Double delight at indoor finals
Gold for Bowler and Reid
THE IRISH Life Health National Senior indoor championships took place over the weekend in the impressive National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown.
The nationals always see the very best of Irish athletics talent competing, vying for medals or even a qualifying standard to the European championships. The standard as ever was high.
Several of our county’s athletes were in action over the two days, hoping to secure a precious national medal.
First to deliver one such medal was Enniscorthy A.C’s Michael Bowler. Bowler, who normally competes in the decathlon, was entered for various events across the weekend.
His first, the pole vault, delivered his best result. Fresh from winning the Mr Oil athlete of the year at the Wexford Athletics awards night on Friday, Michael was hungry for even more success.
With a good early record and only Matthew Callinan-Keenan (St. Laurence O’Toole A.C.) able to keep the pressure on, the vaulters set out about attempting 4.60m. It was then that Bowler produced some magic.
A first-time clearance lifted him into ‘pole’ position, and Callinan-Keenan struggled. The Carlow man was unable to clear 4.60m, meaning Michael was heading for the top of the podium.
A gold medal is a massive achievement for a man who is focused on developing the next generation of pole vaulters in Wexford.
Michael returned on day two to compete again. This time it was over the 60m hurdles.
In his heat he produced a time of 8.58s, securing qualification as a fastest loser to the final.
Two other Wexford athletes were also hurdling the 3ft 5 barriers: Aaron Tierney-Smith of Menapians, who recently ran a new P.B. of 8.38s in the Irish University championships, and Peter O’Connor of Enniscorthy.
Aaron’s time of 8.62s secured qualification but unfortunately Peter just missed out, running 9.18s.
The final was to prove a bridge too far for Michael and Aaron. Aaron was running well until he badly hit a hurdle towards the end, forcing him to pull up. Michael finished a creditable fifth, running 8.61s.
Another man with his eyes on gold was Menapians A.C’s Leon Reid. Leon, who reached the final of the 200m of the European outdoor championships in 2018, was the man to beat in the 200m.
Following a comfortable qualification from the heats, all eyes were on lane six and Leon for the final. Nobody was surprised when he crossed the line and was once again crowned Irish champion, posting a time of 21.42s in the process.
Leon’s clubmate, David McDonald, won his heat but had to withdraw for the final. Also competing in the heats was Adam Fitzhenry of Adamstown A.C.
Leon also competed in the 60m. He was heavily fancied by many and in a really close race finished fourth, only missing out on a medal by a nail-biting one-hundredth of a second. Danny Roe of D.M.P. competed in the heats.
In the men’s 400m heats on Saturday, Menapians had two competitors. Mel O’Callaghan was up against Thomas Barr in his heat and ran a solid time of 53:87s.
His clubmate, Shaun Donohue, was running against the eventual bronze medal winner and ran a time of 51:47s. Unfortunately, neither made the final but both acquitted themselves well.
There was a stand-out and noteworthy performance from D.M.P. athlete Ciara Wilson in the Senior women’s 3,000m final. The race was won by Ciara Mageean.
Ciara Wilson finished an excellent seventh place, in doing so smashing her P.B., in a time of 9:47s. This is a fine result from the well-known duathlete.
As ever, Fiona Kehoe lined up for the women’s 800m. Fiona won the title two years ago and she continues to be Wexford’s golden girl on the track.
The Kilmore A.C. athlete cruised through a fast heat in a time of 2:10. The final was also going to be a quick race, with a couple of athletes having one more chance to secure a much-coveted place in the European championships.
Fiona really did everything in her powers. Up until the last 50m she was in fourth place but, unfortunately, she tied up a little and ended up in sixth. That being said, she couldn’t have given any more, running a time of 2:09.
Joe Mooney of Adamstown A.C. was in action on Saturday in the 5,000m walk. The race went off hard, with Alex Wright of Leevale walking just outside his national record. Joe finished sixth, walking a time of 22:58.
Enniscorthy’s Peter O’Connor was ninth in the men’s high jump, with a best of 1.75m. Menapians athlete Emmanuel Ogbonna was eighth in the men’s triple jump with a best of 12.82m.
It is a great achievement to have two national Senior medals returning to Wexford. Congratulations to the winning athletes, coaches and clubs.
For Wexford’s Senior athletes, the next indoor event will be in two weeks’ time in Abbotstown when the Leinster Seniors, Juniors and Masters take place.