Cullen, Lamph and Cooper were top of the class in Tullamore

Each week there seems to be more and more athletics accolades to report on. Performances are strong within the county, with many athletes now showing elevated performances and making Irish teams. Last weekend there were three major competitions - the All-Ireland Schools, Leinster Pairs and under-12/13 championships and the vhi Women’s Mini Marathon.

All-Ireland Schools

There is something about the All-Ireland schools competition that ramps up the intensity of summer athletics. It is that moment where athletes take a look at how they are performing and how improvements can be made.

For some like Kilkenny City Harriers (KCH) athlete Alex Cullen, there are very few adjustments that need to be made as he looks ahead to the Athletics Ireland championship season. Cullen has been consistently performing over the long hurdles this season and produced another 54 second performance in the 400m hurdles.

Representing CBS Kilkenny, the KCH athlete was over one second clear of Dubliner Ruaidhri O’Baoill in what has become Cullen’s favourite event. Cullen returned to the track later to snatch silver in the 110m hurdles.

Cullen obtained his first schools All-Ireland medal last year when he finished second in the intermediate long jump. He subsequently competed in the Tailteann Games where he was selected for this first ever international. A superb long jumper, he has chosen for the moment to concentrate on the hurdles - there is no doubt had he also chosen to do the long jump, he may very well have obtained a third medal. With a best of 54.18 from the Leinster schools, he is looking to break that magic 54 second barrier.

The hurdles produced another gold medal winner as Victor Lamph, representing Clongowes Woods, took the top honours in the junior boys’ 80m hurdles. The Thomastown AC athlete pulled clear of Daniel Redmond (Good Counsel) from the very first hurdle, sealing victory as he crossed the line in a time of 11.79.

Lamph finished second last year. This race puts him in prime contention for the Athletics Ireland track and field to be held in July.

Andrew Cooper may have decided to finish his rugby career and take up athletics just a few years ago, but it probably has been one of the best decisions he has made in his young life. Focusing on the shot-put Cooper, under the tutelage of John Farrelly of Kilkenny College, has not only won All-Ireland schools and Athletics Ireland shot-put titles, he has also represented Ireland on a few occasions, including at the Europeans.

Cooper threw 15.02m to win the senior shot by over one metre from Liam Shaw (Athenry). Having adopted the spin technique this year, Cooper is still struggling with its mastery and had only one legal throw. It was enough to earn him the gold, with extra to spare. He also took bronze in the discus.

Alex Cullen (CBS) winner of the senior 400m hurdles

Amy Walsh (Loreto) was favourite to win the 1,200m junior walk. The St Joseph’s athlete has been unbeaten all year and has been an impressive winner of many very competitive competitions including the Andalusian Championships in Spain in February. Race walking is a very technical event, where the athlete’s trailing leg must be straight and one foot must connect with the ground at all times.

Coming into the schools event Walsh had an impeccable record, having never received a warning. However, she suffered the cruel fate of a first DQ as she attempted to pass another athlete on the home straight with about 50m to go. This is something that happens to race walkers on occasion. Like many before her, Walsh will bounce back, defy the critics and champion her event once more.

Doubling up in events is something that those competing in field events or sprints often do. While it is not uncommon to see an athlete competing in the 100m and 200m on the same day, or the 100m and the long jump, rarely do you see athletes take part in two middle distance events, owing to both the distance of the event and the slow recovery from lactate that builds up in their muscles over the duration of the race.

Billy Coogan (CBS) attempted to do the steeplechase and 5,000m combination. Coogan finished second in the steeplechase to a much-improved Noah Harris (Wicklow). Two hours later he ran in the 5,000m, where he finished fourth.

Another athlete to take a silver medal was Aisling Phelan. The Castlecomer CS student got her first ever schools All-Ireland medal when she finished runner-up to Belfast’s Esther Smith in the 100m final. Her training partner Ellen Daly (Loreto) won silver in the 200m. A fast-finishing Daly almost caught Smith on the line as just two-tenths of a second separated the pair.

In what was another thrilling finish Pia Langton (Loreto) took silver in the senior 800m. Langton and Saoirse Fitzgerald (Lucan) battled for gold over the final 100m, with the Lucan woman prevailing. Fitzgerald has run 2.08 for 800m this year and is the fastest of the three girls who have dipped under the 2.10 qualification standard for the under-18 European Championships.

The final silver medal went to Molly Daly. Like Langton, Daly has also achieved the qualifying standard for the under-18 European Championships. Racing over the longer distance of 300m, Daly finished second to Erin Friel (Letterkenny), losing the battle by just five-hundredths of a second.

Robert Patterson (Castlecomer CS) finished in third place in the junior boys’ hammer. The Brow Rangers athlete comes from the Kelly school of throwing and has excelled in hammer, shot and discus. Patterson struggled a bit as he fouled three of his five throws, but managed to throw 38.59 from his third throw.

Leinster

As if the weekend was not busy enough with the schools held on Friday and Saturday, parents and officials had to turn around and head back up to Tullamore on Sunday for the Leinster under-12 and 13 and pairs championships. The distance events proved to be very successful for Kilkenny athletes as they won a gold, silver and one bronze.

Robert Patterson (Castlecomer CS) won bronze in the junior hammer in Tullamore

There was no sprint finish needed for boys’ under-12 race as Tom Doherty (St Joseph’s) was a class apart from the rest of the field. Leading from start to finish, the Glenmore native crossed the line in 1:43:80 over a second clear of James O’Toole (St Pats). Doherty has been unbeaten since the start of the track and field season.

There was another medal in the boys’ under-13 category as Daniel Greene (KCH) finished second in a time of 1:40:03, just one-hundredth of a second slower than Rhys Mooney (Ratoath). The finish was so close it went to a photo finish, where Mooney secured the winning verdict.

There were two medals from the sprinting events. In the boys’ under-12 60m Elvis Urbastas (St Joseph’s) took bronze while Aoibhinn Kelly took bronze in the under-13 80m. Nuenna AC had their first ever Leinster individual medal when Joey Nolan took bronze. In a rather unusual result four athletes shared the bronze medal – all clearing 1.30m. Another of the four was Caelen Bambrick (KCH). Bambrick also took bronze in the under-12 shot-put. Conor Knox took gold in the under-13 shot-put.

Throwing a distance of 12.18, he was exactly three metres ahead of Crookstown’s Matthew Joyce.

The under-11 boys’ county relay team took gold with Kyle Dunne. Daniel Quinn, Huw Morgan and Luke Hamilton. The under-13 girls and boys took silver apiece.

European Championships

For the past few years Kilkenny has had representatives in the European Off-Road Championships. Most are cross-country runners who diversify, testing their ability on more mountainous terrain. In 2022 it was Hannah Kehoe who tried her hand at the off-road challenge. This year it was the turn of Callum Barron (KCH). Living in Graignamanagh, with Kilkenny’s tallest peak Mount Brandon, towering nearby, Barron had the perfect training ground.

Held in Annecy, France, amidst amazing scenery, the competition which includes uphill, downhill, and up and downhill events ran from last Friday to Sunday. Callum got his first international vest when he was selected for team Ireland in the under-20 up and downhill classification.

This 5.9km race had a maximum elevation of 400m. While it may not seem much, this elevation will rise over a 2.5km distance and can include some sharp uphills on rough mountain paths.

Mountain running is no easy task with rough narrow trails, rocks and often sprawling vegetation, cross-country pales in significance to its difficulty. Barron did take a few tumbles along the way, such is the nature of this event. In total 38 runners from 14 different European countries toed the start line as the race started at 8am on Sunday. Barron finished 32nd in a time of 33 minutes, five minutes behind the winner, Antoine Puy de Bois of France.

Women’s Mini Marathon

Meabh Richardson was third in the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon

If in years to come, a study of the Women’s mini marathon is conducted, the name Richardson will crop up a few times. Back in the 1980s Niamh Richardson finished runner-up in the 10km event held annually since 1983 in Dublin. In 2019 her daughter Aoibhe Richardson took first place in a time of 34.35. Last Sunday, Aoibhe’s sister Meabh finished third while another sibling, Grace, was fourth! Meabh recorded a time of 35.02, Grace 35.25.

The siblings ran together for much of the race, which was both encouraging and motivating. However, like all seasoned competitors, sibling love and understanding will yield to a competitive nature, with Meabh drawing clear of Grace over the final kilometre.

The winner of the 10km race was Ide Nic Domhnall (West Limerick) in a time of 33.22. In total there were three Kilkenny athletes in the top 10, with Lauren Dermody (Castlecomer) finishing 10th in 36.48.