Kildare success at Leinster Championships
Newbridge Boys u16 Gold medal winners 4x200m relay
The National Senior Championships has sent an exhilarating bolt of enthusiasm and energy into ensuing indoor races. The Leinster u20, Senior and Masters held last Saturday produced more top-class performances and championship records than any other Leinster Indoors held in the past decade. Guest athletes from other provinces, many newly crowned national champions competed alongside the Leinster contingent. Ciaran Connolly (Le Cheile) took the Leinster title in his stride, still getting used to being able to compete at this level again.
There was another World age group relay record attempt, involving Evelyn McNelis (Naas) as the over 75 quartet this time took down the existing 4x400m world indoor relay record. On Sunday it was the turn of the juveniles as they battled for relay honours and All-Ireland qualification. The u16 boys from Newbridge turned out yet another winning performance.
The Irish masters relay teams have been on fire of late. A few weeks ago we reported that two Kildare ladies were part of two out of four teams that set new World masters age group records for the 4x800m relay. Last week at the National Indoor Stadium one of these ladies Evelyn McNellis (Naas) once again formed part of a World Record setting quartet, this time for the over 75 4x400m relay. McNelis along with Eileen Kenny, Philomena Browne and Mary Walsh recorded a time of 7:20.14 to stake Ireland’s entry into the record books. Several further record assaults are planned for the summer track and field season across multiple age groups.
Saturday’s Leinster u20, Senior and Masters Championships were exactly what we need provincial championships to be; open, competitive and an opportunity for all levels. On the back of a successful National Indoors last weekend, several Irish stars were in action again in Abbottstown for the Leinster Indoors. The star performance of the day went to young Conor Penney (Craughwell AC) who bettered his own indoor personal best with a leap of 2.06m in the u20 high jump. In doing so he achieved the qualifying standard for the European Youth Olympics to be held in Macedonia later this summer. The 16-year-old Galway athlete burst onto the scene last year with his ubiquitous sequence of personal best performances, the most notable was at the Tailteann Games where he achieve his outdoor personal best of 2.09m. A total of seven new championship records were set during the day’s events, with the overall standard of competition up on previous years in many events.
Several Kildare athletes were amongst the medals. The most notable being Ciaran Connolly (Le Cheile), who was back on track with his signature event, the high jump. Connolly as the newly crowned national senior champion had no difficulty taking the Leinster crown. Coming into the competition at 1.85, we cleared both 1.85 and 1.90 with ease. Some slight hiccups at 1.95m, were resolved and that too was cleared. Hoping for yet another 2.00m clearance, it was sadly not to be on this occasion, though he did come close on his second and third attempt. He now holds both the Leinster and National Senior Indoor High Jump titles.
Connolly’s clubmate Caoimhe Cronin, finishes her indoor season on a high note. An easy win in the heats of the 200m, saw Cronin earn the right of passage through to the finals. Starting in the outside lane, meant the Le Cheile athlete was running blind until she came off the final bend. Holding off UCD’s Aisling Kelly she took gold in a new personal best of 24.83. Eoghan McGrath has been a regular on the jump’s scene and a familiar face at all Leinster championships. No longer an u23 athlete, McGrath now competes as a senior. He took the Senior Long Jump title with a second-round jump of 6.01m. Behind him, taking silver was Neftali Diaz Rojas (Naas) with a best of 5.93m. McGrath then went on to take silver in the triple jump. Like many athletes in this early season adjust their ‘mark’ can often prove to be challenging. Both McGrath and the eventual winner Michael McCarthy (MSB) only managed one legal jump each. McCarthy getting slightly ahead of the Celbridge man for gold. Vivian Fleischer (Celbridge) took gold in the senior ladies’ triple jump.
Alex Murphy (Suncroft) had no bother demolishing the opposition in the Senior Ladies 3,000m. Murphy was in control from the start of the race and never looked in danger of being beaten. She dipped under the 10-minute mark, recording a season’s best of 9.56.52. Abigail O’Leary (Celbridge) finished third.
The Naas AC u20 Ladies 4x200m took gold in the relay. The team of Sarah Kiernan, Beibhinn Hughes, Saoirse Ballesty-Byrne and Anna Sweeney crossed the line in a time of 1:47.06 almost two seconds ahead of Dublin’s Raheny Shamrocks. Celbridge AC finished fourth. The Naas AC ladies were led off by Sarah Kiernan, who took the lead as she handed the baton to the youngest member of the team; Saoirse Ballesty Byrne. The Naas lead was increased slightly as Beibhinn Hughes held on with a good handover to Anna Sweeney who powered down the final 60m, crossing the line with a winning smile.
There were a few other notable performances on the day. Theo Hanlon in any other provinces would be an outright winner. Leinster is particularly strong at the shot putt. The winner Andrew Cooper, took down the championship record, with Hanlon in second place with a massive throw of 16.92 from his sixth and final putt. It was Hanlon who led the competition going into the final round and looked certain of the gold medal. However, Cooper somehow found a new gear and produced a massive final round throw of 18.20m, one and a half meters further than all his others to snatch the gold from the Suncroft man.
Sarah Kiernan Naas was a talented juvenile athlete and has over the past year found herself getting back to that talent that served her so well in her earlier years. At the national seniors last weekend, Kiernan set a new personal best over 400m. Last Saturday she continued the personal best trajectory with a new 200m personal best of 25.59 to finish second to Kate Maher of Kilkenny City Harriers.
It was good to see Katy Hayse (St Coca’s) back after a sojourn with injury. Hayse looked comfortable as she moved up to u20 taking on those two years older than herself. Four athletes led a runaway group after just one lap, with Hayse keeping pace. A quick wind up saw the St Coca’s athlete hold off Lucan’s Ana Jones to take silver in the 1500m with a new personal best of 4:57.84.
It was double silver for Aidan Bayon in both the u20 walk and pole vault, an unusual combination that somehow seems to work for the Celbridge man. James Smith (Celbridge) was second in the u20 1500m. Clubmate Sean O’Sullivan took bronze in the long jump.
There was plenty of action from the masters’ athletes. At 79 years of age the St Coca’s man still continues to participate in the event that has brought him much joy and success throughout his athletics careers. King won the Masters over 75 3000m walk in a time of 20:26.99. Other masters athletes with good performances were: Michelle Cox (Newbridge) won the over 40 800m with a time of 2.25 and then continued with a jump to the 3000m where she was second. Her clubmate Alison Duff took gold in the over 45 1500m. Clubmate Tony Ruffer took gold in the over 40 3000m. Martin Keenan (Clane) took gold in the over 55 1500m.
Werner Oliver (St Coca’s) blessed with an eternal youthful spring has had a plethora of high jump national records through his masters’ years. He won the over 50 high jump with a leap of 1.68m to take down yet another Leinster record. A host of other master’s athletes put in some fine performances throughout the day.
For athletes at any level and any age, the relay races are always an exciting addition to any programme. With so many clubs in the Leinster region, the relay championships occupy one full day of the suite of Leinster Indoor fixtures. Last Sunday several Kildare clubs travelled to Abbottstown for the Leinster Relay Championships.
The Newbridge AC boys u16 team have had much success throughout their juvenile career. In recent years they have won the All-Ireland u14 4x200m Indoors in 2023, they replicated their win as u15s in 2024. This year they will be looking for three in a row. Winning the Leinster championships last Sunday was a step closer to achieving this dream. The team of Ruaidhri Archbold, Eoghan Gallagher, Alexander Guther and Robert Gleeson demolished the field which included a superb Kilkenny City Harriers team. The team recorded a time of 1.39.49 two seconds ahead of the Kilkenny team. It was nice to see the inclusion of Robert Gleeson, who has had a layoff due to injury and has for the last number of months being slowly building up to full fitness. Le Cheile AC finished fifth in the final, with the team of Eoin Kelly, Eoin Rocher, Tadgh Curran and Liam Quinn.
The mixed relays kick started the day’s proceedings where the Newbridge B team picked up a bronze in the u17 mixed 4x200m. Unfortunately for the A team they left their assigned lane before the breakline and received a DQ. No doubt the team will bounce back to even greater things.
Crookstown-Millview thrive on the relay days and they started the championships on a good note with a silver in the girls u13 4x200m. The team of Georgia Coughlan, Roisin Allen, Ella Murphy and Layla Clarke had a tough draw in the heats where they faced the eventual winners Tara AC. The Kildare team edged one second closer to Tara AC in the final to clinch silver. Two Kildare teams were present in the boys u13 final; Naas AC and Newbridge, with Naas securing the bronze and Newbridge in fourth place. The Naas AC team of Michael Brennan, Senan Smyth, Max Drennan and Oscar Ross won their heats comfortably and went one second faster in the final to finish third behind Enniscorthy and Kilkenny City Harriers.
Both Crookstown-Millview and Newbridge made the final of the u15 girls with no medal joy. However the boys u15 Newbridge team did manage to take bronze. The team consisted of Henry McCormack, Matthew Keyes, Max Crampton and Peader O’Toole staved off a challenge from Clane to take the bronze in a time of 1:49.48. Clane finished fourth and a third Kildare team represented in the final Crookstown-Millivew finished fifth.
Kildare are very adept at relay racing and throughout the day it was not unusual to see several Kildare teams make a final. Along with the boys u15, the next race, the girls u17 had Crookstown-Milliview, Naas and Newbridge qualify for the final.
Clane AC finished second in a very competitive u12 girls 4x200m relay competition. A total of thirty-four teams lined up over seven heats with just six places for the final at stake. In some instances winning your heat was not even good enough. Included in those thirty-four teams were young teams from Naas AC, Newbridge, Crookstown-Millview and Suncroft. The Clane AC team of Hayley Dunne, Amelia Owie, Annie Grey and Jane Bangura had no problem winning their heat. Their time of 2.07.01 was the second fastest time recorded in the heats with Suncroft AC (Laoise Byrne, Lily Galloway, Adele Geoghegan and Sarah Cousins being third in line. The Clane team ran one second faster in the final, but it was just marginally off the time ran by Ratoath who took the gold medals. Suncroft AC finished fourth. Suncroft boys u12 finished 6th in their final.
There was another set of silver medals for Clane AC as their u14 girls also finished second. Some of the girls on this team have already had successful cross-country team outings in the past six months and it is great the mix both the sprinting and cross-country disciplines. The team of Robin Denehan, Isla Corcoran, Iris McCartan and Kate Ormsby were second in their heat to a strong Dundalk-St Gerards team. The Clane AC B team won their heat with Le Cheile third. As with all heats in the relays, a place in the final is based on the time recorded and not the position. The final was one of the closest contented finals of the day, St Abbans AC, Clane AC and Dundalk St Gerards exchanging positions with just fractions between all three teams throughout the race. Over the final 60m it was St Abbans who took the lead, a fast closing Clane AC managed to also overtake their heat winners Dundalk St Gerards to run almost a second faster in their final. Both Crookstown-Millview and Suncroft made the boys u14 final and finished fourth and 6th respectively. Newbridge were fourth in the girls u16 final, just moments before their clubmates had that magnificent boys u16 victory.
The final relay medal of the day was won by Celbridge AC where the team of Seán O’Sullivan, Liam Escuder Duggan, Daniel Griffiths and Aaron Mulcahy took bronze medals.
There were some individual Leinster Championship field events also held in conjunction with the relays; pole vault and triple jump for all ages and Shot and High Jump for the older ages.
There was good news for at the start of the programme as Nora Bayon took the gold medal in the u14 pole vault with a new championship record of 2.10m. Nora took ten centimetres off the existing record which was set only last year.
There were several triple jump medals, with Crookstown-Millview having a very high profile amongst the triple jump fraternity. Florence Harte (Crookstown-Milliview) has already proved her ability over long jump with several Leinster and national titles to her name. Last Sunday she pushed the limits of her ability a bit further when she not only won the u15 triple jump. She set a new championship record of 10.58, snatching the 2023 record of 9.62cm set by clubmate Georgia Myerscough. Harte managed to produced all her jumps above 10m, which is incredible for a girl her age. Her clubmate Niamh O’Shea finished third. While Georgia Myerscough may have lost her u15 Leinster record to Florence Harte, she quickly made up for the loss by setting an u17 triple jump championship record. Her jump of 10.78m from her third jump. Myerscough is the reigning national champion and will thus be looking forward to an attempt to retain her title.
Other triple jump medals came in the form of a silver and bronze u14 set from Siomha Mills and Fia Handy (Crookstown-Millview) and a bronze in the girls u16 from their clubmate Grace Norton. Lydia Fleischer (Celbridge) took silver u18 and Anna Taylor (Crookstown-Millview) bronze u19. Henry McCormack (Newbridge) was second in the u15 triple jump and event where the winner Nicolás De Antolin-Rodrigues (Ratoath) set a new championship record.
High Jump talent certainly runs in the family. While Dad Werner Oliver might have secured the masters gold on Saturday, his daughter Juliette was making her own mark in the u17 high jump the following day. The St Coca’s athlete won the event with a leap of 1.55m on countback with Cara Miele (Redemeer). Lydia Flesicher (Celbridge) took her second silver medal of the day as she finished second u18. Ben Crampton (Newbridge) has the height for high jump and he certainly takes advantage of this as he effortlessly sails through the air clearing the bar, Crampton took silver with a leap of 1.65m.
Theo Hanlon once again demonstrated his supremacy in the field events as he took the gold in the u19 boys shot putt. Hanlon threw 17.39 on his fifth attempt. Silver was awarded to Dominic Burke (St Coca’s) in the same competition.
All eyes will focus back on Cross-Country next Saturday when the All-Ireland schools competition will be held in Galway.
