A team of 34 athletes and 8 team managers travelled to Grangemouth, Scotland to compete in the Scottish U17 Championships over the weekend of the 17th and 18th of August 2024.
It was a very successful two days, with 23 medals won and a further 13 top 10 finishes. Jamie Hyland opened day 1 with gold in the pole vault, which was followed up by further gold medals for Sean O’Donnell in the 100m, Daniel Conway in the 400m hurdles and Jacob Ciomek in the 1500m steeplechase with a new PB of 4.34.02. Roisin Murray added gold in the final track event of the day; the 300m in a new PB of 40.27 secs. She was also awarded a special medal commemorating 100 years since Eric Liddell won gold at the Paris Olympics in 1924.
Day 2 was a continuation of the gold rush, with Barry Langan opening proceedings with gold in the javelin, which was also a new PB of 56.24m. This was followed up by gold for Dubem Amah in the 200m, Emma Brennan in the 1500m steeplechase with a new PB of 5.22.11 and Philip Finnan in the long jump, which was an increase in his PB of over 40cm to 6.63cm. Cameron McCracken added the final gold of the weekend in the 100m hurdles.
The Field Eventers performed strongly throughout the weekend, with silver medals for Isobel Keane in the javelin (7cm off her PB of 36.84cm), Lauren Healy in the high jump, Riona Luse in the triple jump with an equal PB of 11.21m and Olive Burger in the pole vault, while Eoin Malik took bronze in the triple jump and Méabh Corkery took bronze in the pole vault. Kieran Keane followed up his silver medal in the shot put with a bronze in the discus, increasing his PB by over 3 metres to 42.73m, while Méabh O’Connell matched Kieran’s double in taking bronze in the shot put and silver in the discus. Caoimhe Daly narrowly missed out on a medal but was rewarded with a new PB of 5.42m in the long jump, as was Meghan Sheahan in the hammer with a new PB of 42.68m.
Back on the track, Ellis McHugh took silver in the 300m hurdles, Shane McGovern took bronze in the 400m and Emer McKee also took bronze in the 1500m, while Cassie O’Byrne set a new PB of 25.38 secs in her third 200m of the day.
Thank you to the Juvenile Competition Committee for organising the trip and the management team that travelled to support the athletes. Well done to all the athletes on their performances, with the experience gained laying the foundation for future success.
