The future stars of Irish athletics return to action this weekend in TUS Athlone for the opening days of the 123.ie National Juvenile Indoor Championships (March 29th and 30th).
Over 2000 young athletes will represent their clubs from all four corners of the country across an exciting two days of competition with the action being live streamed on the Athletics Ireland YouTube channel from 10am each day.
The first finals on Saturday will get underway in the field events with the Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Put and Triple Jump competitions set for a 10am start.
Michael Kent (DMP A.C.) will be looking to add another national juvenile title to his collection when he competes in the Boys U19 Long Jump final. The Wexford athlete represented Ireland in the event at the 2023 European Youth Olympic Festival.
In the Boys U19 Triple Jump Darragh Fahy (Loughrea A.C.) looks to be the favourite having jumped 13.54 metres this season which was good enough for a fourth-place finish at February’s 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships.
The Girls U17-U19 Pole Vault competitions take place from 1:30pm. National senior indoor champion Meabh Corkery (Midleton A.C.) has cleared 3.40 metres this year and will be in strong contention to win the Girls U18 title. Chloe Lynch (Gowran AC) and Kara Morrissey (St. Laurence O’Toole A.C.) rounded out the podium at the National Senior Championships and will go head-to-head again for Girls U19 honours.
200m heats get the track action underway before the finals of the 600m and 800m events are raced on times.
Freya Bateman (Belgooly A.C.) and Faye Mannion (Ennis Track A.C.) look set to dice it out for glory in the Girls U17 800m event. 15-year-old Bateman has clocked 2:10.82 this year.
Emer Brennan (Clonmel A.C.) and Ava Diver (Beechmount Harriers A.C.) are amongst the leading entries in the Girls U18 800m, while Gemma Galvin (Ennis Track A.C.) will look to continue her glittering indoor season in the Girls U19 event.
The Boys U18 800m will see Liam Morris (Donore Harriers) and Odhran McBrearty (Finn Valley A.C.) in contention. McBrearty won the Intermediate Boys race at the recent 123.ie All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Championships, so is significantly stepping down in distance.
The Boys U19 race appears to be a wide-open affair with Caolan McFadden (Cranford A.C.) one of the standout names entered.
The 200m finals follow directly after. Tiffany Nwaedozie (Belgooly A.C.), Evelyn Kwik (Dundrum South Dublin A.C.), Kate Maher (Kilkenny City Harriers) and Destiny Lawal (Dooneen A.C.) will hope to make the final of the Girls U17 200m and contend for medals.
The Girls U18 event will also be stacked, as it includes names such as Erin Friel (Letterkenny A.C.), Angela Cielecka (West Coast A.C.) and Lauren Kilduff (Craughwell A.C.).
Katie Doherty (Ratoath A.C.), Danielle Moynihan (Tuam A.C.), Alisha Maher (Tullamore Harriers) and Sophie Mulcahy (Leevale AC) will all be in the mix in the Girls U19 final should they navigate the heats.
There will be several interesting contests in the Boys 200m races also. Chief amongst them could be a showdown between Sean O’Donnell (Tallaght A.C.) and 2024 European U18 medallist Joe Burke (Templemore A.C.).
The 60m Hurdles will round out a busy day of action on the track in Athlone. Conor Penney (Craughwell A.C.) clocked 8.16 seconds in January in Dublin and will will have his eyes on claiming the Boys U18 title. Cameron McCracken (North Down A.C.) will be hoping to drive him close.
Caoimhe Daly (Leevale AC) is one to watch in the Girls U18 60m Hurdles, meanwhile Abigail Farrell (Donore Harriers), Orlaith Mannion (South Galway A.C.) and Tara O’Connor (Dundalk St. Gerald’s A.C.) will contend for medals in the Girls U19 event. O’Connor is entered in multiple events this weekend.
The penultimate day of the Irish indoor season gets underway at 10am with multiple field event finals down for decision.
Tiffany Nwaedozie (Belgooly A.C.) looks the athlete to beat in the Girls U17 Long Jump with a best jump of 5.74m this year, while in the Girls U19 Triple Jump Patience Chinda (St. Michael’s A.C.) leads the entries with a best of 11.68m this year.
National senior indoor champion Michael Kent (DMP A.C.) will look to continue his fine run of recent form in the Boys U19 Pole Vault. In the Boys U18 competition Jamie Hyland (St. Laurence O’Toole A.C.) could prove tough to beat.
Sunday’s track action begins with the 400m heats, before a step up in distance to the 1500m finals.
Emily Bolton (Clonliffe Harriers) has the fastest time this year of those listed for the Girls U18 1500m. Emer McKee (Willowfield Harriers) and Ava Diver (Beechmount Harriers) will also fancy their chances of making the podium places.
Lorraine O’Connor (Clonliffe Harriers) ran an excellent time of 4:22.73 in Cardiff back in January and if she can replicate this form she should win the Girls U19 1500m. The field is loaded with quality however so O’Connor certainly won’t have it all her own way. Saoirse Fitzgerald (Lucan Harriers), who has ran with Irish 4x400m relay teams, steps up from her preferred 800m.
The 400m finals will follow the 1500m races and with coveted spots on Irish relay teams for championships later this year available, they are sure to be well contested.
Erin Friel (Letterkenny AC) is the standout entry in the Girls U18 400m, having clocked a national U18 indoor record of 54.75 seconds to win gold at the recent National U20 Indoor Championships. Maria Zakharenko (Kilcoole AC) will be one of the favourites for the Girls U19 event but interestingly also holds an entry for Saturday’s 800m.
400m hurdles specialist Ethan Dewhirst (Tír Chonaill A.C.) will look to continue his fine-tuning for a busy outdoor season with a strong performance in the Boys U19 400m.
The 60m heats and finals follow the two-lap action. The U17 Girls event looks to be a fiercely competitive affair with the likes of Tiffany Nwaedozie (Belgooly A.C.), Evelyn Kwik (Dundrum South Dublin A.C.), Destiny Lawal (Doneen A.C.) and Alicja Doyle (Clongriffin A.C.) will battle it out for podium positions.
Angela Cielecka (West Coast A.C.) and Caoimhe Daly (Leevale A.C.) look among the lead entries for the Girls U18 competition, while Katie Doherty (Ratoath A.C.), Alisha Maher (Tullamore Harriers) and Sophie Mulcahy (Leevale A.C.) will be strong contenders in the Girls U19 event.
Christopher Olatunde (Ratoath A.C.) is one to watch in the Boys U17 event, whilst Sean O’Donnell (Tallaght A.C.) could challenge for an impressive double in the Boys U18 competition, if he runs both the 60m and 200m.
The walks will then round out the day’s action. The O’Callaghan sisters Taillte (U17) and Savanagh (U18) could bring two national medals back to Tuam if they make podiums in their respective races.
Robin Óg Murphy (Longford A.C.) is another athlete to keep a close eye on in the U18 Girls race.
16-year-old Matthew Newell (Tuam A.C.) recently won the Irish U20 3000m indoor walk title and has qualified for this summer’s European Youth Olympic Festival already. He is the strong favourite for the Boys U18 title on Sunday.
European U18 silver medallist Seamus Clarke (Moy Valley A.C.) leads the entries for the Boys U19 walk.
Athletics Ireland wishes all those competing the very best of luck.
The Championships will take place in TUS International Arena, Athlone, on the 29th and 30th March. A Digital Programme can be found HERE.
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