Gallery- Three new championship records set by young Kilkenny athletes

There was a great start to the Leinster juvenile championships with Kilkenny athletes setting three new championship records on the opening days.

The under-13 girls and boys’ 1,000m walk kicked off proceedings on day one in Athlone. A new event for Leinster indoors in this age group, 10 Kilkenny athletes from four clubs took part.

In the girls’ under-13 1k, Ellie May Aylward (St Senan’s) took the gold with a new championship record ahead of Emily Nevan (St Joseph’s and Liliana Phelan (St Joseph’s). Sam Kinsella, representing St Joseph’s in the boys’ under13 1k, delivered a fine effort to take the silver medal.

In the girls’ under-14 event Laoise Glynn (Gowran) improved on her county indoor time with a new personal best (PB) to take silver, with Cara Maher (Castlecomer) following over the line to claim third place.

Tadhg O’Callaghan (St Senan’s) produced an outstanding performance on the day as he broke a 27-year-old record to set a new Leinster championship record in the boys’ under-14 1k walk in a time of 4:55:04.

Both St Joseph’s and St Senan’s athletes showed their dominance in their respective age groups as they won silver and gold in the girls’ under-15 1k walk with Lucy Aylward (St Senan’s) and Emma Walsh (St Joseph’s) winning gold and silver respectively.

In the girls’ under-16 event Amy Walsh (St Joseph’s) was first with Kerry Widger (St Senan’s) second.

Lily Ryan and Evan Walsh were again in winning form following on from the under-20 All-Ireland success earlier in the month, both winning gold in under-18 1,500m walks.

With a total of 13 medals and nine athletes qualifying for All-Irelands in a fortnight, race walking in Kilkenny has a great future ahead.

In the 400m sprint Kilkenny City Harriers (KCH) duo Cillian Daly and Patrick Wall were the sole medalists in the boys’ under-16 and under-19 400m sprints, both earning silver medals.

There were four medals won in the 1,500m time trials race with Sinead Cormack (KCH) first up with an outstanding run in the girls’ under-16 race to claim the gold. The boys’ under-16 1,500m saw Gearoid Farrell (Gowran AC) run a fantastic race to take third place in his first Leinster Indoors, with Lewis Morgan (St Senan’s) following in fourth position.

Eve Dunphy (St Senan’s) was third in the girls’ under-19 1,500m, a race where all of the top three finishers broke the championship record - a remarkable achievement in the one race.

Tom Murphy (KCH) was the last of the 1,500m race competitors and proved his continuing middle distance talent with a sterling third place finish in the under-19 boys’ event.

The Olympic and European Championships popularity of late can definitely be seen in the vast numbers who competed at the Leinsters. A total of 133 races were held on Saturday, with 101 of them being 60m sprints.

The 60m sprint is an event that is particularly popular with younger athletes and it’s clear to see with the amazing number of races and entries on the day just how popular athletics is growing.

It would be impossible to mention every athlete who represented their clubs but a hearty congratulations to all those who ran the heats, the semi-finals and the action-packed finals on Saturday evening. There were six medals won and two fourth-placed athletes through to the All-Ireland 60m sprints.

Sunday morning kicked off with the older age 200m heats first on the timetable. Kilkenny City Harriers had a number of athletes across the older ages and won four medals.

Aisling Phelan was second and Ellen Daly third in the girls’ under-16 event. Eoghan O’Farrell was second in the boys’ under-16 race while Kate Maher took under-17 gold.

Conor Knox (KCH) once again had an outstanding weekend which saw him win three gold medals in the high jump, shot-put and long jump. He set new PBs for his awe-inspiring efforts too.

There were worthy winners in all of the field events over the weekend too, with Nuenna AC winning their first ever Leinster indoors medals when Aidan Banville and Joey Nolan won silver and bronze in the boys’ under-13 high jump. Both boys jumped new personal bests, with the winner setting a new record on the day too.

Daniel McIntyre (KCH) also jumped to new heights to claim second place in the boys’ under-12 high jump. Mia Brennan (Thomastown) was on the podium on Sunday in the girls’ under-15 high jump with a bronze medal finish.

Five clubs had medal winners in the shot-put competition throughout the weekend, with Alisha Farrell (Thomastown) taking under-12 bronze. Aaron Walsh (St Senan’s) won under-13 gold, Isabella Quaglia (KCH) was second in the girls’ under-13 event while Caelan Bambrick (KCH) was third in the under-13 boys’ event. Robert Patterson (Brow Rangers) was second in the boys’ under-16 shot-put competition.

Cormac Holden (KCH) and Conor Knox were the two long jump medallists over the weekend; Conor was first in the under-14 boys’ event while Cormac was second in the boys’ under-18 final.

The middle distance races on Sunday saw Tom Doherty (St Joseph’s) run a sensational race in the boys’ under-13 600m to not only win gold but set a new championship record - and a new PB. Clodagh O’Callaghan (KCH) ran another fine 800m to claim second in the girls’ under-18, and James Kelsey having won his heat and secured third in the under-18 with time trials finalising the winners. Killian Croke and Kara Canavan also added to the KCH medal tally in the under-16 800m events, both earning bronze medals.

The 60m hurdles drew huge numbers on Sunday afternoon, especially in the younger ages, where those competing from under-12 to under-15 first ran in heats and the finals later that evening. There were straight finals for under-16 through to under-19 age categories.

Five athletes medaled on the day, U13B 3rd Jacobs Briers (KCH) was third in the under-13 boys’ race, as was Fiach Crowley in the under-15 final. Ellen Daly (KCH) won gold in the girls’ under-16 final, Patrick Wall (KCH) was third in the boys’ under-16 final, with Victor Lamph (Thomastown) taking silver at under-17 level.