Cliona shines in Fab 5 event

Cliona shines in Fab 5 event

31 July 2024

RAIN of biblical proportions fell on Thursday night just as the Fab 5 meeting was about to kick off at the Mary Peters Track.

It didn’t dampen the spirits of the Newcastle AC squad, even if proceedings had to be postponed due to a deluge of rain that fell upon the track and made conditions tougher than usual once things got underway. 

Under 10

Cliona McAleenan arrived at the track ready and raring to go with her No 1 supporter, Uncle Kevin, making the trip to see her run and jump.

After a soaking waiting for her 100m to start, she flew up the track and led from the gun to take the win her heat.

The other heat was quicker, but Cliona’s time was still good enough to win her the bronze medal.

She swiftly headed across to the long jump pit and put in a jump of 2.98m to take the win. There is no doubt that the multi event gene in the McAleenan household is strong as the baby of the house has clearly cemented her intentions to excel across all disciplines.

Sophie Kerr, another of a group of fantastic club siblings, competed alongside Cliona. She finished 10th in the long jump but was unfortunately hampered by someone crossing lanes in front of her in the 100m which greatly impacted her acceleration and she finished in 14th place. 

Under 12

Emily Kerr, opting to give the longer distance a miss after a busy week of summer activities, leapt 2.56m for 10th place in the long jump after a strong finish in the 100m.

Rua Gosling finished 16th in the long jump and ran a stunning 800m. This young athlete is a victim of the age boundaries and although only 9 was racing against girls nearly two years older than her.

However, she was spectacular holding onto that main group of runners the whole way round. She is definitely one to watch going into next year.

Under 14

Older brother, Senan Gosling, who was also up against boys nearly two years older in the 800m, ran a parkrun PB last week and running the wave of this achievement he pushed hard to finish in 2.53.

Under 16

James Carson entered all the events in preparation for schools combined events in September. He finished sixth in 100m, fourth in the shot – achieving nearly 8m with the 4kg weight – and 10th in 800m in a strong time of 2.36.

Paddy Sherrard and Ronan Grant fought it out in the shot for sixth and seventh places respectively.  Paddy also joined James in the 800 and with track conditions difficult he finished just behind James to take 11th place. 

Senior 

Fab 5 is an amazing, fully inclusive event and has been a springboard for many seniors to try new events and revisit events that they once competed in at school.

Senior member Niall Carson, demonstrated and led by example as a multi-eventer and threw 27.29 in Javelin closely followed by Paul Gosling for fifth and sixth places with only 13cm separating them. 

Niall progressed on to the senior men’s 800m with a very clear goal to beat his son James’ time set earlier in the evening.

With James trackside with the stop clock, the loser had to buy McDonalds and with a strong first 400m, there was sweat being broken at the finish line. In the end, less than 2 seconds separated the two and family bragging rights went to the head of the household with a 2.34 finish. 

Siobhan Grant continued her preparations for the National Masters Championship next week by taking first place in the ladies’ javelin, throwing further than the younger lady participants and enjoying a very successful year within the throwing events.

On Sunday she will travel to Tullamore to participate in the All Ireland in hammer, shot and javelin within the V35 category after her success at Ulsters. 

Joanne Mills continues to be a track regular at 800m and although the rain had stopped falling, the damage to the track was irreversible with everyone’s times slower than normal.

With a warm-up cut short as the programme was brought forward, Joanne took to the line in the U-18 and senior ladies’ 800m and had a solid run, finishing second overall and taking first senior lady in a time of 2.24.

Two days later Joanne would head to Rostrevor to win the Rossi 5k – phenomenal running from Joanne. 

The Final Fab 5 of this year will be held on August 22 and with the track events to include the one mile distance, it shouldn’t be missed. 

Juvenile C’ships

The weather has not been kind at all to our track and field athletes this year and Saturday was no different unfortunately.

Day three of the National Juvenile Championships took place in Tullamore with Hermione and Noah Sheridan both taking on the 1500m.

Hermione faced torrential downpours during her U-14 race but she put in an amazing run to cross the line in 5.00.02.

The sun decided to make an appearance for Noah’s U-19 race and though conditions on the track were far from perfect he still managed to run a solid 4.18.33. 

Great performances against the best there is and that concluded the National Juvenile Championships for this year spread over four weekends spend over six weeks.

Newcastle AC was delighted to see so many yellow and red vests competing at the highest level and doing really well.

A special word of thanks to the families who travelled to Tullamore and rearranged holidays to attend the events.