Kilkenny athletes net fine medal haul at Leinster championships

It was another busy week of competitive action for athletes from all around the county. With athletes competing in the Leinster junior, senior and masters track and field championships Kilkenny had a huge haul of medals across all events, with star performances across all age groups.

Held at the SETU arena in Carlow, athletes from Kilkenny City Harriers (KCH), Thomastown, Brow Rangers, Gowran, Castlecomer, St Joseph’s, Kings River and St Senan’s came home with medals.

The standard of competition varied across events and age groups as did the number taking part. In the majority of cases the masters categories were run together as one event, making for a better competition.

There were several personal bests throughout the weekend’s competitions. Conditions on Saturday made competing difficult for some events, as a 30km per hour wind blew across the track, making fast times difficult. Fast times were recorded in the 100m in particular which were aided by winds that measured +4.6 on the wind gauge. Sunday, by contrast, was warm with plenty of shows, making the track damp and heavy, impeding the creation of faster times.

One of the first events of the weekend was the men’s long jump. Jordan Knight (St Joseph’s) competed in the senior men’s event where he took gold with a best jump of 6.67m.

Knight is a versatile athlete who has ability over a range of events from sprints, jumps and hurdles has chosen for the moment to focus on long jump. The DCU student has a personal best of 7.06 from 2022.

St Joseph’s AC Shane Power took yet another Leinster pole vault title, clearing 4.21 on his first attempt. There was golden joy for both John Joe Lawlor and Tracey Malone (St Joseph’s) in the masters walk, with Lily Ryan taking third in the junior walk.

Charlotte Carpendale (St Senan’s) took bronze in the junior 800m, an event she has not competed in for over five years.

Jordan Knight (St Joseph’s) clears 6.67m in the senior long jump

Alex Cullen (KCH) has been in superb form this summer over the 400m hurdles. At the Leinster schools recently, he recorded a personal best of 54.18, edging all the time towards that sub 54 second 400m hurdles.

On Sunday he took gold in the Junior 400m hurdles, with a time of 54.59, despite an error on the first hurdle. Like Jordan Knight, Cullen has an immense array of abilities over a wide range of events and has achieved All-Ireland medals for long and high jump, hurdles and combined events. To complement his venture over the long hurdles, his 400m flat time has also improved and that is slowly creeping towards a sub-50 second run.

Molly Daly (KCH) was in action over the 200m winning both her heat and final. Blaithin Holden (KCH) is another junior to compete over the weekend. Holden finished second in the under-20 400m hurdles with a new personal best of 67 seconds.

Billy Coogan (KCH) retained his under-20 steeplechase with Tadgh Ryan (Thomastown) competing in his first Leinster junior steeplechase and taking silver. The Harriers also had a host of junior athletes taking part with further medals from Grace Delahunty in the 100m and 200m, Ella Wall in the high jump and Hazel Coogan in the javelin.

Graham Bourne (KCH) has no fear of trying new events. The affable masters athlete has already taken part in race-walking at the National Indoors. Last weekend he added some new events to his repertoire of competition endeavours.

Bourne took part in five events that are, in some cases, polar opposites on the competition scale. He secured gold in the masters over-40 steeplechase, 400m hurdles, 110m hurdles and weight for distance, along with silver in the triple jump. For Bourne it was more about the endeavour than the reward.

Conor Byrne was back in action after a lay off last summer due to an injury. The 19-year-old secured a personal best in the 400m. The KCH under-20 relay team of Alex Cullen, William Nugent, Cillian Daly and Killian Redmond secured gold in the 4x400m relay.

There were plenty of gold medals for Brow Rangers as the Kelly family made light work of the prolific medal tally the club had from the weekend’s activities. Murty Kelly and his two sons, Ciaran and Joe, won 12 gold medals between them. The family took gold in the shot, discus, hammer and weight for distance events.

Leanne Patterson competed in the junior women’s weight for distance and height. The newly established weight for height earned Patterson a new championship best performance as it was in its inaugural year. Sean Maher took gold in the over-25 shot and weight for distance.

Blaithin Holden (KCH) won silver in the junior 400m hurdles

Rachael Gardiner (Gowran) took silver in the junior women’s weight for distance and bronze in the shot-put. James Kelsey, competing in his first Leinster juniors, finished second in the triple and high jump competitions. Chloe Lynch (Gowran) finished third in the under-20 pole vault. Mary Fitzgerald (Gowran) was once again in action in the senior shot-put. The Paralympian, who has already achieved the Paris Olympics qualifying standard, continues to compete in senior shot-put competitions at every opportunity. Fitzgerald finished second.

Finally, an Irish u18 mixed relay team consisting of athletes running a medley of 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m competed in Carlow over the weekend. Molly Daly ran 300m on the Irish winning team along with Gloria Oigbochie, Eimear McGrath and Maria Zakharenko. Competing against this team were two KCH teams that finished second and third.

Manning improves in Brussels

There were several athletes in action abroad this weekend. In the Sport City British Milers Meet in Manchester Cathal O’Reilly and Myles Hewlett were taking part in the 1,500m races. O’Reilly competed in the A race where he finished 12th in a time of 3.51, six seconds off his personal best of 3.45 that he set in Belfast two weeks ago. Hewlett finished 11th in race E, completing the 1500m in 4.08, outside the personal best that he also set in Belfast recently.

There was better news for Cliodhna Manning (KCH) who travelled to Brussels to compete in the IFAM meet last weekend. Seeking a place on the Irish 4x400m relay after missing last summer due to injury, Manning ran 53.66 for 400m, which is an improvement on her performance in Belfast two weeks ago.

Known to gather momentum as the season progresses, she will hope to surpass her personal best of 52.60 set in Belgium in 2022. Irish 400m running has improved considerably over the past year, while Cliodhna was recuperating. Currently there are three Irish athletes qualified for the individual 400m for the European Championships in Rome and two for the Olympic Games as well as the women’s 4x400m relay and the mixed 4x400m relay.

Cliodhna has, in the past, been part of the relay squad and will hope to make an indelible impact on her 400m times to move towards inclusion for the Paris Olympics in August.

Also competing at the same meet was Pia Langton who was running in the 800m. Pia recorded 2.10.03 for the two-lap race.

USA

In the USA Grace Richardson, representing New York University, was competing in the Division 3 NCAA track and field championships at the Doug Shaw stadium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In the 10,000m she finished second with a time of 34.55. A few days later she competed in the 5,000m where she finished seventh in a time of 16.59.

International Selection

Pia Langton (KCH) has been named on a 20-strong selection of Irish under-18 athletes who will compete in an international competition in Palafrugell, Spain on June 8. The competition is aimed at those athletes who have already achieved the qualifying standard for this summer’s European under-18 track and field championships or those who are close.

Pia achieved the under-18 800m qualifying standard when she dipped under 2.10 at the Irish Milers meeting in Santry at the end of April. She is one of three Irish athletes who have already achieved this standard. Only two will be selected for the team that will travel to Slovakia in July for the under-18 championships.