Leinster u/14 to u/19 T&F 2019 (15th/16th June)
Magnificent medal haul at Leinster Juvenile T&F
The final Leinster Juvenile Championship of the season, the Leinster u/14 to u/19 T&F, including the remaining few u/12 and u/13 events, took place in Tullamore on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th June and, as expected, Mullingar athletes were to the fore across a wide variety of events. The weather was generally overcast though the sun did break through now and then but the wind kept temperatures down a bit, despite the sun.
On Saturday morning, Eoin Donohue can be proud of his fine race in the u/12 boys 60m hurdles where he finished a very creditable 5th place in a close race. James Flynn finished third in his heat of the u/13 boys 60m hurdles to qualify for the final and in the final really improved and ran over half a second quicker to place third and was delighted to win the bronze medal. Later in the day, James also competed in the u/13 boys long jump where he finished fifth, a very good placing in a Leinster Championship. Shauna Leydon had a straight final in the u/18 girls 100m hurdles where she competed well but finished just out of the medals in 4th place. Shauna had a busy day, competing in the u/18 girls long jump where she finished out of the medals in a very tight contest, but finally got in the medals in the u/18 girls shot putt where she left her best to the last round to finish in third place and win a bronze medal.
Mullingar has a well earned reputation in race walking, thanks to the excellent coaching work put in by Michael Lane and it was really no surprise that all five of the Mullingar race walkers won gold. Aisling Lane continues to show significant improvement and easily won the u/15 girls 2,000m walk in a new Championship Best Performance of 10:25.26, beating the record that stood for 8 years, Andrew Glennon took gold in the u/15 boys 2,000m walk, Matthew Glennon won gold in the u/17 boys 3,000m walk, Oisin Lane simply dominated the u/18 boys 3,000m walk to win with ease in 22:28.82, a new Championship Best Performance and bettering the previous record that stood for 22 years, and finally Sarah Glennon won the u/19 girls 3,000m walk. Our race walk squad continues to set the bench mark in race walking excellence.
Brian Martin ran strongly from the gun in the u/19 boys 400m and led into the home straight but was caught and passed and just when it looked like he would hold on to second place, disaster struck and he tripped and fell just before the line, but got up quickly and still finished third to win the bronze medal. Later in the day, Brian competed in the u/19 boys 800m but was still feeling the effects of the 400m in his legs and he had to settle for fourth place, though he was still happy with his performance. Colin Smith just had the better of Lorcan Mullen in the u/17 boys 3,000m where both kept right in contention throughout and in a close finish Colin took third, just ahead of Lorcan in fourth.
Moving to the sprints, there were four heats of the u/14 girls 200m, so qualification for the final was extremely difficult and Emma Higgins was unlucky not to advance from her heat despite a good effort. Likewise, Callum Costello didn’t advance from his heat of the u/14 boys 200m though he only missed qualification by one place. Charles Okafor won his heat of the u/17 boys 100m and Eta Oviahon finished third in his heat to give Mullingar two men in the final, where Charles impressed with a clear victory, but Eta had to settle for a place out of the medals. It was good to see two Mullingar women sprinters in the u/19 girls 100m where Awa Fane took silver and Eve Wallace finished just out of the medals in fourth place. Odhran Mulvihill competed well in the final of the u/19 boys 100m but finished out of the medals.
In the u/18 boys 800m Eoin Quinn used his trademark sprint finish to move effortlessly to the front on the final bend, going on to win by a comfortable margin, while Ruairi Fagan also ran well behind him but finished out of the medals. Aoife Darby battled hard in the u/19 girls 800m but finished in fifth, out of the medal places. Aimee Wallace showed great tactical awareness in the u/14 girls 1,500m to finish strongly in third place, ensuring automatic qualification for the All-Ireland finals in July but with the minimum of effort and keeping something in reserve for the 800m on Sunday. Mullingar had three boys in the u/14 boys 1,500m where Philip McCartan stamped his authority on the race when it mattered and recorded a fine win, ahead of Callum Costello finishing strongly in fourth and Conor Sherwin also finishing strongly but just out of the medal places too. Diarmuid Fagan put in a great shift in the u/15 boys 1,500m where he tracked the leader all the way only to lose out on the final sprint to the finish to place second, followed home by Andrew Glennon and Conleth Mullen who also ran well. Going into the last lap of the u/16 girls 1,500m it looked like the medal places were sorted and Phoebe Bate would take bronze, but with a phenomenal turn of pace coming into the home straight she closed right down and snatched silver in a very close finish, with Aoife McGouran also competing but finishing out of the medals.
On Sunday morning, Aimee Wallace eased comfortably through her heat of the u/14 girls 800m but Lucy Donnelly was unlucky to miss out by just one place. The final later in the day with a real humdinger of a race where Aimee was right on the shoulder of the leader through the bell and only at the top of the final bend did the leader begin to put some daylight between them but Aimee kept the pressure on and pushed the eventual winner to a new Championship Record, with Aimee finishing in second place. The corresponding u/14 boys 800m was a straight final and Callum Costello simply had too much pace and pulled clear when it mattered to win, with Daire McDonald also competing well behind him but finishing out of the medals. The u/15 boys 800m was also a straight finial where Ross Killalea was always in contention but had to settle for a place out of the medals in seventh, though the gap to third place was really very close.
Moving to the u/17 boys 1,500m Colin Smith and Lorcan Mullen really worked hard and kept with the leading group until the final stages where the race came down to a furious sprint, Colin crossing the finish line in fourth place and Lorcan close behind in sixth place. Eoin Quinn was looking to double up on his 800m gold but in the u/18 boys 1,500m despite a really fast finish he had to settle for second place in a close finish, but was still satisfied with his effort. Amy Geoghegan was also satisfied to take bronze with a fine run in the u/16 girls 3,000m and can look forward to the All-Ireland finals in July. Regarded as one of the toughest track events, Ruairi Fagan worked hard in the u/18 boys 3,000m steeplechase and safely negotiated the three foot wooden barriers including water jump to finish in fourth place, just out of the medal places.
Over in the field events, Shauna Leydon struggled a bit with a niggling ankle injury in the u/18 girls triple jump but was still good enough to win the silver medal. Shannon Liston put together a good series of efforts in the u/16 girls shot putt but finished out of the medals in sixth place.
Making up for the disappointment of not reaching the 200m final the day before, Emma Higgins qualified from the very competitive heats of the u/14 girls 80m and ran a fine race in the final, finishing out of the medals but can take great satisfaction from reaching a Leinster sprint final. Fourth in her heat of the u/16 girls 100m wasn’t quite enough for Aoife O’Connor to advance to the final, missing out by just one place, but she ran a great race and it wasn’t for the want of effort. Charles Okafor easily won his heat of the u/17 boys 200m heats and though Eta Oviahon finished third in his heat he was unlucky not to advance to the final, missing out by just one place. The result of the final was always a foregone conclusion and Charles powered to victory in 22.19 seconds, which would have been a Championship Record except it was wind-assisted. Unfortunately Awa Fane got injured warming up for the u/19 girls 200m and was unable to run but Eve Wallace ran a terrific bend to put herself in a great position and powered down the home straight to finish just out of the medals in fourth place, but was still delighted with her effort.
We finished the week-end with 10 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze medals, and 8 more finishing in fourth place, which are excellent results and means that Mullingar will be very well represented at the All-Ireland finals in July.
