HIGHLIGHTS: Donore Harriers athletes won 5 gold (Aoife Lynch 100m & 200m, Louis O’Loughlin 800m, Lara O’Byrne 100mH, Jack Raftery 400m), a silver (Lara O’Byrne HJ), and 2 bronzes (Caoimhe Mackey 400mH & 100mH) in the National Under 23 championships, and one gold (Abdel Laadjel 5,000m) in the National Junior championships. However, blustery conditions foiled the attempts of Aoife Lynch & Louis O’Loughlin to gain European Under 23 standards.
Grace Kennedy-Clarke 2nd woman in Thoroughbred Half-Marathon at Kildare. Newcomer Aideen Burke 1st woman in IMRA Little Sugar Loaf race, with Rory Burke 2nd home overall.
REPORT: The 1st day of the NATIONAL JUNIOR & UNDER 23 TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at Santry on Saturday (19.06.2021) saw athletes from Donore Harriers secure 3 gold, a silver, and a bronze medal. To cap off a fine day for the club’s best emerging talent Jack Raftery ran a brilliant leg in the 4 x 400m relay leg to secure Ireland’s qualification to the European U23 relay championships.
First into action on an overcast and blustery morning was Louis O’Loughlin in the U23 800m. Starting out from the less favourable inside lane, O’Loughlin stormed into an early lead and never looked back! He passed the 400m mark in 53.5 having built a lead of almost 10 metres. He later admitted that he struggled in the final 30 metres, but his pain may have been as much psychological as physical as the clock ticked towards the 1.49 time that he had to better in order to secure a berth on the Irish team for the upcoming European Under 23 championships in Estonia. His final time of 1.51.01 was two seconds shy of the mark, but it earned him a convincing win ahead of Kevin McGrath (1.53.86) of Bohermeen AC.
Aoife Lynch (24.37) was another chasing the European Under 23 standard. She convincingly won the women’s 200m title ahead of runner-up Sarah Leahy (25.01) of Killarney Valley AC, but her time was outside the B standard of 24.10 to ensure selection on the Irish team. Whilst the wind gauge had a favourable reading of 0.2 m/s, it did not indicate the swirling nature of the breezes that made fast running more difficult.
Donore’s other winner on Day 1 was Abdel Laadjel, who made a conservative start in the Junior Men’s 5,000m. As the race progressed Laadjel gained to form a front group of 9 athletes that also included his teammates Gavin Curtin and James Bolton. He took the lead at the 4km point, and with a 2.44 final kilometre opened a sizeable gap on his pursuers. The Donore Harriers star won in 15.10.68 ahead of fast finishing Scott Fagan (15.14.81) of Metro St. Brigid’s AC. Gavin Curtin (15.22.74) produced a fine performance to finish in 4th place, with James Bolton (15.44.59) running a personal best to cross the line in 8th position. Bolton still has two years remaining in the junior grade.
Club athletes won two more medals on Day 1, as Lara O’Byrne took silver in the Under 23 women’s High Jump with a best of 1.60m. She lost out on the gold medal on the countback rule to Louise King of St. Colman’s Mayo AC. Caoimhe Mackey (1.04.61) ran a personal best in the Under 23 Women’s 400m Hurdles to secure a bronze medal.
Day 1 of the championships was rounded off with Jack Raftery running a brilliant 3rd leg on the Ireland Under 23 4 x 400m team that secured a European Under 23 championship entry (standard 3.12) with a time of 3.11.16.
Day 2 of the NATIONAL JUNIOR & U23 CHAMPIONSHIPS on Sunday(20.06.2021), also at Santry, saw Donore Harriers athletes bring home 3 more gold medals. Aoife Lynch was a convincing winner in the women’s U23 100m final in a time of 11.76. However, the wind gauge reading of 3.1 m/s meant that her time was not permitted. Also, in the 10-woman final was Claudia Sofia Andre, who posted a time of 12.37 for 6th place.
The Athletics Ireland officials allowed the sprinters an extra race in a bid to get qualifying times and personal bests. Aoife Lynch was again victorious in a time of 12.06 with a wind reading of minus 0.8 m/s. Thus, she must now wait until next weekend’s senior championships to make another attempt at the Europe Under 23 qualifying standard. Claudia Sofia Andre came 5th in the additional 100m sprint in 12.59.
Jack Raftery ran a smart race to win the Under 23 400m national title. He allowed David Ryan of Moycarkey Coolcroo AC and Cathal Crosbie of Ennis Track AC take the pace through the first 200 metres, before he powered down the home strait to win in 47.68. The fact that swirling winds made fast racing more difficult suggests that Raftery can realistically run below 47 seconds in the near future. His coach Paul Clarkin said: “Jack was brilliant. Tactically ran and executed perfectly. So proud of him”. Raftery won his qualifying heat in 48.95. Crosbie (48.05) came 2nd, and Ryan (49.04) 3rd.
Lara O’Byrne won her 3rd national medal of 2021 with success in the 100m Hurdles. Having won silver in the National U23 Heptathlon last week and a silver in the High Jump on the previous day, she powered her way over the hurdles to win in a new personal best time of 14.51 ahead of Niamh O’Neill (15.66) of St. Colman’s Mayo AC. Caoimhe Mackey won her 2nd bronze medal of the championships in the same race. Mackey finished very strongly to gain from 4th place and came a mere one-hundredth of a second off the silver medal.
Sean Chan (12.22) came 7th in the 1st qualifying round of the Under 23 men’s 100m.
John Travers was back in action, this time competing in the 5,000m at the 11th edition of the NATIONAL EST LYONNAIS TRACK MEET at Lyon on Saturday evening (19.06.2021). John settled into 7th place in the opening laps, with the leaders churning out laps of 64 and 65 seconds. However, he faded in the latter half of the race to finish 17th in 14.54.66. The race was won by Yann Schrub (13.37.36) of France, with Yohans Kifle (13.55.27) of Eritrea next.
Grace Kennedy-Clarke came 2nd woman in the THOROUGHBRED HALF-MARATHON on Sunday morning (20.06.2021). She completed the 21.1 kilometres course that started and finished in Kildare Town in 1.29.34.
In the first of the IRISH MOUNTAIN RUNNING ASSOCIATION WEDNESDAY EVENING RACE SERIES newcomer Aideen Burke (56.04) was the first woman to complete the 8.62km course that had a total climb of 360 metres. 2nd overall out of the 130 finishers was Rory Burke, who completed the Belmont Little Sugar Loaf route in 42 minutes and 41 seconds.
Mario Omozee won the Under 14 Boys 200m gold medal on Day 3 of the DUBLIN JUVENILE TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at Tallaght on Friday evening (18.06.2021). In the 3rd qualifying heat of the Under 14 Girls 200m new member Aoife Jackson gained good experience in placing 7th.
———————————————————————————————
RESULTS IN BRIEF:
DUBLIN JUVENILE T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 3 at Tallaght (18.06.2021)
Under 14 Boys 200m Final: 1st Mario Omozee (nta)
Under 14 Girls 200m Qualifying H3: 7th Aoife Jackson (nta)
NATIONAL JUNIOR & UNDER 23 TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY ONE at Morton Stadium, Santry (19.06.2021)
Junior Men’s 5,000m Final: 1st Abdel Laadjel (15.10.68), 4th Gavin Curtin (15.22.74), 8th James Bolton (15.44.59 PB).
Under 23 Women’s 200m Final: 1st Aoife Lynch (24.37)
Under 23 Women’s 400m Hurdles Final: 3rd Caoimhe Mackey (1.04.61)
Under 23 Women’s High Jump Final: 2nd Lara O’Byrne (1.60m)
Under 23 Men’s 800m Final: 1st Louis O’Loughlin (1.51.01)
NATIONAL JUNIOR & UNDER 23 TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY TWO at Morton Stadium, Santry (19.06.2021)
Under 23 Women’s 100m Final: 1st Aoife Lynch (11.76), 6th Claudia Sofia Andre (12.37) – wind 3.1 m/s
Under 23 Women’s 100m Hurdles Final: 1st Lara O’Byrne (14.51 PB), 3rd Caoimhe Mackey (15.67) – wind 2.4 m/s
Under 23 Men’s 100m Qualifying H1: 7th Sean Chan (12.22)
Under 23 Men’s 400m Final: Jack Raftery (4), qualified 1st in Heat 1 (48.95)
TRACK MEET NATIONAL EST LYONNAIS at Lyon, France (19.06.2021)
Men’s 5,000m: 17th John Travers (14.54.66)
THOROUGHBRED HALF-MARATHON at Kildare Town (20.06.2021)
2nd woman Grace Kennedy-Clarke (1.29.34)
IRISH MOUNTAIN RUNNING ASSOCIATION RACE SERIES at Belmont Little Sugar Loaf (16.06.2021) – Race 8.62km, Climb 360m.
2nd Rory Burke MS (42.41)
47th & 1st woman Aideen Burke W35 (56.04)
130 finishers.
