National Juvenile Indoors 2026 – Day 3 (11th Apr)
The final day of this season’s indoors, Day 3 of the National Juvenile Indoors, took place on Saturday 11th April in TUS Athlone where the focus for Mullingar was the 1,500m on the track and the triple jump in the field events.
After a wet and muddy cross country season that stretched from September to March and included two appearances in an Irish singlet, Lily Walsh was happy to focus on her favourite distance of 1,500m, racing in a dry, sheltered TUS Indoor Arena. Amazingly, there were five other Irish International athletes toeing the start line of the u/16 girls 1,500m, ensuring a very competitive race lay ahead. From the gun Lily ran straight to the front of the field and set into a quick tempo. Her fast pace had the rest of the girls strung out in single file very early into the race. Holding her nerve, Lily held the lead from gun to tape, eventually gapping any competitors who had managed to stay close with a fast kick into the last lap. After a confident, brave run, Lily was delighted to win her third National 1,500m title, adding to victories over the same distance at u/14 and u/15 outdoors.
Oisin Clarke was a little more familiar with the indoor 200m track having raced the National 800m just two weeks previously, and it was his 800m speed that helped him win his first National individual medal. Following the early leaders closely in the u/16 boys 1,500m Oisin adapted a tactical, Championship approach. Covering all the moves throughout the race, he waited patiently until one lap to go when he surged to take the lead. A furious last lap ensued, with Oisin very unlucky to be outsprinted and passed with just 60m to go. A strong, wise effort ensured Oisin secured his first visit to a National podium, with a well-deserved second place finish and a National silver medal.
Daniel Horohoe was in the busiest of all the 1,500m competitions where twenty five entries in the u/17 boys 1,500m required two races with the fastest times over the two races to decide the medals. Racing in what unfolded to be the fastest of both races, Daniel set off with the leaders at a quick tempo. The fast pace was a little too much on this occasion but Daniel ran a strong 1,500m to finish tenth in his race.
For Eleanor Kiernen, despite running not far off her time in the Leinsters, she had to settle for a place out of the medals in the u/18 girls 1,500m. Conor Walsh’s indoor season was hampered by illness during the early weeks but, with one eye on preparation for the upcoming outdoor season, he committed himself to the u/18 boys 1,500m. Two time trial races were needed to decide the medals and Conor found himself in the faster of the two. The race set off at a very tough pace in the early stages. It wasn’t long before gaps started to open, and when the leaders broke clear, Conor was in a fight for the minor placings. After putting up a good battle he eventually finished ninth, and just outside the top ten after the results of both races were amalgamated. We finished with the u/19 boys 1,500m where Matthew Molloy ran an excellent race, finishing strong on the last lap to cross the line in a very creditable seventh place.
Donnacha Doyle has performed well in both the high jump and long jump in recent seasons but was concluding his first season of triple jump in the u/15 boys triple jump. Being new to the event didn’t seem to bother him and all the hard work in training over the two months since he won bronze in Leinster definitely paid off as he hopped, skipped and jumped nearly half a metre further to finish just out of the medals in fourth place, a very impressive result in a new event for Donnacha [CW/GD].
