Ledwith powers to Meath title

Fr Murphy athlete Andrew Ledwith marked his return from the USA with a highly impressive exhibition of middle distance running to win the Meath Track & Field 1500m title at Claremont Stadium on Sunday morning. Ledwith was followed home by Dunshaughlin athlete Thomas Moran who, at 16, is a rising star on the local athletes front. Moran was taking part in his first championships at senior level and did well to mark his debut by finishing in the silver medal position. In the senior ladies sprint events Na Fianna's Cheryl Dolan impressed in the 100m while the masters 100m was won by Moira Peppard, the reigning All-Ireland indoor champion over 60m and 200m, in her category. The men's equivalent race was a keenly-contested affair with victory going to Joey Monaghan (Navan). He finished ahead of David Tobin (Trim) and Niall Matthews in third place. Dunboyne AC's Michael Cornyn was second in the masters 100m and first in the masters 400m while club colleague Morgan McDonagh was second in the 1500m. Luke Forde secured second spot in the junior 1500m and Betty Cunningham was runner-up in the ladies masters hammer event. She was also second in the shot putt. Robert Whelan (Navan) won the junior 100m and long jump and Tobin put in a steady series of jumps to out-score his opponents in the senior long jump. The u-17 boys javelin event was won by Christopher Higgins (Na Fianna) who prevailed over Trim duo Andrew Lynam and Shane Aston. Another promising teenager to shine on the day was Elaine Plunkett (St Brigid's) who took the 400m honours in an exciting battle with her club colleague Karen Crean. The most exciting race of the day was the u-15 boys 1500 metres. Over the first three laps there was a tactical tussle between Brian McGrath (Bohermeen), Andrew Corcoran (Star of the Sea) and Gavin Maher (Dunshaughlin). With a lap to go the Bohermeen runner forced the pace and Corcoran went for home with him. McGrath entered the finishing straight with a clear advantage and looked safe however, in the final 20 metres Corcoran produced an impressive surge for the line. Both athletes dipped sprinter style across the line with McGrath prevailing for a well-earned victory. The Dunboyne club also had success at under-age level. James McCabe threw 62.78 to take the u-18 hammer event while Caimin Dunne was second with a personal best 50.87. In the boys u-18 discus McCabe secured first place with Dunne second. The u-16 hammer event was won by Michael O'Hanlon who also took the gold medal in the discus. In the junior women's 1500m Rachel Neary (Na Fianna) took the honours ahead of Emma Fleming (Bohermeen) and Meath cross-country team mate Grainne Sheridan (St Brigid's). South O'Hanlon AC extended their congratulations to Paul Gleeson on his fourth-place position in the opening round of the Mullingar Road League. Gleeson finished in a time of 16.37. Willie Toomes crossed the line in 57th position in a time of 19.34. Over 400 people took part in the event. Dunboyne athlete Paul Moran produced an impressive run in the Prague marathon finishing in a time of 2.53. Fr Murphy AC kicked-started their season in field competitions with an impressive series of results at the Meath Throwing Championships at Bohermeen last weekend. Paddy Hanily was first in the masters 35lb hammer event with a throw of 8.20m and second in the masters hammer with 36.25m. Mark Hanily recorded a throw of 6.24m to win the senior 56lbs hammer section while Larry Murtagh was second with 5.64m. Hanily was also best in the senior hammer category as he recorded a throw of 52.76m. Murtagh also secured second place in the senior discus but he finished in top spot in the senior shot with 10.43m. At the boys under-age level Ian Rickard won the u-14 hammer with a throw of 28.36m ahead of Tiernach Reidy with 25.90m. Rickard claimed top spot in the u-14 discus. In the junior girls section Karen Monaghan was second with 7.56m while Grainne Miggin secured third position with 5.32m. Miggan did well to win the u-18 hammer competiton with a throw of 36.85. Karen Monaghan took the girls u-18 discus with 27.55m with Miggan second on 20.13m. The u-17 hammer category was claimed by Karen Monaghan. She threw 39.23m. Over 40 athletes from St Oliver's PP, Oldcastle took part in the North Leinster Schools Track & Field Championships at Santry. The second day of the championships took place on Wednesday of last week. On the track Elaine Plunkett struck gold in the senior girls 800m and finished second in the 400m. Lorna Tuite was third in the senior girls 800m while Stephanie Caffrey finished third in the intermediate girls 400m. In the field events Ferdia McCormack secured third place in the junior boys long jump with a leap of 4.80m. There were also good performances by Don Mullen in the junior boys shot, David O'Reilly in the junior boys discus and Shannon Walsh and Sinead Gilsenan in the junior girls discus.