Week ending Saturday 27th July
Golden International Debut for John Glennon
The prestigious SIAB Schools T&F International rotates around the four competing Nations of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales and this year it was the turn of Wales to host the event. Among the strong Irish team in action at the Carmarthen Leisure Centre, Wales last Saturday was John Glennon making his International debut, competing in the 3,000m race walk. As if making his debut wasn’t memorable enough, John added to the occasion when after a polished display, he raced to victory in 13 minutes 52.98 seconds, which is very good considering the wet and miserable conditions during his race, to win gold, making it a truly memorable golden debut.
John’s older siblings, sisters Edel, Rachel and Sarah and brothers Matthew and Andrew also made their debuts in the race walk at SIAB Schools T&F Internationals too, so John is the sixth Glennon to represent Ireland in International competition in the same event, which is an extraordinary record of success from one family in Mullingar Harriers.
Now that John has competed for Ireland, his name will be added to the Roll of Honour in the Clubhouse, bringing the total so far up to 126 since the Club was founded in 1975. Congratulations from everyone at the Club [GD].
Plenty of medals won at National Juvenile Relays & “B” T&F
The National Juvenile Relays and National “B” T&F Finals were held together in Tullamore last Saturday. It was warm but despite long periods of drizzle on and off during the day, with the occasional downpour, there was no dampening the spirits of what was the biggest entry ever from Mullingar, a total of 21 athletes, who competed brilliantly across a range of events, winning two relays, but special mention to our field event athletes who won three medals, not something we often see for Mullingar.
The u/13 girls 4x100m team of Katie Bohan, Lily McDonald, Penny Bohan and Clodagh Keane combined well as a unit and gave a spirited effort in their heat but it wasn’t enough to advance to the final. In the u/18 boys 4 x 400m, Kyle Faherty stormed from the blocks, quickly breaking down the stagger on the teams outside him and after a terrific lead leg, handed over well clear to Luke O’Leary who charged around the track to increase the lead even further to hand over to Jamie Wallace. Better known as a middle-distance runner, Jamie was up against a strong seasoned 400m runner who closed the lead down but Jamie never let up and wouldn’t surrender the lead, handing the baton over to Conor Liston in the lead for the final leg, which he executed brilliantly, pulling comfortably clear to bring the team home in first place in 3 minutes 29.52 seconds, just a little over a second outside the Championship Record. Not content with their u/18 victory, the same quartet returned in the afternoon to contest the u/19 boys 4 x 400m. Competing against older opposition, the team had to work hard on tired legs but another strong start by Kyle, followed by an astonishing second leg by Luke that swept Mullingar into the lead, and with Jamie and Conor leaving nothing behind and holding their place, the team was victorious again, winning in 3:33.50 to secure their second set of All-Ireland gold relay medals.
In the “B” T&F, a number of young Mullingar athletes contested the very competitive sprint heats. Cillian Gavin and Cillian Martyn (u/12 boys 60m), Liadan Gavin and Clodagh Keane (u/13 girls 80m) where both finished strongly in fourth place in their respective heats, Aoibhe Martyn (u/14 girls 80m) who just missed a place in the final by a mere three hundredths of a second, Chloe Duggan (u/15 girls 100m) and Cian Hyland (u/16 boys 100m).
Moving to the middle-distance races, Katie Bohan and Penny Bohan competed well in the u/12 girls 600m but finished out of the medals. No luck either for Conor Gavin in the u/12 boys 600m despite a strong fifth place finish in his heat. We had four girls competing in the u/13 girls 600m, with the medals decided on the fastest times over the three races. Chloe Bell finished second in her race, fourth place overall, Amelie Kelly was third in her race, fifth overall, and Clodagh Keane and Mina Sheridan also ran very well in their races. Daniel Horohoe put in a good performance and though he finished out of the medals, he finished strongly in the u/15 boys 800m.
No medals on the track, but our field event athletes were in sparkling form. Despite two fouls in the u/14 boys shot, Seth Walsh held his nerve and launched the shot out to 9.00m on his third and final attempt to win by a significant margin and secure the gold medal. It was gold too for Chloe Bell in the u/13 girls long jump, leaping to 4.10m in her final jump to move from fourth to first. Mina Sheridan also competed in the u/13 long jump and was delighted to be competing in a National event. Donnacha Doyle was in great form in the u/13 boys high jump and all his hard work in training paid off as he leaped to a terrific bronze medal. Cian Hyland put together an excellent series of jumps in the u/16 boys long jump to finish an excellent fifth place, not far off the medal places [GD].
Mullingar adds to its haul of National Juvenile medals
Day two of the National Juvenile T&F took place in Tullamore last Sunday. First into action was Daniel Glennon in the u/16 boys 3,000m walk where after a great battle with the long-time leader, Daniel had to settle for second place by a narrow margin. Despite arriving home from the SIAB Schools T&F International in Wales in the early hours of the morning John Glennon was still more than up to task of tackling the u/18 boys 5,000m walk, taking the victory and another National title.
The heats of the u/17 boys 100m were so competitive that each was won in a time that was better than the Championship Best Performance. Despite that, Finn Roddy put in a very good effort in his heat and despite not advancing to the final can be satisfied that he was competitive throughout.
Suffering with a head cold, Conor Walsh struggled a bit mid-race of the u/15 boys 3,000m but rallied for a good finish, though out of the medal places in a tough race. Matthew Molloy worked hard throughout a fast u/17 boys 3,000m and though he finished out of the medal places in a very creditable eighth place, he can be very satisfied with running a new personal best of 9:21.25. It was great to see two Mullingar girls in the u/19 girls 3,000m. Grace Byrne and Jessica Cunningham kept in the mix but a mid-race surge saw Grace pull away with the leading group of three but Jessica continued to work hard. Grace was in second place at the bell but over a fast final lap she was passed but had enough in reserve to finish in third place in 10:13.71, a new personal best by 7 seconds. Jessica has lost a bit of time recently due to shin splints but finished strongly in a very good seventh place. We finished with the u/19 boys 3,000m where Conor Sherwin and Pablo Lozano competed strongly, with Conor leading and controlling the race for much of it. A furious burn-up over the final 600m quickly split the pack and despite every effort, Conor just couldn’t get among the medals, finishing in fifth place in 8:54.33, a new personal best and his first time under 10 minutes, while Pablo finished further back in a fast race [GD].
National 10 Mile individual and team success
The final instalment of the 2024 Athletics Ireland Race Series, the National 10 mile, took place last Sunday morning in ideal dry and calm conditions in the Phoenix Park. Seven master athletes represented Mullingar Harriers and made their way to the starting line alongside nearly 1,800 other competitors. 10 miles of racing in the Phoenix Park on a winding course with plenty of testing rolling hills as well as some flat straights can be very challenging but Eddie Newman raced with determination and had the honour of leading the Mullingar squad home in 61 minutes 33 seconds, safely securing the National silver medal for his master category. Mary Stuart was next to finish, leading the women team in 68 minutes 46 seconds, and was awarded the gold medal and National title in her master category. Criona Reid, capitalising on her current excellent form, recorded a time of 69:44 and was thrilled to take the bronze medal in her master category. Also running steady were Patrick Muldoon (70:50), Liam McGlynn (74:31), Linda Cunningham (77:24), delighted to record a personal best for the distance, and Caroline Mullen (80:13) completed the Mullingar group. The master women team of Mary, Criona and Linda took the bronze medals for third Club in the o/35 team event, completing the fantastic results for Mullingar in the race series for 2024 [LC].
Westmeath Road Championships
This coming Sunday is race day for the Westmeath Road Championships, which will be run over 8k starting and finishing on the shore of Lough Ennell at Ladestown. Entry is €5 and will be taken on the morning of the race. While evert adult member of the Club is encouraged to compete, if you can’t we’d appreciate your help with stewarding etc.
Sympathy
Finally, the Executive and members of Mullingar Harriers wish to extend sincere sympathy to Seamus Breslin and the Breslin family on the recent death of his mother, Evelyn. Seamus was a valued member of the Club in times past. May she rest in peace.
Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.
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