Fr. Murphy's Athletic Club 2024 Performance
Key Achievements:
- National Championship Success:
- Daire Beacroft won two national medals in the U14 800m & 1500m at the National Juveniles T&F 2024 and placed 9th in the U13 National Cross Country at the end of 2023.
- Daire also secured a silver medal in the National Cairns Community Games boys' 800m final in August.
- Overall, the club won 26 medals at the Meath Championships, including 5 golds and over 10 national medals, mainly in field events.
- Notable athletes include master athlete Daniel Marton, Mick Priest Richie Belle and juniors Laura Dunphy, Nick Keogh, and Còil O Muiri, and Gráinne Murtagh who all won gold Leinster titles.
- Daire Beacroft won two national medals in the U14 800m & 1500m at the National Juveniles T&F 2024 and placed 9th in the U13 National Cross Country at the end of 2023.
- Individual Performances at provincial level:
- Cian Little placed 2nd in Leinster in the triple jump, and Zach Herring placed 3rd in the long jump.
- Aodhan Doyle placed 2nd in U15 boys hammer
- Patrick Potterton placed 3rd in Leinster indoors in HJ U12 after securing gold in the Meaths and gold in shot
- Larry Òg Murtagh placed 1st in Meaths and 3rd in Leinsters in the U13 shot
- Daire Beacroft's two juvenile silver National medals and Nick Keogh's silver National title in U17 Hammer were standout performances, with Nick also representing Ireland in the U17 squad Scotland in August and Leinster at the Tailteann Games where he came 4th and 5th overall.
- Francesca Kelly won the St. Brigid's Meath Schools Junior races and placed 7th in the Leinster U14 Cross Country and 13th at Nationals in Enniskillen.
- Beth Feeney who won the Meaths U13 HJ went on to win the B Nationals in Tullamore in July with a huge pb
- Pearl Keogh was a regional finalist in the cairn community games placing 3rd overall in U14 Hurdles
- Cian Little placed 2nd in Leinster in the triple jump, and Zach Herring placed 3rd in the long jump.
- Club Championships:
- The July club championships saw outstanding performances from junior, senior, and master runners.
- Ritchie Bell retained his title as club champion in the 3000m, and Zach Herring became the new club champion in the 100m and 400m.
- The July club championships saw outstanding performances from junior, senior, and master runners.
- Community Engagement:
- The club actively participated in community events like the Goal Mile on Christmas Day with the support of Tony Ennis and the Streets of Athboy 5k race, attracting almost 400 registrants. Jack Moran won the 2024 overall Goal Mile race with Francesca Kelly 1st in the ladies and Aoife Thorpe 2nd.
- School competitions in May and September saw over 200 kids competing, with O Growney NS taking home the best-performing school trophy. These were overseen by Susanne Reilly and Philip Cogavin who were instrumental in getting the races timed and organised.
- We had Olympic silver medalist Cyrena Samba Myella visit the club as a guest and train on our track with hurdles . We also had 6 times National champ in women’s discus Niamh Fogarty give a throws class with our throwers.
- Jack O Connor and Maisie Randle represented the club through the IWA and won over 10 medals including 5 gold in Javelin Discus and shot and Jack also won the National Weightlifting title in the autumn lifting almost 70kg in Kells with Olympic champions.
- The club actively participated in community events like the Goal Mile on Christmas Day with the support of Tony Ennis and the Streets of Athboy 5k race, attracting almost 400 registrants. Jack Moran won the 2024 overall Goal Mile race with Francesca Kelly 1st in the ladies and Aoife Thorpe 2nd.
League and indoor Performances:
- Strong indoor league performances from January to March, with gold medals won by Larry Òg Murtagh, and top placements from Gráinne Murtagh, Daire Beacroft, Patrick Potterton David and Beth Feeney.
- The club placed 6th out of 16 in the Meath Athletics Indoor Championship narrowly missing on points the coveted top 3 titles of Meath.
- In November we had another indoor event and 9 Medals were won in the Cushinstown annual end of year by Fionn MacDonagh, Lucy Boggen , Willow Devane, Patrick Potterton, Michael O Connor, Cian Little, Niamh Little Alannah Quinn and Isobel Canty in sprints and jumps!
- We also had a great day’s competition at the club combined events on Sunday 15th December where we gave our many awards and our U12 & 14 girls and boys secured some brilliant PBs and had lots of fun.
- Our Juvenile awards had a special guest and all athletes in attendance received a selection box and those who won medals and county/ provincial/ national titles were given an additional award.
- 28th December saw 12 athletes head to Athlone for the 8th North Western games and bring home 3 gold medals a silver and bronze.congratulations to Daire Beacroft once again in his 800 on his SB 2.13, Shelly Smith with a return to sprints and Zach Herring in the hurdles. Beth Feeney in U14 HJ and Julie Smith in the U12 HJ.
Cross country 2024 season
- Over 60 members participated in the Meath Cross Country and leagues across 3 days in Navan Adventure Centre and Trim Porchefields in October and November.
- We had 3 team medals on the days with the U14 boys and girls both securing bronze and u12 girls bronze as well
- Significant performances from athletes like Francesca Kelly, Sinead Farrell, and Jack Moran earning them a place in county and provincial teams.
Individual Honors:
- Several athletes received individual accolades at the Meath Athletics Awards for their performance in 2023, highlighting the club's depth of talent.
- Còil O Muiri, Laura Dunphy Aodhan Doyle Daire Becroft and Sinead Farrell all received recognition.
- Richie Bell won bronze in the Leinster XC Masters O/45, gold in the Leinster Outdoors 5k O/45, and silver in the National Outdoors 5k.
- Mick Priest won gold in the men’s 1500m masters Nationals and gold in the Northern Ireland masters 800m
- Daniel Martin won gold in the men’s u40 National Masters with hammer throwing 46.03
- Micheal Bagnall won gold in the Longford Ultra Marathon and the Tomanbarry 3/4 Marathon.
- Aoife Thorpe placed 2nd in the County Novice and led the ladies to win a team prize.
- The ladies novice team placed 3rd in Meaths Xcountry with Aoife Thorpe Carmel Thorpe Suzanne Forde and Mary Curran
Upcoming Events:
Leinster Relays location TBC 18th Jan
- Cushinstown Indoor sprints and jumps comp 26th Jan-
- Meath Indoor Championships 8th & 28th February NIA Abbottstown
- Leinster& National Championship Indoors March 2025 Athlone
Fr. Murphy's Athletic Club has had a stellar year, showcasing the immense talent and dedication of its athletes and coaches. 🌟
The future is bright
