Vocational Athletics by Blánaid Fogarty
The annual Vocational Athletics Competition took place on the 2nd of October 2018, with a fantastic turn out of many Wexford vocational schools participating. The day was one of great enjoyment and success for all schools and students involved, as many students obtained medals of gold, silver and bronze throughout the day. The events commenced at a time of 10:30am in the new improved Enniscorthy Sports Hub which allowed many students to have a first-hand experience running on a professional running track.
Coláiste An Átha were very proud to be part of such a great established event with many of its students competing in numerous events in the hope of obtaining a medal and for the winning of the overall cup at the end of the day. Our school had a wide range of eager and competitive athletes in all events from the short sprints, of 100 and 200 metre, to high jump and long jump. As the day may have started off on the negative side for Coláiste An Átha, as many athletes not succeeding through to the finals of the short sprints, the first glimpse of aspiration was seen by the determined Rose McCarthy due to her quick recovery on her start of the 100m sprint, as she had taken a downward tumble onto the track. As the events went up in ages we saw many athletes from within the school that showed extreme natural talent for the sport, these including our sport enthusiast, Dylan McEvoy and the outstanding camogie player, Isabelle Kisoff. These both athletes performing remarkable races including the 100 and 200 metre and the final event of the day, the relays. Dylan obtained a marvellous collection of medals for the school as he achieved a gold in the 100 and 200 metre events, as he stormed past all other athletes, and the long jump. Also Isabelle won fantastically all round for herself and the school by obtaining bronze in the 100 metre, silver in the 200 metre and gold in long jump. Also, the passion driven athlete, Blánaid Fogarty, proudly achieved gold in both the 100 metre and the 200 metre and bronze in the long jump. She also brought the senior relay team across the line with a lead of 50 metres on their competitors at the end of the day.
As the day progressed, with an original and inspiring commentator, Coláiste an Átha and Bridgetown fought head to head for the Cup as Coláiste An Átha, the winners of the cup two years ago, were hoping greatly that the cup be returned to them after the win from Bridgetown last year. The overall cup is in relation to the complete addition of all the schools medals on the day as the medals are portrayed as points, for example gold represented 3 points for a school, silver represented 2 points and bronze was 1. Therefore the school with the most points claimed the title of the overall winners of the competition for the following year. As all anxious and excited schools gathered around to hear the final results, the commentator announced the placements for who came third which was Ramsgrange. He further went on to reveal who out of Bridgetown and Coláiste an Átha had placed second, as they were the favourites to win on the day. After announcing Bridgetown in second place with a total of 56 points, the students of Coláiste an Átha went wild as they were seconds away from being announced winners of the 2018 title of the cup. Overall the courageous school of Coláiste An Átha had come home with a staggering 58 points and the schools name soon to be carved into the cup.
Not only was our school the proud winners of the overall cup, the superb athletes within the Junior age category won the Junior cup for the school as many athletes competed in all events possible with their high levels of energy and enthusiasm. A huge congratulations to all our first years who competed in their first ever Vocational Athletics competition as they represented their school marvellously and the hope for their return onto the track next year has already begun.
The day turned out to be one of joy and remembrance for years to come for all the young athletes that took part from Coláiste an Átha and others. All schools within the competition competed with great sportsmanship and dedication resulting in such a successful day for all. Students and teachers of Coláiste an Átha are excited for next year’s competition as training has already commenced and looking forward to a healthy competition once again.