National Indoor Championships, Athlone, 30-Mar-2019

Myles Hewlett, who else! Wins another National medal at the Indoor championships over 800m. Having got caught up in a very tactical race with a lot of bumping and barging on the first and last laps Myles powered down the home straight and was only just beaten into 3rd spot by hundreds of a second. This race will be a good education in the “non contact” sport of 800m running. Well done Myles on a tough performance in a tough race.
In the Boys U17 800m, Adam O’Connor (United Striders) was desperately unlucky not to make the final, finishing 4th in his heat. He was paired with the eventual winner, Aaron Shorten, in an extremely tough heat. Adam produced an amazing last lap just missing qualification. He can be proud of his performance today. Just bear in mind that Adams final was won in 1.55, which gives an idea of the level he is competing at.
Isabel Bawden of United Striders came home in 6th in a very competitive U15 walk. Isabel can take great confidence in this performance as it shows she is well capable of mixing it with the countries best in her age group
United Strider’s man Ryan Kielthy won a great silver medal in the Boys u18 walk beaten only by his fellow county man James O’Hanlon from Taghmon. Massive congratulations to Ryan who’s never say die attitude and amazing determination always gets him great rewards in whatever he does. Great stuff Ryan.
In the Boys U16 1500m, Darragh Flannelly of United Striders AC had a cracking race. In what was a close finish with less than two seconds separating Darragh from a medal, he finished 6th. Yet more impressive was his time, an 8 second PB of 4:25. Darragh can now look forward to the Outdoor season with great confidence.