AAI Junior & u/23 Indoors 2017 (29th Jan)

Mullingar Harriers was well represented at the AAI Junior & u/23 Indoor Championships in Athlone IT on Sunday 29th January. Claire Fagan ran with her usual determination in the junior 1,500m to finish an excellent 2nd place. Claire has had an excellent cross country season and is showing good early season form indoors.

Sarah Glennon is one of the brightest young talents in Irish race walking and was a commanding winner of the junior 3,000m walk in an excellent time of 14:32.33. This was remarkable considering Sarah only turns 16 this year so is eligible for a further three years. Rachel Glennon was in contention for a medal throughout the race but in the end she had to settle for 4th place.

Another athlete with three year’s eligibility for this competition is Aoife Darby who competed in the junior 800m. Like Sarah, Aoife was undaunted by the challenge of facing older rivals and produced a stunning finish to claim 2nd position and the silver medal in a time of 2:21.20.

Odhran Cully had a good run in the very competitive heats of the junior 200m, where only the winners of each of the five heats was guaranteed to advance to the final, but unfortunately he was disqualified for a lane infringement on the tight indoor bends. This was a harsh lesson but one that will stand to him in future indoor competition.

Colin Smith is still in his first year in the sport but he negotiated his way through his heat of the junior 800m with ease. In the final, he produced an excellent effort to finish 4th in a tactical race. Colin has improved rapidly and is gaining experience with every race and he is certainly an athlete to watch this season.

Oisin Quinn contested the heats of the 800m u/23 but didn’t advance to the final. In the other heat, Shane Fitzsimons was having his first track race in over two years due to illness and injury. Despite a recent injury setback he won his heat with ease. In the final, Shane was in contention throughout and was actually leading the race with 100m remaining. However, he ultimately had to settle for 3rd place. Shane is arguably the most successful juvenile the Club has produced and it is great to see him back competing on the National stage. There is little doubt that he can re-establish himself as an International class athlete on the track over the coming months.