St Peter's girl gets reward for patience
ATHLETICS
Wednesday March 10 2010
NIAMH Fussey first came along to St Peter's Athletic Club as a seven-year-old and has remained a dedicated member of the Dromiskin-based club ever since. Everyone at the club was delighted when she made a big breakthrough recently to win her first ever medal in Leinster championship competition.
This medal, a bronze, came in the Under-16 60m Hurdles final at the Leinster Indoor Championships in Nenagh, where Niamh clocked a personal best time of 10.4 seconds.
The hurdles is Niamh's favourite event and she naturally rates her Nenagh performance as her proudest moment and greatest achievement in the sport to date. It comes as no surprise to learn that her athletics hero is the great Derval O'Rourke. However, unlike the famous Corkwoman, Niamh is not exclusively a hurdler, as she has also represented her club in the 800m, High Jump, Long Jump, Pentathlon and Cross Country.
Niamh has shone brightly in Louth championship competition over the past three years, winning the High Jump title in 2007, the 75m Hurdles in 2008, and an impressive 80m Hurdles/250m Hurdles double in 2009.
For good measure she also won the county Community Games 80m Hurdles in 2008.
In the past two years Niamh has recorded heart-breaking 4th place finishes in Leinster championship finals on no fewer than five occasions. In 2008 she finished 4th in both the 75m Hurdles and, along with her teammates Ellen McGuinness, Caoimhe McMahon and Emily Rogers, the 4x100m relay. She was once again 4th across the line in both the 60m Hurdles in the Leinster Indoors and the 75m Hurdles in the Leinster Schools last year.
Finally, in addition to winning hurdles bronze in Nenagh recently, she also finished 4th in the Long Jump that same weekend.
Having been so close to the medals on so many occasions, Niamh was especially thrilled with her achievement in Nenagh, and now looks forward to doing well in the Irish Indoor Championships, which are just a few weeks away. She has being doing some technical sessions at the track in Bush with St Peter's AC coach Maria Duffy, and is also very grateful for all the help she has received from Angela McDonald, Kathleen McConnell and the other coaches in the club.
