Success for Irish Schools at 2014 SIAB

At the 2014 SIAB Schools International Track and Field Championship the team won eleven gold, ten silver and eight bronze, one of the best performances ever by an Irish team in this competition. 

Results: https://www.athleticsireland.ie/downloads/other/SIAB_-_Cardiff_-_Schools_2014_.pdf

 

Middle/Long Distance

Kevin Mulcaire’s run in the Intermediate 3000m was probably the stand out performance by an Irish endurance athlete. Kevin took the lead from the gun and stretched out the field. With 1km to go he took his foot off the gas and let the English athlete Stephen Ferroni take pole position. Still Kevin was on his shoulder and waited patiently until 450m to go when he attacked. His surge took him away from Ferroni and was able to celebrate his victory in comfort as he came down the finishing straight.

In the girls 800m Carla Sweeney acquitted herself well to take a brilliant bronze medal. Only three seconds separated the first three and Carla was only pipped for the silver medal in the final ten metres. In the 1500m, Carla’s schoolmate Nadia Power also won after a brave performance. She went with the breakneck speed set by Rosie Johnson of England. Although Nadia came off the pace after the first kilometre she fought all the way to the line which she reached in 4.34. In the first year of the Girls 1500m steeplechase young Alison Armstrong acquitted herself very well. She was part of a breakaway group of three from the start and was still challenging for gold when the bell was rung for the final lap. Although Emily Griffin of Wales pulled clear, Alison was able the sprint strongly in the last 150m to win a silver medal.

Hurdles

Jack Murphy in the 100m Hurdles ran 13.55 for a great victory. His time had him well clear of the England duo that finished in second and third.

In the 300m Hurdles Amaris Borel produced a brilliant victory. Despite having to run in lane one she was aggressive from the start and it was soon clear that she was going to win well. In the sprint hurdles Molly Scott added another medal to Ireland's tally with silver. Her time of 11.62 a great run into a strong wind.

Sprints

Brian Masterson from Blackrock rose to the challenge by running a massive new pb in the 400m. He was aggressive from the start and despite two English athletes running 48 seconds, Brian showed them a clean pair of heals running 48.58.

Brian’s golden performance was matched in the Girls 100m by Megan Mars who ran 12.01 to win. She had been in the lead from the gun and ran her great time despite running into a -1.3 wind.

 

Jumps

With a jump of exactly 2 metres Keith Marks set himself clear of the competition in the High Jump. This medal won early on Saturday seems to have encouraged great success in all the jumps events. Yuri Kanash from Waterford also won a silver medal. He came 2nd in the Pole Vault after clearing a height of 4.02m. Tullamore athlete Jordan Hoang jumped a 31cm pb in the triple jump to win a brilliant bronze medal.  All the more significant when you consider he is under age for this competition again next year. The long jump also saw success for Ireland with Daniel Ryan’s jump of 6.77m securing the bronze medal.

In the Girls Long Jump Elizabeth Morland set a high standard for the other Irish athletes with a fine win. Her jump of 5.87m put her 8cm clear of England’s Simi Fajemisin. In the Girls High Jump Sommer Lecky jumped well to take the bronze medal. Her jump of 1.64m put her within 5cm of gold medallist, Abby Ward of England. Ireland also had a medal winner in the triple jump. Young Maria Carey showed great poise to win a silver medal with a jump of of 12.10m

Race Walks

Aaron Egan and Andrew Bell had a great day in the 3000m walk to win the gold and silver medals respectively. Egan’s time of 12.59 a great performance in very hot conditions. A third medal in the walks went to Niamh O’Connor who in the girl’s race was very competitive. She came second after pressuring England’s Sophie Lewis-Ward all the way to the line.

Throws

Eoin Sheridan and Andrew Barkley had a great result in the discus with Eoin breaking the record in winning the competition with a throw of 55.43m. Barkley threw over 50 metres as well and got the bronze medal. Jack Magee added to the haul with a bronze in the Javelin.

Michaela Walsh led the way for the girls with two wins in throwing events. First up for Michaela was the hammer. With a throw of 58.29m she was way ahead of the competition with the two English girls both throwing 54 metres. Michaela’s throw was also a massive new championship best performance.   Her throw of 15.08m in the shot putt was over a metre ahead of the other competitors and almost 30cm over the previous championship best performance. Two fine wins for a promising young talent. Orlaith O’Brien managed to throw out the javelin to over 45 metre and in the process secured a silver medal.

 Relays

The four relay races rounded off the day and Irish times were rewarded with medals in all four events. In the Boys 4 by 100m the team ran England right to the finishing line and should be very happy with their 42.19 second time. The lads running in the 4 by 400m relay should be very happy with their bronze medals. They ran 3 minutes 23 seconds and were only one second off the silver.

Having had good success in the individual events it was no surprise that the Girls 4 x100m team were in contention for the win. They all gave their best and were less than one tenth of a second off the English team which won. Still silver medals were a great return. The girls 4 by 300m relay team also ran England close and in a frantic sprint to the line only lost out by .24 of a second.