Leinster Juvenile Indoors 2017 – days 1 & 2 (11th/12th Feb)
Medal winning start to indoor season by juvenile athletes
Given the bitterly cold day on Saturday 11th February, it was very fortunate that the big squad of nearly sixty juvenile athletes and their parents and coaches could be safely ensconced out of the elements in the Athlone IT International Indoor Arena for day one of the Leinster Juvenile Indoors.
Proceedings got underway with the girls 600m u/12 where Mullingar had one of the biggest groups of any Club, twelve athletes, taking part. Qualification from the heats was very tough but Aimee Wallace and Adele Geoghegan made it safely though but unlucky for Leah Geoghegan, Lucy Donnelly, Jessica Cunningham, Síofra Smyth, Caoimhe Donoghue, Ciara Glennon, Robyn Bates, Ellen Foran, Sara Assebbane, Anna May Flannery and Shauna Traynor who competed well in their heats but didn’t advance. As expected, the final was run at a very fast pace from the start, but Aimee and Adele kept in contention. On the final lap Aimee showed an amazing turn of pace to suddenly pull clear and went on to win in convincing manner, closely followed home by Adele very unlucky to just miss a medal in fourth place.
On to the boys 600m u/12, where Philip McCartan put down an early marker of intent by winning his heat in a new Championship Best Performance of 1:45.24 to better the performance of our own Shane Fitzsimons that has stood for eleven years. Callum Costello and Ryan Jenkins also made it safely through the heats, but unfortunately Darragh Smith couldn’t make it four from Mullingar in the final, though he ran well in his heat. Clearly all eyes were on Philip in the final and he didn’t disappoint with a blistering last lap to tear the field asunder and win with an even quicker time of 1:44.73 to set another record. Coming around the final turn it looked like Mullingar could make it a clean sweep of the medals as Callum and Ryan gave chase on the boy that had bravely tried to stay with Philip, closing down on him very fast but the line came too soon and Callum crossed in third, just ahead of Ryan in fourth. A fantastic race to watch!
Amanda Klimova was our sole representative in the girls 600m u/13 where she put in a good performance but didn’t advance from her heat to the final. In the boys 600m u/13, Adam Brady, Eoin McGrath, Matt O’Leary, John Ryan and Adam Smyth gave one hundred percent effort in the heats but didn’t advance to the final. No problem for Ross Killalea and Tadgh Sheridan who safely negotiated the heats but despite great efforts in the final had to settle for places out of the medals.
Moving to the 800m, unfortunately Aoife O’Brien, Francesca Walshe and Meghan Bates didn’t advance from the fiercely competitive heats of the girls 800m u/14 to join Phoebe Bate, Aoife McGouran and Amy Geoghegan in the final. As expected at this level, the final was run at a very fast pace from the gun but the Mullingar trio stuck to the task and worked well to keep in touch with the leading group but despite terrific turns of pace, especially by Aoife, in the closing stages, Phoebe was denied a medal by a close margin, finishing fourth with Aoife and Amy coming in behind in close order. Martin Foran contested well in the boys 800m u/14 race but didn’t reach the final.
In the girls 800m u/15, Caoimhe Brady, Karla Cunningham and Meabh Killalea were unlucky not to reach the final and join Bea Drummond who ran a very good race and was unfortunate to be run out of the medals in a close race, finishing fifth, just out of the medal places. Colin McGee ran well didn’t advance from the very competitive heats of the boys 800m u/15. Sam Smyth and Colin Smith advanced from their heats and despite a solid race in the final finished out of the medals.
It took Caoimhe O’Brien to finally put Mullingar back in the medals with a typically gutsy run in the girls 800m u/16 and with a very fast finish was delighted to finish second and win the silver medal. Eoin Quinn followed in the boys 800m u/16 where he ran well but didn’t advance to the final. Elysia Greene didn’t advance from her heat to join Aoife Darby who put in a determined performance in the girls 800m u/17 where she showed her class to finish second in a very close run race. That was followed by Brian Martin who took out the boys 800m u/17, leading from early on and increasing his lead as each lap ran by but he was overhauled on the final bend and in the home straight fell back into third place but was still very satisfied with his front-running performance.
Despite running well in the final of the girls 800m u/18, Catriona Kennedy was disappointed not to take a medal, which is a clear indication of how she has matured as an athlete and doesn’t want to settle for second best. We got back in the medals again as Conor McHugh turned in a sparkling performance in the boys 800m u/18 to finish second in a very close race where he battled hard all the way. If we thought Conor’s race was close, it was nothing compared to the boys 800m u/19 where Colin Smith was in majestic form as he stormed around the track and just as it looked like he might take the victory he was passed on the final bend but rallied on the home straight and was denied the gold right on the line, finishing second by the closest of margins.
It was great to see Mullingar field seven in the girls 60m u/12, where Aimee Wallace progressed through the heats to the semi-finals and into the final and despite having run a 600m heat and final earlier in the day showed no sign of fatigue and put in a terrific performance to finish second in a thrilling race to claim her second medal of the day. Not so fortunate for Caoimhe Donohue, Annamay Flannery, Lucy Donnelly, Ellen Foran, Ciara Glennon and Shauna Traynor who didn’t advance from the very competitive heats but full marks for effort. In the corresponding boys 60m u/12 event, Callum Costello advanced through the heats and semi-finals to take his place in the final where he too showed no sign of tiredness after the 600m and reprised the blistering finishing pace he had shown earlier in the 600m to run a brilliant sprint and finish second to claim his second medal of the day too.
Alanna Costello advanced to the semi-finals of the girls 60m u/14 but just missed a place in the final. Shannon Liston competed well but didn’t advance from her heat. Mullingar had three in the girls 60m u/17 with Awa Fane reaching the final only to lose out on a medal by the narrowest margin, finishing fifth. Whitney Imafidon and Eve Wallace were making their track debuts for the Club and though they enjoyed the competition, didn’t advance form their heats. Another newcomer, Nadine Molloy made her debut for the Club in the girls 60m u/19 where she finished out of the medals in fourth place but will have learned a lot from the experience. Patrick Leydon qualified for his final of the boys 60m u/19 but finished out of the medal places on this occasion, while Odhran Cully was very unlucky not to advance from his heat. Others competing with spirit in the 60m sprints but not advancing from their heats were Amanda Klimova (u/13), Darragh Smith (u/12), Aaron Dowdall, Eoin McGrath, Matt O’Leary (u/13), and Niamh Cully (u/15).
It wasn’t all track events of course and in the girls u/16 shot putt, Shauna Leydon made a welcome return to competition after injury and was too good for the opposition and won well to add another Leinster title to her collection. Shannon Liston competed well but finished out of the medals in the u/14 shot putt, as did Ellen Foran in the u/12 shot putt.
Day two on Sunday 12th February was a shorter programme but the competition was just as intense. Jayne Walsh-Smith was very unlucky to finish just of the medals in fourth place in the u/15 girls 1,000m race walk but showed great determination and skill in this very technical event. Matthew Glennon got us in the medals with a sure-footed victory by a big margin in the u/15 boys 1,000m race walk. Jennifer Fidgeon almost snatched victory on the line in the u/16 girls 1,500m race walk, coming through very strongly on the last lap but denied on the line to finish second. Sarah Glennon demonstrated why she is so well regarded as a star in race walking with an emphatic victory in the u/17 girls race walk, with a new Championship Best Performance of 6:44.93. Well done to our four race walkers and we’ll follow their progress with interest in the All-Ireland finals in March.
Shane Ormsby qualified comfortably from his heat of the boys 60m hurdles u/13 but in the final disaster struck as he hit a hurdle early in the race and being such a short race there is little time to recover and he was disappointed to finish sixth, out of the medal places where he knows he belongs. Aaron Dowdall also contested well in the hurdles but didn’t advance to the final to join Shane.
Moving to the sprints, with three heats of the girls 200m u/17, qualification was always going to be very difficult. Running well in their first time over the distance, Whitney Imafidon and Eve Wallace competed with enthusiasm but didn’t advance. Awa Fane ran a tremendous heat to qualify for the final where she ran even quicker than the heat, which she needed to do, dipping hard at the line in such a close finish that it took the camera to determine that she had taken third right on the line, winning the bronze medal by just one hundredth of a second. Odhran Cully and Patrick Leydon contested the boys 200m u/19 where Odhran was very unlucky to miss a place in the final by a mere five hundredths of a second but Patrick advanced with some ease. Drawing the favoured lane five, Patrick ran a storming race and finished third with a new indoor personal best and can look forward to the All-Ireland finals with confidence.
In the field events, Shane Ormsby made amends for his disappointment in the hurdles by winning silver in the boys u/13 shot putt, with Aaron Dowdall also taking part but finishing out of the medal places. Others competing in the packed field events but finishing out of the medals were Shauna Traynor (u/12 long jump), Alanna Costello and Grace Loughrey (u/14 long jump).
We concluded the week-end with an impressive collection of 17 medals, another 5 close finishes in fourth place and many more qualifying for finals, which marks a resounding success for the Club’s underage athletes but whether medals were won or not, everyone competed to the best of their abilities and that’s all anyone can ask.
