Cross Country Newsletter
Thanks to our coaching coordinators for producing the Cross Country Newslterr.
Clink the below link to view it.
County Westmeath Championships
Thanks to John O'Brien for sending us some wonderful photographs of the recent County Juvenile Championships.
Alex Palframan in full flight !
Clink on the below link to view the photos.
Photo's from Westmeath County Championship 2016
All Ireland Indoors
This weekend we had 3 athletes competing in the All Ireland Indoors in Athlone. On Saturday Ruairi Lyons won the clubs first ever National Individual medal on the track when he came second in the Boys U15 1K walk. This was great performance from a young man who has only started race walking in the last two months. A lot of credit must go to Michael Lane who coached and advised Ruairi in the last few weeks. Later in the day, Raphael Salaja came 3rd in a very competitive Boys U15 60 meters. Raphael has been going very well in training and this performance bodes well for a promising outdoor season for Raphael.
On Sunday, Sam Agbanobi competed in the U13 Boys 60 meters hurdles. Sam easily qualified for the final in a time of 10.25. In the final Sam got off to a great start and was in 3rd position up until the final hurdle, there was a very close dash for the line with a bunch of athletes in contention. Sam finished in a very creditable 5th place. The fact that Sam was diss-appointed with 5th place is a testament to his ambitions as an athlete. To come 5th in Ireland is a magnificent achievement and Sam can look forward to a great outdoor season with renewed optimism.
For the full results click here.
Left to Right : Raphael Salaja - AIT AC, Michael Farrelly - Portmarnock AC, Mathew Buckley - Ratoath AC
Left to Right : Eanna Geraghty - Westport AC, James Hanlon - Taghmon AC, Ruairi Lyons - AIT AC
RFID Wristbands being introduced for Check-in
The juvenile club will be introducing RFID coloured silicone wristbands in 2016. These wristbands are intended to replace the current barcoded ID cards which athletes and coaches use for checking in at each training session. Some of the advantages that the wristbands have include :
- Children can wear them while training so they don't have to return them like the cards to their parent, or carry them around with them during training.
- We have aligned the colours of the wristbands to the 4 colours of our FitKids training groups. So, children and group coaches can easily work out which training group a child is in by the colour of their wristband. The 4 coloured training groups are now going to be Blue, Purple,Orange and Yellow. All of the coaches and squad athletes will be given Green bands.
- The wristbands are cool ! they bands look wonderful, they are brightly coloured, branded with the AIT AC logo and name and we believe the children and coaches will love wearing them.
- They will help the club further streamline our check-in process at training sessions. The wristbands are more reliable than barcode's when it comes to reading the ID details. Barcodes can become faded, torn, damaged and result in delays at check-in. After a few weeks we hope to be in a position to have the laptop based check-in replaced by smartphone check-in's so that the check-in person(s) can simply check in people using a smartphone. So, we could even have multiple people checking people in, hopefully reducing delays. We want athletes to be training rather than queueing when they come to training !
Cost.
We have done our best to ensure that the cost of the wristbands is kept low, however we will have to charge €4 per wristband and hope that every athlete and coach will purchase and use the wristbands going forward. We want to de-commission the use of ID cards and the need for manual check-in's over the next few weeks. We hope when the children and parents see the wristbands that they will agree that they are worth €4, even if they didnt have the added function of helping us automatically check in people they look wonderful... See photo below. The club has ordered enough wristbands to cover our current number of members with some contingency for growth over the next few years but as the re-order qty from the supplier is a minimum of 300 we have decided to charge €5 for replacement bands in the hope that children won't lose them.
Portarlington Sportshall Event
On Sunday 10th Jan the club competed in the Annual Sportshall event in Portarlington. This is the 2nd year that the club has been invited to this very well run and enjoyable event. Katie Donoghue,Rachel Donoghue,James Donoghue,Anna Donoghue,Jon Ganly,Zayna Ganly, Hugo McGowan and Jimmy Walshe along with two brillant young guest athletes Abbie and Alan Donoghue represented the club with great distinction. All the children came home with medals and will have gained in-valuable experience from this competition. Jon Ganly came 2nd in the A final in the boys U12 sprints, the young athlete who came first is one of the top sprinters in Ireland so I'm sure they will meet again and Jon can be proud of his performance. Hugo and Jimmy Walshe put in some wonderful performances in the sprints and endurance distance races. All of the Donoghue children were determined as ever and finished on the podium in quite a few races. Young Abbie and Alan probably got the loudest cheers of the day in the Under 7 races, considering they are not yet 6 it was great to see them competing with such vigour.
Many thanks to Eamonn Henry and Olivia from the Offaly Sports partnership for all their efforts in organising the event. Well done and we'll be back next year !
Leinster 2016 Indoor Championship
On Saturday 13th February and Sunday 14th February the Leinster Indoors take place in Athlone. Below is a full list of the events and fixtures.
Athletics Leinster 2016 Indoor Championships (Provisional)
Provisional Schedule of Events for 2016 Leinster Indoors Day 1 – Juveniles Day 1 (Relay’s) (13th February 2016)
Track Gender Age Category Event Gender Age Category Event
Girls U14 / U15 1km Walk Boys U14 / U15 1km Walk
Girls U16-U19 1.5km Walk Boys U16-U19 1.5km Walk
Girls U13 4x100m Relay Boys U13 4x100m Relay
Girls U15 4x200m Relay Boys U15 4x200m Relay
Girls U17 4x200m Relay Boys U17 4x200m Relay
Girls U19 4x200m Relay Boys U19 4x200m Relay
Girls U14 800m Boys U14 800m Girls U15 800m
Boys U15 800m Girls U16 800m Boys U16 800m
Girls U17 800m Boys U17 800m
Girls U18 800m Boys U18 800m
Girls U19 800m Boys U19 800m
Odd Relay Finals Odd Relay Finals
Girls U12 4x100m Relay
Boys U12 4x100m Relay
Girls U14 4x200m Relay
Boys U14 4x200m Relay
Girls U16 4x200m Relay
Boys U16 4x200m Relay
Girls U18 4x200m Relay
Boys U18 4x200m Relay All 800m Finals
All 800m Finals
Even Relay Finals Even Relay Finals
Field Gender Age Category Event Gender Age Category Event
Girls U18 High Jump
Boys U18 High Jump
Girls U19 High Jump
Boys U19 High Jump
Girls U18 Shot Putt
Boys U18 Shot Putt
Girls U19 Shot Putt
Boys U19 Shot Putt
Girls U15-U19 Pole Vault
Boys U15-U19 Pole Vault
Girls U16-U19 Triple Jump
Boys U16-U19 Triple Jump
Athletics Leinster 2016 Indoor Championships (Provisional)
Day 2 – Juveniles Day 2 (Hurdles) (14th February 2016)
Track
Gender Age Category Event Gender Age Category Event
Girls U18 200m Boys U18 200m
Girls U19 200m
Boys U19 200m
Girls U12 60mH
Boys U12 60mH
Girls U13 60mH
Boys U13 60mH
Girls U14 60mH
Boys U14 60mH
Girls U15 60mH
Boys U15 60mH
Girls U16 60mH
Boys U16 60mH
Girls U17 60mH
Boys U17 60mH
Girls U18 60mH
Boys U18 60mH
Girls U19 60mH
Boys U19 60mH
Girls U12 600m
Boys U12 600m
Girls U13 600m
Boys U13 600m
All 200m Finals
All 200m Finals
All 60mH Finals
All 60mH Finals
Girls U16 1500m
Boys U16 1500m
Girls U17 1500m
Boys U17 1500m
Girls U18 1500m
Boys U18 1500m
Girls U19 1500m
Boys U19 1500m
All 600m Finals
All 600m Finals
Field Gender Age Category Event Gender Age Category Event
Girls U17 High Jump
Boys U17 High Jump
Girls U15 High Jump
Boys U15 High Jump
Girls U13 High Jump
Boys U13 High Jump
Girls U12 Long Jump
Boys U12 Long Jump
Girls U14 Long Jump
Boys U14 Long Jump
Girls U16 Long Jump
Boys U16 Long Jump
Girls U18 Long Jump
Boys U18 Long Jump
Girls U15 Shot Putt
Boys U15 Shot Putt
Girls U17 Shot Putt
Boys U17 Shot Putt
Girls U13 Shot Putt
Boys U13 Shot Putt
Athletics Leinster 2016 Indoor Championships (Provisional)
Day 3 – Juveniles Day 3 (Sprints) (5th March 2016)
Track Gender Age Category Event Gender Age Category Event
Girls U16 200m
Boys U16 200m
Girls U17 200m
Boys U17 200m
Girls U12 60m
Boys U12 60m
Girls U13 60m
Boys U13 60m
Girls U14 60m
Boys U14 60m
Girls U15 60m
Boys U15 60m 200m
Finals 200m
Finals Girls U18 400m
Boys U18 400m
Girls U19 400m
Boys U19 400m
All 60m Semi’s
All 60m Semi’s
Girls U16 60m
Boys U16 60m
Girls U17 60m
Boys U17 60m
Girls U18 60m
Boys U18 60m
Girls U19 60m
Boys U19 60m
All 60m Finals
All 60m Finals
All 400m Finals
All 400m Finals
Field Gender Age Category Event Gender Age Category Event
Girls U12 High Jump
Boys U12 High Jump
Girls U16 High Jump
Boys U16 High Jump
Girls U14 High Jump
Boys U14 High Jump
Girls U13 Long Jump
Boys U13 Long Jump
Girls U15 Long Jump
Boys U15 Long Jump
Girls U17 Long Jump
Boys U17 Long Jump
Girls U19 Long Jump
Boys U19 Long Jump
Girls U16 Shot Putt
Boys U16 Shot
Putt Girls U14
Shot Putt
Boys U14 Shot Putt
Girls U12 Shot Putt
Boys U12 Shot Putt
Athletics Leinster 2016 Indoor Championships (Provisional)
Day 4 – Junior, Senior & Master Indoors (6th March 2016)
Track Gender Age Category Event Gender Age Category Event
Women 200m Heats
Men 200m Heats
Women 3km Walk
Men 3km Walk
Women 200m Finals
Men 200m Finals
Women 800m
Men 800m
Women 60m Heats
Men 60m Heats
Women 1500m
Men 1500m
Women 60m Final
Men 60m Final
Women 400m Heats
Men 400m Heats
Women 60mH Heats
Men 60mH Heats
Women 3000m
Men 3000m
Women 60mH Finals
Men 60mH Finals
Women 400m Final
Men 400m Final
Women 4x200mRelays
Men 4x200mRelays
Field Gender Age Category Event Gender Age Category Event
Women High Jump
Men High Jump
Women Long Jump
Men Long Jump
Women Triple Jump
Men Triple Jump
Women Pole Vault
Men Pole Vault
Women Shot Putt
Men Shot Putt
All events are provisional. Beware this is not a timetable, this will go out closer to the date of competition. For more info please contact the Leinster Indoor Competitions Secretary Andrew Lynam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
All Ireland Cross County in Dungarvan on 6th Dec
Next Sunday the All Ireland Cross Country Championship for Un-even ages takes place in Dungarvan. The club has 7 athletes who have qualified for the event. In the U11 Girls race Tegan Foley has qualified as a member of the Leinster team as a result of her 11th placing in the Leinsters. Tegan is joined by Lisa Seery and Laura Madden to represent Westmeath in the same race and we are so fortunate to also have qualified for the club competition with Tegan, Lisa and Laura ably supported by Katie Boyle and Sarah Fitzgerald. It is great achievement for these young girls (some of who are just doing athletics for a year) to qualify for the All Irelands. Irrelevant of the results in Dungarvan the club are very proud of them and their achievements so far this year.
In the U15 Girls race Lisa Gavin and Inez Arqued have both qualified on the Westmeath team. Lisa finished in 13th position in the Leinsters (just outside of the individual medals) but has been showing great form in training and is sure to put in another great performance in Dungarvan. Ines is running out of her age grade but has still managed to make the Westmeath team at this grade. Both girls have been flying in training and should do very well on Sunday.
Below are the full details of the event on Sunday.
GloHealth Novice & Uneven Age XC Championships - St.Augustine's College, Dungarvan, Co.Waterford
Girls U11 1500 meters starts at 11:30am.
Girls U15 3500 meters starts at 12:20am.
(click here for details of the race location in Dungarvan)
Lisa, Katie, Lisa and Laura after a hard training session preparing for the All Irelands.
Lisa Gavin proudly displaying the Gold medal she won at the Leinsters.
Training Update
The juvenile clubs last training sessions in 2015, before the Christmas break, are on Monday the 7th of December and Wednesday the 9th of December. We will returning to training on Monday the 9th and Wednesday the 11th of January in the New Year.
Leinster Cross Country Report
The juvenile club had athletes in action in Moyvalley on Day 2 of the Leinsters and also in Wexford on Day 3. In Moyvalley, Ruairi Lyons, Dara Mulvihill, Aoife Campbell and Roisin Mulvihill competed with great gusto but were un-fortunate not to figure in the medals. In the JFK Arboretum in New Ross Tegan Foley had the distinction of winning the clubs first ever individual cross country Leinster medal in the Girls U11 race. Tegan ran a wonderful race to finish in 11th position overall and helped the club secure 4th position in the team club competition. Lisa Seery finished in 29th, Laura Madden 35th, Katie Boyle 77th and Sarah Fitzgerald followed Katie home in 78th position.
Girls U11 Team (L to R): Lisa Seery, Tegan Foley, Sarah Fitzgerald, Katie Boyle and Laura Madden
In the Girls U15 race, Lisa Gavin ran a determined race and was very unlucky to finish one place outside of an individual medal in 13th position. Lisa is improving with every race and will no doubt be challenging for honors at Leinster and All-Ireland level in the future. Lisa helped the Westmeath team to win team gold and has qualified for the All-Irelands. Inez Arqued was running 1 year out of her age grade and still managed a magnificent 39th place finish. Charlie Norton was our sole representative in the Boys U13 race and ran a solid race. Well done to all the young athletes who braved the rain and wind in Moyvalley and New Ross and good luck in the upcoming All-Irelands.
Girls U15 : Lisa Gavin and Ines Arqued
For more photos from the 2 days of competitions click on this link.
Club Jackets
AIT AC is launching a new training jacket for our athletes and coaches next week. Below are images of the jackets. They cost €28 each. There is an option of having your child’s name/initials embroidered on the sleeve for just €2.
These jackets will make ideal presents. To ensure you have your jacket by Christmas, orders will be taken at training on Monday 19th and Wednesday 21st ofOctober ONLY. Payment has to be made in full next week for an order to be processed.
If you have any queries please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Westmeath Cross Country Championships for 2015
The Westmeath Cross Country Championships for 2015 will take place in Belvedere House, Park & Gardens, Mullingar on 4th and 11th October, starting at 11am each day.
Sunday 4th October, 11am - Juvenile Even Ages
Boys and Girls u/10 – born 2006 (1,000m), u/12 - born 2004 (2,000m), u/14 – born 2002 - (3,000m) and u/16 - born 2000(4,000m)
Sunday 11th October, 11am - Juvenile Uneven Ages; Junior, Novice, Senior, Master Boys and Girls u/9 – born 2007 (500m), u/11 – born 2005 (1,500m), u/13 – born 2003 (2,500m), u/15 – born 2001 (3,500m), Girls u/17 – born 1999 (4,000m), Boys u/17 - born 1999 (5,000m), Girls u/18, 19 & Junior (4,000m),
As in previous years, Boys & Girls u/17, u/18 and u/19, and Men & Women Junior, Novice, Master & Senior will start together in a mass start, but will run different numbers of laps for the different distances.
Medals for 1st, 2nd, 3rd in each race/category. The results of the Juveniles races will be used to select teams to represent Westmeath in the Leinster XC Championships.
Cost of entry is €2 per athlete and parent, this is payable on the day in Belvedere.
Street Athletics
All Ireland B Championships
On Saturday 18th July in Tullamore the All Ireland B championships took place. Dara Mulvihil ran a great race in the Boys U16 800 meters to secure the juvenile clubs first ever All Ireland medal when he won the bronze medal for 3rd place. Well done Dara on a great performance and a new PB (2:14.53) over this distance.
The previous weekend, Raphael Salaja competed in the All Ireland U14 boys 80 meters and 200 meters finals which were also held in Tullamore. Raphael managed a 6th place finish in both events. Well done Raphael on managing to qualify for the finals, this is a great result for someone who is so new to the sport.
Training Statistics
Thanks to all athletes and coaches who queue up to check-in each night before training. Checking in all adults and children is good practice and the data captured will help us plan our future sessions better to ensure that we can safely maintain a high level of coaching by managing the adult coach to athlete ratios. The statistics from our first 40 sessions since we introduced the automatic check-in system is below. You can clearly see that we are well within the best practice ratio guidelines for coaching athletics to children. If there are still children or coaches who don't have an ID card or labels for their water bottle let us know and we will get you one.
Event |
Date |
Total |
Auto |
Manual |
Adults |
Children |
Ratio |
|
40 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
25-05-15 18:41 |
95 |
95 |
0 |
15 |
80 |
(1:5) |
39 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
20-05-15 18:53 |
76 |
76 |
0 |
9 |
67 |
(1:7) |
38 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
18-05-15 18:44 |
103 |
103 |
0 |
13 |
90 |
(1:7) |
37 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
13-05-15 18:47 |
87 |
87 |
0 |
10 |
77 |
(1:8) |
36 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
11-05-15 18:35 |
92 |
92 |
0 |
12 |
80 |
(1:7) |
35 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
06-05-15 18:46 |
65 |
65 |
0 |
10 |
55 |
(1:6) |
34 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
29-04-15 18:51 |
101 |
101 |
0 |
14 |
87 |
(1:6) |
33 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
27-04-15 18:49 |
99 |
99 |
0 |
12 |
87 |
(1:7) |
32 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
22-04-15 18:48 |
80 |
80 |
0 |
11 |
69 |
(1:6) |
31 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
20-04-15 18:50 |
84 |
84 |
0 |
10 |
74 |
(1:7) |
30 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
15-04-15 18:56 |
93 |
93 |
0 |
8 |
85 |
(1:11) |
29 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
13-04-15 18:56 |
105 |
105 |
0 |
13 |
92 |
(1:7) |
28 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
25-03-15 18:46 |
112 |
112 |
0 |
15 |
97 |
(1:6) |
27 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
23-03-15 18:40 |
113 |
113 |
0 |
15 |
98 |
(1:7) |
26 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
18-03-15 18:43 |
93 |
93 |
0 |
13 |
80 |
(1:6) |
25 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
16-03-15 18:40 |
80 |
80 |
0 |
10 |
70 |
(1:7) |
21 |
AIT AC Mon 2nd March |
02-03-15 18:45 |
117 |
117 |
0 |
15 |
101 |
(1:7) |
24 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
11-03-15 18:41 |
101 |
101 |
0 |
14 |
87 |
(1:6) |
23 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
09-03-15 18:45 |
120 |
120 |
0 |
19 |
101 |
(1:5) |
22 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
04-03-15 18:46 |
90 |
90 |
0 |
11 |
79 |
(1:7) |
20 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
25-02-15 18:47 |
112 |
112 |
0 |
11 |
101 |
(1:9) |
19 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
23-02-15 18:49 |
123 |
123 |
0 |
16 |
107 |
(1:7) |
18 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
16-02-15 18:38 |
117 |
117 |
0 |
17 |
100 |
(1:6) |
17 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
11-02-15 18:28 |
124 |
124 |
0 |
14 |
110 |
(1:8) |
16 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
09-02-15 18:41 |
130 |
130 |
0 |
19 |
111 |
(1:6) |
15 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
04-02-15 18:36 |
110 |
110 |
0 |
15 |
95 |
(1:6) |
14 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
02-02-15 18:45 |
106 |
106 |
0 |
9 |
97 |
(1:11) |
13 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
28-01-15 18:41 |
117 |
117 |
0 |
14 |
103 |
(1:7) |
12 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
26-01-15 18:48 |
125 |
125 |
0 |
17 |
108 |
(1:6) |
11 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
21-01-15 17:10 |
82 |
82 |
0 |
9 |
73 |
(1:8) |
10 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
19-01-15 18:54 |
118 |
118 |
0 |
14 |
104 |
(1:7) |
9 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
12-01-15 18:53 |
90 |
90 |
0 |
14 |
76 |
(1:5) |
8 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
07-01-15 18:48 |
72 |
72 |
0 |
10 |
62 |
(1:6) |
7 |
First 2015 - Monday Training Session |
05-01-15 18:47 |
80 |
80 |
0 |
13 |
67 |
(1:5) |
6 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
10-12-14 18:42 |
86 |
86 |
0 |
11 |
75 |
(1:7) |
5 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
08-12-14 18:32 |
93 |
93 |
0 |
21 |
72 |
(1:3) |
4 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
03-12-14 18:50 |
89 |
89 |
0 |
14 |
75 |
(1:5) |
3 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
01-12-14 18:40 |
102 |
102 |
0 |
17 |
85 |
(1:5) |
2 |
AIT AC Wednesday Training Session |
19-11-14 18:46 |
88 |
88 |
0 |
11 |
77 |
(1:7) |
1 |
AIT AC Monday Training Session |
17-11-14 18:31 |
118 |
118 |
0 |
21 |
77 |
(1:7) |