Brennan and Knox find winning combination in Leinster finals

Conor Knox (KCH) was a gold medal winner at the under-13 Leinster combined events

placeholder image — Conor Knox (KCH) was a gold medal winner at the under-13 Leinster combined events

While international eyes were on Rome, local athletes were busy picking up medals at home

There was euphoria for Irish athletics as the nation’s best won gold at the European championships over the last few days.

Following hot on the heels of the success of the Irish 4x400m mixed relay team of Chris O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Tom Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley, Ciara Mageean was crowned the new women’s 1,500m European champion in Rome.

Against this momentous backdrop, Kilkenny’s athletes continue to perform to great levels on the domestic front, where there were multiple competitions taking place. Leading the way were Mia Brennan (Thomastown) and Conor Knox (Kilkenny City Harriers - KCH) who won their gold in the under-14 and under-13 Leinster Combined Events Championships respectively.

KCH continued to dominate the Leinster relays when they took home eight medals while the Thomastown boys’ under-11 team took home bronze medals - their girls’ team were unlucky not to medal also.

On the international front, Pia Langton travelled to Spain as part of an Irish under-18 team to compete in the Catalan Championships, finishing second.

Leinster Champions

Two clubs from the county took part in the Leinster Combined events in Tullamore over the weekend, both winning gold medals. Mia Brennan (Thomastown), competing in the girls’ under-14 pentathlon, won three events: the hurdles, long jump and high jump and finished third in both the shot and 800m.

The pentathlon is a tough event where the athletes must complete their five events on one day putting in maximum effort for the points allocated for each time, distance or height. The final event is the 800m which most multi-eventers find difficult. In a true test of their all round ability, the 800m really does decide on the best overall athlete. It is in this event that many a competition has been lost or won. For Brennan, her third placing secured what she had already gained from her previous events. Zoe McKenna (Thomastown) finished sixth in the same age group with a great win in the high jump. Her win was shared with Mia Brennan as both athletes cleared the same height.

Conor Knox took gold in the under-13 quadrathlon. The KCH athlete won both the long jump and the shot-put and was fifth in both the hurdles and 600m. Knox showed some outstanding talent at both the Leinster under-13s and the county championships recently. Things look good for him as he will work on the pentathlon for next year.

There were further medals for Thomastown when Zoe Beck finished second in the under-15 pentathlon. Beck won the long jump and high jump and was second in the 800m, all of which accumulated enough points to secure the silver medal.

There was no stopping Graham Bourne in the masters pentathlon. Competing in the masters over-45 category the KCH athlete, who has been seen competing in events that ranged from race-walking to steeplechase, got plenty of practice over the last number of months. He had excellent victories in the javelin, 200m and 1,500m, enough to secure him the overall gold.

Leinster Pairs Success

Two clubs in the county won medals at the recent Leinster pair championships in Tullamore. Designed for under-nine, 10 and 11s where the combined result of two athletes counted towards a medal position, the pairs event works well for an inclusivity at the formative athletic years all in the under-nine to under-11 age group. Thomastown won three sets of bronze medals with KCH winning four sets.

Mia Brennan (Thomastown) was the winner of the Leinster under-14 combined events

Thomastown won two sets of medals in the girls’ under-11 competition. The long jump saw Alisha Farrell and Jessica Mackey team up in a competition where there were 56 participants. Alisha Farrell finished fourth overall with Jessica Mackey 10th, enough to bring the girls to the bronze medal position.

Mackey then teamed up with Sarah Collins for the 60m where the girls also won bronze medals. This result is significant given that there were 10 heats in the 60m with close to 80 athletes taking part.

Not to be outdone by the girls, the team of Kyle Dunne and Alfie Challoner also took bronze in their 60m event with the boys finishing second and third in their respective heats.

Langton in Spain

Pia Langton travelled to Palafrugell Spain with the Irish under-18 team to compete in the Catalan Championships. Pia and her team-mates Saoirse Fitzgerald and Jennifer O’Leary dominated the 800m with Saoirse finishing first, Pia second and Jennifer third. It was a great experience for these athletes who have achieved the qualifying standard for the European under-18 championships in July.

Leinster Relays

Nine relay teams featured in the medals at the Leinster relay championships in Tullamore, eight sets going to KCH and one to Thomastown. As usual the city team executed impeccable baton changing, a key catalyst in securing those medal positions.

The day started with the under-nine relays where KCH produced not just a winning performance but also a new championship best performance to boost. The team stormed down the home straight to produce a 1:07:46 run, beating their opponents Barrow Valley by a whopping three seconds. The team of Jonah Cleere, Cian McIntyre, Henry Trayer and Dara Walsh got all their baton changes perfect and were in command of the race from the start.

The boys’ under-11 race saw two Kilkenny teams make the podium. The KCH team of Daniel McIntyre, Daniel Quinn, James Healy, Conor Lawrence Delaney easily won their heats and sailed through to the final. Ratoath won the final but the Harriers raced really well throughout, grabbing silver for their efforts. The Thomastown team of Alfie Challoner, Kyle Dunne, Luke Hanlon, Niall Connelly finished second in the heats and raced past their heat winners Navan in the final to grab the bronze.

Kilkenny City Harriers athlete Pia Langton (right) competed for Ireland at the Catalan Championships in Spain at the weekend, finishing second in the 800m

KCH have some very talented sprinters on the girls’ under-15 4 x 100m relay. With Ellen Daly and Aisling Phelan national medallists on an individual basis, this team were favourites to make the top three. The team of Ellen Daly, Aisling Phelan, Kara Canavan and Mollie Rose Keegan ran very well to take silver. It was their old rivals Ratoath who took the gold in a new championship best performance, just two seconds ahead of the city team.

The girls’ under-17 KCH team went one better and stole the show with a blistering performance to beat Ratoath by over four seconds. The team of Aoibh Quinn, Kate Maher, Ruth Crowley and Molly Daly led from start to finish in what was a brilliant display of baton changing and athleticism. A strong under-18 4x400m team of Grace Delahunty, Ella Wall, Hannah Quinn and Clodagh O’Callaghan took gold in a convincing manner as they were almost 100m clear of their nearest rivals Ratoath.

There was further success in the afternoon when the even age 4x100m relays were held. The girls’ under-10 team had a magnificent run to take the bronze medals.

The boys’ under-12 KCH team went one better and took silver in a very close race where St Joseph’s athlete Elvis Urbstas ran a blistering 100m leg.

St Joseph’s finished fourth in the final, just one-tenth of a second off third place. A photo finish call had to decide which team got the bronze medals.

A strong Kilkenny City Harriers girls’ under-14 team were clear winners of the 4x400m relay. Mollie Rose Keegan, Jasmine Timmins, Ella Sorohan and Kelly Charters were over a second clear of Ratoath, beating them in the final as they did in the heats. The final medal winners of the day were the girls’ under-18s who finished third.