Cream of the crop set for Irish Schools’ Championships
Cream of the crop set for Irish Schools’ Championships
That time of year has rolled around again where Ireland’s best schools’ athletes compete in the Irish Life Health All Ireland Schools Track and Field Championships in Tullamore on Saturday (June 1st).
The 122 event programme will be streamed live on Facebook HERE from 9:30am and includes some already well-known rising stars such as Sarah Healy (Holy Child Killiney), Rhasidat Adeleke (Presentation Terenure) and Darragh McElhinney (Col Pobail Bantry). Provisional programme are entries are HERE with a schools history statpack HERE and timetable HERE.
The walks get the track programme underway with Emily McHugh (St Mary’s Naas) in the intermediate girls’ 2,000m and Oisin Lane (Mercy Ballymahon) in the senior boys’ 3,000m two to watch out for.
From the walks it goes to the long hurdles with Tony O’Connor (Naas CBS) looking to make an impression in the senior boys’ 400m hurdles as Leinster champion.
There promises to be an exciting senior girls’ 400m hurdles with Deirdre Murray (St Josephs Rochfortbridge) and Miriam Daly (Scoil Mhuire Carrick) going head-to-head.
In the intermediate girls’ 80m hurdles there should be another engaging duel between Niamh Moohan (Abbey VS Donegal) and Bevan McCaffrey (Loreto Cavan) while while David Slupko (Castleknock College) will be looking to make an impression in the senior boys’ 110m hurdles.
The distance gets longer and the hurdles become barriers with open steeplechase races in the offing. And then it’s on the 100 metres and the fastest schoolboys and girls in Ireland.
Rhasidat Adeleke (Pres Terenure) will headline the intermediate girls’ 100m and 200m where similarly Aaron Sexton (Bangor), is set to light up the track in the senior boys’ 100m and 200m.
The senior girls’ 100m has a trio of up-and-coming sprinters in Patience Jumbo-Gula (St Vincent’s Dundalk), Lauren Cadden (Ursuline Sligo) and Lauren Roy (St Patrick’s Ballymena). Cadden also competes in the 200m.
The 800m races will provide another exciting and open spectacle. Cian McPhillips (Moate CS) and Louis O’Loughlin (Moyle Park) face off in the senior boys’ 800m while Aimee Hayde (St Mary's S S Newport) will look to continue her fine form in the 800m and 1500m in the intermediate girls.
Darragh McElhinney (Col Pobal Bantrai) grabbed the headlines last week by becoming the first Irish U20 athlete to break 14 minutes for 5,000m running 13:54 in Oordegem, Belgium. He drops down in distance to the senior boys’ 1500m where Shay McEvoy (St Kieran’s Kilkenny) should provide a good test, Efrem Gidey (Le Cheile Tyrellstown) broke a long-standing Leinster 5,000m record and is favourite to retain the senior boys’ long distance title. Similarly there should be no stopping Sarah Healy (Holy Child Killiney) in the senior girls’ 3,000m.
Davicia Patterson (Hunterhouse) heads the rankings in the senior girls’ 400m with Jack Raftery (Castleknock College) aiming to top the pile in the senior boys’ 400m.
Multi-eventer Kate O'Connor (St Vincent's Dundalk) is a force to be reckoned with in the senior girls’ high jump and javelin.
Adrienne Gallen (St Columba's Stranorlar), daughter of former high jumper Sharon Foley (4th Irish all-time list at 1.88m), did a junior girls’ hammer and shot put double in Ulster setting records in both and if she can repeat her form in the Hammer she will be after the record of Alice Akers.
Some athletes in the jumps to look out for include Wymin Sivakumar (Col an Spioraid Naomh) in the senior boys’ triple jump, Ruby Millet (Kikenny College) in the senior girls’ long jump, Emma Coffey (St Angelas Cork) in the senior girls’ pole vault and Nelvin Appiah (Moyne CS) in the senior boys’ high jump.