HIGHLIGHTS: Gavin Curtin, Caoimhe Mackey, Lara O’Byrne, Ailbhe Healy & Paul McDermott were medallists in the IUAA T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS. Men’s team 3rd in the GREAT IRELAND/NATIONAL 10KM CHAMPIONSHIP. Age category medals were won by Sorcha Loughnane (gold), Tony Kynes and Barry Potts (both bronze). Three members competed in the ROTTERDAM MARATHON. The WEST LEINSTER SCHOOLS T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS returned after 3 years with Isabella Kelly, Rory O’Farrell, Eve Crowe, Alex Leonard, Emily Bolton, Liam Morris & Roisin Kirby among the gold medallists. Some of our young athletes competed in the first fixture of the DUBLIN JUVENILE T&F LEAGUE
REPORT: <by Gerry Naughton, Florence Curley & Leonie Newman> Gavin Curtin keeps improving! He is one of those athletes who is universally respected for his focus and commitment to his sport. The former Moyle Park College student now studying at the Athlone IT qualified to the final of the 1,500m in the IRISH UNIVERSITIES AA TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at the Carlow IT track on Friday evening with 2nd place in Heat 2 in a time of 4.15.62. In Saturday’s final he ran a mature race to take the silver medal in a close encounter between 5 athletes. The race was won by Aaron Brennan of NUIG in 3.57.84 – with Curtin (3.58.53) taking the silver medal by edging out Colin Smith (3.58.66) of DCU in the sprint finish.
Caoimhe Mackey is another club athlete with steely determination. Coached by Gerry Ronan the UCD student came 2nd behind Deirdre Murray of DCU in the 400m Hurdles. Running from the inside lane Mackey ran a time of 1.04.21 to claim a new personal best time that lowers her own club record and bagged a silver medal in the process.
Lara O’Byrne also claimed a silver medal in the 100m Hurdles event. She qualified 1st from her heat in 15.27 – and then posted a 15.05 time in the final to get the runners-up spot behind Sarah Quinn (14.87) of NUIG.
The club’s other individual medal winner was Ailbhe Healy in the Pole Vault. Healy was making a welcome return to competition after a 3-years break and claimed a bronze medal with a second attempt clearance of 2.75m.
Paul McDermott won a gold medal when he anchored the DCU 4 x 100m relay to victory in a championship record time of 41.23. Caoimhe Mackey took her 2nd championship medal when she was part of the UCD 4 x 400m team that took bronze position on the podium. Thrower Oran O’Brien had a busy championship placing 7th in the Shot Putt with 10.55m, 10th in the Discus with 28.90m and 11th in the 35lb Weight-For-Distance with a best of 6.90m. Lara O’Byrne (10.09m) came 6th in the women’s Shot Putt. The other club members who competed were Zak Higgins (51.81) 3rd in Heat 3 of the 400m; Jack Byrne (1.59.72) 7th in the 800m Final having qualified 3rd in Heat 2 in 2.00.52; and Lara O’Byrne, Jack Byrne and Zak Higgins who were out of the medals in their respective relay teams.
Abdel Laadjel was given the task of pacemaker in the 5,000m race at the FRIARS INVITATIONAL TRACK & FIELD MEET at Providence, Rhode Island last Friday evening. This was a ‘home’ fixture for the Providence University student who was assigned to help his training buddies to attain personal bests.
Laadjel ran most of the race alongside 22 years-old Waterford native David McGlynn, who recently ran 29.04.92 for the 10,000m. It proved a job well done, as McGlynn (13.59.63 PB) came 3rd behind winner Ryan Gallagher (13.56.44), also of Providence, with the Donore Harriers athlete feeling strong enough to finish out the race in 4th place with a 10-seconds PB of 14.02.94.
The GREAT IRELAND RUN incorporated the NATIONAL 10KM CHAMPIONSHIPS at the Phoenix Park early on Saturday morning. The sunny, crisp morning saw more than 1,300 runners on the start line from all corners of Ireland.
The overall race-winner Mick Clohissy (30.49) of Raheny Shamrocks AC was an early frontrunner together with Jamie Fallon (30.57) of Craughwell AC as these two opening a sizeable gap on the field. The front section of the main field had a Donore Harriers contingent full of honest endeavour with good team packing securing the bronze medals in the Senior Men’s category. Ryan Aikins (34.00) led the charge with a personal best in 25th spot. M50 athlete Niall Lynch (36.19) placed 66th and 9th in his age-group. Next came relative newcomer Simon O’Toole (37.09) who will be encouraged by a new PB and 18th place in the senior men’s class. The scoring team of 4 was completed by Liam Keane (37.30) in 99th position. Aikins, Lynch, O’Toole, and Keane had an amalgamated score of 254 to finish in bronze position behind winners Crusaders AC and runners-up Clonliffe Harriers. Ultra-distant specialist Sorcha Loughnane (37.15) placed 88th overall and was the first athlete home in the W45 category. Didier Da Costa (37.50) came 105th and 9th in the M45 grade, with Peter Brennan just one-place behind in a personal best time of 37.44. Note that both athletes had the same gross time of 37.52. They were followed by Ken Nugent (39.03) in 129th position. There was then a gap before Tony Kynes (41.27) crossed the finish line in 187th place and 3rd in the Master 65 category. Tony was followed by John Paul O’Hanlon (43.19) and John Curran (44.06) who both recorded personal bests when placing in 279th and 306th positions. Angela Eustace, in her 15th year of club membership, recorded a time of 47.23 to place 392nd overall and 7th in the W50 category. Des Gill (47.37) crossed the line shortly afterwards in 405th place.
The evergreen Barry Potts (48.03) came 417th and claimed the bronze medal in the M70 category. The other club finishers were Mark Devine (47.19) in 478th, Neil Maddox (51.50) in 705th and Jo Hughes (55.35) in 838th.
Three club members competed in the 41st edition of the ROTTERDAM MARATHON. This city centre marathon takes in all the conceivable highlights of Rotterdam and is noted for being “flat and fast”. Nearly twelve thousand were on the start line on Sunday morning, including Alasdair Brown, Grace Kennedy-Clarke and Ken McKeown. Brown (2.57.57) came home in 645th place, with the ever-consistent Grace Kennedy-Clarke (3.08.15) in 1,163rd position. Grace passed the halfway mark in 1.32.59 and finished as the 69th woman and 11th in the W35 category. Ken McKeown (3.56.21) passed the 21.1km mark in 1.47.38 but struggled in the second half of the race having just recovered from illness. He placed 3,906th.
The thrills and excitement of the WEST LEINSTER SCHOOLS TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS returned to its usual Santry Stadium venue after a 3-year hiatus last Tuesday (05.04.2022). Day 2 of the championships took place on Thursday. Among the early successes for Donore Harriers members were Emily Bolton (Mount Sackville) and Liam Morris (Colaiste Chilliain) in their respective junior grade 1,500m races. Both athletes were coming off successful cross-country seasons, which proved a foundation for convincing victories. Roisin Kirby, representing Mount Sackville, impressed with a gold medal in the Junior Girls Long Jump and 4th in the 100m sprint. Roisin also teamed up with clubmate Isabella Jackson to win the Junior Girls relay. Isabella Kelly (St. Wolstan’s College) is another young athlete who shined over the two days with victory in the Intermediate Girls 100m, silver in the 200m and gold in the relay. Laura Nunan (Mount Sackville) put the disappointment of placing 7th in the Intermediate Girls 1,500m on Tuesday behind her to win the 2,000m (should have been 3,000m) on Thursday. Alex Leonard is an exciting sprints talent! He was a clear winner in the Under 16s Boys 200m. Other club winners were Rory O’Farrell in the Junior Boys Hurdles and Eve Crowe (2.22.0 h-t) in the Junior Girls 800m. Thomas Bolton (2.08.0 h-t) took a silver medal in the Inter Boys 800m, with older brother James (12.22.0 h-t) also taking silver in the Senior Boys race over 4,000m. Oliver Hopkins (St. Declan’s) found himself in a tussle with Cormac Dixon (Rathcoole College) at the front of the Intermediate Boys 5,000m. The Donore Harriers athlete made a brave bid for glory with 250m remaining, but the superior finishing speed of Dixon, who is a member of Tallaght AC, relegated Hopkins to the silver medal in a time of 9.24.2 (h-t). Sophie Farrell came 3rd in the Senior Girls 200m in the colours of Colaiste Cos Life Lucan.
Special mention to Abigail Tolan (Castleknock Community College) who came 7th in the 800m, 4th in the 1,100m and then took a silver medal in the Minor Girls relay. Other results are listed below. Please forward any missing or corrected results.
The first DUBLIN ATHLETICS BOARD JUVENILE LEAGUE fixture was held at Tallaght Track on Saturday. This is an excellent springboard for young developmental athletes to gain competition experience and confidence.
On the track the young athletes competed over 400m, 600m, 1,500m, with the field events being Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Putt and Javelin. A number of young DH athletes competed, including Max Henley-Willis, Eli Henley-Willis, Michael McCarthy Jnr, Rachel McCarthy, Alan Maddox, Daniel Maddox, Anna Whelan, Cliodhna McMahon, Robyn McCluskey, Tess O’Donoghue, Ruby Blake, Lola Blake, Zion Osawe, Melody Omozee, Anabella Omozee and Liam Morris.
Well done to those young competitors and to their coaches/mentors for preparing the athletes for this event.
It was young members to the fore again in this week’s PARKRUN results. Dylan McKenna the first finisher at Waterstown Park and Ruby Kelly the 2nd woman at Castletown. Other results below.
Results in brief:
WEST LEINSTER SCHOOLS TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at Santry (05 & 07.04.2022)
Junior Girls 100m: 4th Roisin Kirby (NTA)
Junior Girls 200m: 4th Isabella Jackson (NTA)
Inter Girls 100m: 1st Isabella Kelly (NTA) – GOLD
Under 16 Boys 200m: 1st Alex Leonard (NTA) – GOLD
Inter Girls 200m: 2nd Isabella Kelly (27.6 h-t) – SILVER
Senior Girls 200m: 3rd Sophie O’Farrell (28.0 h-t) – BRONZE
Junior Boys Hurdles: 1st Rory O’Farrell (NTA) – GOLD
Minor Girls 800m: 7th Abigail Tolan (2.51.0 h-t)
Junior Girls 800m: 1st Eve Crowe (2.22.0 h-t) – GOLD
Junior Girls 800m: 14th Claire O’Hanlon (2.54.0 h-t)
Junior Boys 800m: 8th Liam Blair (NTA)
Inter Boys 800m: 2nd Thomas Bolton (2.08.0 h-t) – SILVER
Senior Boys 800m: 7th Sean Kinsella (2.13.5 h-t)
Minor Girls 1,100m: 4th Abigail Tolan
Junior Girls 1,500m: 1st Emily Bolton (NTA) – GOLD
Junior Boys 1,500m: 1st Liam Morris (NTA) – GOLD
Inter Girls 1,500m: 7th Laura Nunan (NTA)
Inter Girls 2,000m: 1st Laura Nunan (NTA)
Senior Boys 4,000m: 2nd James Bolton (12.22.0 h-t) – SILVER
Junior Girls High Jump: 5th Leah Nunan
Junior Boys High Jump: 4th Samuel Whelan
Junior Girls Long Jump: 1st Roisin Kirby – GOLD
Inter Boys Long Jump: Not placed Bobbi Amadi
Minor Girls Relay: 2nd Castleknock CC (w/ Abigail Tolan) – SILVER
Junior Girls Relay: 1st Mount Sackville (w/ Roisin Kirby & Isabella Jackson) – GOLD
Junior Boys Relay: Not placed Edmund Rice School (w/ Paddy Nolan, Ewan ? and Samuel Whelan)
Inter Girls Relay: 1st St. Wolstan’s Celbridge (w/ Isabella Kelly) – GOLD
FRIARS INVITATIONAL TRACK & FIELD MEET at Providence, RI, USA (08.04.2022)
4th Abdel Laadjel (14.02.94 PB)
37 starters, 34 finishers
IRISH UNIVERSITIES TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at IT Carlow (08 & 09.04.2022)
Women’s 100m Hurdles Heat 2: 1st Lara O’Byrne (15.27) – qualified to final
Women’s 100m Hurdles Final: 2nd Lara O’Byrne (15.05) – SILVER
Women’s 400m Hurdles Final: 2nd Caoimhe Mackey (1.04.21 PB) – SILVER
Men’s 400m Heat 3: 3rd Zak Higgins (51.81)
Men’s 800m Heat 2: 3rd Jack Byrne (2.00.52) – qualified to final
Men’s 800m Final: 7th Jack Byrne (1.59.72)
Men’s 1,500m Final: 2nd Gavin Curtin (3.58.53 PB) – SILVER
Women’s 4 x 100m Final: 6th TCD (w/ Lara O’Byrne on anchor leg) 55.04
Women’s 4 x 400m Final: 3rd UCD (w/ Caoimhe Mackey on 3rd leg) 4.07.79 – BRONZE
Men’s 4 x 100m Heat 2: 1st DCU (w/ Paul McDermott on anchor leg) 42.48
Men’s 4 x 100m Final: 1st DCU (w/ Paul McDermott on anchor leg) 41.23 – GOLD
Men’s 4 x 400m Heat 1: 1st TCD (w/ Jack Byrne on first leg) 3.39.29; 3rd TUD (w/ Zak Higgins on 2nd leg) 3.46.93
Men’s 4 x 400m Final: 5th TUD (w/ Zak Higgins on 2nd leg) 3.27.54, 6th TCD (w/ Jack Byrne on 1st leg) 3.31.87
Women’s Pole Vault Final: 3rd Ailbhe Healy (2.75m) – BRONZE
Women’s Shot Putt Final: 6th Lara O’Byrne (10.09m)
Men’s Shot Putt Final: 7th Oran O’Brien (10.55m)
Men’s Discus Throw Final: 10th Oran O’Brien (28.90m)
Men’s Weight4Distance 35lb: 11th Oran O’Brien (6.90m)
GREAT IRELAND RUN, inc NATIONAL 10km ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS at Phoenix Park (09.04.2022)
25th & 9th MS Ryan Aikins (34.00 PB)
66th & 7th M50 Niall Lynch (36.19)
85th & 18th MS Simon O’Toole (37.09 PB)
88th & 1st W45 Sorcha Loughnane (37.15)
99th & 15th M40 Liam Keane (37.30)
105th & 9th M45 Didier Da Costa (37.50)
106th & 14th M35 Peter Brennan (37.44 PB)
129th & 17th M35 Ken Nugent (39.03)
187th & 3rd M65 Tony Kynes (41.27)
279th & 25th M35 John Paul O’Hanlon (43.19 PB)
306th & 23rd M45 John Curran (44.06 PB)
392nd & 7th W50 Angela Eustace (47.23)
405th & 23rd M55 Des Gill (47.37)
417th & 3rd M70 Barry Potts (48.03)
478th & 34th M45 Mark Devine (47.19)
705th & 40th M40 Neil Maddox (51.50)
838th & 17th W50 Jo Hughes (55.35)
1,316 finishers
MEN’S TEAM: 1. Crusaders AC 95, 2. Clonliffe Harriers 145, 3. Donore Harriers <Aikins, Lynch, O’Toole, Keane> 254. 13 teams closed
M35 TEAM: 1. Inishowen AC 97, 5. Donore Harriers <Keane, Da Costa, Brennan> 276. 16 teams closed
M50 TEAM: 1. Liffey Valley AC 222, 9. Donore Harriers <Kynes, Gill, Potts> 800. 14 teams closed
41st NN ROTTERDAM MARATHON (10.04.2022)
645th Alasdair Brown M35 (2.57.57)
1,163rd & 69th woman & 11th W35 Grace Kennedy-Clarke (3.08.15)
3,906th Ken McKeown M35 (3.46.21)
11,714 finishers
PARKRUNS 5km (09.04.2022)
BUSHY: 128th Thomas Halton M65 (33.04)
CASTLETOWN: 19th & 2nd woman Ruby Kelly W18/19 (21.58), 89th Joan McTernan W60 (30.26)
CORKAGH: 33rd & 8th woman Nicola Dowdall W45 (25.21)
MARLAY: 7th Patrick Moriarty M45 (18.59)
POPPINTREE: 82nd Eilish Joyce W40 (34.24)
RUSSBOROUGH: 9th & 2nd woman Mary McDermott W50 (23.35)
WATERSTOWN: 1st Dylan McKenna M15-17 (19.00 PB), 6th Lucas Collender M11-14 (21.09)
