19-05-2025
It's Costa del Cooley as Ace team sizzle!
Amidst the heat and excitement, Ace AC athletes shone brightly, collecting an impressive haul of medals and setting personal bests.
The morning's action was dominated by sprint heats, semi-finals, and finals.
U10 runner Maeve Reynolds, competing despite carrying an injury, battled through to win her sprint heat and Smirthi Prasad and Farrah Smith both impressed, reaching the later rounds and narrowly missing out on medals.
Among the sprint medallists were Niamh Faulkner, who claimed her second gold of the championships with a commanding victory in the 100m. She had previously won the 200m on Day 1, marking a clean sweep in her sprint events.
Daniella Adebola mirrored that achievement, completing her own golden double by winning the U19 100m following her 200m victory seven days earlier. Bronze sprint medals went to Cathryn Cumming (U10) and Caoimhe Carolan (U13) in their respective finals.
U17 athlete Chloe Cooney, the current Leinster 1500m champion, decided to step out of her comfort zone and try the 400m for the first time in her life. She actually ran in the boys race and delivered a commanding performance, winning in 58 seconds and adding another gold to her club's medal tally!
Ace AC's field athletes also had a day to remember.
In the shot put Jaheim Humphrey (U17) not only secured a silver medal, but broke the championship record twice, culminating in a huge 11.42m final throw.
An Ardee athlete did edge ahead with his final throw, but Jaheim's performance signals strong form ahead of the All-Ireland Schools competition, where he will represent Balbriggan CC.
Aoife O'Connor also earned a silver medal, capping off a strong showing in the field for the club.
The latter part of the day saw a series of middle-distance races, where Ace AC athletes dominated across the age groups.
Saibh Jordan (U11) won her first individual medal for the club with a gutsy 600m run, claiming bronze in a large and competitive field.
Cathryn Cumming returned to the podium with gold in the U10 500m, leading from start to finish with a powerful display. Her teammate Millie Roche ran very well, finishing seventh in the very large field. Maeve Reynolds also ran strongly in the same event.
Caoimhe Carolan added to her sprint bronze with gold in the U13 600m in an impressive time of 1:46 and will be looking to secure a Leinster medal on this form.
Ruairi Cooney's U12 600m race was split into two heats due to high numbers, with the winners picked on times. Ruairi finished second but missed out on a medal, due to it being the slower of the two heats.
Felix Everettt and Tadgh Kelly continued their improvement with strong runs in the same race.
Tayo Lawrence impressed in the Boys U14 800m, moving from fourth to second in the final 50 metres to grab a thrilling silver medal.
His sister Sholah continued her strong return to fitness by winning gold in the U19 800m.
Taylor Gregory secured silver in the U15 Boys 800m, while Lauren Faulkner added a bronze in the U16 Girls 800m.
The U17 Boys 800m saw two Ace athletes medal as Daniel Hanley took silver and Liam Lynch bronze, with Killian Sheridan and Tadhg Forde Dunne also shining.
The final medal winning performance came from Jamie O'Reilly, who stormed to gold in the U19 800m with another new PB, with Christian Kelly taking silver.
Some of the other standout performers on the day came from Cathal Thompson, Hannah Black, Ollie Marron and Niamh Lynch.
