The GloHealth Tailteann Games took place on Friday, 19th of June in Morton Stadium, Santry. An exciting line up of intermediate athletes took part in a busy day of track and field events. The experienced line up showcased some of Irelands top athletes on a day which saw many previous records broken. The Tailteann games provided the platform for athletes to gain entry into the Schools International Championships, which takes place in Scotland on the 18th of July.
Fitzpatrick, Neville and Scott sprint to Victory
Emer Fitzpatrick (Our Lady's Terenure) stormed to victory in the 1500m steeplechase, setting a new record in a time of 5:12.42. Fitzpatrick beat the previous Tailteann games record by six seconds.
Ciara Neville (Castletroy College) continued her impressive form with a duo of first place victories in the 100 and 200m girl’s events. Neville broke two Tailteann game records in the process, running a time of 11.4s in the 100m and 24.1s in the 200m.
Molly Scott (Scoil Chonglais) placed second in the 100m girl’s race on the day with a quick time of 11.9s. Scott later went on to go one place better, claiming victory in the 80m hurdles with a record time of 11.14s.
Close Competition in the Boy’s Sprints
David Murphy (CBS Kilkenny) set a time of 11.20 to win the 100m boys race, while Shola Edodo (Templeogue College) took the 200m race with a time of 22.30s. Kevin McGrath came in under 1:57 to claim a tight 800m race.
Walsh throws 60.66m in an exciting day of Field events
Michaela Walsh (SM&P Swinford) took early control of the girls shot putt and Hammer Throw. Walsh won both events by setting new Tailteann Games records. A huge second throw of 60.66m led to first place in the Hammer Throw, while a final throw of 16.38m ensured that the Mayo athlete claimed a second gold for the day.
Elsewhere in the field, Sommer Lecky (Strabane Academy) claimed a close fought Girls Long Jump competition, with a jump of 5.55m. Lecky later went on to win the high jump with 1.73m. Sophie McCabe (Mean Scoil Gharmain) took top spot in the Triple Jump event with a leap of 11.28 to put her ahead of the competition going into her final jump.
Shane Martin (Belfast) took the boy’s Pole Vault event with a spectacular jump of 3.90m. David and Daniel Ryan (Thurles CBS) took first and second place respectively with 6.77m and 6.72m.