Medals galore at Leinster Juvenile T&F

Despite having to contend with extremely changeable weather over both days of the Leinster Juvenile T&F in Tullamore last Saturday and Sunday, the Mullingar athletes rose to the occasion and excelled themselves, finishing the long weekend of competition with an impressive total of 10 medals, and two more of our athletes finished just out of the medals in fourth place, so Mullingar will be well represented at the National finals in July.

It might have been mild but it was wet and miserable first thing on Saturday morning but that didn’t deter our race walkers who simply dominated their events, winning four medals from four races, reinforcing Mullingar’s formidable reputation in race walking.

It was well deserved victories for John Glennon (u/17 boys 3,000m walk), Aisling Lane (u/19 girls 3,000m walk), Matthew Glennon (u/19 boys 5,000m walk) in a new Championship Record of 22:34.42, bettering the previous set in 1998 by nearly 14 seconds, and Daniel Glennon (u/15 boys 2,000m walk).

Thankfully, the rain stopped in time for the sprints and the sun began to come out. Mullingar was well represented by Sean Higgins, Hakeem Yonta and Ciaran Mulvany who contested the 80m u/14, Aaron Conroy the 100m u/15 and Parnod Bose the 100m u/18, all competing well but not advancing from the very competitive heats.

Finn Roddy won his heat of the 100m u/16 with ease to advance to the final where he simply blasted from the blocks with his customary fast start and powered to the finish to win the silver medal and add to Mullingar’s growing medal tally. Aaron Conroy was back in action later in the day for the long jump u/15 but finished out of the medal places.

Moving to the 1,500m races, it was great to see Scott Cogan simply cruise to victory in the 1,500m u/14, winning by a good margin and able to ease off at the finish and enjoy crossing the line to win the Leinster title. Also competing well in the race were Hakeem Yonta and Cormac McGrath.

Conor Walsh made up a lot of ground in the closing stages of the 1,500m u/15, moving rapidly through the field on the home straight going quickly from seventh to fifth and closing down rapidly on fourth place but unfortunately the line came to soon and he finished in fifth place.

Conor Mulvany contested the 1,500m u/16 but finished out of the medals. We were back in the medals in the 1,500m u/18 where Conor Sherwin put in a great performance, finishing strongly to win the gold medal. We finished with the 1,500m u/19 where Ross Killalea ran a fine race to finish second and win the silver medal.

Chloe Duggan raced in the 300m u/14 finishing second in her race but the event was a series of time trials and Chloe's time was just hundredths of a second outside the medals in fourth place. Hakeem Yonta raced for the third time on the same day where he finished fifth in the 300m u/14.

Mullingar interest on the day finished with the 2,000m steeplechase u/17 where Ailbhe O’Farrell had to endure very wet and miserable conditions as the rain returned with a vengeance, but she stuck to her task and was rewarded with the silver medal in a close finish.

It was raining again on Sunday morning when Chloe Duggan ran a brilliant heat of the 800m u/14 to finish fifth in a new personal best time to advance to the final. Lisa O’Brien competed well in her heat but didn’t qualify to join Chloe in the final. Txema Lozano contested the 800m u/16 but didn’t advance to the final later in the day.

By the time the programme came to the 200m sprints, the weather had changed dramatically and it was very hot and sunny, ideal for sprinters. However, there was no medal joy for Mullingar. Daniel Horohoe and Morgan Isdell took on the 200m u/14 but didn’t advance to the final, likewise for Barry Walsh in the 200m u/17, but Finn Roddy came very close in the 200m u/16 where he finished fourth, missing a place in the final by mere hundredths of a second.

Daniel Horohoe and Morgan Isdell rounded off their day in the 75m hurdles u/14, which was a straight final, where Daniel placed fourth to secure a place in the National final but Morgan Isdell finished out of the medal places.

In between her heat and final of the 800m, Chloe Duggan competed in the u/14 long jump but despite jumping a personal best, finished out of the medal places. By late afternoon it was very hot and sunny, tough conditions for distance running but that’s what faced Ross Killalea in the 3,000m u/19 but he’s made of stern stuff and put in a fine performance to finish second and win a silver medal.

Chloe Duggan finished the day with her final of the 800m u/14, digging deep in the tough hot conditions and despite running nearly as quick as in her heat and a very strong finish, had to settle for a place out of the medals.

International Selection for Aimee Wallace

Congratulations to Aimee Wallace who will make her International debut when she competes over 1,500m at the Junioren International Gala in Mannheim, Germany this coming Saturday. Athletes from 24 countries will participate in this under 20 International, with a strong European representation plus participants from other nations such as Australia and Qatar.

Aimee has had a superb breakthrough season this year, running a personal best of 4 mins 26.18 seconds for 1,500m and is Ireland's fastest u/18 and u/20 athlete. Representing Ireland for the first time is a huge milestone for any athlete and is well deserved for Aimee, who looks to have a very bright future as an international athlete.

Athletics Leinster honours Oisín Lane and Grace Byrne

Congratulations to Oisín Lane and Grace Byrne on receiving Athletics Leinster Star Awards for 2022, which were presented during breaks in the programme at the Leinster Juvenile T&F in Tullamore last Saturday and Sunday. Oisín earned an award for Outstanding Performance in Race Walking in 2022, which was accepted on his behalf on Saturday by his sister, Aisling. On Sunday, Grace was presented with the Star Award for Best Juvenile Girl in Westmeath, based on her performances in Leinster Championships in 2022 when she won the gold medal in the 1,500m outdoors and the silver in the 800m indoors.

British Masters 5km Road Race Walk Championship

The BMAF 5km road race walk Championship took place last Sunday in Horwich, near Bolton. Maintaining his medal winning record in the event, Sean McMullin finished second in his master category and he was also delighted to be presented with a special 20th anniversary medal as the only walker to have completed every Championships race since the inception of the race. Congratulations to Sean.

Dunshaughlin 10k

Last Saturday evening was a stormy evening for a road race, with threatening grey clouds, swirling wind and hints of thunder in the air. However, this atmosphere did little to dampen the enthusiasm of over 900 athletes who arrived to run in the very popular “Michael Manning Memorial” Dunshaughlin 10k.

A large squad of twenty four Mullingar Harriers athletes competed in the race and they were led home by Andrew Nevin finishing twentieth in a fast 32 minutes 53 seconds. James Keegan was next home (33:18), followed by Kris Foster (34:37) and Alan Crowley (34.41) and this men’s quartet finished a very creditable fourth team in a competitive men team event. There were strong performances put by many more Mullingar athletes, with Johnny Morrissy finishing strongly (35:19), Tony Doran (35:53), Eddie Newman (36:02) first in his master category, Eoin Clarke (36:05), Kedagh Geoghegan (36:12) and Andy Boyhan (36:22).

The Mullingar women were led home by Sinead Whitelaw who placed sixteenth in 37 minutes 28 seconds. She was followed by Susan Glennon (38:50) and Joan Flynn (40:26) with the trio finishing a strong fifth team in a closely contested women race.

Other Mullingar athletes finished strongly with James Cribbin coming home in 37:29, Kieran Nolan (37:48), Enda Seery (38:09), Jenny Algar (41:25), Jacintha Reilly (41:55), Darren Carroll (42:43), Michelle Bohan (42:47), Aeilish McGovern (44:28), Richie Kelly (44:40), Emer O’Hanlon (45:36) and Shaun Mills (47:15.).

This race was round five of the Peugeot Race series, which is a competition of mixed team of six athletes, three male and three female. The Mullingar team of Andrew, James, Kris, Sinead, Susan and Joan finished a fantastic third in the race and now currently lie in third place overall in this race series. The next race is a 10 mile road race in Roscommon in two weeks and many Harriers will now be looking towards that event and hopefully better weather conditions!

Athlone 10 mile

Starting and finishing in Clonown Village outside Athlone on the Roscommon side, the Athlone 10 mile race was run on a flat looping course around the County Roscommon Village last Saturday morning.

Conditions were overcast but very clammy, and with little breeze, conditions proved hot and humid throughput the race. Finishing first in her category, Mary Stuart was pleased with 71 minutes 24 seconds just two weeks after completing her most recent marathon. Nollaig McEntegart was very pleased with his first outing of 2023, recording a very lively 75:12.

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