St Coca's U11 double as Crookstown-Millview set Leinster record
Crookstown-Millivew Boys U15 Leinster record breakers
With the amount of athletics action on over the past weekend, every man, woman and child surely must have started this week feeling inspired. Internationally, there were continental tours, diamond leagues not to mention major meets in the USA, while at home, there was plenty of action for the local Kildare clubs between the county championships, Leinster relays and Leinster combined events. The performance from our leading Irish athletes are leading the way in terms of inspiration, with excellent performances and top placings from Sharlene Mawdsley, Mark English and a host of other Irish athletic hero’s. While Sarah Millea (Celbridge) mixed with the best as she was part of an Irish relay squad that raced the IFAM World Athletics Bronze meet in Belgium. Back at home, in Carlow the Leinster relays took place with some outstanding results for Kildare teams. Crookstown-Millview boys u15 produced a stunning display of athleticism to secure gold in a new championship record. St Ccoc’s AC won both the boys and girls u11, with Maya Rus coming from a deficit of 40m to overtake a strong Ratoath team.
The relays hold a special place in athletics for Ireland’s young athletes. They always have. There is something about passing that baton and the rest of the team members roaring each other to success that drives people to run faster than they normally would in the same individual sprinting distance. We only have to look at Ireland’s elite women for verification of this. The Leinster relays afford our young athletes the opportunity to be younger versions of Sharlene Mawdsley or Thomas Barr as they seek victories of their own. It all has to start somewhere and year and year, the Leinster Relays are the breeding grounds for future elite athletes. The day started off with the Girls u17 4x400m relay, where the team of Eabha Brennan, Eve Dowling, Oliva Smith, Hannah Cash and Mia Brennan brought the first medal of the day back to Kildare. Finishing second to a very strong Ratoath AC team who set a new championship record. The boys u17 team of John Paul Archbold, Idris Flynn, Riccardo Garofalo, Cillian Hughes, Ruaidhri Archbold went one better and took gold. Crossing the line with a time of 3:41.65, they had a convincing victory as they put over three seconds between themselves and Ratoath. JP Archbold produced a stunning turn of speed over the final 120m.
With the 4x400m relays out of the way, it was time to start the 4x100m races. Starting with the girls u9. Three Kildare teams qualified for the finals; Naas A and B and Newbridge. It was the Naas AC team of: Isla O Connor, Emma Fitzgerald, Lucy Young, Róisín O Mahony and Aoife Nolan that led the county home, in 4th place. But only just! The young team were just a second off bronze medal winners St Laurence O’Tooles from Carlow. Naas AC finished in 5th place while their B team finished 8th. AC have a big gang of younger athletes at the moment with the ability to field multiple teams per age group. The recent county championships demonstrated this, with a clean sweep of the medals occurring in some age groups. It was a 5th place finish for the Naas AC boys u9 as the team of Michael Amiadamhen, Senan Burke, Tom Holland, Oscar Prendergast, James Martin were a meagre three hundredths of a second off that elusive bronze medal.
St Coca’s AC produced a stunning double in the boys and girls u11. Under the watchful eye of coach Carmel Kelly, these youngsters have shown tremendous talent in the recent county championships. Baton changing has been going well over the last few weeks, with some minor tweaks here and there since the county championships. Those changes must have paid off, as both teams displayed a level of running that has put the Kilcock-based club in the spotlight. Twenty-six teams from across Leinster contested the u11 girls’ race, making it the biggest field of the day. In the earlier stages of the race it was Ratoath, Kilkenny City Harriers and St Abbans that dominated. The third leg saw Ratoath pull ahead with a clear lead at the final baton change. At this stage St Coca’s were in 6th place and over 40m down on the lead. Thanks to an absolutely amazing final leg by Maya Rus, who ate up 40m to pass Ratoath before the line, it was St who claimed victory. The team of Maya Rus, Pippa Donnelly, Zoe Forde, Tara Fagan, Matilda Leyden stood proudly on the upper step of the podium, their first Leinster medals draped around their necks. Naas AC took 4th place with Suncroft in 8th. It was a different story with the boys u11. St Coca’s had built up a commanding lead by the final baton change and it looked like a certain victory. However, a fast final run by St Laurence O’Toole saw victory snatched from the four Kildare boys. They held on, to take the gold by just five hundredths of a second. That final 100m being so close that any one of six teams could have taken gold. The team of Harry Naughton, Leo Donnelly, Garbhán Prendergast, Luke Carroll, Quin Maguire, Danny Forde breathing a sigh of relief as they too stood on that top tier of the podium with medals draping from their necks. Newbridge were 4th and Naas 5th. Just one second separated first from fifth.
Crookstown-Millview and Clane made the finals in the girls u13, but unfortunately there were no medals on this occasion. What medals were lacking in the girls, was more than made-up for in the boys under 13. Four Kildare teams qualified for the final with the Naas AC squad of Max Drennan, Matthew Holland, Oscar Ross, Senan Smyth and Eric Ross leading the Kildare clubs, taking silver behind Kilkenny City Harriers. It was an epic battle between Naas and Crookstown-Millview over the closing stages of the race with Naas just holding on to the silver by a tight margin of one tenth of a second. The Crookstown-Millview team of Conor Lawler, Zachary Keogh, Ruarc Fennin, Dylan Burke and Matthew Hogan took bronze well clear of St Abbans in fourth. Newbridge AC were 5th with Clane AC in 6th place.
There was another 4th place for Crookstown-Millview in the girls u15 with Suncroft taking 5th place. The boys u15 broke the stronghold of fourth placings and produced a stunning display of technical ability and speed to set a new championship record of 48.28, smashing the eleven-year-old record set by St Laurence O’Toole back in 2014. The team of Oisin Mcgrath, Charlie Murphy, Daniel Hanlon, Blessed Nleya, Charlie O`Neill, Vincent Myerscough surprised a confident Ratoath team. Newbridge AC were 4th.
The standard in the girls u17 was the highest of all age groups with the top two teams frequently taking gold and silver at national level. A strong Crookstown-Millview team of Eve Wright, Georgia Myerscough, Annalise Moore, Rachel Beattie, Grace Norton, Tuilelaith Mills finished third behind Ratoath and Kilkenny City Harriers. The Newbridge AC team of Cillian Hughes, Riccardo Garofalo, John Paul Archbold, Idris Flynn, Kyle Byrne-Ward and Robert Gleeson are a team used to getting Leinster medals. This time they had to settle for silver as a clearly improve Ratoath team, who set a new championship record.
Three Kildare relay teams contested the u14 girls final with the Clane AC team of Robin Denehan, Isla Corcoran, Kate Ormsby, Iris Mc Cartan being a tantalising two hundredth of a second shy of the bronze medal. Crookstown-Millview were 5th with the Clane B team in 8th place. Three teams also contested the boys u14 final where Naas AC finished in second place. The team of Harry Kennedy, Harry Kearney, Jj Hill and Senan Smyth tried hard to chase down St Laurence O’Toole. Crookstown-Millview had yet another 4th place finish with Naas AC in 6th place. In the next race, the girls u16, there was another 4th place position. The Newbridge AC team of Eoghan Gallagher, Alexander Guther, Ruaidhri Archbold, Robert Gleeson, Gabriele Garofalo, Kyle Byrne-Ward finished third in the byoys u16, where Ratoath set a new championship record. Crookstown-Millview had their sixth fourth place of the day.
Having been relatively quiet all day Celbridge AC emerged as the bronze medalist in the boys under 18 4x400m. The team of Daniel Griffiths, Daire O Dowd, Liam Escuder Duggan and Jack Gilmartin finished third behind Athlone and Ratoath. Jack Gilmartin had an impressive run, as he anchored his team to podium finishes.
With the excitement of the relays out of the way, the athletes turned their attention to the Leinster mutli-event championships in Carlow, the next day. Kate O’Connor has inspired a nation with her multi-event medals from both the European and World Indoor Championships this year. So much so that Athletics Leinster added an u11 and 12 quadrathlon to the programme.
Georgia Coughlan (Crookstown-Millview) took silver in the girls u13 with victories in the long jump and runner-up in the hurdles and high jump. Behind her Eire Og’s Ava Waugh had a brilliant succession of events to take bronze. There was silver for Naas AC athlete Max Drennan in the boys u13 who displayed remarkable consistency across all events with his hurdles proving to be the strongest.
There is no stopping Amber O’Connor (Eire Og). This young lady has impressed in the National Indoors earlier this year and continues to thrive in the athletic environment. O’Connor took gold in the u14 pentathlon, with the Long Jump proving to be her strongest event. She was however pushed all the way by Kylie Mhondiwa (Le Cheile) who scored victories in the hurdles and shot putt.
Anna Dillon (Suncroft) finished second in the girls u15 to the reigning Leinster champion Mia Brennan (Kilkenny). The long jump proved to be her strongest event as she surprised the Brennan who is an accomplished long jumper by out jumping her. There was bronze for Max Crampton (Newbridge) in the boys u15, with excellence over the high and long jumps. As expected, Kyle Byrne-Ward retained his Leinster title as he took gold in the boys u16. Byrne-Ward represented Ireland a few months ago in the SIAB International in the pentathlon.
Sarah Cousins (Suncroft) finished 3rd in the girls u12 with excellent results in both the sprint and shot putt. John Paul Archbold had another good day at the track. The recent Leinster Schools Long Jump record holder was over a meter clear of his nearest opponent in the Long Jump. Archbold won both the hurdles, long jump and high jump as he coasted to victory in the boys u18 pentathlon. John Molloy (Celbridge) took the over 70s Masters title.
Before all the Leinster activity took place last weekend, there was the mid-week excitement of the final stages of the county championships. Taking place at the Le Cheile track in Leixlip, athletes got the opportunity to run like the professionals, complete with the proper electronic timing facilities. There were good numbers in both the 100m and 800m events. Some highlights include: A clean sweep of the podium for the Clane AC girls u13 where Isla Corcoran, took gold from Irish McCartan with Aobh Corcoran in third place.
Robyn Brown (Newbridge) u15 had another good win over 800m adding to her recent schools success. Like Clane had done in the girls u13, Newbridge AC took a clean sweep in the girls u16. Hannah Cash took gold from Olivia Smith and Mia Lennon. Robert Gleeson cruised to victory in the Boys U16 800m in a superb 2:14, showing more and more like his pre-injury days.
Jordan Erhabor (Clane) demonstrated a huge improvement in speed as he won the Senior 100m. Saoire Ballesty-Byrne (Naas) and Rachel Beattie (Crookstown-Mellivew) had another battle in the sprint,, with the Naas AC athletes taking the victory on this occasion.
Sarah Millea (Celbridge) has been sprinting throughout her juvenile career, first as a member of Clane AC and latterly as a member of Celbridge AC. Competing as a member of the Irish 4x100m Irish squad in Belgium, the team took the relay honours. Though still not qualified for the World Championships in Tokyo, the squad will continue to make every effort that they will. The Celbridge AC athlete will continue to train with the National relay squad throughout the summer.
