The National Juvenile Indoor Championships are the pinnacle of the juvenile indoor athletics season, and took place over three days on 23rd March, and the 6th and 7th of April at the TUS International Arena in Athlone. The country’s best juvenile athletes descended upon the venue with hopes of competing for national honours.
Leevale AC was exceptionally well represented with 40 athletes competing in 11 events over 7 age groups for boys and girls, including 5 relay teams. It is noteworthy that club juveniles were competitive across the full range of athletic events including sprints, hurdles, middle distance, jumps, throws and relays. The medal haul, which was across the full range of events, comprised 12 gold, 9 silver, and 1 bronze, while the relays delivered a silver and 2 bronze. Further, there were two new championship record performances. The quantity and quality of performances across the full range of events is indicative of an enormously healthy juvenile section within the club, which is vital to the club’s future.
Indeed the club was awarded the Drifter Cup for the 4th year in a row. The Drifter Cup is the national award for the best juvenile club in the country. There is enormous gratitude and credit due to the efforts and team work of the coaches, the club administrators, and the parents, without whom such success would not be possible.
A summary of the performances is detailed below:
Sprints:
In the 60m sprints, the Leevale athletes competing included Alison Scully, Rahman Adekunle, Caoimhe Daly, Faye Scriven, Josh O’Mahony, Anthony Goggin, Emma O’Leary, Elena O’Sullivan, Fatima Amusa, and Kyle Kamden.
There were 3 gold medal performances from Alison Scully in a time of 7.76 seconds in the girls U15, Caoimhe Daly with a time of 7.74 in the girls U17 and Elena O’Sullivan with a time of 7.70 in the girls u18. There were silver medal performances from Rahman Adekunle in the boys U15 with a time of 7.76 and his sister Fatima in the girls U19 with a time of 7.77.
In the 200m sprints, Leevale athletes included Caitlin Hancock, Caoimhe Daly, Faye Scriven, Josh O’Mahony, Sophie Mulcahy, Elena O’Sullivan, Fatima Amusa and Patrick Corkery.
There were 3 medal performances with a gold for Fatima in the girls U19 with a time of 24.90, silver for Sophie in the girls u18 in a time of 25.32 and followed home closely by Elena for the bronze with a time of 25.41.
In the 400m distance, Josh O’Mahony was the sole Leevale athlete in the boys U17.
Hurdles:
Competing in the highly technical 60m hurdles, Leevale juveniles included Anna Vaughan Reddan, Rahman Adekunle, Louise Mullins and Diarmuid Bannon.
There was a gold medal finish for Rahman Adekunle in the boys u15 with a new PB in a time of 9.02. There was a silver medal performance from Louise Mullins with a PB of 9.12 in the girls u17. There was also a new PB for Anna Vaughan Reddan in the girls u15 final with a time of 9.78.
Middle distance:
Leevale competitors in the 800m included Tom Crowley, Kate O’Donovan, Ronan Keenan, Lauren Dinan, Mercedes Rauchenecker, Daniel Golden, Jack O’Rourke and Nicole Dinan.
There was a gold medal performance from Nicole Dinan in the girls u19 with a time of 2:16.45. Ronan Keenan made the final of the boys U16 while Daniel Golden ran a new PB in his heat of the boys u17 with a time of 2:03.29
In the 1500m event, the sole Leevale competitor was Luke Merrigan who finished 5th with a new PB of 4:22.76.
Shout out (and welcome) to Liam O’Driscoll who competed for Riverstick/Kinsale in the 800m & 1500m while waiting for his transfer to process.
Throws:
In indoor athletics, the throws event is limited to the Shot Putt for obvious reasons. Leevale competitors included Joshua Hanna and Fionn Naughton.
There was a gold medal performance from Fionn with a new PB of 13.31m
Jumps:
Pole Vault competitors included Noelle Mulcahy, Ciara Mahony, Olive Burger, Fionn Naughton, Oscar Naughton and Alex Neff.
There were gold medal finishes for Noelle Mulcahy (Gu16) with a clearance of 2.65m, Fionn Naughton (BU15) with a new CR of 3.00m and Alex Neff (BU18) with a PB and new CR of 4.01m.
There were silver medal performances from Ciara Mahony (GU16) competing in her first nationals with a jump of 2.40m, Olive Burger (GU17) with a jump of 3.00m and Oscar Naughton (BU17) who jumped a new PB of 3.80m
Leevale competitors in the Long Jump included Caitlin Hancock, Rahman Adekunle, Oscar Naughton and Ryan Onoh.
Ryan Onoh continued his good indoor form with gold in the boys U17 competition with a jump of 6.77m. His jump was only 1cm off the CR.
There were silver medal performance from Caitlin Hancock (GU16) with a jump of 5.35m and Rahman Adekunle (BU15) with a jump of 5.56m.
In the High Jump, Leevale competitors included Aideen Hegarty, Fionn Naughton, Noah Dorgan, Anna Vaughan Reddan, Ben O’Brien, Tiffany Daniel, Diarmuid Bannon and Maeve Fleming.
A gold medal finish was achieved by Maeve Fleming (GU19) with a clearance of 1.70m.
There were new PBs from Fionn Naughton (BU15) with a jump of 1.58m, Anna Vaughan Reddan (GU15) with a jump of 1.45m and Tiffany Daniels (GU17) with a jump of 1.45m.
In the Triple Jump, Leevale competitors included Georgia Hynes-McLaughlin, Diamuid Bannon and David Flynn.
Relays:
In the 4x200m relays, the club had 5 teams qualified for the finals (GU15, GU17, BU14, BU15 & BU16).
BU16 – Luke Merrigan / Ronan Keenan / Luke Mullins / Colm O’Riordan, won silver,
GU15 – Anna Vaughan Reddan /Allison Scully / Nina Fox / Aoibhe O’Regan, won bronze,
GU17 – Caoimhe Daly / Faye Scriven / Louise Mullins / Sintija Sarkovska won bronze,
BU15 – Rahman Amusa Adekunle / Fionn Naughton / Cole McDonnell / Ethan Bambury, finished 4th,
BU14 – Darragh Manning / Cole McDonnell / Eoin Herlihy / Sean McSweeney, competed at their first national finals.
Finally:
In these trying times for Cork athletics it is a huge credit to coaches, parents and the athletes themselves that we had so many competing on the national stage. It is not easy trying to prepare for competitions without any track, but it is great to see everyone pulling together and helping each other out as much as possible.
Roll on the outdoor season, and with a bit of good weather we might even see the works completed in MTU.
| Triple Jump | ||||
| BU18 | 5th | Diarmuid Bannon | 10.50m | |
| BU19 | 4th | David Flynn | 11.10m | |
| GU16 | 7th | Georgia Hynes McLaughlin | 8.58m | |
| High Jump | ||||
| Gu13 | 9th | Aideen Hegarty | 1.25m | |
| BU15 | 5th | Fionn Naughton | 1.58m | PB |
| BU15 | 12th | Noah Dorgan | 1.40m | |
| GU15 | 6th | Anna Vaughan Reddan | 1.45m | PB |
| Gu19 | Gold | Maeve Fleming | 1.70m | |
| BU17 | 8th | Ben O’Brien | 1.55m | |
| GU17 | 10th | Tiffany Daniel | 1.45m | PB |
| BU18 | 7th | Diarmuid Bannon | 1.75m | |
| Shot Put | ||||
| BU12 | 13th | Joshua Hanna | 6.60m | |
| BU15 | Gold | Fionn Naughton | 13.31m | PB |
| Pole Vault | ||||
| BU15 | Gold | Fionn Naughton | 3.00m | CR |
| BU17 | Silver | Oscar Naughton | 3.80m | PB |
| BU18 | Gold | Alex Neff | 4.01m | CR /PB |
| GU16 | Gold | Noelle Mulcahy | 2.65m | |
| GU16 | Silver | Ciara Mahony | 2.40m | |
| GU17 | Silver | Olive Burger | 3.00m | |
| Long Jump | ||||
| GU16 | Silver | Caitlin Hancock | 5.35m | |
| BU15 | Silver | Rahman Amusa Adekunle | 5.56m | |
| BU17 | 8th | Oscar Naughton | 5.50m | |
| BU17 | Gold | Ryan Onoh | 6.77m | |
| 60m | ||||
| GU15 | Gold | Alison Scully | 7.76 | |
| BU15 | Silver | Rahman Amusa Adekunle | 7.48 | |
| GU17 | Gold | Caoimhe Daly | 7.74 | |
| GU17 | 8th | Faye Scriven | 8.09 | |
| BU17 | Heat | Josh O’Mahony | 7.77 | |
| BU17 | Heat | Anthony Goggin | 7.54 | |
| GU18 | Heat | Emma O’Leary | 9.51 | |
| GU18 | Gold | Elena O’Sullivan | 7.7 | |
| GU19 | Silver | Fatima Amusan | 7.77 | |
| BU19 | 4th | Kyle Kamdem | 7.19 | |
| 60mH | ||||
| GU15 | 6th | Anna Vaughan Reddan | 9.78 | PB |
| BU15 | Gold | Rahman Amusa Adekunle | 9.02 | PB |
| GU17 | Silver | Louise Mullins | 9.12 | PB |
| BU18 | 8th | Diarmuid Bannon | 9.37 | |
| 200m | ||||
| GU16 | 4th | Caitlin Hancock | 26.12 | |
| GU17 | Heat | Caoimhe Daly | 26.46 | |
| GU17 | Heat | Faye Scriven | 26.93 | |
| BU17 | Heat | Josh O’Mahony | 24.92 | |
| GU18 | Bronze | Elena O’Sullivan | 25.41 | |
| GU18 | Silver | Sophie Mulcahy | 25.32 | |
| GU19 | Gold | Fatima Amusan | 24.9 | |
| BU19 | Heat | Patrick Corkery | 25.03 | |
| 400m | ||||
| BU17 | Heat | Josh O’Mahony | 55.94 | |
| 800m | ||||
| BU14 | Heat | Tom Crowley | 02:21.4 | |
| GU16 | Heat | Kate O’Donovan | 02:21.1 | |
| BU16 | 6th | Ronan Keenan | 02:09.5 | |
| GU17 | Heat | Lauren Dinan | 02:25.5 | |
| GU17 | Heat | Mercedes Rauchenecker | 02:40.4 | |
| BU17 | Heat | Daniel Golden | 02:03.3 | PB |
| BU18 | Heat | Jack O’Rourke | 02:02.6 | |
| GU19 | Gold | Nicole Dinan | 02:16.4 | |
| 1500m | ||||
| BU16 | 5th | Luke Merrigan | 04:22.8 | PB |