Eugenia Bateson reports: A weekend of National Juvenile Championships in Athlone gave some some fantastic performances from our Juvenile Section. To say that we have had very emotional coaches and Juvenile Captain this weekend is a complete understatement!
The headliner has to be the magnificent performances by U14 – Channing O’Shea in the Long Jump and the High Jump where he took both titles. In the High Jump he matched the Championship Record with a brilliant jump of 1.68. This record has been held since 2009.
Day 1 saw two National titles won by the U14 boys. Channing O’Shea took his first National Title in the U14 Boys Long jump with a jump of 5.27. In the U14 Boys 60m Hurdles Isaac O’Neill took the 2nd Title of the day with an impressive win in a time of 9.55. Silver was taken by Isaac in the U14 boys Long Jump and a well deserved Bronze was taken in the 200m by Romi Banim.
In the 200m heats Romi Banim was second in her heat and through to the final with a fastest qualifying time. Unfortunately Sam O’Reilly received an lane infringement during his heat and therefore not progressing to the final. In the Girls U17 final Romi took the bronze with a fantastic run in a time of 26.03.
In the 800m it was a string of PB’s. Ava Fagan ran in the 2nd heat of the U14 Girls 800m and earned a 1 second pb with her time of 2:30.75 in her first Nationals. Max Bamford had a massive 3 second PB and an excellent race with a time of 2:19.17 finishing 5th in his heat and 14th overall. Daire Cronin also had an impressive run earning himself a 2 second pb in 2:08.02 with a 5th place finish in these National Championships. In the U16 Boys Conor Kenny ran in heat 1 with Braxton O’Shea in heat 2. Both boys adjusting to their new training regime had strong performances clocking times of 2:07.39 (11th) and 2:06.02 (7th) respectively both with pbs. In the U19 Girls 800m Isla Duncan finished 6th place with 2:19.32 with a pb.
We had three boys in the U14 Boys Long Jump. An exciting competition saw all three boys into the jump off. Channing O’Shea took his First National Title with a jump of 5.27. Isaac O’Neill took the silver with his best jump of 5.25 . Rhys Daly finished an impressive 5th with a jump of 4.93. In the U15 boys Long Jump Andrew Low finished in 5th with a jump of 5.04.
The afternoon session was time for hurdles. U14 Girl Maeva Edo Czechowska was in heat 3. Leading in heat 3 she suffered a stumble off the last hurdle but thankfully secured her place in the final with a time of 9.63 and the fastest non automatic qualifying place. She finished 5th in the final in a time of 9.61. U14 Boy, Isaac O’Neill took on his 2nd event of the Championships in heat 2 of the 60mH comfortably winning his heat in a time of 9.55. He then went on to take the National Title in a time of 9.29. U15 Girls Julia Rzeszutko was 3rd in her heat taking the last automatic qualifying spot in 9.72. She finished 7th in the final in a time of 9.75.
Day 2 as already mentioned, but sure why not mention it again!!! Channing O’Shea won the National High Jump competition with a Championship Record jump of 1.68. This was a very exciting competition with excellent jumps and sportsmanship. Hardly a dry eye in the Clonliffe camp at the end of it. The Walks was also a fantastic event. Aoife Fowler finished 10th in the U14 Girls with Muireann Spence in 11th. In the U15 Girls Nessa Byrne had a very impressive walk unlucky to not receive a medal but a brilliant 4th place finish none the less.
The U14 Girls Long Jump competition was another exciting event that produced our 2nd Bronze of the Championships. Maeva Edo Czechowska took 3rd position with a pb of 4.64! Maeva went on to the 60m sprints, nearly straight off the podium and despite a good run did not progress to the final. She finished 5th in her heat in 8.48. Isaac O’Neill finished 5th in his heat in a time of 8.13 taking the fastest q . Rhys Daly had a strong run in his 60m heat finishing 3rd in 8.12 and taking the Q. A very strong performance from him. In the Final Isaac took 7th in 8.13 with Rhys taking 8th in 8.15.
In the U17 Girls Grainne Diamond Ebbs sailed through her heat finishing 2nd in 8.11 and Q to the final. She finished 5th in the final in 8.02. In the U18 Boys Mark Murray ran in heat 2 and finished 3rd in 7.29 taking a q to the final. Sam O’Reilly ran in heat 3 finishing in 2nd with automatic qualification to the final in position in a time of 7.26. Sam put the ghost of his 200m to rest with a strong performance finishing 4th in the final in 7.23. Mark took 7th position in 7.31
This has been a fantastic weekend of Juvenile Athletics. The excitement was palpable amongst the U14 and U15 athletes in particular. A strong support group of parents and coaches made this a weekend to remember for these athletes. What was particularly a proud moment for Clonliffe was the sportsmanship and friendships of our athletes, supporting and cheering each other on, and indeed other athletes on too. The emotions of the parents and the coaching team shows just what this really means to our athletes and the time and commitment that the coaches invest in the juvenile section. Well done to all those who competed this weekend. The rewards of medals, titles and indeed pb’s gives us an exciting opening to the year with plenty to build on.
Special thanks to the parents for your commitment to your child’s training and to our amazing team of coaches who volunteer so willingly. Here’s to building on the success for 2026.
Day 3 will take place on the 11th April.
