Week ending Saturday 23rd June
Magnificent medal haul at Leinster Juvenile T&F
The final Leinster Juvenile Championship of the season, the Leinster u/12 to u/19 T&F took place in Tullamore last Saturday and Sunday and, as expected, Mullingar athletes were to the fore across a wide variety of events. The weather was generally overcast but quite warm on both days, but a strong gusting side wind made it difficult for the middle distance athletes in particular.
First into action on Saturday were the sprint hurdlers and Aideen Langtry ran well in the u/12 girls 60m hurdles but didn’t advance from her heat. Shane Ormsby qualified comfortably from his heat of the u/14 boys 75m hurdles but finished out of the medal places in the final. Shane returned to competition later in the morning and finished second in the u/14 shot to win the Leinster silver medal. Over at the girls u/17 long jump, Shauna Leydon struggled with her check mark and had to settle for a place out of the medals on this occasion but vowed to make amends in the triple jump the next day.
Mullingar has established quite a reputation in race walking, thanks to the excellent coaching work put in by Michael Lane. Andrew Glennon cruised to victory in the boys 2,000m u/14 walk, Jayne Walsh Smith was very pleased to win the silver medal in the girls 2,000m u/16 walk, and Matthew Glennon won gold in the boys 3,000m u/16 walk. It was silver for Jennifer Fidgeon in a very competitive 3,000m u/17 walk where she finished in a new personal best time of 15:23.32. Finally, Oisin Lane absolutely dominated the boys 3,000m u/17 walk to win with ease and his win meant that all the Mullingar walkers won medals in this very technical event.
Moving to the sprints, it was great to see Rachel Cornally win a medal in her last juvenile track race when she won the girls 400m u/19. Rachel moves to the Junior ranks next season. We had three in the girls 100m u/18 where Awa Fane won her heat and advanced to the final, Eve Wallace finished second in her heat to also advance to the final, but unfortunately, Whitney Imafidon didn’t progress to the final but ran well in her heat. It was still great to see two Mullingar athletes in the 100m final where Awa Fane closed down hard on the early leader but the line came just a little too soon and Awa finished second, just six hundredths of a second away from victory. With Eve Wallace finishing very strongly in an excellent fifth place, she continues to make huge progress in the sprints.
Leading the girls 800m u/17 out at a very fast pace, Caoimhe O’Brien controlled the race from the gun and with a polished performance and despite a late challenge she had enough in reserve to win comfortably. In the corresponding boys 800m u/17, Eoin Quinn kept with the leading group and with 200m to go quickly moved from fourth place to take the lead into the home straight and holding his form and showing great strength, pace and determination he crossed the line to win the Leinster title.
The final series of races with a Mullingar interest were the 1,500m. Aisling Lane battled well in the girls 1,500m u/14 but finished out of the medal places. Ross Killalea put in a very strong performance in the boys 1,500m u/14 and really deserved to win a medal but finished in fifth, just out of the medal places, in a very competitive race. Phoebe Bate and Amy Geoghegan contested the girls 1,500m u/15 where after an excellent race they both finished very strongly. Phoebe finished fourth, out of the medals, but an automatic qualification for the All-Ireland finals, though at the expense of a place for Amy whom she edged into fifth place right before the line. A bittersweet result for Phoebe. In the boys 1,500m u/16, Colin Smith and Lorcan Mullen were always in contention for medals but had to work very hard on the final lap to hang on and it was Colin who found the extra bit of pace to move into fourth place, with Lorcan finishing close behind in sixth. Just as it looked like Bea Drummond would take nothing from the girls 1,500m u/16 despite running so well, she dug deep with 200m to go and successfully holding off a challenge she finished in fourth place to book her place in the All-Ireland finals.
On Sunday morning, Shauna Leydon bounced right back from a disappointing long jump the previous day by winning the girls u/17 triple jump with a new personal best of 10.45m. Later in the day, she competed in the girls u/17 discus where she finished third to add to her medal tally. Another field event athlete in great form was Criostoir Ormsby who showed why he is the current indoor All-Ireland Champion by winning the boys u/12 long jump on his last jump with 4.62m, just 3 centimetres off the Championship Record. Alanna Costello competed in the girls u/15 long jump but we could not make it four out of four in the field events as Alanna finished out of the medal places.
On the track, Eve Farrell competed well in her heat of the girls 800m u/14 but did not advance to the final. There was a straight final in the boys 800m u/14 where Ross Killalea competed bravely but had to settle for a place out of the medals, but top marks for effort. In the girls 800m u/15 Amy Geoghegan and Phoebe Bate advanced from the heats but only Amy toed the line for the final, as Phoebe was feeling unwell. The final was run at a furious pace right from the start and Amy was well up in the leading group at the bell but had to settle for a place out of the medals at the finish on this occasion but will have learned much from the experience.
Moving to the sprints, Alanna Costello was unlucky not to advance from her heat of the girls 100m u/15. There was no problem for Awa Fane or Eve Wallace who qualified comfortably from the heats of the girls 200m u/18. In the later final it was all about Awa who simply dominated from the gun to win with ease, and Eve ran brilliantly to finish in sixth place, delighted to be have competed in her second sprint final of the week-end.
Mullingar’s reputation in middle-distance is well founded and reinforced by an excellent performance by Eoin Quinn in the boys 1,500m u/17 where he reprised his great sprint finish of the previous day, closing down hard on the leader, but just couldn’t close the gap and Eoin crossed the line in a close second place. Aoife Darby was equally impressive in the girls 1,500m u/18 and was rewarded with a silver medal. Bea Drummond looked very much in control throughout the girls 3,000m u/16 and with 200m to go simply upped the pace to pull clear and went on to win comfortably. In the boys 3,000m u/16 Colin Smith and Lorcan Mullen kept in close contact with the leading group and looked full of running. Moving down the back straight for the final time when the pace began to increase, Colin had the edge on Lorcan and with a great sprint finish took himself into second place, holding it to the finish, followed closely by Lorcan who finished strongly but just out of the medals in fourth place.
After two days of great competition, our juvenile athletes took home 18 medals – 10 gold, 7 silver and 1 bronze – and we had another four athletes finish in fourth place meaning a very big number have qualified for the All-Ireland finals in July. Medals and qualifications for All-Irelands aside, the commitment and dedication shown by all our underage athletes whether they won medals or not was commendable. For some it was about progression in the sport, for others it was about reaching finals and running personal bests. Those that have qualified for the All-Ireland finals in July need to keep training hard between now and then, but those that have not qualified should consider the AAI “B” T&F on 7th July.
Braveheart 5k
Thanks to the friendly atmosphere and excellent post-race hospitality combined with great organisation by Trim AC, the ever-popular “Braveheart” 5k last Friday evening attracted a big entry of over 700 participants who ran the part-grass, part-path route around the Porchfields in Trim. The race route took the runners along the banks of the River Boyne among one of the finest collections of medieval monuments in Ireland, most notably Trim Castle and the iconic Yellow Steeple. A small number from Mullingar Harriers took part this year, led home by John Whitelaw ninth overall in 16:49, first junior man, followed by Ian McCormack (17:30), Sinead Whitelaw (18:21) fourth woman, Kieran Nolan (18:23) third in his master category and PJ Ballesty. Well done to them all.
British Masters 5k Road Race Championship
Having his first race since he picked up an injury at the European Masters Non-Stadia in Spain in May, Sean McMullin maintained his unbroken record of competing in every BMAF 5km Road Race Championship since the event was first held eleven years ago at Horwich, near Bolton, when he competed last Sunday in the 5k road walk. Sean has some way to go to full recovery but is recovering well and was therefore very happy to take silver in his master category. As an indication of the class of the opposition, the winner set a new World best, so Sean was mixing it with the very best. Congratulations to Sean on his success.
Leinster Masters corrections
The results of the Leinster Masters T&F back on 3rd June have been revised by Athletics Leinster and show that in addition to individual medal winning performances by Gerry Gavin (5,000m silver) and Pauric Brady (1,500m bronze), Paddy Kelly has been promoted from fifth in the 800m to silver in the masters 800m and Tom Walsh won gold in the masters weight for distance and bronze in the masters discus. Congratulations to Paddy and Tom and we’re delighted to note the corrections.
For the latest results, news and details of all upcoming fixtures check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com.
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