Day three of the GloHealth National Juvenile Indoor Championships took place in AIT International arena on Saturday, 28th of March. There were spectacular performances on the track and in the field with Ciara Neville and Aisling Forkan (Swinford AC) producing the standout moments of the day in the 200m.
European Junior Standard for Neville & Forkan
Aisling Forkan and Phoebe Murphy (Ferrybank AC) brought the crowd to their feet as they were locked in battle coming down the final 50m of the U18 200m final. Forkan just managed to edge it running a new personal best of 24.18 with Murphy right behind in second in a time of 24.30 seconds. Forkan’s time was inside the qualifying standard (24.25) for the European Junior Championships which are scheduled to take place in Sweden from the 16th-19th of July. Ciara Neville (Emerald AC) went even quicker when winning the U17 200m as she flew to a new personal best of 24.01 seconds to also go under the qualification standard for the European Junior Championships.
Sean Lawlor (Donore Harriers AC) won a highly competitive U19 boy’s 200m race in a fast 21.79 seconds with Sophie Becker (St Joseph’s AC) winning the girl’s equivalent in a time of 24.61 seconds. The time for Becker was also a new Championship Best Performance (CBP).
800m
One of the closest races of the day come in the U18 girl’s 800m with Amy Hamill (Glaslough Harriers AC) just getting the better of Carla Sweeney (WSAF) to win the title in a time of 2.15.07. Louise Shanahan (Leevale AC) dominated the U19 800m to win in time of 2.20.18. Roland Surlis (Annalee AC) commanded the U19 boy’s race with a powerful last lap to win the title in 1.57.10 with John Fitzsimons (Kildare AC) taking the U18 title in a time of 1.58.69.
Of the younger age groups Corinne Kenny (St Laurence O’Toole AC) smashed the championships best with a 2.16.12 winning performance in the girl’s U14 event. The was also a new CBP set by Aaron McGlynn (Finn Valley AC) in the U16 800m with his time of 1.58.03.
Joyce & Kelly Shine in the Field
Shane Joyce (Cushinstown AC) was the clear winner of the U19 triple jump contest and also set a new CBP of 13.93m in the process. James Kelly (Finn Valley AC) launched the shot putt out to a massive distance of 17.60m to win the U16 title and set a new CBP. Daniel Ryan (Moycarkey Coolcroo AC) leapt out to 6.78m in the U17 long jump to set a new CBP as younger brother David Ryan (Moycarkey Coolcroo AC) won the U16 title with a leap of 6.37m.
More championships best performances came in the shot putt with Ciara Sheehy (Liscarroll AC) winning the U14 title with a throw of 14.07 and Darragh Miniter (St Marys Clare AC) winning the boy’s U15 title with a throw of 15.38m. Another eye catching performance in the field events came in the U15 girl's shot putt when Katie Murphy threw a distance of 12.49m which broke Michaela Walsh's old mark of 12.47m set in 2012.
60m Hurdles
Leanne Prout (Carrick on Suir AC) won the girl’s U19 title in a time of 9.03 with Jason Foley (Lios Tuathail AC) a clear winner of the boy’s title in a time of 8.40. Daniel Ryan flew to a new championship best performance in the U17 event with his time of 8.14 seconds. Miriam Daly (Carrick on Suir AC) was also in record breaking form as she won the U15 title in a time of 9.01 seconds.