Artem takes triple jump title

Bountiful weekend for Wexford at national indoor meet

THE CONCLUDING weekend of the 123.ie national Juvenile indoor championships, held on Saturday and Sunday in Athlone, was brimming over with stellar performances which saw a good number of records fall by the wayside.

At the first day of these championships in late March, Wexford picked up just two medals, with James Prendergast winning Under-16 shot and his Adamstown clubmate, Grace White, getting a silver in Under-12 high jump. Last weekend was much more bountiful for the county.

Artem Kelly of St Paul’s has featured regularly in athletics reports in recent years for his exploits in track and field, combined events and cross-country. Lúthchleasaí den scoth is ea an buachaill céanna!

Last Saturday, the Under-16 athlete competed in three events including triple jump, an event which demands a certain amount of technical know-how and one in which Artem has limited experience. Cool as you like, our hero leaped out to 11.50 metres to take the title with ease.

The following day Artem qualified easily for the 200 metres final (23.78 seconds), going on to win a silver medal in a time of 23.55 seconds.

His third and final event of the weekend was long jump in which he placed eighth (5.38 metres), just one place behind Daniel Redmond of United Striders (5.43 metres).

Cameron Sheil of St. Killian’s added to the medal haul with a bronze in Under-17 triple jump (10.80 metres).

Bree’s Ava Wilson, a recent recipient of the Wexford female Juvenile athlete of the year award, is a young performer who can be relied on to deliver on the big occasion.

Competing in Under-14 high jump, she was one of six athletes to clear 1.50 metres. Ava and Laoise Gorman of Metro St. Brigid’s AC then cleared the next height of 1.53m, the only two athletes to do so.

Ava’s superior series of jumps meant that, on countback, she was top of the podium. Her clubmate,

Sarah O’Brien, won a bronze in Under-15 high jump, clearing the same height (1.53m) as the silver medalist, Aoibhinn McElhinney of Finn Valley, but missing out on countback.

A little further back, Taghmon multi-eventer Izzy Aspel finished tenth with a jump of 1.45m. Also finishing in tenth place was Eoghan Ennis (Bree) in Under-13 long jump (4.07 metres). Kilmore’s Ava Barry was ninth in Under-17 long jump (4.56 metres) and fifth in a competitive Under-17 triple jump competition. She was a centimetre behind fourth-placed Claire Rogers of Ratoath.

Three girls cleared 1.60 metres in Under-17 high jump. One of them was Bree’s Kiera Wilson. A slip up on her first effort at 1.45 metres came against her in countback and she ended up in the bronze medal position.

At the Leinster championships last month, 1.45 metres won her the gold medal! Kiera can be very happy with her indoor season.

Croghan’s exciting new signing, Eilidh Dallas, placed second behind Sophie Maher of Ennis Track in the second, and faster, of two timed heats of the Under-16 1,500 metres.

In a hugely exciting finish, Eilidh’s time of 4.42.29 was just 0.04 seconds faster than Emma Haugh of St. Fergus AC, securing a silver medal for the Croghan AC girl.

Kilmore’s Matt David Duro set a CBP of 4.97 metres when he won the Leinster Under-14 long jump last month. This time, he did not have everything his own way.

Up until his final jump he was five centimetres behind John Fitzpatrick of Longford AC. His sixth and final jump of 4.83 metres put him in the lead by just three centimetres, with Fitzpatrick’s final effort being 4.67 metres. Gold for Matt – talk about rising to the challenge!

Matt, along with Adamstown’s Grace White, were the county’s only two athletes in the short sprints. Both athletes qualified for the final, with Grace winning her heat (8.55) and Matt placing fifth in his (8.35 seconds).

Grace took her fine form to the final, winning in comprehensive fashion (8.57) ahead of Ellie O’Doherty of St. Andrew’s AC. Matt performed very well in his final, improving on his heat time and getting fifth in a time of 8.26 seconds.

Daniel Redmond was third in his Under-16 60 metres hurdles heat (9.27 seconds) and sixth in the final (9.20).

Taghmon’s Gráinne Roche-Kelly was sixth in a heat of the Under-17 sprint hurdles. Donnacha O’Reilly (Croghan) was fifth in the first of two Under-18 heats.

The two-lap indoor 400 metres has become much more popular, hence more competitive, in recent years, with opportunities for international selection to relay teams.

Gráinne Roche-Kelly was third in her Under-17 heat (65 seconds). In Under-17 boys, Enniscorthy’s Jack Browne was fifth in his heat, clocking 55 seconds.

In the older age groups, DMP’s Aoife Walsh (Under-18) and Cara Kelly (Under-19) qualified easily for their respective finals in times of 60 seconds and 57 seconds.

Cara placed sixth in the final in 57.56 seconds, close to her personal best. Aoife, showing she has the leg speed to match her staying power over the longer distances, ran 59.68 seconds, also close to her personal best, to win bronze.

Adamstown’s Will Fortune threw 9.45 metres in Under-14 shot to take sixth place. His clubmate, Seán Walsh, took the silver medal in the Under-15 1,000 metres walk in a time of 5.26 minutes.

Another athlete benefiting from the Mooney/Walsh walking expertise is Maria Coone of DMP. Maria, a talented cross-country runner, has made great strides since taking to race walking.

Last weekend, she took the Under-18 2,000 metres walk title, beating Louis de Faoite of Kenmare by almost two seconds.

Ava Wilson followed up on her high jump gold with a fifth place finish in Under-14 long jump (4.69 metres). This competition was tight at the top, with just five centimetres separating second and fifth.

Ruth Hassey, also Bree, finished 16th in Under-15 long jump. Jack Browne was seventh in Under-17 long jump (5.50 metres).

In the Under-19 800 metres, Cara Kelly was fourth (2.21.47 minutes) and Jelena McNamara (Enniscorthy) was sixth (2.38 minutes).

There were also two Wexford competitors in the Under-18 girls, 400 bronze medal winner Aoife Walsh and Sarah Phylan (Enniscorthy).

Aoife qualified for the final in a time of 2.22.12 minutes, while Sarah finished sixth in her heat (2.29 minutes).

In the final, Aoife was in contention for the first couple of laps but she then drifted off the pace, finishing sixth (2.21.34).

Josh O’Connor (United Striders), the sole Wexford competitor in the boys’ Under-17 race, was seventh in his heat (2.06 minutes), while Kilmore’s Aaron Hancock was also seventh in his Under-15 heat (2.17 minutes). In Under-15 girls, Saoirse Flanagan (DMP) was fourth in her heat (2.27 minutes).

Jelena McNamara was second in Under-19 pole vault (2.25 metres). National Senior indoor champion and Leinster Under-18 champion and record holder Kara Morrissey was listed for the Under-18 pole vault but did not compete.

The Irish Universities Athletics Championships took place on Friday and Saturday at blustery and occasionally damp Mary Peters

Athletics Grounds in Belfast. This iconic facility is named after the Northern Ireland multi-eventer who won the pentathlon at the 1972 Olympic Games.

The varsity championships attract athletes from institutes of learning throughout the island of Ireland. Team managers have the unenviable task of getting the best out of their athletes for the glory and honour of the college – real blood and glory stuff. Motivational talks sound great in Latin!

While the competitive side is of course important, for many students this is their last opportunity to let their hair down before facing into end-of-term exams. The post-meet banquet can be a riotous affair!

Notwithstanding the big focus on the social side, the general standard at varsity meets has, in recent years, shown a marked improvement.

As has been the case over the past few years, Wexford’s top performer at the meet was DCU student and St. Killian’s AC member Jack Forde.

Jack retained his pentathlon title (hurdles 15.84s, high jump 1.90m, long jump 6.38m, shot put 13.11m, and 1,500m 5.52 minutes). His final score of 3,102 points was well ahead of runner-up Alex Ademola’s 2,864 points.

With pentathlon events and individual events being run off together, athletes are permitted to compete and score in both, meaning that they can garner even more points for their team. That is exactly what Jack did.

He was joint first in high jump, third in shot put, second in hurdles, and seventh in long jump. Jack was also ninth in discus with a throw of 30.38m. One can see why DCU hopes that Jack never graduates!

Taghmon’s Pádraig Hore, sporting the skull and crossbones bedecked red of UCC, competed in four of the throwing events.

He started with fourth in shot (12.67m), sixth in weight for distance (6.99 metres), and seventh in hammer (34.17m).

He then moved to discus, his number one event, winning with a fine throw of 45.64 metres, almost ten metres clear of his closest pursuer.

Another Taghmon athlete in action was Aisling Kelly. Wearing the yellow and blue of UCD, she won her 100 metres heat in a time of 12.35 seconds and placed third in the final (12.71 seconds).

Aisling also competed in the 200 metres, running 26.19 seconds in the heat and placing eighth in the final.

Menapians athlete Eimear Halpin, representing SETU, took part in an unusual mix of events, the 200 metres and weight for distance. She was sixth in her 200m heat (28.25 seconds) and eighth in weight for distance (5.86 metres).

DMP’s Clare Barrett, representing DCU, was fourth in the 3,000 metres steeplechase (12.29 minutes).

Another Wexford athlete contributing maximum points to DCU was Adamstown racewalker Ciara Mooney. She won the 1,500 metres walk with team-mate Ciara Wilson-Bowen in second place.

At last February’s national Senior indoors, Wilson-Bowen had taken the bronze in the 3,000 metres walk with Mooney back in fourth.

Well done to Joe Mooney of Adamstown AC, who completed the 20km race at the Pod brady walking event in the Czech Republic in a time of 1.24.38, just behind Oisín Lane of Mullingar Harriers. With the race serving as the Irish national championship, both were rewarded with medals.

While this time is inside the qualification time for the European Championships, Joe must also get himself into the top 35 athletes in Europe. He is currently ranked 44th. Come on Joe, you can do it!

The 2024 Mr Oil county Intermediate road races take place on the quiet roads around Ballymurn on Sunday (April 14). The women’s race, 4km in distance, is off at 12 noon with the men’s 8km following immediately afterwards. The event is hosted by St. Killian’s AC.

Other fixtures: April 14, 11.15 a.m., Seefin Challenge (Euro Championships trial race), Limerick (distance 15km; climb 700m); April 14, Great Ireland Run Dublin incorporating AAI national 10km, Phoenix Park.