Leinster Juvenile Indoor Relays 2023 (12th Mar)
The Leinster indoors concluded on Sunday 12th March when the Leinster Juvenile Indoor Relays were held in the National Indoor Arena in Dublin. Mullingar had entered four teams and for most of them it was their first time to compete indoors at a Leinster Championship but they didn’t show any signs of nerves or anxiety and each and every one of them competed with great determination and thoroughly enjoyed the event.
The uneven ages were held in the morning and Isla Brennan, Ruby Brennan, Aoibhe Martyn and Lily Walsh ran in the heats of the u/13 girls 4x200m. With three heats, only the winner of each and the next three fastest times would qualify for the final, so the competition was fierce. The Mullingar girls ran their hearts out and despite a great final lap by Lily Walsh closing the leaders down very fast, the girls finished third and missed a place in the final by just one place and a very narrow margin on time.
In the afternoon, the even age relays were held. We had two teams in the u/12 girls 4x200m, where there were five heats and only the six fastest times would advance to the final. The team of Aoife Gouldsbury, Maria Gouldsbury, Amelie Kelly and Clodagh Keane ran a brilliant race and finished a terrific second place, but unfortunately it wasn’t fast enough to qualify for the final. Our second team of Liadan Gavin, Lily McDonald, Alice Hyland and Ellen Gallagher also ran really well but despite a great team effort, they too didn’t qualify for the final. These are young teams and the experience will stand to them for the future.
Conor Gavin, Cillian Gavin, Aaron Robinson and David Canning ran in the heats of the u/12 boys 4x200m where only the winner of each of the three heats would be guaranteed a place in the final, along with the next three fastest times. The Mullingar boys left nothing on the track and though they finished out of the qualifying places, like our girls teams, they can be very proud of their efforts in their first Leinster Indoor Relays.
