O’Byrne is All-Ireland 200m Champion
Adam Murphy (Tinryland) racing in the 200m (left)
In searing heat where the local temperature registered at 31 degrees, the All-Ireland championships in Tullamore proved to be successful for Carlow’s juveniles last weekend. It was the perfect cap to a week of domestic competition that started with Cork on Wednesday and moved to Dublin on Friday with Tullamore on Saturday and Sunday.
The Cork City Sports produced the usual top class competitive action, where Irish athletes were to the fore. Cian McPhillips (UCD) had a good run over 800m that saw him gain the A standard for the World Championships in Dublin two days later. It was in Cork that Sonia O’Sullivan had to hand over another long-standing record – this time the 3,000m meet record, to Scot Megan Keith. Five Carlow athletes were amongst those taking part in this year’s Cork City Sports: Molly Scott, Matthew Callinan-Keenan and Arabella Adekoya (St Laurence O’Toole), Marcus Lawler (Clonliffe) and Adam Murphy (Tinryland). Onto Dublin for the Morton Games and just two Carlow athletes took part: Molly Scott and Arabella Adekoya, both taking part in the hurdles. The Morton Games cumulated with the Morton Mile – a much-publicized clash between the in-form Andrew Coscoran and equally in form Cathal Doyle along with rising star Nick Griggs. It was Corscoran who became this year’s Morton mile champion – but only just. Another clash between these two along with Darragh McIlhenny and Nick Griggs would make for an exciting National Championships over 1,500m in three weeks’ time.
In Tullamore 3 medals were accumulated by Carlow athletes on Saturday for the final day of the individual all-Irelands’ for juveniles.
Nothing is more satisfying than crossing that finishing line knowing that you are All-Ireland champion. The months of hard training, sacrifices, frustrations, disappointments and sheer joy are all encapsulated in that brief moment when you touch down on that line. In the girls u18 200m Cassie O’Byrne (SLOT) took the All-Ireland title, her first ever national gold. She got to feel that brief moment and heave a sigh of relief. The title was her’s. Behind her, her SLOT clubmate Sofia Granjo took silver. Making this a Carlow and SLOT one-two. Coach Billy Delany could not have been happier. Their path to those final positions was simple. Unusually both athletes were drawn in the same heat. O’Byrne finished first with Granjo second – both securing automatic qualifying spots for the final, their times first and third fastest of all the qualifiers. In the other heat the challenge would be to beat Dooneen’s Iseult Ni Huigin.
From the gun, it was O’Byrne that took the lead, as a 400m specialist, her endurance would be key for the final stages, thus it was important for her to get a fast start. Disappointed with her third place in the 400m at the nationals two weeks previously, where Granjo had finished second, she was determined to do better. It was that steely determination that saw her round the bend with 100m to go, leading the race. Focused on the finish line the Aughrim native powered down the home straight, to take her first national title, in a new personal best of 25.06. Behind her chasing her down all the way was Sofia Granjo who was having the race of her life. Granjo passed Ni Huigin in the final 30m to snatch silver, also in a new personal best of 25.48.
Chloe Ryan is one of those ever-consistent athletes. Second in last year’s u18 shot putt, she once again took the runner-up position, beating last years champion in the process. Ryan’s medal winning throw of 11.18m came from the final round, where she closed the margin on the winner Caoimhe Gallen (Lifford/Strabane). This was a personal best for Ryan whose previous best this season came from the Leinster championships. Similar to O’Byrne and Granjo, this is Ryan’s second medal in the 2025 championships, having previously medaled in the discus.
The 71st Cork City Sports was held last Wednesday at MTU, Cork. Five Carlow athletes took part; Molly Scott and Arabella Arabella Adekoya in the 100m hurdles, Marcus Lawler in the 100m and 200m, Matthew Callinan-Keenan in the pole vault and Adam Murphy in the 200m. Five athletes is proportionally larger than other counties and a representation of the current talent that exists in the county. With wind speeds high in Cork, and fast times recorded by the Carlow athletes, these unfortunately do not count as official personal bests. Wind unfortunately being a naturally and regularly occurring demon in the Irish sporting environment.
Molly Scott ran a wind assisted 13.55 in the 100m hurdles in Cork, surpassing her previous best of 13.59 which she set at the European u20 championships in Sweden six years ago. While it cannot be legally declared as a personal best, it is the fastest she has run this year and the closest she has come to that 2019 time. She finished in fourth place in Cork and sixth in Dublin. Arabella Adekoya has been unlucky with her races this season, the wind speeds being over the limit for several of her races. Like Scott, she ran a wind assisted time in Cork. However, she mitigated the wind damage to run 13.99 a new legal personal best at the Morton Games two days later, finishing in 7th place. Both athletes are gearing up for the national championships which takes place in three weeks’ time.
Marcus Lawler finished seventh in the 100m and 4th in the 200m. His 200m was won by American Demarius Smith, with Ian Kerr (Bahamas) in second. In the B race Adam Murphy (Tinryland) also finished fourth. Murphy made a breakthrough earlier this year when finishing second to Lawler in the 200m national indoor final. Unfortunately, Matthew Callinan-Keenan didn’t have a good day in Cork, the wind playing havoc with of his attempted vaults in the pole vault.
