Kildare athletes win 11 All-Ireland golds
Blessed Nlyeva (Crookstown-Millview) wins 100m gold.
It was back to Tullamore again last weekend for another round of National Track and Field Championships. This time the National u13 to u19s. A weekend of golden moments where eleven athletes took home gold medals.
It was gold for Ella Hanlon (Suncroft), Nora Bayon (Celbridge), Blessed Nleya (Crookstown-Millview), Saoirse Ballasty-Byrne (Naas) and JP Archbold (Newbridge) on day one of the competitions.
On day 2 there was gold from Isobel Kearns (Naas), Rachel Beattie (Crookstown-Millview), Kyle Byrne-Ward (Newbridge), Keilleigh Redmond (Clane), Sarah Cousins (Suncroft) and James Dooley (Newbridge). A nice dispersion with five clubs benefiting from the achievements. Added to the haul were 6 silver medals and 4 bronze.
A total of 19 medals, making this one of the most successful national championship weekends ever. Newbridge, Celbridge, Tir Mona, Crookstown-Millview, Naas, Clane and Suncroft, all contributed to the exceptional medal haul.
This is a great start to these u13 to u19 nationals that will conclude in two weeks time, with yet another day scheduled for 11th July.
After a scintillating week of intense heat, athletes were greeted with a balmy, windy weekend with intermittent showers. Wind speeds certainly interfered with some of the events such as high jump, javelin and of course the legal limits for sprinters and jumpers.
Ella Hanlon (Suncroft) retained her discus title that she won last year. Hanlon fouled her first throw, her cautious second throw propelled her straight into the lead. Her best throw came from round 4 where with a 31.17m effort that saw her finish 3 meters ahead of her nearest opponent Meave McGeehin (Olympic Youth). The newly crowned national u16 discus champion was the only athlete to throw over 30m.
An unusual situation occurred in the girls u15 pole vault. Three girls vaulted 2.40m each with the same number of faults on countback. This produced a three-way tie for the gold medal position. Nora Bayon (Celbridge), Alana Callinan (SLOT) and Alison Guerin (Middleton) stood together on the top tier of the podium as Brid Golden, president of Athletics Ireland presented their medals.
Blessed Nleya (Crookstown-Millview) was on fire on Saturday. Nleya won gold in the boys u16 100m beating Mason Mitchell (Tallaght) by over half a second. Earlier in the day the Nleya cruised to victory in his heat in 11.34m, easing as he approached the line.
Of all the athletes in the heats, he looked the most comfortable. Mitchell blasted a fast 11 seconds to win heat 2, the fastest time of all the qualifiers. Unable to replicate the performance later in the day Mitchell was not a match for the powerful Crookstown-Millview athlete as he used every muscle in his body to surge ahead over the final quarter of the race. He crossed the line in 11.07 to take his first national gold medal.
Saoirse Ballasty-Byrne took her first ever gold at the national track and field championships. The Naas AC athlete was second in her heat to the great Destiny Lawal (Dooneen).
Meanwhile in heat one, the winner was Tiffany Nwaedozie (Begooley). Lawal and Nwaedozie were firm favourites for the final. However sport can often to cruel. Lawal experienced a slight niggle and withdrew from the final with Nwaedozie making a false start and was disqualified. This left the competition wide open.
Saoirse Ballasty-Byrne was not going to let a golden opportunity pass her by. The Naas AC athlete took gold with seven hundredths of a second to spare over Rachel Afari (Tallaght). Carlow’s Mia Cullen was 3rd and Caoimhe Farrell (St Coca’s) running an excellent race to take 4th.
JP Archbold (Newbridge) took gold in the boys u18 Long Jump. A few weeks ago at the Leinster Championships Archbold recorded a 7.42m leap to gain the European u18 qualifying standard.
With athletes having to achieve the standard twice, last Saturday was the Newbridge athletes final opportunity, Perhaps it was pressure, the weather or whatever the reason, but it was not to be. Archbold did take the gold medal however. This time last year he was working through injuries, so he has come a long way in a year.
On the second day of competition (Sunday) Isobel Kearns (Naas) added to Saturday’s golden haul with her first place in the girls u19 Javelin, retaining the title she won last year. Kearns has made a name for herself as a javelin thrower, with increased focus on the event during her upper juvenile years.
Increased wind, of course did not make things easy for the javelin throwers – gusts rising and falling throughout the day. Kearns threw 34.96m into a strong headwind to finish over a meter clear of Isabelle McCormack (St Laurence O’Toole). The leaving cert student will be taking up a scholarship at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania in September. This is on the basis of her javelin performance over the past few years.
Rachel Beattie (Crookstown-Millview) topped the table in the girls u18 Long Jump. The long time leader Aine Frawley (Nenagh) leaped in excess of 5m on all her jumps and looked like she was all set to claim gold.
Beattie had some issues with her mark, jumping before the take off board on a few occasions. It was not until the final round that the Crookstown-Millview athlete came into her own, leaping 5.64m, a new personal best to take the lead. With Frawley having being the last athlete to jump she needed to better that mark to win back her lead. Fortunately for Beattie this did not happen and the gold medal came to roost at Crookstown-Millview with 9cm to spare.
Kyle Byrne-Ward (Newbridge) was without his clubmate Eoghan Gallagher this weekend. Gallagher is recovering from an injury, leaving the way open for Byrne-Ward to claim gold. The Newbridge man easily won the first heat over a half a second faster than Cillian Connolly (DSD) as he crossed the line in 14.06 seconds.
Facing a slight headwind in the final, Byrne-Ward was pushed all the way by Rahaman Adekunle (Leevale), with Byrne- Ward having a marginal advantage coming off the final hurdle. Adekunle came with a final surge and drew close. Feeling the pressure Byrne-Ward gave one final surge, using all the power and speed he could find and pushed his body towards the line, dipping as he did so.
It was this dip that won him the race by a very tight margin of 8 hundredths of a second. He as national u18 100m hurdles champion.
Kayleigh Redmond (Clane) has been having a terrific year. Leinster gold, Schools gold and last weekend she was crowed All-Ireland u14 Javelin champion. The Clane AC athlete threw 35.58 to beat Emma Nolan (Swinford) by 25cm.
Redmond had the accolade of completing all her throws over the 30m mark. This was particularly impressive given the athletes were throwing into a gusty headwind. Grace Cassidy (Naas) was sixth in the same event.
Sarah Cousins (Suncroft) won the clubs second gold of the championship weekend. Cousins victory came in the u13 Javelin. The young Suncroft athlete (and Leinster championship record holder) was in a league of her own. Not only was she the only athlete to throw over 30m, she also won the competition by almost four meters.
Her gold medal came as no surprise as she has been to the forefront of the javelin all year, regularly surpassing the 30m mark and claiming victory in all her competitions. In the same competition Isabelle Larkin (Naas) took bronze. Lola McDonnell (Naas) finished 6th, rounding out a strong bit of competitive action for Kildare athletes.
Those gold medals just kept coming in. James Dooley (Newbridge) continued his gold medal winning ways. The 2025 National Track and Field Champion retained his shot putt title with a final round throw of 13.32m, a meter and a half ahead of Luke Madigan (Westport).
Dooley was the only athlete to throw over 13m, setting a new personal best in the process. A versatile athlete Dooley is very adept at most events. This year his focus was on the shot putt and 600m. He finished 7th in the 600m with another new personal best.
Florence Harte (Crookstown-Millview) once again finished in the top three at the national championships. Harte took silver in the u16 Triple Jump, jumping 10.73m in her final jump of six. With just 1 cm separating silver and bronze medallists up to that final jump, Harte sealed her single medal increasing her silver medal lead to 14cm over Waterford’s Lily Mae Quelly.
Harte has the distinction of receiving a medal in all track and field championships since 2022 when she was u12. At that juncture, she won a long jump medal gold with a leap of 4.58m.
Ryan O’Neil (Newbridge) took silver in the boys u16 Javelin with a 5th round effort of 43.88m, with a comfortable margin of 10m to spare over the bronze medallist. High winds play havoc with the javelin in the final round, as the athletes were throwing into the wind.
Day 2 saw more silver medals added to the already large haul of medals. Senan Markey, (Tir Mona) gave the club its first national track and field medal this year with a silver in the boys u16 walk, moving up from bronze in 2025. Earlier in the day, his sister Aine finished 7th in the girls u14 walk, as she made her All-Ireland debut.
Harry Kearney (Naas) took silver in the boys u15 discus with a throw of 39.83m. The Naas athlete was up against strong opposition in the form of National record holder and double gold medalist Andrew Nolan (Roscommon). Nolan took the Discus to new heights with a throw of 43.86m, beyond the reach of any of the other athletes. For the Naas man his silver medal winning throw was a new personal best as he continues to narrow the gap between himself and Nolan. Kearney also finished 6th in the shot putt.
The Naas throwing machine turned up another silver medal as Eabha Larkin (Naas) took silver in the girls u15 Javelin. Larkin started and ended her sequence of six throws surpassing the 30m mark. Her final throw of 31.68m moved her from 4th place into second relegating Emma Naoughton (Erris) and Emily Walska (Lios Tuathail) into 3rd and 4th place.
Amelia Osarugue Owie (Clane) took silver in the girls u13 Long Jump. It was an exciting competition where the lead (and indeed the medal entitlement) changed several times throughout the competition. It was not until the final round, the most exciting of all the long jumps that the athletes to receive medals was decided.
After the completion of round 4, Owie was in sixth place. A leap of 4.64m moved her up the table to second behind Charlotte Heaney (Swinford). The final round was incredibly exciting as all eight finalists were within grasp of a medal. Owie jumped 4.67m to take the lead. Moments later Clare’s Mia Kelly jumped the exact same distance, both athletes now at the top of the table.
Then on the very last jump of the competition Charlotte Heaney now in third place produced a massive leap of 4.75m to reclaim her leading position. So tight was the final placings that only a few centimetres separated the top six athletes. 2027 should be interesting.
Now representing Donore Harriers (Dublin), Harry Cahill in his final year of juvenile competition took home his first ever track and field medal. Cahill along with Rhys Johnson (also Donore) took part in a very competitive u19 3000m.
As expected, Donegal’s Odhran McBrearty took gold. The early stages of the race saw athletes running in a large peloton, nobody prepared to take things on. A fast burn out over the final lap or two was on the cards. Over the final 800m the pace quickened with most of the athletes hanging on. With 250m to go the pace pushed on further with McBrearty eventually breaking away. The race for silver and bronze was between eight athletes. Over the final 80m, it was anyone’s for taking. Then finally Harry Cahill pushed hard and took silver ahead of Cork’s Andrew Hinds. His first national track medal after 10 years of competition.
It was not until day 2 that the first bronze medal was won by a Kildare athlete. Iris McCartan finished 3rd in the girls u15 800m. The 2025 national champion had to work hard throughout the race, taking the lead with 250m to go. Despite the lead changing hands several times throughout the race, McCartan retained the lead with just 60m to go.
It was Ailbhe Finucane (Donore) who mad a bid for the front, mounting her challenge for from her third placed position. McCartan worked hard to fight off the Dubliner, but with lactic filling her legs, she found it increasingly hard. Perhaps paying for her earlier front running bid. Not giving up she continued to put in as much as she good to eventually settle for bronze in 2.18.
Incidentally McCartan’s bronze medal was the only middle distance medal won throughout the two days. A reflection not on the inability for Kildare athletes to win medals, more the rising standard of middle distance running amongst young athletes.
Aidan Duignan (Newbridge) took bronze in the boys u14 Discus with a fourth round throw of 28.39m. This is the first year that Duignan has taken up the discus. At this stage athletes get used to mastering lots of technicalities, that will aid further throwing in the future. Duignan then went on to compete in the Shot Putt where he finished 5th. Isabelle Larkin (Naas) took Kildare’s fourth bronze medal.
Fourth place is never a good place to be, especially when you record the same distance as the bronze medallist. This is exactly what happened to Georgia Myerscough (Crookstown-Millview) in the girls u18 Triple Jump. Both Myerscough and Cara English (St Abbans) recorded 10.63m in their final jumps.
Using the countback rule, English had the farthest second best jump, and was thus awarded the bronze medal. It was a fourth place also for Dylan Burke (Crookstown-Millview). Burke was just 44cm off the bronze medalHe in finishing 4th in the u14 Javelin with a best throw of 30.22m.
Harry McCormack (Newbridge) was another athlete with a fourth place finish, with his 11.63m effort in the boys u16 triple jump. Beth Grogan (Newbridge) has a particularly competitive age group in race-walking. The u15 athlete finished 4th behind Emma Houson (Tuam). Grogan was less than 8 seconds adrift of the bronze medal in the 2,000m event.
A special mention for Kylie Mhondiwa (Le Cheile) who surprised herself in qualifying for the All-Ireland. Mhondiwa finished second in the Leinster girls u15 80m hurdles. Staying true to her recent good form she finished second in her heat, gaining automatic qualification for the final. Her first All-Ireland race and already making a final. In the final she lowered her personal best to 12.54 seconds and a sixth place finish.
There were so many other athletes who qualified for the All-Ireland’s and all competed with distinction, deserving of their qualification.
