K.C.K. Athletic Club

Club Awards

Further Success for KCK Athletes at County Championships                     20-5/2012

All roads led to the RSC last Sunday for DAY 2 of the County Championships. After the club’s great success at DAY 1 of the championships, once again all our athletes turned in super performances. All athletes who turned up committed themselves brilliantly and the club once again came away with numerous county titles.

Percy O’Callaghan was the star on the day for the club, taking home a huge 4 medals. His county title came in the boys U14 800m, where his fast finish gave him a deserved victory. Earlier in the day Percy opened his account in the 60m hurdles, where he grabbed a bronze medal. With a fine clearance of 1.25m in his high jump, he also earned another 3rd place finish. Finally in the shot putt competition, Percy had a fine series of throws taking the bronze medal to add to his impressive tally. Rena Behan took to the line in the girls U13 600m. With very little running so far this year, Rena put in a super performance to take second place.

Her brother John Behan had a very good outing in the senior men’s 200m taking the gold medal and county title. He followed that up with two more silver medals, in the senior shot putt and triple jump.  Jack Dee led home the boys U11 team in the ball throw competition with an excellent throw of 110 feet for 2nd place, ahead of Seamas Fitzgerald in 4th with a throw of 108 feet. His brother Padraig was a close 5th in 105 feet and Jordon Doran finishing a very strong competition for the club with some more great throws.

Shane Power and Paudie Barry, competed very strongly in the ball throw competition in the U9 age group. Shane finished a good 6th with a throw of over 52 feet. Not far behind was Paudie Barry with a throw of 49 feet for 9th place. Both boys also lined out in the 300m where this time Paudie finished to the fore of the duo with a good 6th, with Shane a few places behind. Brendan Doran had a fine throw in his ball throw competition at the U10 level, placing him 8th. Helena Barry led home the girls U10 squad in their 500m race. She put in a strong final burst of speed to scoop 6th place. Close behind was the fast finishing Nadia Power and Aoife Barry. All three girls also went well in their long jump competition, with some fine jumps. Maud O’Callaghan had a very busy day in the girls U12 age group, first taking to the line in her 60m hurdles, where she finished a strong 5th. Her javelin competition saw her move up another spot to finish in 4th place overall, with some fine throws. Maud also found her rhythm in her long jump competition. In the girls U13 competition, Eileen Fitzgerald ran a very strong semi final in her hurdles, taking 3rd place and thus qualifying for the final, where she finished in 6th place. Emily Keane also took to the line in the girls U13 hurdles and finished in 5th place in her semi final, just missing out on the final. In the javelin and long jump competitions, both girls along with Rena Behan all performed very strongly. Photo Here
Well done to all athletes who competed, with each of them showing improvements from last weekend.  The club was well represented on both days of the counties and we would once again like to thank all parents who travelled to the event and for their help on the day. All photos and results from the county championships can be found on the club website www.kckac.ie

Two Personal Bests for Laura Behan
Laura Behan set two personal bests in 4 days, as she ran her first 1500m of the season and was rewarded with a huge new PB at a graded meet in Irishtown, Dublin on Wednesday night. Laura ran a very strong race, battling all the way with Mary Ann O Sullivan, a fellow college training partner. With 100m to go, both girls pushed each other to the line, with Laura finishing in 4.37.11, a huge 9 seconds faster than she has ever gone before. Laura went onto compete at the AAI Games last Sunday, this time running the shorter 800m. Laura went out hard from the gun, and found herself in a breakaway group after 400m. Laura crossed the line in 4th place in a new personal best of 2.15, a five second improvement from last year. With her exams to finish over the next week, this will give Laura a huge boost as she continues into the summer.

Personal Best for Laura Behan

Laura Behan ran her first 1500m of the season and was rewarded with a huge new PB at a graded meet in Irishtown, Dublin on Wednesday night. Laura ran a very strong race, battling all the way with Mary Ann O Sullivan, a fellow college training partner. With 100m to go, both girls pushed each other to the line, with Laura finishing in 4.37.11, a huge 9 seconds faster than she has ever gone before. With her exams to finish over the next week, this will give Laura a huge boost as she continues into the summer. Laura will compete in the 800m this Sunday in Dublin, at the AAI Games.

Success for KCK Athletes at County Championships                        13-05-2012

The first round of the County Championships kicked off last Sunday in the RSC. Glorious sunshine greeted the six Waterford clubs who took part in what was a very enjoyable and competitive day of athletics. Turnout from clubs was high, especially in the younger age groups. KCK had a very good turn out and finished the day with many medals and some great performances. For all the pictures click here!

Girls Perform Brilliantly
The club was well represented on the girl’s side with many newcomers competing alongside the seasoned athletes. In the girls U10 age group Ciara Stratford, Nadia Power, Abby Ryan and Helina Berry all competed excellently for the club. Helina and Nadia finished best place in the 60m sprint. In the ball throw, all girls put in good throws, just finishing outside the top three places.
After her Achilles problem, Kylie Heinen was restricted to competing in just the ball throw competition this time round. However, this didn’t stop Kylie from taking further success. She stole the show in the girls U11 ball throw competition, with her first throw measured at 100 feet and three inches, a new PB for her.  Alongside Kylie in the U11 age group were Alannah Szajda and Zara Stratford. Both girls performed very well in their ball throw, with throws measured at 67 feet for Alannah and just over 63 feet for Zara, finishing 4th and 5th respectively. The two girls also put in fine performances in their sprint event. In her first competition for the club Johanna did very well in her 80m where she finished strongly grabbing 4th place in her heat. This age group will have a strong relay for this Sunday in the U10 age group. Eve Halley and Maud O’Callaghan had a busy day in the girls U12 age group. Both girls went onto compete well in their shot putt and 80m sprint. Our girls U13 team put in some great performances. In the shot putt competition, Laura Kirwan finished best for the club, as Eileen Fitzgerald, Emily Keane and Samantha Foley also competing very strongly. Samantha went onto qualify from her heats of her 80m, taking 3rd place, after a very strong run. In the final, Samantha did well, with 7th place overall. In the girls U14, Chloe Raher and Niamh Barry both competed well. Both girls just missed out on their places in their sprint final but nevertheless put in some good sprinting.
Busy Day for the Boys

In the boys U9 age group, Michael Casey and Shane Power competed for the club. In the final of the 60m, both boys performed strongly taking good top 8 finishes. Tommy Condon put in a good jump in the boys U10 long jump taking 7th, while Brandon Doran two places back in 9th.  In the boys U11 age group, KCK was well represented with Seamas Fitzgerald, Jack Kavanagh, Jordon Doran and Padraig Fitzgerald all in action. Jack finished best places in the sprints. While in the long jump competition, the boys finished very strongly also. In the boys U13 Johnny Deveine did very well as he finished 3rd in his 80m heats to qualify himself for the final. In the final itself, Johnny did well, taking 6th place overall. Percy O’Callaghan took to the line in the boys U14 age group. In his first ever discus competiion, he managed a well placed 5th overall, with a throw over 13m. He followed that up with good performances in the long jump and 80m sprint. John Behan took to the line in the senior men’s 100m. With a strong performance he grabbed the gold medal and the county title. In the senior men’s long jump John also got among the medals with some fine jumps, taking 2nd place out of the four competitors.

Relay Results
KCK athletes enjoyed their relays with teams turning in very strong performances:
Girls U11 – 7th (Zara Stratford, Alanah Szajda, Nadia Power and Heline Barry)
Boys U11 – 4th (Seamas Fitzgerald, Jack Kavanagh, Padraig Fitzgerald and Jordon Doran)
Girls U13 – 5th (Eileen Fitzgerald, Emily Keane, Laura Kirwan and Samantha Foley)

KCK enjoyed a super day overall, with many athletes competing for their first time for the club. All of them thoroughly enjoyed their first taste of track and field. The club would like to say a big thanks to all the parents on the day who helped out in the events and who organised athletes for their competitions.

Kylie Comes Close in Munster
It was a case of been so close for Kylie Heinen when she travelled to Castleisland last weekend to compete in the Munster Combined Events. The U11 combined events saw athletes take part in 4 events, the sprint, 600m, long jump and ball throw. The athletes received points based on their performance in each event. Kylie opened her account with an excellent display in her sprint heat, where she placed a third. In her long jump, Kylie pulled out a new PB of 3.74 to take second place. Her ball throw of over 33 metres was an outstanding throw and meant Kylie went clear into second place overall, just 12 points off the gold medal. However having a tight achilles going into the event, this proved to worsen as the events unfolded and stopped Kylie from starting her 600m. The 600m would have proved another strong event for Kylie and no doubt she would have featured strongly. However, she can take many positives from her weekend of action, knowing how highly she was placing in such a competitive event.

All-Ireland Silver for Laura Behan

The intervarsity track and field championships went ahead in Athlone IT over the weekend, with athletes from all over the country representing their colleges. KCK’s Laura Behan representing DCU, took part in the women’s 3000m. After a very slow opening half, the race eventually picked up, with Laura a part of the pull away group of four. With a lap to go, three girls remained in contention, with Laura 3rd at the bell. After a very strong closing 200m Laura managed to push herself into second place and challenged the eventual winner Eimear O’Brien strongly on the final straight, coming home in 10.17, less than one second behind the winner. Well done to Laura and indeed all at her university as they took the overall team title, well clear of UL in second and UCD in third. Well done also to Eanna Farrell taking part in the walk event for CIT. Eanna enjoyed a good outing, finishing strongly.
Kylie Continues her Good Form
Following her medal at the Kilmacow Open Sports, Kylie Heinen made the trip to Cork for the Leevale Open Sports. Having qualified from her heats Kylie took 4th in her sprint final (U11). She also placed well in the long jump. Kylie will now look to the Munster combined events taking place on the May bank holiday, where she will compete in 4 events.

Success for Kylie in Kilmacow