THERE are very few certainties in West Cork sport, such is the wonderful tapestry of the region, but among them is that Caoimhe Flannery and Katie Kingston will return with medals from the 123.ie All-Ireland Schools Track and Field Championships.
That came to pass again this past weekend when both Skibbereen Community School Leaving Cert students won silver medals in Tullamore.
Every year post-Covid, Flannery and Kingston have stood on the podium, and this ultra-consistent duo rounded off their schools’ careers in style with more medals for their collections.
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In the senior girls’ 1500m steeplechase, defending champion Flannery battled bravely to retain her title, vying with her fellow European U20 international team-mate Dearbhla Allen (St Mary's Dundalk). "The positions were reversed this year as the Castlehaven teenager had to settle for silver, running a season-best of 5:02.42. There was no stopping Allen, who knocked nearly five seconds off the old championship record, running an excellent time of 4:50.85.
Katie Kingston with her silver medal in the javelin.
In the javelin, Katie Kingston's best throw of 38.96m secured the silver medal behind last year's intermediate silver winner, Emma Edmundson, from Sacred Heart, Westport.
More medals made their way back to West Cork, too, as Leila Cummins (Coláiste na Toirbhirte, Bandon) won gold in the intermediate girls’ hammer throw, while Eoghan Foley (Bandon Grammar) finished first in the junior boys' 200m. Eoin O’Callaghan (Hamilton High School) brought home bronze in the high jump, Jack Collins (Kinsale Community School) was first in the junior shot put, while talented sprinter Adaora Nneameka (St Brogan's College) was second in the intermediate 100m, and fourth in the 200m.
Both Ciara Delaney and Sam Kingston, also representing Skibbereen Community School, finished in fourth place, just missing out on a bronze medal by a small margin – Ciara in the senior girls' 800m and Sam in the intermediate boys' javelin.
Also, Sé O’Brien finished fifth in the minor boys’ 75m hurdles and seventh in the 100m. In the intermediate girls, Lorraine Coakley was sixth in the javelin and her sister Laura finished eighth in the discus.
Elaine O'Sullivan was seventh in the senior girls' javelin and Evan O'Sullivan was eighth in the intermediate boys' javelin.
