Colin McDonagh
TALENTED Westport teenager Con Doherty was in the headlines once again last weekend as he captured silver at the Irish Schools Track and Field Championships on Saturday before powering home to win round three of Triathlon Ireland’s junior national series held in Athy 24 hours later.
The 16 year-old finished two minutes ahead of his nearest challenger Edward Brennan to mark an another astonishing weekend for the Rice College student who hails from Belclare on the outskirts of Westport town.
His performance in Tullamore at the All-Ireland Schools championships earned him second place in the Intermediate Boys 3000m in an impressive time of 9:03:04.
Doherty has also shown some fantastic form in other events across Europe in recent weeks.
He qualified for the ETU Triathlon Junior Championships in Israel with a top 10 finish at the ITU Junior European Cup in Portugal last April. He was Ireland’s only representative in that competition in Israel and done the country proud with a strong performance against other top class European athletes.
Doherty also recorded another impressive victory last week when he won the National Junior Championship at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin. He came home in a time of 58.05 to claim victory there.
MEANWHILE, there was more good news for Westport AC athletes at the aforementioned Aviva All-Ireland schools track and field championships.
The club was well-represented with Jason Gavin from Colaiste Phobail Acla coming fifth in the Intermediate Boys 400m in an excellent 52.98s.
Next up was David Harper from Rice College who also won a silver medal in the Senior Boys 800m in a very impressive time of 1.55.03. Niamh McLoughlin from Colaiste Phobail Acla took sixth place in the Intermediate Girls Shot Putt with a throw of 9.28m while Cathy McKenna from the Sacred Heart School in Westport came home seventh in the Senior Girls 200m in a time of 27.22.
Elsewhere, Aisling Forkan from Swinford won bronze in the Junior Girls 800m with a time of 2:19:53. Sarah Quinn from Ballinrobe CS also claimed bronze in the Junior Girls 75 Hurdles with a time of 11:97.
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