Young Meath athletes prominent

It was a busy weekend for the Cushinstown athletes who travelled to Athlone IT for the two-day Leinster Indoor Juvenile Championships on Saturday and Sunday and returned with an impressive medal haul and several personal bests. 

James Bellew jumped brilliantly in the u-14 boys high jump to win gold while Lee Callaghan also excelled to claim fourth. Callaghan also put in some great throws in the u-14 shot putt to take fourth place.

Aoife Rohan jumped brilliantly in the u-14 girls high jump to win the silver medal and she also qualified for the 60m hurdles final where she finished seventh.

The u-15 girls were in winning form with Laura Bolster claiming the gold medal in both the long jump and 60m sprint while Ella Barry claimed the gold medal in the 60m hurdles.

Loclainn Harris ran well in the very competitive u-15 60m sprint coming fifth and also did well in the long jump before surpassing all those performances with a silver medal display in the 60m hurdles.

Amy Callaghan won gold in the u-16 shot and silver in the high jump.

Niamh Quinn ran brilliantly to win the silver medal in the 60m hurdles, she was fourth in the shot.

Mollie White claimed the bronze medal in the long jump and both she and Abi Sheehy ran well in the very competitive 200m and were unfortunate not to qualify for the final. 

Sheehy finished fifth in the long jump while Amy Bellew took fifth in the shot.

Nia Hetherton was fourth in the u-13 high jump.

Five of Cushinstown's younger athletes were competing for the first time at the Leinster Indoor Championships putting in some great performances and gaining valuable competition experience. 

Roisin Quinn and Jane McDermott both threw very well in the u-12 girls shot with Quinn coming fourth overall.

McDermott was prominent in the u-12 high jump coming sixth overall. Peter Bellew competed in the u-12 boys high jump while Evan Hoey in the long jump and the 600m and Kenny Killeen in the long jump also impressed.

Trim AC athletes were also amongst the medals when Jennifer Nugent and Caoimhe Rowe excelled.

Rowe won silver in u-19 60m hurdles and bronze in 400m while Nugent was a bronze medal winner in the u-17 400m.

Ratoath's 46-strong team returned from the Leinster Championships with five new champions while they also picked up five silver medals, three bronze and seven fourth places to ensure they will have 20 athletes at the All-Ireland championships in March.

There was some blistering sprinting from Jed Walsh who missed out on the gold by .02 of a second in a very dramatic u-17 400m final. 

Kyle Witter came out with the gold on a fine run in the u-16 1500m and he also finished fourth with a new personal best in the u-16 800m. 

Matthew Hayes took the gold in the u-17 1500m and was fifth in a very fast u-17 800M final. 

There were three Ratoath AC girls in the u-16 800m final where a brilliant run by Sophie Quinn secured gold ahead of club mate Laura Kelly in second with Aisling Stratford in fifth.

Karen Hayes continuing her winning form with a championship title in the u-19 girls 800m. Rafa McCaffery secured himself another Leinster title in the long jump. 

The Ratoath hurdlers were also in flying form with Caoimhe Fitzsimons finishing second in the u-14 60m hurdles and Gavin Witter taking third in the u-13 60m hurdles.

Amy Forde had a PB of 1.43m which earned her a silver medal in the u-15 girls high jump and Ava Skerrett, in her first indoor championships, took silver with a jump of 3.85m which matched the gold medalist but she was awarded second on count back. 

Kate Doherty produced a gritty race in the u-13 600m working hard to come away with a well deserved bronze medal with her club mates Amelia Holland in fifth and Sophie Finn in sixth.

Eoin Kane came third in a very competitive u-15 boys 800m.

OTHER CUSHINSTOWN PHOTOS