Aviva All Ireland Schools Track and Field Launch

Aviva All Ireland Schools Track and Field finalists Molly Scott and Brian Masterson were dreaming of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games today as they launched this year’s finals with current International athletes and Irish Schools record holders Brian Gregan (400m) and Sarah Lavin (100m Hurdles) in the Japanese Gardens in Kildare.

Gregan and Lavin are both focused on European qualification at the moment ahead of the Championships in Zurich in August and while Scott and Masterson’s can dream of a spot at the Games in Japan in 6 years their minds will be on Saturday in Tullamore where they will hope to become Irish School’s champions.

Scott and Masterson are two of over 20,000 athletes who begun the quest to make the All-Ireland Finals this weekend. Scott of Scoil Chonlais is the Leinster intermediate schools champion in the 80m Hurdles and will be hoping to get some tips from Sarah Lavin who has made a fast start to her outdoor season as she tries to secure a spot in Zurich.

Speaking at the launch Scott said “I am really looking forward to the championships on Saturday, I am competing in the 80m hurdles and the 100m, the schools championships are always lots of fun.”

Similarly 400m Leinster intermediate schools champion Masterson of Blackrock College will be looking at Brian Gregan’s path from School’s champion to Irish record holder and hoping to emulate the first part of that transition on Saturday by becoming All-Ireland champion in Tullamore. He has been in excellent form so far this year setting a new Leinster Schools record of 49.49 in winning the title.

Masterson said “I am going to try my best on Saturday; I really enjoyed the Aviva Leinster Schools Championships and I am looking forward to competing in the 400m and the 4×100m relay for my school Blackrock College, it should be a great day.”

Current Irish Schools Record Holder Sarah Lavin said “I loved the schools competition; they were always of the highest quality and brought out the best in everyone. It gave you a taste of International competition when you had the chance to represent Ireland at the annual Aviva Schools International.”

Irish Schools 400m Record Holder Brian Gregan said “I have very fond memories of the All-Ireland Schools Championships, I won my first All-Ireland Schools medal in the 400m hurdles and then picked up few more in the 400m. It is a brilliant competition and acts as the benchmark for future success.”

Mark Russell, Sponsorship Manager, Aviva, said; “This is our fourth year as sponsors of Schools athletics and we are now starting to see those athletes who began in Schools athletics, making their mark in the senior ranks. Especially Brian and Sarah here today who are part of a new wave of athletes coming through for the future and let’s hope that Molly and Brian (Masterson) can follow in their footsteps. To all the athletes competing on Saturday it has been a fantastic achievement to make the All-Ireland finals and irrespective of how they perform on the day I hope they can take that experience forward as they dream of future Olympic Games.”

A full preview of this weekend’s Aviva All Ireland Schools Track and Field Championships will be available on the website on Thursday.