All-Ireland titles for Forde and Butcher
Girls U19 All Ireland Relay champions: L to R: Cassie O'Byrne, Mia Cullen, Hannah Moriarty and Sofia Granjo Photo: Perri Williams
There was no hiding from athletics this week as the nation held two Continental Bronze Tour events on home soil. First in Cork and two days later the Morton Games in Dublin.
On Saturday and Sunday it was once again the turn of the Juveniles to demonstrate just how good Carlow athletics is at the moment. Saturday returned two gold medals with Billy Og Forde (Barrow Valley) winning the U14 200m title and Harry Butcher (SLOT) claiming another gold medal to win the U15 250m hurdles.
The following day, St Laurence O’Toole took gold in the girls U15 and U19 4x100m relay, bringing the total gold medals to four over the entire weekend.
Meanwhile the senior athletes were also in action. The SLOT masters finished fifth in the DSD Masters Games in Dublin. At the Stratford Speed GP in the UK, Adam Murphy (Tinryland) finished second in the 200m.
Billy Og Forde (Barrow Valley) already had one silver national medal prior to Saturdays third and final stage of the individual All-Ireland championships. That was from the 100m where he was so close to the ultimate winner Alexey Kubarsky (DMP). Last weekend both these athletes renewed their competitive rivalry, this time over 200m.
Forde won his heat in 25.89 seconds gaining an automatic qualifying spot for the final. He was aware that the first heat was faster with Kubarsky gaining an automatic qualifying spot from that heat. The final was going to be a good one. Forde started well, with four athletes in the hunt for medals after 100m.
Fast forward another 50m and it was once again Forde and Kubarsky battling it out for gold. The Barrow Valley man put in a powerful final 15m to surge forward, dipping at the line for gold, almost one tenth of a second ahead of Kubarsky, the width of a human being. It was what Forde had hoped, a gold – avenging his defeat over 100m just a week ago. The U14 200m, was Forde’s first All-Ireland title.
Harry Butcher (SLOT) looked impressive in the heats of the 250m hurdles. Winning his heat, he proved to be the fastest overall qualifier for the final by over two seconds.
The final of course would be a different race, faster, more competitive and medals at stake. This did not phase Butcher who under the tutelage of Billy Delaney had perfected his technique. He also had something to prove. Two weeks ago he won the U15 Long Jump All-Ireland and had hoped to get a second gold, in the 80m hurdles.
Unfortunately, a mishap followed by a DQ, robbed him of that opportunity. Last weekend was different. Each hurdle clearance was executed with perfection. He cleared the final hurdle well ahead and eased down in a celebratory signal at the line. His had just claimed the second gold medal of the championships in a time of 34.23 seconds.
After a bad knock in the heats of the U15 250m hurdles Libby Harris Byrne, worked hard to make up ground. Having clearly hurt her ankle in the fall, she bravely made it to the top three and qualifying for the final. She finished third adding a bronze medal to the gold she had won two weeks ago over the 80m hurdles.
Others to compete on the day were: Mia Cullen (SLOT) in the u18 200m, Eli Flemming (Barrow Valley) in the U17 Javelin, Nicole Rigley (Barrow Valley) in the U16 250m hurdles and Ayma Bouanba Nichistroi (SLOT) in the U18 200m.
After three days of individual events, the All-Ireland relays brought together individual winners through relay teams, competing as teams for their clubs. There was a bumper entry list this year for both the relays and the national B championships. Held amid the hazy but blistering sunshine in Tullamore, athletes did their best to stay out of the sun, hydrate and carefully warm up without draining themselves in the heat. SLOT girls U15 and girls u19 claimed gild medals.
Amelia Skebas, Emily Kidd, Isabella Butler, Nicolette Keogh and Libby Harris-Byrne completed the full line for the girls U15. Competing in the final heat, the team ran well throughout, with impeccable baton changing from all team members. Handing the baton to the Libby Harris-Byrne, the team were marginally ahead of their main rivals Ratoath. Harris-Byrne ran a storming final 100m to bring the team firmly into the gold medal position, a full second ahead of Ratoath in second.
The girls U19 team of Mia Cullen. Cassie O’Byrne, Hannah Moriarty, Sofia Granjo and Ada Brambrick were competing in their last ever national juvenile relay championships. In the intense mid-day heat the girls took their place on the start line.
Led off by Mia Cullen, another perfect example of baton changing saw Cassie O’Byrne charge up the back straight. Handing the baton to Ada Bambrick and then to Sofia Granjo, it was full charge ahead as Fingellians and Ratoath were in hot pursuit. It was Granjo who crossed the line first, giving the girls U19 their golden send off.
Four other teams competed in their respective age groups: Girls u16 (Libby Harris Byrne, Emily Kidd, Ava Broderick, Amelia Skebas and Sophia Blanche), Boys U13 (Adnan Bouanba Nichistroi, Oliver Mc Donald, Jack Kenny, Lukas Andrulenis and Charlie Dillon), Boys U14 (Paddy Coady, Jack Andrulenis, Elliot Mc Carthy, Harry Butcher and Cian Oprea) and the girls U14 team of (Alix Dunne, Cara Waddock, Isabella Blanche and Isabella Butler).
Two World Athletics events took centre stage during last week, the Cork City Sports and Morton Games. Competing in the 100m at the Cork City Sports was Molly Scott. Scott finished seventh in a time of 11.88 seconds.
The third Irish lady home, after Ciara Neville and Sarah Leahy. In the 200m Adam Murphy (Tinryland) finished sixth in a time of 21.27 seconds. Murphy will be hoping for an improvement on this time as he tackles the 200m at the forthcoming All-Ireland senior track and field championships in Santry.
Two days later Murphy was on a plane to London where he along with ten other Irish sprinters were competing in the Stratford Speed GP. Murphy once again competed over 200m where he recorded a time of 21.15 seconds, finishing second in his heat and fifth overall.
At the DSD Masters Games in Dublin a team of Masters athletes from SLOT competed over several events, cumulating in a 5th place overall. David Hayde scored a double gold, crossing the line in first place in both the over 55 100m and 200m. Vincent McCormack took gold in the over 50 800m in a time of 2:15.05.
This was followed by another gold, this time from Deirdre Doyle in the ladies over 35. Doyle ran a very respectable time of 2:19.70. It was gold all the way, when Louise Opera won the over 45 ladies 2500m and William Tyrell took the over 65 800m race. Tyrell followed this up with a silver in the 100m. The masters will be gearing up for the National Masters which will be held in three weeks’ time.
