National Track and Field League and Weekend Round Up

Newly promoted Donore Harriers (men’s team) got their National Premier Track & Field League campaign off to a great start when the first round was contested at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast on Sunday (24/5/15). A point tally of 102 earned second place, just one point short of leaders Clonliffe Harriers and 12 ahead of Crusaders. It was an excellent result considering that many of the club’s key athletes were unavailable.

The Donore cause was helped with a splendid double win by Eamon Fahey in the 100m and 200m. Simon Taggart, back after a year out from the sport, was a convincing winner in the 110m Hurdles and then got a 3rd position in the 400m Hurdles. Jaco Oosthuysen also had a double with wins in the Javelin and the 56lb Hammer. Others to shine included Niall Allen who placed 2nd in the Shot Putt and 3rd in the Discus – and Michael McMahon (15.19), lowering his personal best time for the second time within a week when placing 2nd in the 5,000m.

In the League’s first division the women’s team came a close 4th in what proved a very tight contest with just 5 points separating the 4 four places. One very encouraging factor is that the team was bolstered significantly by number of up and coming junior athletes. Club stalwarts Anne Gormley and Florence Curley gained wins in the 1,500m Walk and the 3,000m – with a fast finishing Maura Kearns getting up for runner-up place in the 800m. The maximum 9 points was achieved by a young 4 x 100m team comprising track and field captain Lynda Ngankam and junior athletes Aoife Lynch, Karen Hughes and Ailise Keating. Lynda Ngankam jumped to second position in the Triple jump and Aoife Lynch picked up a valuable 7 points with 2nd in the 200m. Castleknock CC student Ailbhe Healy only missed out on victory in the pole vault on count-back. Other junior athletes Lauren Kennedy in the 100m Hurdles, Roisin Rynn-Cahill in the 400m Hurdles, Claire O’Connor in the 400m and Clodagh Read in the Discus all placed in 3rd position.

Special mention must go to Orlaith Read, Clodagh’s mother, who gained 4 points having recently took up the Shot Putt event – and to newcomer 16 years-old Caoimhe Mackey who can be well pleased with her contribution in the 4 x 400m relay.

Florence Curley, the women’s club captain, said: “This is the first time that we fielded competitors in all the events and we amassed our highest ever points tally. If we replicate this in round 2 we can make the final” She thanked Men’s manager Maurice Ahern and Men’s team captain David Campbell for their support – as well as women’s coach Jim McNamara and Juvenile Team Manager Leonie Newman for their help in putting together such a young team with enormous potential.

Donore Harriers were just one point off completing a team double at the Bob Heffernan Memorial 5km Road Race (19/5/15) at Johnstownbridge, near Enfield recently. The men’s team secured victory by placing 3 athletes in the top 17, whilst the women’s team lost out by just one point to Portlaoise despite placing 3 in the top 14 finishers.

Aogan MacDomhnaill (15.52) displayed a good return to form when placing 10th overall. Gavin Keogh (15.58), dipping under 16 minutes for the first time, was just two places behind, whilst Chris Muldoon (16.11) closed the scoring team in 17th spot. The team tally of 39 points gave a comfortable win ahead of Celbridge AC (53) and Portlaoise AC (58). The women’s team had sisters Sorcha (18.37) and Ide NicDhomhnaill (18.52) place 8th and 11th – with the ever improving Breda Mahony (19.06) closing the women’s team score in 14th place. The Donore team finished on 33 points – just one behind Portlaoise AC with Dunboyne AC 3rd on 58.

Niall Lynch placed 2nd for the fourth consecutive race in the 5th stage of the Irish Mountain Running Association Leinster League (20/5/15) held at Glasmullan in County Wicklow. Running over an 8.4km route along an anti-clockwise lap of Djouce with a total climb of  440 metres Lynch (46.58) could not match the front running of mountain specialist and Irish international Mark Ryan (44.23) of Rathfarnham AC. Lynch (15) remains second overall in the league just one point behind leader Bernard Fortune (14) of Sliabh Bhuidhe Rovers.

The first running of the Basil Clifford Memorial Mile was included in the programme of the 3rd Dublin Open Graded meeting at Santry (20/5/15). The trophy was launched by Donore Harriers as a tribute to one of the club’s former greats! Somewhat fittingly the race was won by John Coghlan – a member of the neighbouring Metro St. Bridget club and the son of former Donore member and the 1973 World 5,000m champion Eamonn Coghlan. Coghlan cut loose from the field at the start and quickly opened a sizeable gap passing the first lap in 61 seconds. He continued to widen the gap, reaching the halfway mark in 2.03, before crossing the line in a respectable 4.10.66. The most exciting part of the race was the tussle for the minor placings in the final 100 metres. Cathal Doyle of Clonliffe Harriers (4.28.19) winning out for the runner-up spot ahead of CJ Isayas (4.29.06) of AIT and Richard Lombard (4.29.25) of DCH. 13 athletes competed.

At the same meet Michael McMahon lowered his 5km track time to 15.43 when finished 4th in the Men’s ‘A’ race. Maura Kearns (5.24.29) placed 4th in the women’s mile as u/17s athlete Caoimhe Mackey made her club debut with a respectable 6.11.55 and 9th place. Luke Boland (4.44.66) claimed a personal best when finishing 6th in the Men’s ‘B’ mile.

In the National Combined Events Championships at Templemore (23&24/5/15) Rolus Olusa won the gold medal in the Junior Men’s decathlon when he amassed a tally of 5130 points. His best marks came in his favoured 110m Hurdles and the 100m sprint.

Basil Clifford was a stalwart of Donore Harriers back in the late 50s and early 60s. A native of Inchicore (born 1939) he first came to prominence in the Irish Youths mile of 1957. He worked at the bakery of his coach Tony Farrell in Blackrock and part of his training involved running up the steps of the shop with bags of flour on his back.

Clifford (3.59.8) was Ireland’s second sub-4 minute miler, a feat he achieved when finishing 3rd in the Emsley Carr Mile at the White City in London on the 3rd August 1964. He only accepted the invitation after his Donore clubmate Tom O’Riordan pulled out with injury. John Whetton of England won as expected in 3.58.95, with the relatively unknown Clifford being the ‘surprise packet’ in 3rd position.

Basil Clifford won several national titles in the vest of Donore Harriers in the period 1959 to 1965 and was a member of the Irish team that set a 4 x 880 yards European record (7.21.8) in 1961. The other members of that team were: – Derek McCleane, Ronnie Delaney and Noel Carroll – all legends of Irish athletics!

He represented Ireland in the 1964 Olympic Games placing 8th in the first round of the 1,500m in a time of 3.54.9.

Later, Basil worked in a gun factory in Birmingham, where a tragic explosion in 1973 ended his life. He was only 34 years old!  

Sean Lawlor ran a storming 3rd leg for the Ireland Junior team in the 4 x 100m relay at the IMAF International meeting at Oordengem-Lede in Belgium (24/5/15). The young Irish quartet had to be fast and slick in their baton changing to keep at bay a very good Dutch team. Eoin Doherty and Dean Power played their part in keeping the Irish on level terms with the Netherlands on the first two legs, before Donore star Sean Lawlor hit the burners and handed over to Joseph Ojewumi with a marginal lead. Ireland’s final runner did enough to bring the team home in first place. The team time of 41.40 was just 6 hundreds of a second faster than the Dutch, but narrowly failed to meet the 41.20 qualifying time for the European Junior championships. Belgium came 3rd in 42.14. A link to the race is found here –https://youtu.be/8QHCUcf1Up0

Eric Keogh (3.51.08) came 4th in a ‘congested’ 1,500m race at the same venue.

Juvenile Report

Fathi Aden u/15s (16.44) and Sekeriye Ahmed u/16s (16.48) were both inside the old course record when they placed 1st and 2nd in the Waterstown 5km Parkrun (23/5/15). It was a great demonstration of front running as Fathi was not allowed to relax due to the hot pursuit of his club colleague. Their club-mate Conor Ray u/16s (19.00) had a very steady run to finish in 3rd place, whilst Ciara Murphy u/17s (20.27) was 5th overall and the first female to reach the finish line.

Results in brief:

Bob Heffernan 5km Road Race at Johnstownbridge (19/5/15): 10th Aogan MacDomhnaill (15.52); 12th Gavin Keogh (15.58 PB); 17th Chris Muldoon (16.11); 35th / 2nd M45 Ken Norgrove (16.41); 36th Andrew Ledwith (16.44); 39th Rossa Hurley (16.45) club debut; 51st Eoin Hannon (17.14); 114th Niall O’Reilly (18.27); 120th / 21stM40 Alan Farrell (38.36); 121st / 8th woman Sorcha NicDhomhnaill (18.37); 131st / 11th woman Ide NicDhomhnaill (18.52); 143rd / 14th woman Breda Mahony (19.06); 146th / 16th woman Michelle Childs (19.08); 147th Kieran Beausang (19.09) club debut; 156th Joe Murphy (19.13); 181st / 26th woman Rhona Duane; 197th / 32nd woman Sinead Graham

TEAM: Men = 1st Donore Harriers <MacDomhnaill, G. Keogh, Muldoon> 39; 2nd Celbridge AC 53; 3rd Portlaoise AC 58

Women = 1st Portlaoise 32; 2nd Donore Harriers <S. NicDhomhnaill, I. NicDhomhnaill, Mahony> 33; 3rd Dunboyne AC 58

IMRA Leinster League Round 5 (8.4km) at Glasnamullen (20/5/15): 2nd Niall Lynch M40 (46.58)

Dublin Open Graded T&F Meeting (No. 3) at Santry (20/5/15): Women’s Mile: – 4th Maura Kearns (5.24.29); 9th Caoimhe Mackey u/17s (6.11.55) club debut; Men’s Mile ‘B’: – 6th Luke Boland (4.44.66 PB): Men’s Mile ‘D’: – 6th Des Gill M45 (5.55.07); 7th Jim McNamara M75 (6.37.95): Men’s 5000m: – 4th Michael McMahon (15.43.12 PB); 9th Sean Fox M40 (16.50.51)

Basil Clifford Mile ‘A’ race inaugural trophy donated by Donore Harriers: – 1st John Coghlan MSB (4.10.66); 2nd Cathal Doyle Clonliffe Harriers (4.28.19); 3rd CJ Isayas AIT (4.29.06); 4th Richard Lombard DCH (4.29.25) 13 athletes competed

BHAA ESB Beach Race at Sandymount Strand (20/5/15): 14th Fred Kiernan M40 (18.30); 43rd / 2nd female Alma Hanevy (20.23); 166th / 1st F75 Ann Woodlock (29.29)

National Combined Event Championships at Templemore (23&24/5/15): Junior Men Decathlon – 1st Rolus Olusa 5130 points: 100m 11.99 = 653; LJ 5.74m = 531; SP 10.2m = 497; HJ 1.73m = 569; 400m 56.23 = 550; 110mH 15.7 = 766; DT 30.43m = 473; PV 2.90m = 333; JT 29.76 = 296; 1500m 5.17.67 = 467

The Elms 10km Road Race at Punchestown (23/5/15): 7th Tony Griffin (42.36)

Griffeen 5km Parkrun (23/5/15): 42nd / 1st female Nicola Dowdall F40 (22.00)

IMAF T&F Meet at Oordengem-Lede in Belgium (24/5/15): Junior 4 x 100m – 1st Ireland <Sean Lawlor on leg 3> (41.40); 2nd Netherlands (41.46); 3rd Belgium (42.14)

1,500m ‘D’ – 4th Eric Keogh (3.51.08)

Coca Cola Foroige 5km at Blanchardstown (24/5/15): 22nd / 4th female Grainne Nolan (22.05)

National Track & Field League Men’s Premier Division (Round 1) at Belfast (24/5/15):

TEAM: 1st Clonliffe Harriers 103; 2nd Donore Harriers 102; 3rd Crusaders 90; 4th North Down AC 89; 5th Raheny Shamrocks 88; 6th DSD AC 80; 7th Tallaght Ac 86

Leading performances: – 100m – 1st Eamon Fahey; 200m – 1st Eamon Fahey; 110mH – 1st Simon Taggart; 400mH – 3rd Simon Taggart; 1.500m – 4th Sam Allen; 5,000m – 2nd Michael McMahon (15.19 PB); Javelin – 1st Jaco Oosthuysen; 56lb Hammer – 1st Jaco Oosthuysen; Shot Putt – 2nd Niall Allen; Discus – 3rd Niall Allen; High Jump – 4th – Cathal O’Brien

National Track & Field League Women’s First Division (Round 1) at Belfast (24/5/15):

TEAM: 1st Finn Valley AC 104; 2nd = Co. Antrim 100; 2nd = Lagan Valley 100; 4th Donore Harriers 99; 5th Sli Cualann 97

Leading performances: –  1,500m Walk – 1st Ann Gormley; 200m – 2nd Aoife Lynch JNR; 400m – 3rd Claire O’Connor JNR; 800m – 2nd Maura Kearns; 1,500m – 5th Rhona Duane; 5,000m – 1st Florence Curley; 100mH – 3rdLauren Kennedy JNR; 400mH – 3rd Roisin Rynn-Cahill JNR; Long Jump – 5th Karen Hughes JNR; High Jump – 5thRoisin Rynn-Cahill JNR; Triple Jump – 2nd Linda Ngankam; Pole Vault – 2nd Ailbhe Healy JNR; Javelin – 5th Lauren O’Keeffe JNR; Hammer – 5th Clodagh Read JNR; Shot Putt – 5th Orlaith Read; Discus – 3rd Clodagh Read; 4 x 100m – 1st Donore Harriers <Ngankam, Lynch, Hughes, Keating>; 4 x 400m – 6th Donore Harriers <O’Connor; Duane; Caoimhe Mackey; Kearns>

Juvenile Results:

Waterstown 5km Parkrun (23/5/15): 1st Fathi Aden u/15s (16.44) new course record; 2nd Sekeriye Ahmed u/16s (16.48) also inside old course record; 3rd Conor Ray u/16s (19.00) debut over distance; 5th / 1st female Ciara Murphy u/17s (20.27); 40th /14th female Shona Smyth u/16s (29.19)

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