Leinster Juvenile T&F 2026 (13th/14th June)
In warm and sunny Tullamore on Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th June, Mullingar Harriers had athletes competing in an impressively wide range of events at the Leinster Juvenile T&F, amassing an excellent tally of 13 medals, with another 5 athletes finishing in 4th place meaning Mullingar will be well represented at the National T&F Finals in the coming weeks.
On Saturday, 7 athletes took on the sprints events, 9 runners took on the 1,500m, 2 boys ran steeplechase, 2 girls high jumped, 1 long jumped and 1 threw javelin. The morning kicked off with the short sprints where John McManus raced to third place in his heat of the u/15 boys 100m to qualify for the final where he ran even quicker with a PB of 12.61 seconds to place 5th, just hundredths of a second off 4th which would have earned him a place in the National finals. Joel Kelly finished third in his heat of the u/16 boys 100m to qualify for the final where he finished 5th in a close race. Also competing in the sprints but not advancing from the competitive heats was Trijol Bhattacharjee who made his T&F Championship debut in the u/17 boys 100m heats, and Cian Hyland and Aaron Conroy (u/18 boys 100m heats).
On to the middle-distance races where Daniel Cummins ran a fine race to place a very creditable 6th in the u/14 boys 1,500m, with Cillian Gavin and Conor Gavin running well to follow him home. No luck for Rian Gavin in the u/15 boys 1,500m despite a good effort and race, but a very creditable 7th place in a competitive race. We finally got in the medals thanks to Lily Walsh who led from the gun in the u/16 girls 1,500m and stretched the field as the race progressed. With 300m to go there was just two girls chasing the gold, and after a furious sprint finish Lily held on to win in 4:37.64, breaking the 26 year Championship Record in the process.
Mullingar had Cillian Galvin, Oisin Clarke and Trijol Bhattacharjee in the u/16 boys 1,500m, which built up in intensity as the race unfolded. Cillian and Oisin were part of a small lead pack that broke clear of the field, and after another sprint finish, albeit far closer this time, a time of 4:16.86 saw Cillian steal the win by four thousandths of a second! A fine win from an exciting race and a second Leinster title for Mullingar. Unfortunately Oisin was out-sprinted in the last few metres and just edged out of the podium places in 4th. Trijol followed his club mates home with a top ten finish in 9th place. Eleanor Kiernan kept the medals coming for Mullingar in the u/18 girls 1,500m. Staying in contention throughout the race, Eleanor kept the leaders within striking distance. In the later stages the eventual winner pulled ahead and although Eleanor was closing on the girl in second, she couldn’t close the gap and crossed the line in third place, securing a fine championship bronze medal.
Over in the field events, Hannah Dunne leaped to 4th place in the u/16 girls high jump with a PB of 1.35m. Kate Horohoe doubled up in the u/13 girls javelin and the u/13 girls long jump and despite not getting in the medals enjoyed the competition and will have gained valuable experience. Also competing in the field events but not securing any honours was Amelie G Kelly and Alice Hyland (u/15 girls high jump).
The u/16 girls 400m was run as time trials, with the medals decided on the fastest times over two race. Making her 400m debut was Aoibhe Martyn and while she finished out of the medals, will have gained a lot from the experience. Scott Cogan contested the u/17 boys 400m where he showed great promise over the one lap distance to finish 4th, just out of the medals. No luck for Cian Hyland in the u/18 boys 400m despite a strong performance in his heat but he didn’t advance to the final. Better known as a middle-distance runner, Daniel Cummins dropped down to the u/14 boys 300m where he ran very well but finished out of the medals. John McManus was back on track for the u/15 boys 300m where he blasted from the blocks and led for the first 200m, only caught coming into the home straight, but he dug deep and had enough in the tank to hold on to second place and a fantastic silver medal.
We finished on the track with Daniel Horohoe and Morgan Isdell contesting the u/17 boys 2,000m steeplechase, a gruelling event that both have only taken up a few months ago but they excelled on the day with Daniel finished in 3rd place, his first individual Leinster podium finish, and Morgan close behind in 5th place.
On Sunday the club was represented with athletes competing in the long jump, triple jump, high jump, shot put, javelin, 200m, 800m, and 3,000m. Sunday was even warmer and sunnier from early morning, great for the sprinters and field event athletes, but very tough for the middle distance runners.
Daniel Cummins opened the action for Mullingar and looked very smooth in his heat of the u/14 boys 800m where he cruised to second place and qualified for the final later in the day where he made up a lot of ground over the last 200m making up several places to finish a very creditable 6th place. Chloe Bell battled hard in the u/15 girls 800m and after a close race she was unlucky to finish just out of the medal places in 5th, in a close finish. Finishing first and fourth in their heat of the u/15 boys 800m respectively for John McManus and Harry Flanagan meant they qualified for the later final. In the final, John was part of a two-man breakaway and reprised his pace from the 300m the day before to power to second place and win his second medal of the week-end, while Harry finished strong behind him but out of the medals. Oisin Clarke gave us plenty to cheer for when found himself in a two-way battle over the last 300m of his u/16 boys 800m battling all the way to the finish line to win silver for second place. Scott Cogan rounded off a third 800m silver for Mullingar when he raced himself to second in a tactical u/17 boys 800m.
Aoibhe Martyn was out sole representative in the longer sprints when she put in an excellent performance in the u/16 girls 200m but didn’t advance from the very tough heats. We only had one in the sprint hurdles too, Maisie Walsh in the u/12 girls 60m hurdles, where she gave a polished performance over the barriers to finish fourth in her heat, not enough to advance to the final but she was delighted to have competed in her first Leinster hurdles race.
It wasn’t all track of course, and over in the field events, Donnacha Doyle was disappointed to place 5th in the u/15 boys high jump on count-back but bounced back, literally, when he jumped to second place with a great series of jumps in the u/15 boys triple jump. Alice Hyland booked her places in the National finals with two excellent 4th place finishes, 4th in the u/15 girls javelin and 4th in the u/15 girls shot put. Injury forced Chloe Bell to withdraw from the u/15 girls long jump after just two jumps but she had still jumped far enough to place 4th, missing a medal only on count-back. Also competing in the field events but finishing out of the medal places was Clodagh Doran (u/16 girls shot put), Sophie Doran (u/12 girls long jump & turbo javelin), Aoibhe Martyn (u/16 girls long jump), Saoirse Peters (u/14 girls javelin & shot put) and Eanin Staunton (u/12 girls long jump), but all delighted with the experience of competing in a Leinster Championship.
The track programme ended with the 3,000m where Mullingar athletes were to the fore in every race they ran in, excelling despite the very warm conditions. Lily Walsh took on the u/16 girls 3,000m in familiar fashion and led the race from the gun. Eventually dropping all opponents, Lily solo-ran her way home to a second Leinster title of the weekend, with a second Leinster Championship Record, finishing in 10:15.07. Competing in his third race of the weekend, Oisin Clarke secured his second silver medal of the day in the u/16 boys 3,000m. Evan Nohilly and Cormac McGrath put in spirited performances in the u/17 boys 3,000m but had to settle for places out of the medals. Eleanor Kiernan had her second podium finish of the weekend in the u/18 girls 3,000m. Always in contention for medals and pushing hard over the final lap, she consolidated her third place and was delighted to win her second bronze medal of the weekend. In the last race of the day for Mullingar Harriers Conor Walsh rounded off a very successful weekend for the club on a high note. After a steady, championship style race in the u/18 boys 3,000m, the first three athletes were so close in the final 300m that the lead changed hands four or five times as they sprinted all-out to the finish line. Although Conor managed to take the lead with 80m to go, he was ultimately out-sprinted into third place, missing second by just 0.7 of a second. Disappointing for Conor, who came within touching distance of a Leinster title, but a podium finish to complete a fine weekend which saw quite a few Mullingar Harriers with top four finishes, and qualifying for the National T&F finals [CW/GD].
