A special thank you to all the parents for turning up our PAC Junior Table Quiz evening and to all our great athletes for a fantastic and memorable 2014.
Over the course of the year a number of people stood out in our minds for their performance whether it be in the indoor arena, track & field, cross-country or at training.
We start the year with the Indoor Events and what a performance by the Portmarnock Athletic Club athletes. The number of athletes who participated was double that of the previous year with a number of performances standing out for mention;
* Ronan Patterson making it to the nationals to run in the 800m
* Boys U/13 relay team (Conor Archer, Ronan Patterson, Mark Morris, Michael Farrelly and Alex Cush) who won gold
* Grace Mc Keever who got third in the Hurdles
* Michael Farrelly – seriously injured finishing 2nd in the sprints at National Level.
The following people won medals at Dublin Level:
* Shane Archer, Jack O’Connell, Charlie Mc Keever, Rhian Gregan and Alex Cush.
The following relay teams also won medals:
* U/10 – Joshua Case, Harry Byrne, Cathal Tuite, Charlie Mc Keever & Callum Marshall
* U/11 - Shane Archer, Jack O’Connell, Alex Dunne & Joshua Kelly
* U/12 – Joshua Kelly, Shane Archer, Harry Collier, Conal Mc Allister
On to the track and field season which saw great performances by a number of athletes;
* Michael Farrelly who won gold in the the u13 80m in the Dublin Championships and then went on to win gold at the National Championships in Tullamore
* We also had Grace McKeever who got a bronze medal in both the Dublin Indoors and Dublin Track & Field for Hurdles
* A brilliant performance by the boys U/11 team who came 3rd in Tuallmore - Joshua Kelly, Shane Archer, Shane Patterson, Alex Dunne & Jack O’Connell
A special mention must be made to Derek McKeever who got third in the
Father’s Race!
We then had the Team Dublin Championship event for U/10 and U/11 with a superb performance from all who participated;
* Shane Archer & Jack O’Connell in the sprints and
Joshua Case and Cathal Tuite in the 600m.
Another great performance at the Community Games and the number of athletes who made it to finals was a fantastic achievement. A number of people deserve a special mention here;
* Samuel Case and Isacc Beehan in the U/8
* Josh Molloy and Jack O’Connell U/12
* Alannah Byrne U/14 – who I might mention went on to represent Dublin in a combined middle distance race a Nationals
* The u/12 girls relay team – Katie McAuley, Ellie Boothroyd, Heather Marshall and Emma Reen
* Grace McKeever who won the hurdles at the Community Games and went on to represented Portmarnock and was a finalist at National level
We then broke for the summer holidays but the Cross Country season kicking off with vengeance in September. The turn out was much improved on previous years and, as the league results are just in, a number of athletes are in a top 20 position. When you consider that some races have 60 plus participants these are great results. A particular mention to Jack O’Connell who performed exceptionally well and put the league races to good use when he finished 2nd in the Dublin Championships and also to the Boy’s U/10 who were amazing in finishing in 2nd place for the team prize with two boys finishing in the top 10. The team comprised Sean Lynch, Callum Marshall, Joshua Case, Harry Byrne, Robert Hussey, Sean Ryan and Ben Fitzpatrick.
All of the above mentioned achievements are simply amazing but these results cannot be achieved without hard work, turning up regularly and on time for training, behaving well and giving everything you have. One athlete who stands out for such dedication is Eoin Kelly.
So as you can see picking our Athletes of the Year is difficult with such a wealth of achievements to consider and once again each athlete must be congratulated. However, after much consideration we have agreed on this year’s winners.
And the winners are……
2014 Male Athlete of the Year
Jack O’Connell
2014 Female Athlete of the Year
Grace Mc Keever
2014 Team Athletes of the Year
U/13 Boys Relay Team (National Champions)
Conor Archer, Mark Morris, Ronan Patterson, Michael Farrelly & Alex Cush
So special thanks to all our athletes from Portmarnock Athletic Club and I know 2015 will be a really great year for us all.
We would like to wish all our athletes and their families a very Merry Christmas and a successful 2015.
The Juvenile Coaches of PAC.