INDOOR LEAGUE TITLES ON THE LINE IN ATHLONE
The AAI National Indoor League Final takes place this Saturday (Feb 3rd) at the TUS International Arena in Athlone, where Dundrum South Dublin and Clonliffe Harriers will look to defend their respective indoor titles.
Both clubs once again boast strong line-ups, but there will be no shortage of likely challengers on the day.
Men’s Final
Clonliffe Harriers dominated last year’s indoor league final, finishing 16 points clear of their nearest rivals in Leevale and Nenagh Olympic. The Dubliners have looked strong once again in qualifying and a team stacked team with league winning experience is sure to see them the likely favourites.
Rolus Olusa should play a leading role for the defending champions with the multi-event star set to take his place in the 60m hurdles, triple jump, and pole vault. Olympian Marcus Lawler is also entered for Clonliffe and will a tough one to catch in the 200m, while rising star Sean Cronin (800m) and national indoor 1500m champion Eoin Pierce are sure to be challenging for maximum points in their events.
Leevale will look to go one better than last year’s second place finish and will call upon the services of the in-form Reece Ademola in the long jump, fresh from his 7.93m U23 record in Ostrava on Tuesday.
Nenagh Olympic won’t be lacking for young and exciting talent in their team either with rising sprint star Padraic Hassett set to take his place in the 200m before backing up in the afternoon’s relay.
Ratoath boasted the second-best score in qualifying and the conveyor belt of young talent coming through their ranks continues to bear fruit at a national level. Expect to see them right to the fore in the sprints and relay events.
Craughwell’s Conor Penney provided one of the highlights of the early league rounds with the celebrations of his 2.00m clearance in the long jump receiving many plaudits. Penny will swap the high jump for the hurdles on Saturday with the 15-year-old continuing to show his versatility.
Juan Ignacio Pena heads the entries for Raheny Shamrock and should he manage a big performance in the 800m and 1500m, he could just pull Raheny into podium reckoning.
Women’s Final
DSD will look to retain their indoor league title come Saturday afternoon and their recent opening round showings have done little to play down their chances.
Mollie O'Reilly will head the DSD charge in the 60m, while multiple national champion Amy O'Donoghue will be looking to continue her strong start to the 2024 season with leading points totals in the 800m and 1500m races.
Ratoath AC once again look to have an exciting group of athletes taking to the final on Saturday with recent U20 champion Katie Doherty set to lead the line in the 60m and 200m for the Meath club.
Clonliffe Harriers will have eyes on the podium with last year’s national 400m hurdle champion, Jessica Tappin, set to reintroduce herself to multi-eventing once more as she takes on the shot put, 400m, 60m hurdles, and potentially the relay.
Leevale call upon the talented Okwu Backari in the 60m hurdles, with masters athlete of the year Annette Quaid set to lead the charge for the Cork club in the 400m.
Raheny’s Orla Comerford continues her preparations for another huge year with an appearance in the 60m.
The team from Carraig na bhFear has shown remarkable consistency of performance of late and could very much be one of the dark-horses for Saturday’s podium.
Action in Athlone gets up and running from 11am.
League Finalists:
|
Team |
Gender |
|
Carraig na bhFear AC |
Female |
|
Clonliffe Harriers AC |
Female |
|
Ratoath AC |
Female |
|
Dundrum South Dublin AC |
Female |
|
Leevale AC |
Female |
|
Letterkenny AC |
Female |
|
Raheny Shamrock AC |
Female |
|
Tullamore Harriers AC |
Female |
|
Team |
Gender |
|
Clonliffe Harriers AC |
Male |
|
Craughwell AC |
Male |
|
Galway City Harriers AC |
Male |
|
Leevale AC |
Male |
|
Letterkenny AC |
Male |
|
Nenagh Olympic AC |
Male |
|
Raheny Shamrock AC |
Male |
|
Ratoath AC |
Male |