Excitement is building ahead of the 123.ie All-Ireland Schools Track and Field Championships which take place in Tullamore on Friday (May 30th) and Saturday (May 31st).
Over one thousand athletes from nearly 400 schools (392), representing every county in Ireland, are expected to descend upon the Midlands venue for an action-packed two days of athletics.
Friday’s opening evening session will be live streamed on the Athletics Ireland YouTube channel from 5:30pm, while Saturday’s action will also be streamed. Both days will be available to watch HERE.
- Timetable is HERE.
- Spectator tickets are HERE
- Schools Roll of Honour is HERE
- Entries and Live Results are HERE
Track action
Action on the track gets underway at 6:00pm on Friday evening with the walks leading out a bumper evening session.
There looks set to be an exciting battle in the Senior Boys 3000m event between Seamus Clarke (St. Muredach’s College Ballina) and Matthew Newell (Coláiste Bhaile Chláir). Both athletes raced over 10km at the recent European Race Walking Team Championships in Czechia, with Clarke finishing 13th and Newell placing 19th.
Last year’s intermediate champion Robin Óg Murphy (Mercy College Ballymahon) steps up to the senior ranks this year and despite this will prove tough to beat.
Daniel Glennon (St. Finian’s Mullingar) is one to watch in the Intermediate Boys 2000m Race Walk, while Tailte O’Callaghan (High Cross College Tuam) is a leading contender in the Intermediate Girls event, looking to follow in the footsteps of her father Pierce who claimed the Intermediate title in 1992.
Friday’s track action concludes with the steeplechase events and the Senior Boys 5000m. The Intermediate Girls 1500m Steeplechase has the potential to be a cracking race with Lucie Cawley (Mercy College Sligo), Sophie Maher (St. Flannan’s Ennis), Rachel Keaney (Newbridge College) and Ella Dinan (St. Angela’s Cork) all sure to fancy their chances of making the podium.
Cillian Gleeson (Colaiste Chiarain Leixlip) has run personal bests in the 1500m, mile, 3000m and 5000m in 2025 and goes into the Senior Boys 5000m in red-hot form.
Saturday morning’s track action begins with the Intermediate and Senior Girls 3000m titles on the line and the possibility of school’s records falling looks to be on the cards. In the Intermediate Girls race, sisters Freya and Holly Renton (Sacred Heart Westport) know what it takes to medal at this event, while Emma Hickey (St. Mary’s New Ross) broke 9:40 at the Leinster Schools Championships. Emily Bolton (Institute of Education) leads the entries in the Senior Girls event.
Both Senior Boys and Girls 400m Hurdles races look particularly intriguing. Des O’Neill (St. Fintan’s Sutton) stormed to a new personal best of 52.61 at the IFAM Outdoor meet in Brussels last weekend, while Ethan Dewhirst (St. Columbas Glenties) has a season’s best just 0.05 outside of that, making the boys race incredibly exciting.
Lauren Kilduff (Gort Community School) and Ellis McHugh (Waterpark College) look set to go head-to-head in the Senior Girls race.
The title of Ireland’s fastest schoolboy and schoolgirl will be down for decision shortly afterwards. Cillian Doherty (Belvedere College) has the fastest time in the Senior Boys field so far this year, having clocked 10.61 earlier this month. Donal Martin (St Martins Blackrock), Lemar Gabriel Lucciano (Coláiste Muire Mathair Galway) and Leon Ewere (Merlin College Galway) will also have their eyes on coveted medals.
Elena O’Sullivan (Regina Mundi Cork) clocked a time of 11.87 at the IFAM Outdoor meet last weekend and if she can replicate that she’ll fancy her chances of winning Senior Girls gold. Others to watch include Katie Doherty (Ratoath College), Hannah Falvey (SMGS Blarney) and Alisha May Maher (Tullamore College).
Both Intermediate Girls and Boys 100m are also stacked with quality. Angela Cielecka (Dominican College Taylors Hill Galway), Alicja Doyle (Belmayne ETSS) and Destiny Lawal (Castletroy College) are set to go in the Girls race, while Ben Sykes (Grosvenor GS Belfast), Joshua Awujoola (Dromore High School) and Dubem Amah (Moyle Park College) will battle it out in the Boys race. Awujoola and Sykes were separated by less than one hundredth of a second at the recent Ulster Schools Championships.
Over 200m, European U18 medallist Joe Burke (Our Lady’s Templemore) will prove tough to beat in the Intermediate Boys race but Donal Martin (St Martins Blackrock) will do his upmost to challenge him. The Intermediate Girls race looks exciting with Destiny Lawal (Castletroy College) and Tiffany Nwaedozie (Christ King Cork) going head-to-head.
The 800m races will split the 100m and 200m finals and could provide some of the races of the day. The Senior Boys field looks particularly strong with names entered including Matthew Fitzpatrick (St. Mary’s Dundalk), Liam Morris (Colaiste Chilliain Clondalkin) and Loretto Milford duo Michael Moore and Caolan McFadden.
Another two-lap tango worth watching will be the Intermediate Girls race with Clara Casey (Lumen Christi Derry), Freya Bateman (Mount Mercy Cork), Faye Mannion (Coláiste Muire) and Lily Flood (Ratoath College) amongst the leading names.
The short hurdles finals are set for 1:15pm. Cameron McCracken (Royal Belfast Academy Institute) will be hoping to continue his excellent start to 2025 in the Senior Boys 110m Hurdles. The Senior Girls 100m Hurdles final looks set to be a cracker and is hard to call with extraordinary depth in the eight-girl field. Orlaith Mannion (Seamount College Kinvara), Amy Timoney (Rosses CS Dungloe) and Abigail Farrell (Kings Hospital) are just three of the names to look out for.
The one lap wonders are set to take to the track from 2:10pm with the senior races looking exciting. Last year’s Senior Boys champion Seán Doggett (Coláiste an Eachreidh) will look to retain his title but won’t have it all his own way as Alex Cullen (CBS Kilkenny) and Christopher Lynch (Belvedere College) pose a real challenge and will push him all the way to the line. The Senior Girls race appears to be wide open.
The 1500m finals are on track from 2:50pm. Emily Bolton (Institute of Education) looks set to go head-to-head with Gemma Galvin (St. Michaels Kilmihil) in the Senior Girls final. The Senior Boys final looks wide open.
Relay fever sets in from 3.50pm, with teams from some 80 schools entered. There is sure to be no lack of thrills and spills as the 4x100m races get things up and running. The final track action of the day will 4x300m and 4x400m senior races.
Field finals
Several Minor and Junior field events take place on Friday evening before the older age groups kick off on Saturday morning.
The Senior Girls High Jump will be one of the first competitions underway at 9:15am. Tara O’Connor (St. Vincents Dundalk) is likely to go head-to-head against Siun Quinn (St. Colmcilles CS Knocklyon). Conor Penney (Calasanctius College Oranmore) leads the entries for the Intermediate Boys event and will be hoping to produce a strong performance.
Michael Kent (Good Counsel College New Ross) is set to compete in the Senior Boys Pole Vault. The standard in the event is high with several other athletes expected to contest for silverware. Meabh Corkery (St. Mary’s Midleton) will have her eyes set on winning the Senior Girls title.
In the Hammer throw, European U18 gold medallist Thomas Williams (Colaiste Dun an Ri Kingscourt) will be looking to add another schools title to his ever-growing medal collection. Caoimhe Gallen (St. Columbas Stranorlar) will be hoping for a big effort in the Senior Girls event.
The Intermediate Girls Shot Put promises to be an exciting competition with Emer Purtill (Mungret CC Limerick), Meabh O’Connell (St. Angelas Cork) and Tara Osborn (Colaiste Muire Crosshaven) set to feature. In the Senior Boys event Theo Hanlon (Kildare Town C.S.) and Andrew Cooper (Kilkenny College) look set to battle it out for gold.
In the Senior Boys Javelin, Andrew Scanlon (St. Declan’s Kilmacthomas) and Aaron Crowley (Ballinrobe Community School) appear to be the leading entries, while in the Senior Girls event Enya Silkena (St. Louis Dundalk) will be hoping for a big throw.
Both Intermediate Long Jump competitions will be hotly contested. Tiffany Nwaedozie (Christ King Cork), Cara Ryan (Loreto Clonmel), Nicole Flanagan (Mercy College Sligo) and Aine Frawley (St. Marys Charleville) are vying for medals in the girls event, while in the boys competition JP Archbold (Patrician SS Newbridge) and Ryan Onoh (Ashton) are amongst the names to watch.
Patience Chinda (St. Pauls SS Monasterevin) and Leagh Moloney (Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh) are amongst the favourites for Senior Girls Triple Jump gold, while national senior indoor medallist Darragh Fahy (St. Brigids College Loughrea) will hope for a big leap in the Senior Boys competition.
Chloe Ryan (Presentation College Carlow) is one of the athletes to watch in the Senior Girls Discus Throw, while Corey Scanlan (St. Augustines) will be hoping to challenge for the title in the Senior Boys event.
- Link to live results HERE
- Please note only 5mm pyramid spikes are permitted on the Mondo surface. Under no circumstances are needle spikes of any length allowed. High Jump competitors only may use 7mm.
- No dogs will be allowed on site at the track in Tullamore.
