The 60th annual Cork City Sports took place at a sun-drenched CIT arena today. The pleasant conditions suited spectators and and athletes alike, and the crowd were treated to some highly competitive races. The day was also a success for many Leevale athletes who competed, some of the younger athletes in particular getting some great experience competing at the highest level.
In the women’s 100m underage star Jessica Sheehan finished 8th in the A final, in a race won by Tianna Madison of the USA. Christine Neville was in action in the 400m final and also finished 8th. Lizzie Lee, who has been training for longer distances on the road, ran in the 1500m and got a new PB in 15th place.
David Killeen is well used to to top-level competition at this stage, and mixed it with the likes of Paul Hession and Panamanian Alonso Edward in competing in the sprint double, finishing 7th in both. Paul Stack was another who was doubling up, both in the 100m and 200m, and also as a timekeeping official, and finished 3rd in the 100m B final and 6th in the 200. Cathal Owens ran well in the same 200 to finish 3rd.
In the men’s 1500m Ciarán Ó Lionáird mixed it throughout and finished 8th in a closely contested race in 3:44. Mark Hanrahan also finished 8th in his race, a 3K that was won by Australian David McNeill. Philip Crowley was in action in a very competitive junior 1500m, and finished 11th in 4:15.
Luke Hickey got some fantastic experience in the men’s 3K walk, competing in a field that included some of the top race walkers in the world. David Quilligan, fresh from his European Team exploits, was in long jump action once again, and maintained his consistent form this season with a 7.08m best that earned him 5th position overall.
In the morning the Juvenile 300m Gala took place and there were many Leevale athletes in action. There were good wins in the GU10 for Julie Lankford, Kaithlyn Coffey, Chloe McCarthy, and Jamie O’Sullivan in the U11, Taylor Murphy and Sean O’Callaghan in the U14. The BU14 race was notable in that it resulted in a clean sweep for Leevale athletes, with Jack Murphy and Matthew Murnane joining Sean on the podium. There were many other Leevale medallists on the day.