Championship records tumble in Leinster

While Glasgow was teeming with Irish people for the World Indoor Athletic Championships, Kilkenny’s juveniles were paving the path that could one day take them on that journey to the major stage.

On that road to success are events like the Leinster Juvenile Indoor Championships. This year’s indoors were held in Athlone on Saturday and Sunday and saw the county scoop 40 medals and break three championship records. The record breakers were Evan Walsh (St Joseph’s), Molly Daly (Kilkenny City Harriers - KCH) and Clodagh O’Callaghan (KCH).

New records

New championship records don’t happen very often - to break three in one weekend is a rarity. Many excellent male athletes have passed through the under-17 race-walking Leinsters and yet the record of 7.17 for the 1,500m event, which was set back in 2006, had never been broken - until now. Evan Walsh (St Joseph’s) set a new championship record for the 1,500m walk of 6.56, breaking the old one set by Gowran’s Padraig Lennon.

This was Evan’s first time dipping under seven minutes for the 1,500m indoor walk. Walsh has won four Leinster indoor titles and has improved massively over the past year. With competition from Connacht reaching an all-time high, the standard of race walking in Ireland has shot up phenomenally. Kilkenny has always had a good presence on the podium at national level in the walking events, with many of their athletes going on to represent Ireland in later years. Evan recently finished second in the Andalusian Championships in Guadix, Spain.

The second championship record to fall was that of the girls’ under-17 200m. Molly Daly (KCH) has been blazing a trail since the start of January in the 200m. At the national junior indoors she won her heat in a time of 25.57 to dip under the under-18 European qualifying standard of 24.60. Not only did Daly set a new championship record – beating the old one set last year by Katie Doherty (Ratoath) of 24.80 - but she did so twice. In the heats Daly ran 24.79 to ease to victory by a five second margin. The final was a little tougher where the Harrier was up against Eimear McGrath (Celbridge) who has also substantially improved this past year.

Daly was first out of the blocks and powered down the back straight, eating up the stagger on other athletes. She clocked 24.57 to break the championship record yet again. With several months to go before the European under-18s are held in Slovakia Daly will be tipped to break more records and record faster times than she currently is recording.

Clodagh O’Callaghan was the third record breaker when she smashed the time in the girls’ under-17 800m race. O’Callaghan was part of the KCH junior girls team that competed in the European clubs championships in Portugal last weekend. A good cross-country runner, she has also medalled previously at Leinster Indoors and Track and Field.

O’Callaghan won the 800m in 2023, beating Niamh Garvey (Tullamore) in the process. Last Sunday she ran 2.15 to break the 2.18 set by clubmate Pia Langton two years ago. There were two heats with O’Callaghan winning the second one in a modest 2.29, easing herself into qualification. Sholah Lawrence (Ace) was right behind her. Both Lawrence and last year’s silver medallist Garvey also ran the 1,500m the previous day.

The start of the race was anything but slow, with Lawrence and O’Callaghan taking on the front running almost immediately.

Four laps of fast running ensued with both athletes going for gold. A quick final lap saw O’Callaghan forge ahead with Lawrence trailing. Urged on by her supporters she crossed the line in 2.15 a new personal best and championship record. Lawrence took silver with Emma Hunt (Bohermeen) taking bronze.

Notable performances

Elsewhere there were some notable performances by athletes from across the county. Amy Walsh (St Joseph’s) is another athlete to keep an eye on for the future. Walsh recently won the Andalusian race-walking championships and was the winner of the Leinster Indoor title in 2023. Walsh walked a solo race, lapping some of her competitors in the process, and took the gold in a very creditable 5.07. Her clubmate Lily Ryan took the under-17 title, finishing in a time of 7.35, just outside her best performance.

Zoe Beck Thomastown (left) was second in the girls’ under-15 long jump at the Leinster Indoors in Athlone

St Joseph’s had great success in the walking events. Adding to the gold medals won by Evan, Lily and Amy, Richard Melbourne took the under-14 title while his sister Ellen finished fourth in the under-16 race, resulting in five qualifying for the All-Irelands.

Lucy Aylward (St Senan’s) won the girls’ under-14 with Kerry Widger third under-15.

Daniel Greene (KCH) was a busy man over the two days of competition. With a maximum of only three events possible, Green won the 600m and hurdles and finished third in the 60m. The current 600m title holder ran a steady heat to ease to qualification in a time of 1.50. The final was a competitive event in which Green set off with a fast pace from the beginning to storm to victory in 139. With two heats of the 600 and a heat, semi-final and final in the 60 metres, along with the heat and final in the hurdles, it was an extremely busy schedule for the Harriers athlete - seven races in two days is a feat in itself.

In the 600m Greene had already pulled away from the field after just 100m. By the end of the first lap there was a sizable margin between himself and the chasing pack. His finishing time of 1.39 was six seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

Another athlete to perform well over 600m was Tom Doherty (St Joseph’s) who won the under-12 boys’ 600m. Doherty has come into the indoor season on the back of an excellent cross-country season where he won an individual All-Ireland medal at under-11 level.

Doherty was in the last of the three heats and finished second to Adam Clancy (Clane AC). With no previous experience at running 600m, these athletes ran with energy and determination and laid their own foundations. Doherty did not have an easy path to gold in the final. It was a well fought battle with James O’Toole (St Pat’s, Carlow) with no easing up right to the line. It was Doherty who took victory by the smallest of margins, just two-tenths of a second.

Two-tenths of a second separated Eve Dunphy (St Senan’s) from gold in the girls’ under-18 1,500m. Dunphy ran a solid race in the presence of long time rivals Eimear Cooney (Ace) and Andrea Ryan (Tullamore), along with Dearbhla Allen (St Peter’s).

Having been beaten several times indoors by these athletes, Dunphy left no stone unturned. The pace was fast from the outset, with the leading group of Ryan, Dunphy, Allen and Cooney breaking away from the rest of the field. Rachael Ayres (St Abban’s) fell off the pack with Allen and Cooney following in time.

Ryan made a move with 150 metres to go and took Dunphy by surprise. While Dunphy was catching her, the finishing line came just a little too soon. Her time of 4.43 is a new personal best. It was good to see Caoimhe Phelan make a return to indoor racing after an absence of a few years through illness and injury. Phelan finished second at under-19 level.

Alex Cullen (KCH) is another of those athletes who can take part in multiple events with multiple medal success. Cullen was second in the 400m, third in the hurdles and won the long jump with over half a metre to spare from the silver medallist Chisomo Chisha (Dunboyne AC). His mark in the long jump is still being adjusted and three no jumps recorded. He managed to perform the winning jump on the second round and never looked in danger of being beaten.

Amy Walsh (St Joseph’s) was the winner of the girls’ under-15 walk at the Leinster Indoors

Kate Maher (KCH) won the 200m in 25.93, finishing half a second ahead of Aisling Shlevin (Ratoath). This is a respectable time that Maher can gain some confidence to challenge the best at the All-Ireland next month. Her training partners Ellen Daly and Aisling Phelan finished first and second in the under-15 60m. Both girls have featured in the top three positions in the 60m since they were under-12.

The Kilkenny City Harriers had multiple medals across many of the events throughout the weekend. Athletes like Cathal Comerford, who secured a double gold in the under-12 60m and long jump and a silver in the hurdles. Comerford will be one to watch in a few years’ time for multi-events. Conor Knox won the under-13 high jump, clearing 1.40m on his first attempt with a new personal best to boost.

Thomastown AC secured four medals. In the girls’ under-15 long jump Zoe Beck secured a silver medal with a jump of 4.50m in the final round that saw her move from sixth place into second. Twenty-two athletes took part in the long jump.

Victor Lamp finished second in the 60m hurdles marginally behind Cillian Hoey of Emo/Rath. Lamp also competed in the 200m earlier in the day and finished fourth in the final. Mia Brennan competed in three events on Sunday - the 800m, long jump and hurdles. Brennan finished behind Lily O’Neill (St Abban’s) in hurdles to earn the silver medal. In the long jump her leap of 4.44m secured her the bronze medal.

Brow Rangers, as is their custom, competed across the throwing events. They emerged with one medal winner, Robert Patterson who finished second in the under-15 shot with a best throw of 9.90m. Gowran AC also had several athletes taking part across multiple events and took silver in the under-12 girls’ shot put. May Timmins threw 7.46 in the third round to secure that silver medal.

Schools Cross Country

The Munster schools cross country were held in Tramore Valley in Cork last week with some athletes from St Senan’s and St Joseph’s taking part. In the minor boys Zak Fenton and Lewis Morgan ran a great race navigating the mud to finish fourth and sixth respectively. Eve Dunphy was second in the senior girls race, continuing to impress with her performance. All athletes were representing the Abbey CC.