Gold rush for students
Furlong shines on double in Tullamore tests
WEXFORD STUDENTS struck gold at the Irish Schools Athletics Association All-Ireland championship finals, held in Tullamore on May 30, 2015.
Three national titles were secured, along with a set of gold medals for the Senior girls’ relay team from St. Mary’s (New Ross).
The Barrowside school had a day to remember on the whole, because the star of the event with two individual gold medals – Marguerite Furlong (Adamstown A.C.) – was also a second year student.
The young thrower was competing in both the shot putt and the discus at Minor level, in her first opportunity to contest a national event for schools.
First up was the discus where she hadn’t the best of starts, throwing just over 24m to give hope to her rivals.
However, she came back with a second attempt of 36.25m which would have easily won the event, before outdoing that with 37.71m to claim her first gold medal.
The second title was claimed in the Junior shot putt, setting her apart from majority of athletes in Tullamore.
Her first throw in the shot was far enough to earn her gold with 11.46m, but once again she went on to surpass that and her eventual result was 11.87m, over 60cm ahead of the second-placed athlete.
The third gold medal went to Furlong’s Adamstown club colleague Ryan Carthy-Walsh, representing Good Counsel College (New Ross).
He was contesting the Intermediate boys’ high jump, hoping to add to his Junior title won in 2014, and facing one of his closest rivals, Robbie Marrs from Belfast.
Both succeeded in eliminating all other contenders by the time the bar hit 1.85, and Ryan went on to sail over 1.95m with ease on his first attempt.
Marrs only made the height at the third time of asking and, with both boys knocking 2m, Ryan was declared All-Ireland champion on countback.
Eimear O’Doherty of Loreto (Wexford) and D.M.P. claimed silver in the Senior girls’ high jump, while Bronagh O’Hanlon (Presentation and Taghmon A.C.) filled second spot in the Junior girls’ hammer.
Sophie McCabe of Meanscoil Gharman and Bree A.C. won silver in the Intermediate triple jump, and Mikey Cullen (St. Peter’s College and Menapians) came second too, in the Senior boys’ long jump.
Ryan Murray (Enniscorthy C.B.S. and Bree A.C.) earned bronze in the Intermediate boys’ 100m, and among those unlucky to miss out on medals with fourth place finishes were Katie Young (Presentation and Menapians), Enda Cloake (St. Peter’s and Menapians), Joe Mooney (Good Counsel and Adamstown), and Chloe Whelan (Meanscoil Gharman and Menapians).
SOPHIE TIERNEY underlined her consistency and quality when she boxed her way to victory in the All-Ireland Youth 2 54kg final five years ago.
The Kilmore native, a member of the Clonard club under the tutelage of coach Tom Hayes, collected the title for the second year in a row at the National Stadium in Dublin.
Her desire to complete a double was crystal clear in the semi-final when she dismissed Michelle McMeel of Clonmel by a unanimous 3-0 decision from the judges.
And she really showed her mettle in the final, seeing off Gilford boxer Clodagh McComiskey on a split decision, coming from behind after losing the first round.
Remarkably, it was only the third year of competitive boxing for Tierney, but she had displayed admirable progress.
After winning county championships, the Michael Andrews title on two occasions, as well as tasting provincial success, she was very much at home when making the step up to the national stage.
And as well as training three nights a week with dedicated coach Hayes in the Clonard club, Tierney was combining that with regular Saturday morning journeys to Dublin to participate with the sport’s high performance unit. She had been picked to join that elite crew after her maiden national title.
The 16-year-old had already made her debut at international level, losing narrowly to Amanda Lundstrom of Sweden and Jade Ashmore from Great Britain after two close contests, but gaining tremendous experience in the process.