Hanlon sets new Irish shot putt record
Theo Hanlon set a National Record in the U19 Shot Photos Perri Williams
In searing heat where the local temperature registered at 31 degrees, the All-Ireland championships in Tullamore proved to be successful for Kildare’s juveniles last weekend. It was the perfect cap to a week of domestic competition that started with Cork on Wednesday and moved to Dublin on Friday with Tullamore on Saturday and Sunday.
The Cork City Sports produced the usual top class competitive action, where Irish athletes were to the fore. Cian McPhillips (UCD) had a good run over 800m that saw him gain the A standard for the World Championships in Dublin two days later. It was in Cork that Sonia O’Sullivan had to hand over another long-standing record – this time the 3,000m meet record, to Scot Megan Keith. The Morton Games in Dublin cumulated with the Morton Mile – a much-publicized clash between the in-form Andrew Coscoran and equally in form Cathal Doyle along with rising star Nick Griggs. It was Corscoran who became this year’s Morton mile champion – but only just. Another clash between these two along with Darragh McIlhenny and Nick Griggs would make for an exciting National Championships over 1,500m in three weeks’ time. John Fitzsimons (Kildare) was due to make a return in both competitions, but this has for now been delayed.
In Tullamore 8 medals were accumulated by Kildare athletes on Saturday for the final day of the individual all-Irelands’. There was gold for Kyle Byrne-Ward (Newbridge) in the 300m hurdles while Isobel Kearns (Naas) earned yet another gold in the javelin. Georgia Myerscough (Crookstown-Millview) added to the golden haul with a win in the triple jump. The Kildare star had to be Theo Hanlon (Suncroft) who in his final year as a juvenile took the national u19 shot putt title and with a new championship record too. Sunday was the turn of the B All-Irelands (u12-16) and relays. There were two silver medals from Newbridge AC and Crookstown-Millview, with medals in the B championships across a range of events.
It has been a long track and field season this summer for our juvenile athletes. Stretching from early April to mid-July, the season is full of weekend trips to tracks across the country, interspersed with continuous training and sacrifices for their sport. For the juvenile end of the sport, last weekend marked the penultimate championship competition, just the combined events remaining. Beyond that date, there will be some “open sports” and of course for the older juveniles they can take part in senior competitions. Then we have cross-country – which is hard to imagine as we continue to experience temperatures that reach into the 30s.
Theo Hanlon (Suncroft) took pride of place in the final day of the individual competition last Saturday. He won the u19 shot putt title with a record-breaking throw of 17.51m. His winning putt came from the 5th round. Significant too is whose record he broke. John Kelly (Finn Valley AC) held the previous record of 17.14 since 2018. In fact, Hanlon equaled that record with his fourth-round throw. Kelly has gone on to become national senior champion and represent Ireland on numerous occasions at international level. A trajectory Hanlon is attempting to emulate. The Suncroft AC athlete currently has a B standard for the European u20 championships and is chasing another in order to be deemed eligible, which hopefully he can achieve in the coming weeks. Also competing in the same event was newcomer to athletics Dominic Burke (St Coca’s). Burke finished 4th.
Kyle Byrne-Ward (Newbridge AC) eased through the heats of the boys u16 250m Hurdles, conserving energy as the heat registered 31 degrees by noon. Returning over an hour later for the final, he was confident of his podium chances. From the gun, he was first out of the blocks and first to clear the initial hurdle. Just a fraction ahead of the rest of the field. His lead never faltered as he cleared hurdle after hurdle, crossing the line in first place in the final, with as much ease as he had in the heats. Almost two seconds quicker than last year, Byrne-Ward retained the title he has won in 2024. Behind him the podium line up consisted of the same two other athletes, in reverse order.
Isobel Kearns (Naas) has been a regular to the top of the podium in juvenile national competitions. Throwing 37.82, from her second-round throw, Kearns took the u18 javelin title, retaining the title she too had won last year. Coached by Tony Shine of Naas, this is another national medal to add to the collection that his athletes have already accumulated this year. Kearns was over 3m ahead of her nearest rival Ruby Cummins (Bandon AC) in what was for her, a convincing win.
Another gold medal followed within an hour. Georgia Myerscough (Crookstown-Millview) also retained the triple jump title that she had successfully won in 2024. Myerscough had a precarious lead for the first two rounds, until a 10.77m in the third round pushed her further ahead. She retained this lead right to the end to take the gold medal with 27cm to spare over Katie O’Reilly of Dunboyne. Coaching her all the way was veteran coach Brian Dowling who has had a plethora of successes in the jumps over the past few decades.
Two silver medals came Kildare’s way. Iris McCartan ran another superb race, this time in the girls u14 1500m. Two weeks ago, McCartan took gold in the 800m warding off challenges from Aisling Fitzpatrick (St Abbans). On this occasion it was Fitzpatrick who took the gold. Front, running for the first two laps, McCartan controlled the pace as the majority of the athletes were bunched behind her. Heading out onto the third lap Fitzpatrick decided she would speed things up a little. In doing so she was followed by a group of five athletes including McCartan. The final lap was fast with the petite St Abbans athlete breaking clear. McCartan followed and while she could not catch Fitzpatrick she did have a clear break for silver. The Clane AC athlete crossed the line in a time of 4:48.69 to take her second medal of the 2025 All-Ireland track and field championships. This cumulates a very successful season for McCartan. Amber O Connor (Eire Og) took silver in the 200m. O’Connor won her heat and faced the other heat winner Abigail Fenton (Belgooley) in the final. In a very closely contested race it was Fenton who took gold, with O’Connor moving from 4th to second over the final 40m. Like McCartan, this is O’Connors second medal from this year’s championships. The Eire Og athlete took bronze in the 80m two weeks ago. Incidentally she also secured personal bests in both of her All-Ireland events.
There were two bronze medals. First up was Max Crampton (Newbridge) who eased into a qualification spot in the u15 250m hurdles. He finished 3rd in the final in a time of 36.82 seconds, almost three seconds faster than what he ran in the heat. Rachel Beattie (Crookstown-Millview) took bronze in the girls u17 Long Jump. No stranger to podium placings in this event at National level, Beattie jumped 5.47m on her first round and held her bronze medal position for the entire competition. Unable to hit her mark she was unfortunate to foul the second, fifth and sixth jumps. Something many other long jumpers struggled with on the day.
Another day in Tullamore followed with Tullamore hosting the All-Ireland Relays and B championships. Teams from Newbridge AC and Crookstown-Millview had qualified for the relays. There were two teams that featured in the medals. The mixed u17 4x400m relay team from Newbridge took silver. Crookstown-Millview boys u15 4x100m also secured silver medals.
The mixed relays are a relatively new addition to the Irish championship schedule, following the success of team Ireland on the international front. The team of Cillian Hughes, Ricardo Garofola, Eabha Brennan and Eve Dowling recorded a time of 3:58.64 to finish behind Ratoath AC. Behind them Galway City Harriers took bronze.
Crookstown-Millview lined up for the boys u15 4x100m relay with high hopes of making the podium. The team of Blessed Nleya, Charlie Murphy, Oisin McGrath and Daniel Hanlon were in medal position from the start. The Kildare club gave Metro St Bridget’s AC a good challenge with just one second separating them in the end. A strong run from Blessed Nleya was instrumental to the teams success.
Four other Crookstown-Millview teams made relay finals. The boys u16 finished 4th just four tenths of a second off the bronze medal position. The team of Finian Sexton, Blessed Nleya, Daniel Hanlon and Matthew Osadolor, had an excellent race, warding off South Sligo AC and almost catching Kilkenny City Harriers. The girls u13 team of Roisin Allen, Georgia Coughlan, Caoimhe Conroy and Ella Murphy finished 8th in the 4x100m final. The girls u15 team of Grace Joyce, Florence Harte, Ella Louise Donnelly and Niamh O’Shea moved further up the ranking with their 5th place finish. This was a very tightly contested race with just one tenth of a second separating the girls from a silver medal. The girls u18 finished 7th in the final. The team consisted of Georgia Myerscough, Grace Norton, Tuilelaith Mills and Rachel Beattie. Three of the girls having been in Tullamore the day before competing in individual events. The U13 Boys, U14 Girls, and U14 Boys all qualified for the All-Irelands but did not make the finals this time around.
Clane AC girls u14 ran a stormer in the heats, getting an automatic qualification spot as the finished second to the gold medallists Ratoath AC. It was a 7th place in the final for the quartet, consisting of Robin Denehan. Isla Corcoran, Kate Ormsby and Iris McCartan as they almost caught Templemore AC at the finish.
Newbridge girls u18 4x100m team were the final team to qualify from Kildare from the county. The quartet consisting of Caoimhe Gallagher, Eabha Brennan, Mia Brennan and Eve Dowling finished 6th in the final.
The All-Ireland B Championships which are held each year in conjunction with the All-Ireland relays are for those that competed in their provincial championships but did not qualify for the All-Irelands. A development event that is aimed at u12 to u16 years, it serves to encourage young athletes and give them some experience of a competition involving the entire country. As with other years clubs from Kildare support this event, with many achieving great success. There were two gold medals this year. Oran Larkin (Crookstown-Millview) in the boys u14 High Jump and Ava Waugh (Eire Og) in the girls u13 80m. Larkin cleared 1.38m (a new personal best) to take the gold medal. He was the only athlete to clear that height. For Waugh, she faced the challenge of competing with over 40 athletes in her 80m. Six heats in total with only the winner being automatically qualified for the final. Waugh won her heat. In the final she took gold, with Mia Doughty (Newbridge) in second. Mia went on to gain another medal when she finished 3rd in the long jump.
Along with Doughty, there were four other silver medallists. Glen Galloway (Suncroft) took silver in the boys u12 600m. Galloway won heat 2 with his time less than a second slower than Donegal’s Shay McHugh, the winner of heat 1, giving him second place. Patrick Guther (Newbridge) took silver in the boys u13 Long Jump with a leap of 4.22m, just 6cm off the gold medal position. His clubmates Jayden Ogbonna was second in the u14 shot and Gabriele Garafalo taking another silver in the u16 long jump. Bronze medals went to Mia Doughty in the girls u13 long jump, Sorcha Tonra (Clane) in the u13 shot, Aobh Corcoran (Clane) u14 800m, Melita Kraniauskaite (Newbridge) girls u14 shot. John Brannigan was the second Kildare man on the u14 shot podium as the Crookstown-Millview athlete joined Jayden Ogbonna (Newbridge) who got siver. Lucy Gill (Tir Mona) took bronze in the u15 100m having finished second in her heat to eventual gold medallist Lily Cowap (Tallaght).
The Morton Games followed two days on from a hugely successful Cork City Sports. In recent years, the pre-programme has included events for juvenile athletes. What better way for the juveniles to experience international competition that be part of it. While Isreal Olatunde, Sharlene Mawdsley and a host of other Irish senior greats were warming up, so too were the realy teams from Newbridge AC. The club had three teams competing for the occasion. Starting with the u10 team, they finished in 5th place. The u16 mixed relay team of Eoghan Gallagher, Robyn Brown, Ruaudhri Archbold and Kate Hardgaten finished second. The headline juvenile event was the 16x100m mixed Mixed Morton Relay. Newbridge AC with their sixteen athletes finished in 5th place.
