Leevale athletes were in outstanding form at the Munster Juvenile Indoor Championships held in Nenagh over the weekend. A total of 59 Leevale athletes (31 girls and 28 boys) competed across the full spectrum of events on offer, coming away with 43 medals, 17 Munster titles, 4 championship best performances and many personal bests.
John Cashman was the star performer when setting new Munster Championship Best Performances (CBPs) in winning both of the boy’s U13 60m hurdles and 60m sprint titles. On Saturday John broke Wymin Sivakumar’s 60m hurdles record from 2014 in both the heat and the final where his winning time was a super-fast 9.49s. John returned to the track on Sunday to smash the 60m record in both the heat and the final with times of 8.13s and 8.00s respectively.
Harry Nevin was also in record breaking form as always. Harry bettered Daniel Ryan’s CBP in the boy’s U15 60m hurdles with a winning time of 8.83s where he was chased to the finish line by Colin Murphy who also recorded a sub 9 second time. Harry won a fantastic duel in the 60m sprint with a time of 7.60s with Colin Murphy not far behind taking 3rd in 7.76s.
Okwi Bacari dominated the girls U13 60m hurdles event when setting CBP marks in both the heat and final where her winning time was a fantastic 9.61s. Fatima Amusa made it a Leevale 1/2 in this event with a 2nd place finish. Earlier Okwi and Fatima finished in 2nd and 3rd positions in the 60m sprint. Okwi displayed her all round athleticism by also taking medals in the Long Jump and High Jump events.
Wymin Sivakumar was another busy athlete winning both the U17 60m hurdles (8.64s) and long jump (6.37m) titles at his ease. Wymin finished a close second in the 60m with a super time of 7.25s and 2nd in the 200m in 23.50s despite being hampered by running from lane 2. Shane Aherne finished 2nd and 3rd in the U17 60m hurdles and 200m.
Reece Ademola had a jumps double when winning the boys U16 long jump (5.87m) and high jump (1.80m) events. Hugh Collins took silver the 60m hurdles in this age group.
Lucy Sleeman won the girls U15 60m in 8.08s where she was followed closely by Ella Scott in 2nd place. Ella turned the tables in the 60m hurdles where she led from the gun to win in a fast 9.24s with Lucy in 2nd place close behind.
Aisling Cassidy ran excellently to take the girl’s U18 60m hurdles title in 9.28s. Emily Wall similarly dominated the girls U16 hurdles race, winning easily in 9.42s.
Aishat Onilogbo won the girls U18 long jump with a leap of 5.02m before finishing 2nd in the 60m sprint in 8.18s.
Marc Jones took gold in the U19 200m in 23.52 and bronze in the 60m in 7.39s.
It was fantastic to see Leevale athletes so prominent in the pole vault event, taking 4 Munster medals on Saturday. Colin Callinan was a close 2nd in the boy’s U15 event with a vault of 2.30m. Una Brice was 2nd on her pole vault debut in the girl’s U15 event. Sara Buckley and Elena Collins took 2nd and 3rd in the girl’s U16 event.
In the high kump Kyle Ettoh took the boys U14 title with 1.58m while Hannah Murphy took the girls U19 title with a jump of 1.55m and Jonah Osobase was 3rd in the boy’s U16 event with 1.60m. Orlaith Onoh took silver in the girls U16 event with a clearance of 1.50m having also finished 3rd in the shot. Also in the shot, Holly Umeh took bronze in the girl’s U16 event.
Ben Smith was 2nd in the boy’s U19 1500m while David Okoh was 3rd in the boy’s U19 60m.
Summary of Leevale medallists and automatic qualifiers for All Irelands in table below
| Age | Event | Place | Athlete | Performance | |
| Girls U13 | 60m | 2 | Okwi Bacari | 8.43s | |
| Girls U13 | 60m | 3 | Fatima Amusa | 8.50s | |
| Girls U13 | 60m Hurdles | 1 | Okwi Bacari | 9.61s | CBP |
| Girls U13 | 60m Hurdles | 2 | Fatima Amusa | 10.15s | |
| Girls U13 | High Jump | 3 | Okwi Bacari | 1.35m | |
| Girls U13 | High Jump | 4 | Brianna Onoh | 1.35m | |
| Girls U13 | Long Jump | 3 | Okwi Bacari | 4.37m | |
| Girls U13 | Long Jump | 4 | Orla O’Sullivan | 4.36m | |
| Girls U14 | 60m Hurdles | 4 | Jessica Lyne | 9.96s | |
| Girls U15 | 60m | 1 | Lucy Sleeman | 8.08s | |
| Girls U15 | 60m | 2 | Ella Scott | 8.11s | |
| Girls U15 | 60m Hurdles | 1 | Ella Scott | 9.24s | |
| Girls U15 | 60m Hurdles | 2 | Lucy Sleeman | 9.36s | |
| Girls U15 | Pole Vault | 2 | Una Brice | 1.95m | |
| Girls U15 | Shot | 3 | Brenda Onoh | 8.38s | |
| Girls U16 | 60m Hurdles | 1 | Emily Wall | 9.42s | |
| Girls U16 | High Jump | 2 | Orlaith Onoh | 1.50m | |
| Girls U16 | Pole Vault | 2 | Sara Buckley | 2.10m | |
| Girls U16 | Pole Vault | 3 | Elena Collins | 1.95m | |
| Girls U16 | Shot | 3 | Holly Umeh | 8.21m | |
| Girls U18 | 60m | 2 | Aishat Onilogbo | 8.16s | |
| Girls U18 | 60m Hurdles | 1 | Aisling Cassidy | 9.28s | |
| Girls U18 | Long Jump | 1 | Aishat Onilogbo | 5.02m | |
| Girls U19 | High Jump | 1 | Hannah Murphy | 1.55m | |
| Boys U13 | 60m | 1 | John Cashman | 8.00s | CBP |
| Boys U13 | 60m Hurdles | 1 | John Cashman | 9.49s | CBP |
| Boys U14 | High Jump | 1 | Kyle Ettoh | 1.58m | |
| Boys U14 | 60m | 4 | Kyle Ettoh | 8.40s | |
| Boys U15 | 60m | 1 | Harry Nevin | 7.60s | |
| Boys U15 | 60m | 3 | Colin Murphy | 7.76s | |
| Boys U15 | 60m Hurdles | 1 | Harry Nevin | 8.83s | CBP |
| Boys U15 | 60m Hurdles | 2 | Colin Murphy | 8.99s | |
| Boys U15 | 60m Hurdles | 4 | Conor Callinan | 9.68s | |
| Boys U15 | Pole Vault | 2 | Conor Callinan | 2.30m | |
| Boys U16 | 60m Hurdles | 2 | Hugh Collins | 9.56s | |
| Boys U16 | High Jump | 1 | Reece Ademola | 1.80m | |
| Boys U16 | High Jump | 3 | Johan Osobase | 1.60m | |
| Boys U16 | Long Jump | 1 | Reece Ademola | 5.87m | |
| Boys U17 | 200m | 2 | Wymin Sivakumar | 23.50s | |
| Boys U17 | 200m | 3 | Shane Aherne | 24.02s | |
| Boys U17 | 60m | 2 | Wymin Sivakumar | 7.25s | |
| Boys U17 | 60m Hurdles | 1 | Wymin Sivakumar | 8.64s | |
| Boys U17 | 60m Hurdles | 2 | Shane Aherne | 9.12s | |
| Boys U17 | Long Jump | 1 | Wymin Sivakumar | 6.37m | |
| Boys U18 | 200m | 1 | Marc Jones | 22.52s | |
| Boys U18 | 60m | 3 | Marc Jones | 7.39s | |
| Boys U19 | 1500m | 2 | Ben Smith | 4.31.00 | |
| Boys U19 | 60m | 3 | David Okoh | 7.26s |
Photos from Leevale and extra from Dooneen AC (taking photos for Munster Athletics).
