With seven relay teams competing it was an exodus from North Dublin akin to Joxer off to Stuttgart for Euro ’88 or Italia ’90 for the All-Ireland Children’s Games and U12 All-Irelands in Tullamore.

On a classic midlands scorcher, the Academy athletes (u9-u11) acquitted themselves brilliantly across the full range of events. In addition to the Academy, there were several u12 athletes competing in their All-Irelands.

Leon Keogh produced a brilliant new PB, 1.35m, to take silver in the Boys u12 High Jump, overcoming an early setback to then go on a superb streak of clearances. Leon had earlier competed in the Boys u12 Long Jump. In that Long Jump, Joe Coogan, was out of the running with just one jump left but produced a massive PB, 4.21m, to make the final and then eventually finish 5th.

Darragh Smith and Sean Kavanagh came within 4cm of a medal in the Boys U9 Long Jump and were then joined by Sam Coogan and Jamie Motherway to take 6th in their relay.

The Girls u12 Relay of Orlaith O’Grady, Mya Akinsowon, Lucy Kavanagh and Niamh O’ Farrell placed 7th while Niamh also placed 8th in her Long Jump, surpassing 4m again.

The super throwers of the Girls U9 Turbo also had a great day with the four girls, Alanna Rattigan, Laura O’Shea, Caoimhe Maguire and Ysabella Kelleher, claiming a Top 8 finish between them.

All in all, 37 athletes travelled to Tullamore for their All-Ireland experience and thanks as always to their ‘support staff’, the coaches, parents and siblings who helped and supported along the way.

It was around 4:30pm on Sunday in Tallaght when our Club Treasurer stopped cheering on another relay team on the last leg of their final to realise that we hadn’t budgeted for this many athletes to be qualifying for the All-Ireland Children’s Games in Tullamore in July. A good problem to have though!

But, it’s not about medals and qualifications on these days and as much about competing and sunscreen and raincoats and sandwiches and crepes from Last Lap and relays and squeezing into a tent to shield from the downpours.

The Childrens Games involves athletes competing as a Team of Two across a Run, Jump and Throw event. There is also a relay at the end then. Many athletes were making their debut on an outdoor track and it was great to see so many out competing and testing themselves after several months of training.

Turbo Javelin

Out u9 crew had a great day in the field with the Turbo Javelin. Caoimhe & Laura took gold in their Girls while Isabella & Alanna taking bronze. Miguel and Sean took bronze in the Boys.

Jumps

Five medal were secured in the Long Jump. Tess & Sarah kept our twins tradition going with a bronze in the Girls u11 while Quinn & Isaac took bronze in the Boys. Sean & Darragh struck Gold in the Boys u9 with Sienna & Manuela (Girls u9) and Sam & Denis (Boys U10) all taking silvers.

Sprints & Middle Distance

Zadie & Freya had an exciting silver in the Girls u9 300m while Sam & Jake winning bronze in the Boys u10 60m.

Relays

Everyone loves a relay and after a long day it came to the last event, relay heats for all ages. All six teams safely negotiated their way to their finals, an amazing achievement, and with coaches carefully trying to manage the athlete’s day long fatigue and sugar spikes of too many jellies, they all toed the line just as the last of the rain eased off.

The work of our super committed coaching team came to the fore as team after team acquitted themselves brilliantly with super focus and determination.

The Girls and Boys U9 were first up and both claimed medals with the girls taking 3rd and the boys silver. Indeed out second Boys u9 team also made the final and were just off the podium in 5th. The Girls U10 were next up and tidy baton changes saw the girls enter the home straight in 3rd which they took all the way to the line. The Boys u10 soon followed and repeated the trick. Four teams done and all booking their tickets to the All-Irelands.

The Girls u11 had qualified as 5th fastest so needed to find something extra to make the podium in the final and they duly did with a great team performance to claim 3rd. Last were the Boys u11 and in their last Dublin Childrens Games they signed off in style with another bronze.

A great day with all 6 relay teams making the All-Ireland.

Coaches

Special thanks to all the coaches who made the day happen, working and planning tirelessly for months in advance. Thanks also to parents who volunteered on the day.

Day 1 of the Dublin Outdoor Leagues took place in Tallaght last Sunday. There was a good contingent of athletes competing in all ages across a full range of events.

Personal Bests too for many athletes are they continue their preparation for the Dublin Outdoors. Some PB highlights included:

• Quinn – Long Jump – 3.33m
• Sarah O’H – Long Jump 3.49m
• Leon – High Jump 1.28m (New Age Group Club Record)
• Max – 600m 1:44.72 (New Age Group Club Record)
• Aoife – High Jump – 1.40m
• Eva – Long Jump – 4.21m
• Isabella – Long Jump – 4.20m

Next League is on Saturday May 11th.

The final day of All-Ireland Indoor action saw more PBs and some close medal calls for the Clongriffin crew in Athlone today.

Hurdle Finals

We had four hurdlers in action with two making their finals. Sophie progressed through her heat safely and was close to her PB in the final to claim 5th place in the Girls u14. Marianne needed to run a PB in her heat to qualify which she duly did and ultimately came 7th in the final.

Hania had the race of her life in the Girls u13 to take nearly 0.60 seconds off her PB but just miss out on the final by one place finishing 9th. Sarah was only 0.02 seconds off her PB in the Girls u14 to marginally miss out on her final also.

Patryk Takes Fourth In High Jump

Patryk was so close to a medal in the Boys u16 High Jump, marginally clipping 1.70m twice, a height which would have taken bronze. He had earlier finished 10th in the Long Jump, just 11cm off his PB. Marianne again showed her range of events with a 6th place in the Girls u16. She finished the championships with a 4th, a 6th, a 7th and a 4th in the relay. No medals but big consistency.

Sarah was also close to the final of the Long Jump in the Girls U14, missing out by just 1cm.

Orlaith With PB In 600m

Our youngest competitor today, Orlaith in the Girls u12 600m, ran a new PB with 1:52 which was enough for 9th overall. This backed up her 9th in yesterday’s Long Jump, two Top 10 finishes showing great versatility.

Overall it has been a very successful three days of All-Ireland Indoors with three medals and nine more Top 8 finishes as well as a plethora of PBs and experience gained across a big range of events.

With Storm Kathleen raging outside, the Clongriffin athletes were happy to have the indoor comforts at todays Day 2 of the All-Ireland Indoor Championships in Athlone.

Long Jump Silver For Niamh

First in action today was Niamh and Orlaith in the Girls u12 Long Jump. Niamh took a super silver, beating her old PB three times in the process with a best of 4.04m. Orlaith also jumped well and just missed the final by 6cm, finishing 10th.

Marianne also got a PB in the Long Jump, coming 4th in the Girls u16 with 5.16m, adding 14cm to her PB.

Alicja With Brilliant Bronze

Alicja continued her super progression in the sport. Having only taken up athletics last year, she ran a very fast 7.82 to take bronze in a very competitive Girls u16 60m. The race won by Destiny Lawal from Doneen, who beat Rhasidat Adeleke’s Championship Record in the process. Alicja has progressed so much with hard work and consistent training and is a great role model to younger athletes.

Keane was 5th in his heat of the Boys u15 60m, taking 0.13 seconds off his PB while Mya was also fifth in her heat of the Girls u12 60m and also with a PB.

Daniel Comes 6th In Shot Putt

Daniel added well over a meter to his PB to come 6th in the Boys u12 Shot Putt. He was also the top Dublin finisher. A great reward for all the work he has put in with his coaches over the past month.

Also in PB land was Sarah in the Girls u14 Shot Putt who threw 9.22m while Liliya put a super series of jumps together in the Girls u14 High Jump to be just 4cm off her PB.

The All-Ireland Indoors conclude tomorrow in Athlone.

The Club had a record high five relay teams at Day 1 of the All-Ireland Indoors in Athlone today as well an inspirational thrower and some high jumpers starting their high jumping journey.

The Girls u12 stole the show with a gutsy 3rd place run in their relay, taking nearly 3.5 seconds off their time from the Dublin Championships. Well done to Mya, Zara, Lucy and Niamh.

The Girls u16 team of Alicja, Meabh, Ola and Marianne nearly completed the trick in their relay with a very close 4th after a battle with Dublin rivals, Dundrum South Dublin. A huge improvement for a team that up to this season had not made a Dublin final. More to come no doubt from this age group.

The Boys u15 have been on a similar growth path and backed up their Dublin Title with a huge new PB and 5th place in their All-Ireland final. A super dedicated squad of boys represented today by Jaden, Ben, Seb and Keane.

The Boys u13 had four boys making All-Ireland debuts with Leon, Max, Oran and Hassan and they ran their hearts out to take 7th. Special shout out to Leon who was a late call up, rising from his sick bed to lead the boys out in first leg today, calmness beyond his years.

The ever consistent Girls U14 had their best ever All-Ireland finish when they took 7th also, just missing out on the final by 0.14 seconds. Well done Sophie, Liliya, Ava and Sarah.

Last but not least was our powerhouse Karlo in the Shot Putt. Another PB, 11.10, and a four meter improvement on his outdoor All-Ireland performance. He finished 9th. Karlo, while still only a schoolboy himself, teaches and leads several of our young throwers on a Friday night in Santry, another great inspiration.

Next up is Day 2 and Day 3 of All-Irelands in two weeks time.

The Dublin Indoor Championships for individual events came to a close today with Day 3 at the NIA.

Throwers To The Fore

Our new throwers group under the guidance of Kieron and Ed had a good day at the office. Sarah O’Farrell took gold in the Girls u14 shot while Daniel Ward was an excellent 4th in the Boys u12 with Jacques Duthoit 7th in the Boys u13. There were also plenty of new throwers making their debuts.

High Jumpers Leave Their Mark

The High Jumpers have been busily preparing each Friday in Morton Stadium this winter and it showed with great performances across the board. Medals were won by Joe Coogan, silver, and Zara Akinsowan, bronze, in the u12 age groups while Liliya Riecka came so close with 4th in the Girls u14, enough to qualify for All-Irelands. Orlaith O’Grady came 5th in the Girls u12.

Middle Distance Group Show They Have Come A Long Way

Ella O’Dwyer showed huge resilience to claim 6th in the hyper competitive Girls u14 800m final.

Orlaith O’Grady ran a super composed race to claim a bronze in the Girls u12 600m while in the Boys u12 we had three qualifiers for the final. A great testament to the program the middle distance coaches Marie, Dan and Morgan have put together. In the final Olly Dunne came a close 4th with Leon Keogh was 6th and Etienne Cotter 9th. Max Lyons came a fighting 6th in the Boys u13 600m.

Sprinters Close Out The Weekend

This time last year Alicja Doyle wasn’t even doing athletics but after a great winter of training from her she is now at the top end of sprinters in Dublin. She ran another PB today of 8.09 to take bronze in the Girls u16 60m. Keane Wosser overcame a big bout of sickness over the past few weeks to also take bronze in the Boys u15 60m with teammate Jaden Hagan-Frank in 6th with a big PB of 8.51. Aaron Rao made his first sprint final at Dublins to come 8th in the Boys u17 60m.

An exciting Day 2 has come to a close at the Dublin Indoors. Our biggest entry of athletes at a championships and lots of great stories on the day. Plenty of personal bests, surprise performances, finalists and a few medals also. Well done to all athletes who toed the line and competed today. They should be very proud.

Patryk Completes Jumps Double

Patryk Putek got the day off to a flyer with a Gold medal in the Boys u16 High Jump. After his win in the Long Jump, two weeks ago, this completes the jumps double.

Both Marianne O’Farrell and Meabh O’Grady hit PBs in the Girls u16 High Jump, Marianne claiming bronze and Meabh 5th, her best performance in club colours.

Mya Takes Bronze In The Sprints

A big day for our very first Little Athletics group, the 2013, who graduated to Older Ages athletics today. They acquitted themselves brilliantly with Mya Akinsowan claiming a thrilling bronze in the Girls u12 60m. She was closely followed him in 5th by Orlaith O’Grady. Leon Keogh had a great indoor debut progressing to the semi-finals and narrowly missing the final.

Making her first big final was Eva McArdle, progressing through the rounds of the Girls u14 60m to eventually place 7th. Hassan Khalid also placed 7th in a red hot Boys U13 final, setting a new PB while Cillian Martin had a huge PB, dipping under 9 seconds for the first time in his u14 race.

O’Farrells Complete Sister Long Jump Treble

Earlier in the day, Niamh O’Farrell claimed a dramatic gold in the Girls u12 Long Jump with her last jump with Orlaith O’Grady in 4th and Zara Akinsowan in 7th. Arthur Kenevey continued his super comeback with a 7th in the Boys U14 Long Jump.

The day finished on an historic note when Sarah O’Farrell took gold in the Girls u14 Long Jump. It meant the three O’Farrell sisters claimed an unique treble at this year’s Dublin with Marianne (u16), Sarah (u14) and Niamh (u12) also being Dublin Champions. Also in the Girls u14 Long Jump, Eva McArdle continued her day of days with a new PB and 8th.