The countdown is on for the 2026 IUAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. On Friday April 17th (today) and Saturday April 18th, the student-athlete community descends upon Munster Technological University (MTU) in Cork for two days of high-stakes intervarsity competition.
With MTU hosting on their home turf in Bishopstown, the atmosphere is expected to be electric as athletes battle for individual glory and those precious team points. Here is your preview of what to expect based on last year’s explosive performances and the rising stars of the 2026 season.
Sprints and hurdles
UCD will be hoping to retain the sprints trophy with strong names like Cara Murphy, Joe Doody, David Bosch and Darragh Murphy ready to fight for the medals.
Max O’Reilly and Colin Doyle, both MTU, will be hoping to use the home turf to their advantage in the Men’s 200m. DCU will look to boast a strong contingent overall but with Craig Duffy and Nkemjika Omwumereh in the 100m they will hope for more than just one medal in the event. Eoin Kenny (UL) will hope to add to his 400m indoor title while Fintan Dewhirst (UL) will hope to dominate once again in the Men’s 400m Hurdles.
Katie Bergin will look to run strong in the Women’s 100m with Aisling Stratford and Daisy Walker, both DCU, hoping to make it another 1-2 in the Women’s 400m. Aobh Forde is a name to keep an eye on in the Women’s 200m. Adam Nolan (SETU) is the standout when it comes to the high hurdles.
Middle and Long Distance
DCU will look to keep a firm grip of the middle distance trophy again this year after their years of dominance over track and field has started to diminish in recent years. They feature strongly in both the Women’s and Men’s 800m where Niamh Murray and Hazel Hughes will battle it out in the women’s race while it’s hard to look past both Finn Woodger and Callum Hurley in the men’s race.
They won’t have it all their own way though strong representation from the likes of UL with Mark Hanrahan (1500m and 3000m Steeplechase) and Fauve Aylmer (800m). Oisin Lane and Seamus Clarke will be strong contenders also in the Men’s 3000m Walk.
Other names to be on the look out for are Kyle Moorehead, Oisin Davis and Neasa Ni Ainifein (UG), Oisin Toye (ATU), Avril Cashmann (UCC) and Danny Nugent (DKIT).
Field Events
The field is where multi-talented athletes like Laura Frawley (UL), last year’s Athlete of the Year thrive. She played a pivotal role in UL winning both the Jumps and Throws trophy’s last year.
Aoife O’Sullivan (MTU) will be looking to make use of her home advantage in the Women’s High Jump. Emmanuel Osas (DCU) will remain the man to beat in the Men’s High Jump. Conor Callinan (DCU) and Joshua Fitzgerald (MTU) will battle it out in the Men’s Pole Vault. Adam Turner will be another home favourite if he too can bring home a medal for MTU in the Men’s Long Jump.
Aaron O’Connor (Triple Jump), Kotryna Pacerinkaite (Weight for Distance and Shot Put) and Callum Keating (Shot Put) will look to bring home some titles for UL after impressive performances indoors. Ciara Sheehy (DCU) will hope to be ever dominant in the Women’s Shot put while Anna Gavigan (DCU) will look to do likewise in the Women’s Discus.
Nicola Tuthill (UCD) in the Women’s Hammer Throw will be looking to improve her IUAA record once again this year as she enters the circle as well as the very impressive UL duo of Conor Cusack and Oisin Joyce in the Men’s Javelin.
Team Battle
The IUAA Outdoors is unique because of the team scoring system. While individual medals are the goal, every 5th and 6th place finish matters for the overall standings.
DCU and UL have historically been the giants of the competition, but host college MTU will be looking to capitalise on their familiar surroundings to break into the top tier while SETU will be looking to improve on a narrow second place in the men’s competition indoors. You can also never count UCD out of the running also.
Preview by Eoin Sharkey (Irish Universities Athletics Association)
