Leinster Juvenile Indoors 2026 (14th/15th Feb)
Mullingar Harriers recorded another very successful weekend of competition at the Leinster Juvenile Indoors in TUS Athlone on Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th February, winning a lot of medals, more qualifying for finals, and many recording personal bests.
The race walks are always a rich vein for Mullingar, and on Saturday morning Gareth Glennon won silver in the u/15 boys 1,000m walk, despite incurring a 30 second time penalty for a rule infringement, without which he would have won comfortably by a distance. Also falling foul of the tough rules was Daniel Glennon who also incurred a 30 second time penalty in the u/18 boys 1,500m walk but still won the gold medal.
It was great to see Scott Cogan continuing his venture into the sprints, though unfortunately he was disqualified in the u/17 boys 400m for a false start, always a risk in the sprints but he’ll learn from the experience and take it to the outdoor season this summer.
Moving to the 1,500m races, the stand-out performances came from Lily Walsh and Oisin Clarke. Lily took command of the u/16 girls 1,500m from the gun, going straight to the front and cruised to gold in great front-running style. Oisin was content to stay in the pack for the early laps of a tactical u/16 boys 1,500m race, but with four laps to go he went to the front and injected just enough pace to stretch the field. He was passed with two laps to go but bided his time before retaking the lead again with 300m to go, before unleashing a furious injection of pace at the bell he pulled clear with a swift 29 second final lap to win his first Leinster title. There was also great performances from Hannah Dunne (1,500m u/16), Beibhinn O’Reilly (1,500m u/17), Daniel Horohoe, Morgan Isdell and Cormac McGrath (1,500m u/17) with Daniel securing qualification to the National finals with a 4th place finish. In the u/18 girls 1,500m Eleanor Kiernan timed her finish to perfection in the closing lap to move from third to second and win the silver medal. Conor Walsh put in a determined effort in the u/18 boys 1,500m and was very unlucky to be pipped on the line to finish 5th in a close finish, just missing an automatic qualification place in the National finals. We finished with the u/19 boys 1,500m where Luke Greene worked hard throughout but had to settle for a place out of the medals.
Big entries for the u/12 boys 60m saw Tadhg McManus line up in heat 4 of 5 and despite a brave effort he didn’t advance from the very tough heats. No problem for Lucy O’Connor in the u/13 girls 60m where she finished second in her heat to advance to the semi-final but unfortunately that’s where her campaign ended and despite running a good race, she didn’t advance to the final. A fourth place finish for Ethan Byrne in his heat of the u/13 boys 60m wasn’t enough to advance to the semi-final. Majed Al Bashir was unlucky not to advance from his heat of the u/14 boys 60m to join Daniel Cummins who qualified for the final with a fine second place finish in his heat, but though he nearly matched his time in the final, he had to settle for a place out of the medals. John McManus placed third in his heat of the u/15 boys 60m and in the final ran quicker and stormed to 5th place, just out of the medal places, but top marks for effort. In the u/18 boys 60m, Cian Hyland sprinted really well in his heat but was unlucky not to advance to the final. We finally ended the 60m medal drought in the u/19 boys 60m. Running close to his personal best in his heat, Finn Roddy advanced to the final where he blasted from the blocks and crashed through the finish line in a new PB of 7.29 seconds to win the Leinster bronze medal.
There were Mullingar athletes busy in the field events too, including Sophie Doran (u/12 girls shot put), Saoirse Peters threw her way to a top-8 finish in the u/14 girls shot put, and Clodagh Doran matched this in the u/16 girls shot put with a top-8 finish of her own.
The action on Sunday started with the 200m sprints where Aoibhe Martyn and Emily Tully contested the u/16 girls 200m, but strong runs to finish third in their respective heats wasn’t enough to advance to the final.
Entries in the 600m races are always very big, with lots of heats and qualification to the finals is extremely difficult. Maisie Walsh finished fourth in her heat of the u/12 girls 600m and was very unlucky to miss a place in the final by only two places. Tadhg McManus also didn’t advance from his tough heat of the u/12 boys 600m. Ruth Whelan and Caitlin Doyle didn’t advance from their heats of the u/13 girls 600m to join Helen McGrath whose fourth place finish in her heat earned her a place in the final where she battled well but finished out of the medals. Mel Bohan won his heat of the u/13 boys 600m to qualify for the final, but not so Donagh Bourke and Olly Loughrey who competed well but didn’t advance from their heats. In the final, Mel ran even quicker but was extremely unlucky to finish 4th in a near photo finish, just missing a medal by a fraction.
Aoife Dunne was our sole representative in the u/14 girls 800m but unfortunately fifth in her heat was enough to qualify for the final, but can take consolation from running a new PB. Having their first experience of indoor 800m racing, Cillian Gavin and Conor Gavin didn’t advance from the heats of the u/14 boys 800m to join Daniel Cummins who won his heat to qualify for the final where he stormed through the last lap, making up several places, to finish a very creditable 6th place. Chloe Bell finished second in her heat of the u/15 girls 800m to reach the final where she ran even quicker but was very unlucky to finish just out of the medals in 4th place. Amelie G Kelly had placed fourth in her heat but missed qualification for the final by just two places, and Siomha Leonard also ran well but didn’t advance from her heat.
It was great to see three Mullingar boys advance from the heats and qualify for the final of the u/15 boys 800m. In the final, John McManus went out hard storming to the front and setting a ferocious early pace. He was only caught on the final lap but had enough in reserve to hold on for a terrific silver medal finishing in a new PB of 2:17.25, followed in by Gareth Glennon in 4th place in a very close finish in 2:18.13, a new PB, and Rian Gavin behind in a very creditable 7th place. Muirin Dunne contested the u/16 girls 800m but despite a good performance where she ran a PB she didn’t advance to the final. Fresh from victory over 1,500m the day before, Oisin Clarke returned for the u/16 boys 800m where he proved simply too good for the opposition and swept to victory, his second Leinster title of the week-end. We also had three boys in the final of the u/17 boys 800m where Scott Cogan raced to a fine 6th place, followed by Daniel Horohoe in 7th, and Cormac McGrath also finishing strong.
Heather Kelly placed second in her heat of the u/12 girls 60m hurdles to advance to the final, where she clipped the first hurdle but recovered brilliantly to storm through for second place and the silver medal, in a new PB of 11.83 seconds. Kate Horohoe and Caitlin Doyle contested the u/13 girls 60m hurdles but were unlucky not to advance from the very competitive heats. Finally, Morgan Isdell hurdled his way to 4th place in the u/17 boys 60m hurdles, guaranteeing a chance to go again with a place at the National finals.
Over in the field events, Donnacha Doyle jumped to 5th place in the u/15 boys high jump, missing fourth and qualification to the National finals only on count-back. Aoibhe Martyn leaped to a fine top-8 finish in the u/16 girls long jump after a very good and consistent series of jumps. Also competing in the field events was Heather Kelly (u/12 girls long jump), Daniel Cummins, Cillian Gavin, Conor Gavin and Cillian Martyn (u/14 boys long jump), and Kate Horohoe (u/13 girls high jump).
It was great to see so many Mullingar athletes trying new events, and very satisfying seeing some new faces on the podium. Well done to all who competed, and best of luck to everyone that has qualified for the National finals [CW/GD].
