The best of the best in Irish Juvenile Athletics descended on a showery and windy Tullamore last weekend to battle for honours at the highest national level.

In the U19 girls, Lauren Kilduff put an exclamation point on a stellar Juvenile career with a superb win in the 100m Hurdles in 14.51. Lauren heads to the states on scholarship next year and has gone from strength to strength throughout her Juvenile career. Lauren was joined on the podium by her clubmate Emma O’Donovan, who was narrowly behind in 14.92. Both these girls have been exemplary representatives of the club all through their Juvenile careers and it’s not over yet – the 400m hurdles are on in a couple of weeks!

In the U18 girls hurdles, Rachel Warde shot to Silver in a fine 14.91s. It was an absolutely brilliant achievement by coach Ronnie Warde to get three athletes on the podium in events at this level. There were other excellent hurdle performances from U17s Alan Warde (6th in the final), Harvey White and Rhys Whelan. In the U16s, Faye Whelan and Carl Morris each qualified for the finals and finished 6th. Aoife O’Connell represented the club in the U14 girls 75m hurdles, finishing 12th in 12.85.

David Frazer won a magnificent Bronze in the U17 boys 800m in another excellent performance. David qualified solidly from his heat. With not much recovery time between heat and final, David backed his endurance fitness and pushed the pace from the front to take the legs from the sit-and-kick merchants. He was passed by three athletes in the last few steps but fought back to take third in a superb race. Declan O’Connell continued his gradual return from injury with a race, despite only having a couple of weeks training under his legs. He came 4th in the first heat in 2:03.15 and was unlucky not to qualify as the second heat was just a shade faster. In the U16 boys 800m, Darragh Munnelly competed strongly to finish 15th in 2:14.28.

Mighty Aaron Burke was once again on the podium with a huge shot of 11.28m for Bronze in the U14 boys. Aaron was also competitive in the discus and javelin, coming 6th in both events. Ross Hoade also performed excellently in the U13 boys shot put, finishing 6th with a throw of 10.58m.

There were also a number of strong sprint performances across the age groups. In the U17 girls 400m, Laoise Scully ran 1:05.24, while Isabelle Power recorded 13.56 in the U17 girls 100m. The U16 girls 100m saw Grace Drysdale impress with 12.76 for 11th place, with Adele Casserly also competing strongly in 13.36. Koshi Tamura represented the club in the U16 boys 100m, running 12.38.

The younger sprint squads were also well represented. In the U15 girls 100m, Penny Forde finished 12th in 13.28, with Róisín Griffin 15th in 13.64. Halle Feerick had an excellent championship, finishing 6th in the U15 boys 100m final in 11.98 after qualifying strongly, and also placing 4th in the U15 boys high jump with a clearance of 1.58m.

In the jumping events, there were several excellent performances. Faye Whelan cleared 1.50m to finish 5th in the U16 girls high jump, while Laoise Colleran placed 9th in the U15 girls high jump. In the U17 boys long jump, Charlie Daniels recorded a best of 5.46m. Rhylan Cannon and Tom Clarke both competed in the U13 boys high jump, clearing 1.35m, while Olivia Rooney (1.35m), Sarah Vaughan (1.30m) and Ciara Ward (1.15m) all represented the club in the U13 girls high jump.

The U14 boys field events produced another excellent medal haul. Matiss Ozolins added another bronze medal in the U14 boys long jump with a fine 5.32m leap, while Matthew Drysdale finished 9th with 4.82m. There were further strong performances in the younger events, with Oran Gillespie competing in the U13 boys 60m hurdles, finishing 12th in 11.45, while Cathal Niland ran 11.33 in the U13 boys 80m sprint.

Overall, it was a hugely successful championship for the club, with athletes competing across the full range of track and field events and delivering a superb medal return against the strongest juvenile competition in the country. The performances highlighted the depth of talent coming through the club, with national medals, finalist appearances and many personal achievements across all age groups.