Midland Inter-County Juvenile T&F Match 2024 (17th May)

There aren’t many opportunities for our younger members to take part in competition but on Friday evening 17th May a huge squad of over 80 girls and boys from Mullingar Harriers AC aged 8 to 13 years competed at the Midland Inter-County Juvenile T&F Match between Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford in Tullamore. The event drew a big entry of over 400 girls and boys from across the midland counties and while it was overcast, it was mild and it stayed dry for the entire event, which is always a bonus. For most of the Mullingar squad, this was their first time to compete in Tullamore, where we hope many will return in June to compete in the Leinster Juvenile T&F.

This is always a very popular event and we were delighted to see so many compete for Mullingar, in fact in some events, we had 8 or 9, so maroon and white was very prominent throughout the evening. The young Mullingar athletes certainly enjoyed it and gave great accounts with lots of them visiting the medal podium during the evening, some more than once, winning a total of 24 medals between them. This was a small step up from the event we held at our own track in April that was confined to our own members, but the emphasis was still very much on fun and participation and just having a go at different events such as sprint, middle distance, shot put and javelin, though the standard of competition was very high. Thanks to the Offaly County Board and to Tullamore Harriers AC for organising and hosting the event, and to the parents and coaches that attended to ensure our youngsters could take part and enjoy themselves.

Among the medal winners from Mullingar were Conor Kiernan (60m u/9), Mia Barry (60m and 300m u/9), Emily Rose Coyne (60m and 500m u/10), Clodagh Keane (80m u/13), Joel Kelly (100m u/14), Aoibhe Martyn (100m u/14), Mel Bohan (600m u/11), Lauryn Smith (600m u/11), Adam O’Donoghue (600m u/12), Chloe Bell (600m u/13), Antonio Bertolo (800m and shot u/14), Lily Walsh (800m u/14), Rian O’Donoghue (u/9 turbo javelin), Ryan Corroon (u/9 turbo javelin), Ella McManus (u/9 turbo javelin), Andrew Bradley (u/11 long jump), Chloe Bell (u/13 long jump), Aoibhe Martyn (u/14 long jump), Saoirse Peters (u/12 shot), Seth Walsh (u/14 shot), Alice Hyland (u/14 shot).

We hope it encourages everyone to compete in the Leinster T&F in Tullamore in early June [GD].