European qualifying standard for Archbold
JP Archbold sets a new Leinster record and achieves the European U18 qualifying standard.
The ultimate jewel in a glowing weekend was an 7.42m long jump best for JP Archbold (Newbridge) to gain not only a new Leinster record but more importantly the European u18 Long Jump qualifying standard.
It was by all accounts one of the best championship results for Kildare. A total of 115 medals: 37 gold, 48 silver and 30 bronze. On top of this with the top four in each age group qualifying for the All-Irelands, the county has booked 138 spots for the associated All-Ireland championship events.
In total six new championship records were set: Archbold (u18 Long Jump), Maya Rus (St Coca’s) in the u12 Long Jump, Eoghan Gallagher (Newbridge) in the u17 100m hurdles, Sarah Cousins (Suncroft) in the u13 Javelin, Senan Smith (Naas) in the u14 300m and Annie Gray (Clane) in the u13 Pole Vault.
On the senior side of the house Meabh Caffrey (St Coca’s) had an excellent run at the UCD meet in the 1500m, amid appalling wintery conditions. Clocking 4.31 despite the adverse conditions.
JP Archbold (Newbridge) realised back on the 28 March of this year that achieving the European u18 qualifying standard for the Long Jump might just be possible. Back then at the national u18 indoor championships he broke the 7m barrier for the first time, with a leap of 7.02m and a new national record. Last weekend, the Newbridge athlete went so much further.
A sixth and final round clearance of 7.42m surpassed the 7.15m qualification standard set by athletics Ireland. Archbold may have leaped higher as he jubilated in the immediate aftermath, attempting to comprehend what he had just achieved. The competition up until then had not been the fairy tale he had sought.
Fouled jumps in both the first and second rounds left him no choice but to take a safe jump in the third. This was followed by another foul jump. With just two weeks left to the closing date for achieving a qualification standard it certainly was not the competition he had hoped for. Despondent he sat in the shade, contemplating and wondering what was happening. His fifth round jump was just 2cm further than the only jump he had managed thus far.
While he may have been in the gold medal position, it was not old medals he was after. His one remaining jump had to produce that magic leap. A fast and controlled run-up, an excellent second last stride and then the final three quarters one, before take-off. His foot planted correctly, the angle of take-off was perfect and then so too was the height, the reach and the landing.
Archbold had saved the best until last, a 7.42m leap, a personal best, Leinster record and European u18 qualifying standard. His parents Paul and Olivia, his supporters went wild with excitement. All sense of earlier despondency was lifted and the months of hard work, expectancy and progress finally came to fruition.
In the same competition Sean O’Sullivan (Celbridge) finished second with a new non-wind assisted personal best jump of 6.38m. O’Sullivan had jumped 6.38m a month ago. However a wind reading of 2.2m on that occasion put this over the legally permitted limit. The mark set at the Leinster championships last Sunday will now serve as his new personal best.
Archbold’s record was not the only one achieved over the weekend. A young St Coca’s athlete who has already awakened the athletics world with her amazing and unassuming athletics endeavours was once again in record breaking mode. Maya Rus has already set Leinster and National records. At the national indoors earlier this year, she took down both the 60m and Long Jump u12 national championship records. Her coaches had seen her achieve new marks in training recently and hinted that she just might turn in a special performance.
A first round attempt of 4.64m set a new record, replacing the existing 2009 mark of 4.43m set by Aideen Kane (St Killians, Wexford). Rus was already firing on all cylinders. A second round jump of 4.67m had the steel tape out once again for record verification.
Rus had just broken the record she had set 15 minutes earlier. By the end of the competition she broke the old mark three times. Yet despite all she had achieved, the unassuming u12 athlete seemed totally unphased, content to chat to her peers and completely normalise her achievements. Rus has now achieved three Leinster gold medals: sprint, long jump and multi-events. She will competed in both the sprint and long jump at the All-Ireland championships in the coming weeks.
Eoghan Gallagher and Kyle Byrne Ward are from the same club, they compete over the same event and consistently end of racing each other for the highest podium places possible.
While both have had their turn at climbing to the top of that podium and draping the gold medal around their neck, of late it has been Gallagher that has clenched the coveted gold medal. Two weeks ago he took the schools title from Byrne-Ward. Last weekend Gallagher once again lined up alongside his clubmate in the 100m hurdles.
Going over the final hurdle it was Byrne-Ward who seemed to have a slight advantage. However, those final few meters of a run to the finishing line proved critical to Gallagher, who thrust himself across the line, beating his clubmate by a meagre two hundredths of a second and setting a new championship record in the process. In doing so, his 13.56 seconds was also a new Leinster record, surpassing the existing 1991 mark of 13.8 seconds. The 25 year old mark finally met its waterloo.
One of the youngest athletes to set a new championship record was Sarah Cousins (Suncroft). For any onlooker it was clear that Cousins was throwing much further than her opponents. Her first throw of 31.86m was the first of five throws that surpassed the old mark of 30.84m set in 2015 by Aoibhinn McMahon (Blackrock), who set so many juvenile records throughout her career.
Cousins threw 31.28m on her second attempt, following this up with a 33.40m third throw. Her best throw of 34.94m came in the fourth round. Composed, Cousins looked on as her new record was once again verified. The talented Suncroft athlete will now head to the All-Irelands with further medals in her sight. Isabelle Larkin (Naas) finished second.
Naas AC athlete Senan Smyth like most athletes came into these championships with the hope if not the anticipation of making the podium. Tacking a new distance – 300m, he sprinted hard from the start and came off the bend in third place. Powering down the home straight he passed the Dunboyne pair of Daniel Byrne and Alex Kiernan to clinch the gold medal in a new championship record of 42.77 seconds, knocking over a second off the existing mark set in 2023.
Gray Vaults to Success
Annie Gray took the girls u13 Pole Vault title with a new personal best of 2.05m. Gray not only had a first time clearance at 2.05m but she managed to do the same for all heights from her opening height of 1.40m. Like many of her competitors this was the Clane AC athletes first year of Pole Vault competition. Delighted and surprised she set a new Championship record surpassing the old mark by 15cm.
Double Gold for throwers Redmond and Duignan There was double good medals for Kayleight Redmond (Clane) and Aidan Duignan (Newbridge). Redmond won the Irish Schools javelin two weeks ago. Last weekend she continued her javelin journey with another success story. From the onset, she jumped straight into the lead with her first round throw of 32.43m, a lead of almost 4 meters ahead of the rest of the field.
A second round throw of 32.84 increased that lead and proved to be her best throw of the day. Not only was she the only athlete to throw further than 30m. Redmond managed to break the 30m barrier on all of her throws. On the previous day Redmond topped the u15 discus table with her 26.77m fourth round throw to take gold. Behind her, in the javelin, her training partner Grace Cassidy (Naas) finished second, to claim the silver medal and book her place at the forthcoming nationals.
Aidan Duignan (Newbridge) took gold in the u14 shot putt with a throw of 10.06m, the only athlete in the field of eleven shot putters to surpass the 10m barrier. Something he did on three occasions during the competition. His clubmate Oliver Meder took the bronze. Not content with one gold, Duignan followed up his shot putt gold on Saturday with another gold on Sunday – this time in the discus. A fouled first attempt, wasn’t what he needed to fulfil his confidence need. But he did manage 21.32m to jump straight into the lead in round 2. His third round throw of 24.01m proved to be his best, leaving his competitors trailing behind by over 3m.
What was good about the large medal haul from last weekends competition is the dispersity across the clubs in Kildare. All juvenile clubs managed to take home medals of some colour, eight achieving gold medals. Noah Treacy (Kildare AC) defending his Leinster javelin title. Treacy threw 48.02m to take the u17 title from Carlow’s Eli Flemming.
Darragh Healy (Celbridge) sprinted to victory in the boys u16 400m, clocking 57.27 seconds in the process. Healy’s medal was one of a haul of nine medals achieved by Celbridge over the course of the championships.
Another athlete to defend their title was Ella Hanlon (Suncroft). The 2025 Leinster and All-Ireland discus champion threw 32.42m from the second round to finish 8m ahead of her nearest opponent. Hanlon was the only athlete over 30m. Together with Sarah Cousins, the pair brought two gold medals to their club.
St Coca’s have made significant strides this past year. Boosting a new younger contingent of athletes, the club has branched out from its traditional cross-country strength to producing athletes at a multitude of other events such as long jump, hurdles and sprints. Aside from Maya Rus taking gold in the long jump, there were two further gold medals.
Garbhan Prendergast, an excellent middle distance runner took gold in the u12 60m hurdles. Winning his heat from Michael Gardiner (Newbridge), he was the only athlete to dip under 11 seconds, recording a rapid 10.97 seconds. Prendergast was one of three Kildare athletes to make the final, clocking 10.78 seconds to win from Luke Hanlon (Thomastown). The final gold medal came from Juliet Oliver in the girls u18 High Jump. Oliver, daughter of world masters medallist Werner Oliver recorded a new personal best of 1.50m.
Naas AC excel at the Javelin. However their six gold medals came from hurdles, sprints and javelin. Isobel Kearns in her final year of juvenile competition took gold in the girls u19. Kearns threw 35.85m. The leaving cert student will head to the USA on a sports scholarship to in the fall to continue her javelin journey over 6,000 miles away. Her training partner Abby Lewis finished 3rd. It was gold for Ava Kelly in the girls u12 Turbo Javelin.
Kelly was one of four Naas AC athlete to compete in this event. Cillian McManus (u13) and Max Drennan (u14) kept the hurdles flags flying. Drennan had already medalled at the All-Ireland indoors and will be hoping to emulate the same feat out of doors next month. Cian D’Rosario (Clane) took bronze in the u14 event with a new personal best. The final two gold medals for Naas came in the sprinting events. Senan Smyth took gold in the u14 300m in a new championship record. However for Saoirse Ballasty-Byrne it was yet another battle against her fellow Kildare sprinter Rachel Beattie (Crookstown-Millview).
This year the girls u18 100m proved to be quiet a county affair with the top three athletes in the Leinster championship all from Kildare clubs. Ballasty-Byrne won her heat in 13.08 seconds, placing her as the third fastest qualifier behind her by now familiar rival Rachel Beattie (Crookstown-Millview) and Caoimhe Farrell (St Coca’s). Beattie achieved a new personal best of 12.73 in the heats. However the final was a completely different affair with Ballasty-Byrne moving quickly through the field to pass Beattie with 20m to go. Beattie took second with just two hundredths of a second to spare over Farrell.
Newbridge AC took home 32 medals, 11 of them gold. Aside from the accolades of those already mentioned, their athletes performed well across a variety of events. Charlie McCabe had an excellent 800m race, taking gold in a new pbl of 2.15 and most importantly avenging his defeat at the hands of Kilkenny’s Tom Doherty in the 1.500m.
Two javelin medals came from Oliver Meder (u14) and Ryan O’Neill (u16). O’Neill threw a best of 44.16m on his final throw, finishing 12m ahead of his nearest opponent. A substantial margin. Mia Dougherty took gold in the u14 triple jump. Beth Grogan continued her upward trajectory in the walk, taking the u15 girls title. The club capped off a glorious weekend with victory in the u16 and u18 mixed 4 x400m relays.
It was evident from the weekends activities and ensuing results that Clane AC have broadened their participation in a plethora of additional events. The club had medals in middle distance, sprints, jumps, throws and walks. For the first time ever they took part in the pole vault, with Annie Gray taking the u13 title in a new championship record of 2.05m.
Aside from Gray and Kayleight Redmond, their four other gold medals came from Grace Garvey (u17 Javelin), Hayley Dunne (u13 Long Jump), Jamie Tuthill (u19 Long Jump) and Iris McCartan who retained her 800m title, winning the 800m resisting challenges from Sinead Fitzpatrick (St Abbans) and Zoe Boydell (Kilcoole). McCartan was impressive in the 800m particularly after a tough race in the 1500m where she finished runner-up to Fitzpatrick.
Six gold medals were amongst the 22 medals won by Crookstown-Millview last weekend. As expected Blessed Nleya took the u16 100m title, recording a time of 11.86 seconds. Only in his second ever season of competitive athletics, the talented athlete also finished second in the 200m with a new personal best of 23.91 seconds.
The clubs remaining five gold medals came from the jumps. Florence Harte who has set a few Leinster records over the years, took yet another triple jump title. Harte won the u16 Triple Jump just 10cm short of club member Lisa Aspel’s 2014 Leinster championship record. Her PB of 10.37 came from the final round. Niamh O’Shea finished 3rd. O’ Shea took silver in the 200m.
Georgia Coughlan took the u14 Long Jump title with a leap of 4.84m. Coughlan also took silver in the triple jump and bronze in the 75m hurdles. Rachel Beattie may have had to play another year of silver tunes to Saoirse Ballasty-Byrne in the 100m, she did however retain her long jump title. Her best jump of 5.39m was a personal best. Her clubmate Eve Wright took silver. Finian Sexton won the boys u17 triple jump with Lorelle Houlihan taking the u17 high jump title.
Elsewhere Kylie Mhondiwas (Le Cheile) delighted in her 200m bronze medal as she finished third in the girls u15 event, adding to her silver obtained in the 75m hurdles earlier in the day. Eire Og’s Ava Waugh took a brilliant pair of bronze medals in the u14 100m and 200m. While Tir Mona’s medals came from the Markey siblings Senan and Aine in racewalking.
