Impressive Performances At The GloHealth National Juvenile Track & Field Championships

Day two of the GloHealth National Juvenile Track and Field Championships took place in Tullamore on Saturday, 11th of July. Despite the cool and damp conditions the performances both on the track and in the field were of the highest quality.

There was a powerful performance produced by Christopher O'Donnell (North Sligo AC) in the U18 boy's 400m event. O'Donnell clocked a time of 48.70 seconds to win the title and set a new championship best performance (CBP) in the process. Sophie Becker (St Joseph's AC) was a clear winner of the U19 title in a time of 57.12 as Amy Hamill (Glaslough Harriers) won a hard fought U18 race in a time of 58.27 seconds. Gavin Dunne (DSD AC) timed his run to perfection as he won the U19 boy's title in a time of 50.80.

Ryan Carthy Walsh (Adamstown AC) was in sparkling form in the U17 high jump as he set a new CBP of 2.08m, he also went very close at his attempts at 2.10m.
Kathlyn Furlong (DMP AC) was a clear winner of the U17 hammer as she threw 51.14m to win the title. Shane Joyce (Cushinstown AC) won the U19 javelin competition by nearly ten metres with his throw of 54.13m. Another impressing in the javelin was U16 athlete Katherine O'Connor (Dundalk St Gerards AC) as she set a new CBP of 41.78m.
Megan Lenihan (North Cork AC) won the U15 girl's javelin setting anew CBP of 35.82m. Daniel Hurley (Old Abbey AC) equalled the CBP in the U14 long jump with a leap of 5.79m. In the pole vault competition Katie Ritchie (Ballymena & Antrim AC) set a new CBP of 2.90m to win the U16 event.

Hope Saunders (Clonliffe Harriers AC) - U19 and Isabel Carron (Skerries AC) - U18 won the 3,000m national titles in times of 10.03.16 and 10.10.84 respectively. Shane Hughes (Mullingar Harriers AC) won the U18 3,000m title in a time of 8.39.65 while Cathal Doyle (Clonliffe Harriers AC) was the runaway winner of the U19 title in a time of 8.44.43.

The short sprinters concluded the programme with 60m and 80m events for the younger age groups and 100m races for athletes U15 upwards. Gareth Thompson (City of Lisburn) flew down the track in the U19 100m to win the title in a time of 10.79, however the wind was over the allowable limit of +2, gusting at +4.8. Club mate Ben Fisher won the U18 title in a time of 10.91 as Mollie O'Reilly (DSD AC) stormed to victory in the girl's U18 contest in 12.07 seconds.