A great weekend on several levels, but news from Tullamore in the Irish Midlands on Saturday lunchtime had me severely happy.  Alix Hughes, one of the original intake at Crusaders in the autumn of 2008, was competing in the all-Ireland track & field championships.  We captured her from tae quando who, as she was probably marmalising everyone in the group, were probably pleased to see her leave!  Now, she hadn’t touched a discus in her life until the early part of last year but did well enough to get to Tullamore and to make the final cut in the discus.  Had either of her two full turn throws gone anywhere near the sector then she might have threatened the podium.  On Saturday however she made it into second place in the U15 girls’ competition with a 30.52, though still with the 0.75kg weight. 

Excepting the pairs (see below) that is our second national medal following on from Orla Murray’s long jump bronze last year.  I’ve said before that I think Alix will be a senior Irish champion in years to come.  It’s not like me to project expectation onto young athletes but Alix is an exceptionally good athlete with a steely determination under a pleasant exterior. 

A couple of weeks ago there was great success in the national pairs competition, where teams of two compete and their performances are combined.  Clodagh Ferry and Claudia Johnston won gold in the U11G 60m and silver in the long jump!  Clodagh was another ‘original’ together with big sister Niamh and little sister Laura.  Claudia I haven’t met – she is the daughter of Ireland’s cricket captain Trent.  See photos attached.

It’s great to see our kids making waves at national level.  There were a few other throwers at Tullamore I noticed, including Niamh Ferry, Isabel O’Leary and Olibhia Collins.  I hope they all had a great day.