 1500m in a very commendable 10:03 to take second place and bag 15 points the team.
Alison Branigan now took to the track for the 400m Hurdles, coming safely through this tough event in 1:25 to secure 6 more points.
With no letup in the action it was Nicole Michaels’s turn now with the 4kg Shot. Nicole acquitted herself very well with a 6.55m throw to secure 4 more valuable points.
The first relay of the day was the 4x100m with Dara Carr out of blocks, Michelle Branigan on the back straight, Sarah Minto on the top bend and Alison Branigan on the finishing anchor leg. A secure run with no drama in the handovers saw the team finish in 59s, but unfortunately just outside the points.
Ellen Gavigan was again drafted in, this time for the 100m sprint which she completed in 14.75s which was unfortunately just outside the points .
The evening closed with the 4x400m. After much chopping and changing throughout the day, the final selection was Eabha O’Farrell, Michelle Branigan, Sinead Farrell and super sub Mary McNamara. A quick crash course for Mary on the baton change and all was set. A faultless run by the team with no drama in the handovers and a time of 4:54 gained the team its final 7 points of the day.
An added bonus was having the Irish U23 ladies team in the same heat. They were on a qualification attempt for the European U23 Championships looking for a time of 3:40. Agonisingly, they missed it by less than a second!!
This brought to a close a super day of drama, excitement and fun. Our team have provisionally finished in 15th place overall which would qualify them for the National League final Division 1 so fingers crossed for this!!
Many thanks to Louise Gilroy, Fiona Branigan and Shane O’Farrell without whose help during the day we would never have managed!!
….and to coach Gerry Ronan for his valuable guidance throughout the day.
National U20/U23 championships - Sunday 2nd July
LSA’s Anna Gavigan, Michelle Branigan and Sinéad Farrell were in Tullamore last weekend for the National U20/U23 championships. U18s, Michelle (400m and Javelin) and Sinéad (5000m) gained some very valuable experience stepping up to this level
Michelle posted a 1:11.7 in her 400 heat and a distance of 13.8m in Javelin. Sinéad covered the 5000m in 20:20, knocking 30s of her PB and picking up an excellent Bronze medal for her efforts.
Anna was in Tullamore to defend her U20 Discus title and she did so in some style, demolishing her previous PB in the process.
With a best of 49:32m Anna not only retained her U20 Discus title, she also set a new Championship Record and clinched the outright National U20 Record.
With four throws exceeding the upcoming European U20 qualifying standard, she puts herself firmly in the picture for National Team selection and moves to 6th place on the all time list for Irish Women’s Discus throw.
Well done to Anna, and to U18s Michelle and Sinéad for stepping up to this level and to Coach Gerry Ronan for the amount of time and effort he has put into this group.
ADULT NEWS
Portumna Forest Marathon - 10th June 2023
Massive Congratulations to Leon Stafford on completing his 10th Marathon! What an amazing achievement Leon.
Irish Runner 5 Mile - 11th June 2023
Sarah Roux flew the LSA flag at this years Irish Runner 5 mile in the Phoenix Park on Sunday June 11th! Well Done Sarah!
Dublin Pride Run 16th June 2023
Massive congratulations to Eimear Caulfield on being 3rd lady at this years Pride Run! This was a huge race this year with 1600 participants. Conditions were not favourable on the day & Eimear said " Really tough conditions on the grass and it poured down, had to work hard for the place when I wanted to quit" The race was started by Catriona McKiernan and Leo Varadkar completed the prize ceremony! Well done Eimear!
Michael Manning Memorial - Dunshaughlin 10k - 17th June 2023
LSA was well & truly represented at the Dunshaughlin 10k road race with 13 club members racing. The race is race 5 of the Peugeot Race Series (Pop Up Races) 2023. Huge well done all
Corkagh Park 5 Mile Sunday - 18 June 2023
The Corkagh 5 Mile at Corkagh Park was the first event in the Irish Life Dublin Race Series 2023. Well done to Georgean, Micheal & Dave for flying the LSA Flag!
Dunmanway 10k - June 18th 2023
Also on June 18th but further south, Clare was flying the LSA flag in a very sunny West Cork with her sister completing the Dunmanway 10k. Well Done Clare!
Special Olympics World Games
A very special mention to club members Deborah McArdle and Louise Grant who travelled to Germany as part of the Irish Team as officials and volunteers for the Special Olympics World Games.
Athletes Becca, Philomena and Denis are also officials for the world games. There are very few athlete officials in the world games but basketball has 7 and of these 4 ( 3 table Officials & a Floor Official (Referee)) are Irish. These Athletes come from all over Ireland with Becca being a local from here in Donabate!
LSA Annual Summer BBQ!
Huge thank you to our wonderful Events Committee Adrian, Sue & Amy on the planning and preparation for the wonderful summer BBQ! The atmosphere Beaverstown Golf Club was electric for a super night of food, music and craic. This is testament to all the hard work that went on behind the scenes by our events committee. Keep an eye on WhatsApp for any upcoming events...
Special Thanks to Xavi for capturing the night in photos...
LSA on Tour June 2023
Huge congrats to Ann's on completing this 5k at 7am in 27degree heat in Florida!!!!
Ian at the Liverpool Docklands
Jen Running in very hot conditions in Lanzorote
Amy Doing laps of the farm in Kilkenny
Louise running in the heat of Majorca
And Finally....
Apologies to all the June was packed into one newsletter...June has been a manic month...As always if you have anything you want to appear in the newsletter please WhatsApp me 0879583807, Kelly x!
