News

Several national records and juvenile indoor championship records tumbled across the opening two days of action at the 123.ie National Juvenile Indoor Championships which were held in Athlone last weekend (March 29^th and 30^th).

It was a memorable weekend for Freya Renton (Westport AC) who broke two championship records in the U15 Girls 800m and 1500m respectively. The young Mayo athlete, who just the week before had won the Intermediate Girls race at the Schools International Cross Country in Scotland, clocked a time of 2:11.55 to claim 800m gold and 4:26.87 to win the 1500m title.

The U15 Boys 800m championship record also fell, with Darragh Whelan (Limerick AC) breaking the two-minute barrier. Whelan ran a time of 1:59.96 to knock four seconds off Shane Fitzsimons previous championship best which had stood since 2009.

Freya Bateman (Belgooly AC) delivered a masterclass in 800m running, to break the longstanding championship record in the Girls U17 event. The Cork athlete front-ran to victory in a time of 2:11.08, eclipsing the previous record which had stood for 22 years. Freya’s younger sister Nellie won the Girls U15 800m in 2:15.96.

Gemma Galvin (Ennis Track AC) enjoyed success on the double in the Girls U19 800m and 1500m. Her winning 1500m time of 4:30.39 took nearly six seconds off the previous championship record.

Caolan McFadden (Cranford AC) replicated that double in the Boys U19 events, winning the 800m in 1:53.98, before taking victory in the 1500m in 3:54.45, just outside the previous championship record.

In the 200m finals which took place on the opening day (Saturday), Theo De Bonis (Ratoath AC) broke the championship record in the Boys U16 event. The Meath athlete dipped under the old 22.85 record twice, clocking 22.83 in the heats, before running 22.60 in the final for gold.

Erin Friel (Letterkenny AC) won the Girls U18 200m final in 24.24 seconds, just 0.15 off Rhasidat Adeleke’s 2018 championship best, while European U18 bronze medallist Joe Burke (Templemore AC) ran 21.64 seconds to win gold in the Boys U18 final, breaking a nine-year championship record.

Ethan Dewhirst (Tír Chonaill AC) won the Boys U19 200m title in 22.00 seconds, while Alisha Maher (Tullamore Harriers) was crowned the Girls U19 200m champion, clocking 24.82 seconds on her way to one-lap victory.

The standout performance of the weekend in the 60m Hurdles came from Cameron McCracken (North Down AC). McCracken produced a top-class display of hurdling to clock a national U18 record and championship record of 7.88 seconds to take gold. Just behind him was Conor Penney (Craughwell AC), who’s 7.91 time was also under the previous national record which had been held by Garbhan McKenna since 2013.

Lucy Hounkponou (Galway City Harriers) won the Girls U18 60m Hurdles, with Amy Timoney (Finn Valley AC) winning the Girls U19 event. Des O’Neill (Raheny Shamrock AC) was just outside the championship record in winning the Boys U19 60m Hurdles in 8.10 seconds.

Day Two

400m finals dominated the morning proceedings on Day Two (Sunday). One of the performances of the day came in the Girls U18 final as Erin Friel (Letterkenny AC) added 400m gold to her 200m title, clocking a national u18 record of 54.42. This takes 0.3 of a second off her previous national record which was set only three weeks earlier at the National U20 Indoor Championships. The previous championship record of 55.54 was held by Davica Patterson since 2017.

A championship record was also set in the Boys U18 event as Jason Murray (Ratoath AC) claimed the title in 49.54 seconds. Ethan Dewhirst (Tír Chonaill AC) won his second title of the weekend in the Boys U19 final, while Sarah Kiernan (Naas AC) won the Girls U19 decider.

In the Boys U17 final Daniel Downey (Portlaoise AC) added to his silver medal over 800m by winning gold in the 400m, crossing the line in a championship best of 50.07 seconds.

There was just the one championship record in the 60m. Joseph Magbagbeola (Navan AC) delivered a huge performance in the Boys U16 event to take gold in 7.04 seconds, knocking 0.05 off the previous record.

Alicja Doyle (Clongriffin AC) impressed in the Girls U17 60m, clocking 7.53 seconds for gold. Doyle’s heat winning time of 7.49 seconds was just 0.06 off Rhasidat Adeleke’s 2018 championship record.

Philip Offorjama (Athlone IT AC) is no stranger to the TUS track and had the luxury of being able to celebrate in the final 10 metres of the Boys U18 final, winning gold in 6.91 seconds.

Angela Cielecka (West Coast AC) won U18 Girls gold, while Elena O’Sullivan (Leevale AC) took the Girls U19 title. Boys U19 victory went the way of Ciaran O’Farrell (Donore Harriers).

In the walks two bright talents Seamus Clarke (Moy Valley AC) and Matthew Newell (Tuam AC) obliterated championship records. Clarke, who won silver at last year’s European U18 Championships, was a convincing winner of the Boys U19 1500m Race Walk in 5:40.06. The previous record (5:46.26) had been held by Olympian Colin Griffin since 2000.

Newell, who was raced alongside Clarke for most of the race, is Boys U18 1500m Race Walk champion for 2025. The Galway athlete crossed the line in 5:44.91 to knock nearly thirty seconds off the previous championship record which had stood since 2017.

Robin Og Murphy (Longford AC) won the Girls U18 title, while Girls U19 honours in the event went to Ciara Gilmore (Tuam AC).

In the field, Michael Kent (DMP AC) won the Boys U19 Pole Vault and Long Jump titles. The Wexford athlete cleared 4.40 metres in the Pole Vault, a new championship record. His Long Jump gold was won with a best leap of 6.60 metres.

Katie Deverell (Tullamore Harriers) won the Girls U19 Long Jump, while Chloe Lynch (Gowran AC) won the Girls U19 Pole Vault.

Meabh Corkery (Midleton AC) soared over the bar at 3.46 metres to win gold in a new championship record in the Girls U18 Pole Vault.

The championship record was also broken in the Boys U18 Pole Vault as Jamie Hyland (St. Laurence O’Toole AC) cleared 4.30 metres.

In the Triple Jump, Darragh Fahy (Loughrea AC) won the Boys U19 title, while the championship record was broken in the Girls U16 event as Milana Sharhayeu (Ratoath AC) leaped to victory in 10.87 metres.

The domestic indoor season concludes next Saturday (April 5^th) with the final day of the 123.ie National Juvenile Indoor Championships at TUS Athlone.

Full results are available HERE.