The second day of the 123.ie National Juvenile Track and Field Championships in Tullamore produced another outstanding day of competition as Ireland’s emerging stars battled for national honours across the hurdles, middle-distance, walks, and field events.
The middle-distance events once again produced some of the highlights of the day.
Darragh Whelan (Limerick A.C.) secured the U16 Boys 800m title, crossing the line first in 2:03.07, finishing ahead of Evan Ward (Rosses A.C.) in 2:04.72, while Daire Beacroft (Fr. Murphy A.C.) claimed bronze in 2:05.93.
The U17 Girls 800m produced another high-quality contest with Isabelle Gaffney (West Waterford A.C.) continuing her outstanding season. Gaffney powered to victory in 2:10.34 ahead of Tara Rose Smith (Finn Valley A.C.) in 2:11.47, while Madison Welby (City of Lisburn A.C.) added another championship medal with bronze in 2:12.53.
Cameron McCracken (North Down A.C.) produced a polished display to secure the U19 Boys 110m Hurdles title in 14.70. Daniel Conway (Dundrum South Dublin A.C.) took silver in 15.16 with Mark Hazlett (North Leitrim A.C.) completing the podium in 16.19.
The U19 Girls 100m Hurdles saw Craughwell A.C. celebrate a superb one-two as Lauren Kilduff claimed gold in 14.51 ahead of clubmate Emma O’Donovan in 14.92. Lucy Hounkponou (Galway City Harriers A.C.) earned bronze in 15.03.
In the U18 Boys 110m Hurdles, Eddie Raicevic (Finisk Valley A.C.) overcame a strong headwind (-1.4m/s) to produce an excellent winning performance of 14.53. Daniel Redmond (United Striders A.C.) finished second in 15.21, while Yousef Abbassene (Donore Harriers A.C.) secured bronze.
Andrew Nolan (Roscommon A.C.) produced one of the standout performances of the weekend with a massive throw of 17.12m to set a new Championship Record in the U15 Boys Shot Put. Jack Collins (Bandon A.C.) threw 16.96m to take silver, while Roman Shevtsov (Athenry A.C.) completed the medals.
Mark Hazlett (North Leitrim A.C.) added a second medal to his day’s work by claiming the U19 Boys Triple Jump title with a best leap of 12.86m.
Rachel Beattie (Crookstown Millview A.C.) impressed in the U18 Girls Long Jump, taking gold with 5.64m, while Autumn Moran (Dundalk St. Gerards A.C.) secured the U14 Girls High Jump title after clearing 1.51m.
The pole vault competitions showcased more emerging talent. Reuben Nolan (Lusk A.C.) claimed the U16 Boys title with a clearance of 3.40m, Benjamin Huss (Tír Chonaill A.C.) won U18 Boys gold by clearing 3.50m, while James Kelsey (Gowran A.C.) secured the U19 Boys title with 3.05m.
James Dooley (Newbridge A.C.) also impressed in the younger age groups, winning the U13 Boys Shot Put with a best effort of 13.32m.
The race walks provided another excellent standard of competition throughout the afternoon. Owen Gannon captured the U14 Boys 2000m Walk title in 10:58.04, while Michael Crowley won U15 Boys gold in 9:39.33. Cuisle O’Callaghan secured the U16 Girls 2000m Walk championship in 10:02.22 before Caoimhe Phelan claimed the U19 Girls 3000m Walk title in 14:39.67.
Attention will now turn to the final day of competition on July 11th, where another full programme of national titles will be decided as Ireland’s brightest young athletes return to Tullamore.
