St Laurence O'Toole AC ladies to compete in Premier Division of National League final this weekend

Tue, 23 Jul, 2024 - 12:34

ST Laurence O'Toole's ladies team traveled to Athlone recently for the preliminary round of the National League Track and Field League and performed superbly.

The league is a team event where each club puts one competitor in each of the 21 track and field events. 16 clubs from across Ireland competed with the first eight then placed in the Premier Division for the final and the second eight in Division 1.

The weather played havoc at times with torrential downpours but each of the ladies put in an incredible performance across a long day with every point as valuable as the next and the team eventually in an amazing second place and qualified for the Premier Division of the National League Finals won Sunday 28 July in Tullamore.

Bríd Long, team manager, is immensely proud of the whole team and is excited about their prospects for a National medal.

“When I first set about putting this team together a few months ago people said to me that we might have a good chance of a medal in Division 1. I knew that the club has currently a wealth of talent across many events from older juveniles, who are coming into the senior ranks, right up to masters level and that if I could bring everyone together we would be very competitive. Here we are now, a small club from a small county up against the top clubs from Dublin - Dundrum South Dublin , Clonliffe Harriers, Raheny Shamrocks, Ratoath AC, and from the much bigger counties of Cork - Leevale AC, Donegal - Finn Valley and Down - Lagan Valley AC.

"This is huge for the club. It’s nearly 20 years since we had a team in the Premier Division. Getting first place in four of the events was an incredible boost but honestly it was a whole team performance across all the events and that is what it will take on Day 2 to be up there with the best of them. Dundrum South Dublin finished first in both Men’s and Women’s and they certainly will be trying to win both National titles."

"The excitement among the team and our supporters is huge - after our success at Round 1 we were delighted that a sponsor came on board to provide us with team t-shirts - Johnston shop fitters who recently did great work in Shaws and JF Sports To get to this level is a great achievement- to win a medal would be a whole other level. This is payback time for these girls and their coaches who put so much dedication, time and effort into their individual training. Athletics is predominantly an individual sport and can be lonely at times but this is a special event where everyone gives their best not just for themselves but for the team.

"It’s also payback time for those who have helped the club with our track development. To the agencies like Leader who have awarded us grants and to everyone who donated to our fundraising here is the reward. Our aim with the track development is to have a centre of excellence for athletics to nurture the existing and future talent in Carlow and that is evident with this team. Some of the girls on this team are just eligible for Senior competition this year - their performances have really been helped by having the training facilities that they need.

"We are missing two of our team from Day 1 for the Final but delighted to be adding some others and certainly the addition of international athlete Molly Scott adds further to the calibre of the team.”

Full Team results from Day 1:

Susie Mitchell (Hammer) 6th 11 points

Leila Colfer (Long jump) 4th 13 points

Kara Morrissey (Pole vault) 1st 17 points

Chloe Ryan (Shot put) 3rd 14 points

Arabella Adekoya (100mH) 1st 17 points

Jennifer Sawyer (400mH) 1st 17 points

Susie Mitchell (High jump) 11th 6 points

Chloe Ryan (Discus) 2nd 15 points

Leila Colfer, Emily Lawlor, Kara Morrissey, Arabella Adekoya (4 x 100m relay) 3rd 14 points

Cassie O’Byrne (400m) 6th 11 points

Leah Lawlor (3000m) 6th 11 points