Amended 23 June
CBP for Edel Glennon in u/16 walk
Aisling Moody awarded Bronze in 1,500m
Amended 20 June
Emma Jude Lyons 4th in Javelin
Discus Gold for Moya Leydon
Elizabeth Carr 4th in 200m
At the Leinster Juvenile T&F Championships for under 13 to 19 years in Tullamore on Saturday/Sunday 18th/19th June, our underage athletes re-wrote the Club records once again as they amassed an impressive tally of 8 gold, 10 silver and 11 bronze medals, and with a further 12 fourth place finishes, a record number of 33 athletes have qualified as of right for the AAI National Finals in July in 41 individual events.

Saturday
To say the weather on Saturday was rough would be an understatement! Dark clouds loomed ever near all day, occasionally drowning everyone in torrential downpours that stopped proceedings a few times during the day. The rain and the cold blustery wind made life difficult for athletes and spectators alike. Our race-walkers were first in action, when Rachel Glennon was an impressive winner of the 2,000m race-walk for girls u/14, with Lucy Langley finishing strongly in third. Faye Walsh was unlucky to finish just out of the medals in fourth place in the 2,000m race-walk for girls u/14, but as the first four qualify for the National Finals, she’ll get another chance in July. Edel Glennon made it look easy in the 2,000m race-walk for girls u/16 as she cruised to another Leinster title in a new Championship Best Performance of 10:20.00. Lorraine Daly is new to race-walking and in the 3,000m race-walk for girls u/17 was very pleased to finish third and secure a bronze medal in her first competitive outing in a new event.

While the walkers were in action, over in the shot putt circle Ciara Fogarty was competing really well and despite a slight shoulder injury she still threw close to her personal best to finish second. Niamh Fogarty put together an outstanding series of efforts in the u/13 shot putt that were just too good for the opposition and she deserved her gold medal. Moya Leydon was very competitive in the shot putt u/14 and was unlucky to finish 5th, only a fraction of fourth place and an automatic place in the National Finals. At the long jump pit, newcomer Cian Humphries put together a good series of attempts in the boys u/ 16 but finished out of the medal places. Newcomer Shannon Madden competed well in the u/13 long jump but finished out of the medals, and later ran well in the 60m hurdles but didn’t advance from the highly competitive heats. Likewise, Emma Jude Lyons didn’t advance from her heat of the 75m hurdles for u/14 but later in the day was delighted to finish third fourth in the javelin and book her place in the National Finals. Niall Brady was very unlucky to finish out of the medals in the 75m hurdles for u/14 but showed promise as a sprint hurdler. Maeve O’Reilly looked impressive in the u/15 long jump but unfortunately finished out of the medals.

On to the 3,000m where Thomas Lynn impressed with a second place finish in the u/17 event, and Anna Ryan was very pleased with her bronze Leinster medal in the girls u/18. Mullingar is starting to make a mark in the sprint events and it was great to see Elizabeth Carr and Lorraine Daly take to the line in the final of the 300m for u/17. Both girls are relative newcomers to the event but ran extremely well, Elizabeth finishing 4th, just ahead of Lorraine in a very respectable 6th in a Leinster final. Aine O’Reilly powered to a terrific silver medal in the 300m u/18. The 100m for girls u/18 wasn’t long after the 300m and Aine hadn’t fully recovered but still ran very well and was unlucky to finish out of the medals in 6th place. Better fortune for Tommy Gallagher in the 100m u/18 where he ran powerfully to third place and was very pleased to have qualified for the National Finals.

More success came in the 800m as Adam Daly ran strongly to win the 800m u/19, Stephen Nea took bronze in the 800m u/18 and Ian McCormack finished just out of the medals in fourth place in the 800m u/17, sp all three qualify for the National Finals. Lorraine Claffey ran well in the 800m u/17 but was unlucky to finish out of the medals in 5th place. We had a quite a few sprinters in the 200m. Luke Lenehan finished 3rd in his heat of the 200m u/14 but just missed out on qualification for the final. Mervyn Harris made no mistake, winning his heat of the 200m u/15 easily and later in the day was very unlucky in the final to finish 4th, just missing a medal by a very small margin. Lisa Cooke ran very well in her heat of the 200m u/15 where she finished 3rd but just missed qualifying for the final. Maeve O’Reilly qualified from her heat of the 200m u/15 and in final ran very well but was unlucky to finish out of the medals. Victoria Harris made it look easy winning her heat of the 200m u/16 and in the final was just edged into second place but was delighted with a new personal best time and a Leinster medal.

We had four on the start line for the boys 1,500m u/14 and after a thrilling race Cormac Dalton finished 2nd, just ahead of Patrick Shaw in 4th, Michael Moran in 5th and Declan Brady close behind. This is a very strong squad and with talent like this Mullingar’s future success in middle-distance is secure. Glen Gaffney picked up a slight leg injury recently and in the 1,500m u/15 when the final sprint for home came, Glen was unable to respond with his customary kick and had to settle for an unfamiliar minor placing out of the medals. Padraig Moran looked strong throughout the 1,500m u/16, and battled hard to finish 3rd, just ahead of Jack Reid in 4th, with Liam O’Reilly close behind. The girls 1,500m u/15 was a cracking race that came right down a terrific sprint finish on the home straight with Aisling Moody just narrowly beaten into 4th place in as blanket finish but she’ll have another chance in the National Finals (the Track Referee subsequently decided that Aisling had been impeded and 3rd and 4th places should be reversed, so Aisling was given 3rd). Linda Conroy has just finished exams, which always take their toll, but she still found enough strength in reserve to finish 3rd in the 1,500m u/16 with Lorna Moody also running well but finishing out of the medal places. Linda can now get back into training and prepare for the National Finals in July.

Sunday
Sunday was a much better day and though it was quite cool and a bit windy at times, at least the rain held off, which was fortunate for some of our young 600m and 800m athletes that had to run their heats in the morning and then wait all day until the end to run the finals. Alanna Bate qualified easily from her heat of the 600m u/13, as did Niamh Quinn in her heat. The final was run at a furious pace from the start but Niamh tucked in close to the front and Alanna running well not far back. It all came down to a furious sprint with about 200m to go and Niamh battled hard to take 3rd place and Alanna just outside the medal places in 5th. Patrick Shaw and Michael Moran qualified from their heat of the 800m u/14, as did Cormac Dalton and Luke Lenehan from their heat, but Declan Brady was unfortunate not to advance from his heat to the final. Michael and Cormac decided not to run the final, which proved a cracking race with Luke Lenehan right in the mix at the front and Patrick Shaw tracking the action closely. This race too came down to a final sprint to the line, where Patrick just got ahead of Luke to finish 5th, unfortunately outside the medals but both boys gave one hundred percent effort.

Linda Conroy struggled a little with the fast early pace of the 800m u/16 and though she worked hard just couldn’t find her best and finished outside the medal places in 5th. Eoin Sheridan injured himself slightly during the week, so was careful not to exert himself too much in the u/15 shot putt and did enough just to finish 3rd and ensure qualification for the National Finals. Jack Reid got us back on the gold trail again with a terrific piece of racing in the 800m u/16 to finish first, and Liam O’Reilly also running his best race this year so far to finish 3rd.

In the girls 1,500m u/17, Lorraine Claffey battled gamely but finished in 4th place, just missing a Leinster medal. Anna Ryan also finished out of the medal places in the 1,500m u/18 despite a good solid run. Thomas Lynn took the early lead in the 1,500m u/17 and despite a few challenges kept powering on and was only passed on the home straight to finish 2nd after a great race that had the crowd buzzing with excitement. Adam Daly also ran an aggressive race in the 1,500m u/19 and was rewarded with a silver medal at the finish. James Carton’s growing javelin group had medal success with Emma Jude Lyons on Saturday, and on Sunday it was close for Niamh Fogarty who finished 4th, just outside the medal places, and with Shannon Madden also throwing well in her first season. Over at the long jump pit, Patrick Leydon jumped well in the boys u/13 but finished out of the medals, as did Aine O’Reilly in the girls u/18. Moya Leydon bounced back from her disappointment of just missing out on a medal in the shot putt on Saturday by winning the girls u/14 discus on Sunday and securing a place in the National Finals.

Moving to the sprints, Adeola Ojomo-Amaka had a very busy day, winning her heat of the 80m u/13, finishing 2nd in the semi-final and narrowly missing a medal in the final by a fraction, finishing 4th but taking consolation from her qualification for the National Finals. Patrick Leydon sprinted well in the boys 80m u/13 but didn’t advance to the final, similarly for Niall Brady in the 80m u/14 and Cian Humphries in the 100m u/16 despite running really well. Maeve O’Reilly just missed qualifying from her heat of the 100m u/15 by a narrow margin, but no problem for Lisa Cooke who qualified with ease and in the final ran powerfully but was edged out of the medal places in her first Leinster Championship final. It took Victoria Harris in the 100m u/16 to get us another sprint medal, finishing second by the narrowest of margins to win her second sprint medal of the week-end.

In the longer 200m sprints, Elizabeth Carr made it safely out of her heat of the 200m u/17 and in the final turned in a terrific performance to finish 4th, just outside the medals but knows she is improving with every race. Aine O’Reilly also ran extremely well but had to settle for a minor place in the 200m u/18. Tommy Gallagher was looking to add to his 100m medal and safely made it through the heats of the 200m u/18 but in the final finished just out of the medal places though he ran a strong powerful race.

Padraig Moran gave us an exhibition of 3,000m racing in the boys u/16 where he led from gun to tape to win by a large margin. Mullingar is gaining a reputation in the steeplechase, thanks to the excellent performances of Ryan Blundell (1st), Patrick Fagan (2nd) and Eoin Lynam (4th) in the 2,000m steeplechase u/17 and Stephen Nea (2nd) in the 3,000m steeplechase u/18. These lads are really training hard at this event and the results are clear to see in competition.

That concluded day 2 of the most successful Leinster T&F for the Club with a fantastic total of 29 medals and 12 fourth place finishes, which means Mullingar Harriers will be extremely well represented at the AAI National Finals in July. Well done to all those that have qualified for the National Finals in July and it is very important to keep putting in the hard work in training in the coming weeks to be in the best possible condition for the finals and Club coaches will be arranging some extra specialist training sessions for the qualifiers.