Clongriffin Athletic Club’s progress continued with our best ever performance at the recent Dublin Indoor Championships. Using both Placing Points and Medals Won metrics Clongriffin AC finished 3rd overall out of the 22 juvenile clubs in Dublin. This is up from 9th in 2024.

Rank	Club
1	Metro / St Brigids
2	Dundrum South Dublin
3	Clongriffin
4	Donore Harriers
5	Raheny Shamrock
6	Blackrock
7=	Lucan Harriers
7=	Cabinteely
9	Crusaders
10	Tallaght
11	Clonliffe Harriers
12	Lusk

Above table is based on Placing Points, 1st=6pts, 2nd=5pts, 3rd=4pts, 4th=3pts, 5th=2pts, 6th=1pt.

This also included 43 medals in total with 14 Golds, 19 Silvers and 10 Bronze.

Clongriffin athletes had top 6 finishes in the full range of events including Sprints, Hurdles, Middle Distance, Jumps, Throws and Racewalk. All of this would not be possible without the dedicated and highly motivated coaching team who have upskilled their knowledge through their experiences over the past four years. There are currently 31 coaches in the Club who turn up week in, week out coaching in the Halls, Astros, Parks, Gym and Tracks and commit many more hours in planning, preparation and organising.

Founded in 2019, straddling a global pandemic, this was only the fourth indoor championships the Club has attended so it is very exciting to see such progress so soon and great strides being made.

Sunday saw the 2025 edition of the Dublin Athletics Spraoi Games in the NIA. With 22 of Dublin Juvenile Clubs competing across the u9 (2017) to u11 (2015) it was a fun filled festival of athletics.

Spraoi is a team based event where Clubs compete as a team across a running event (60m), throwing event (bean bag throw), jumping event (standing long jump) and relay. Points are awarded to all athletes who compete, no matter their finishing position, and in the end all points are added up to provide an overall team score.

While results are not the priority, the Clongriffin Academy teams all performed brilliantly across the range of events with three of the age group coming top of their age groups and the three others all top 6, out of 22 clubs. Aside from results, it was a fun filled day where every child got the opportunity to compete in a run, jump and throw event. All competitors received a Spraoi Certificate and the day was finished by a lap of honour by all athletes.

Next up for the Academy athletes will be the outdoor season and after a mini mid-term break, the coaching teams will now turn their attention to that.

It was a landmark weekend for the Club at the Dublin Indoor Relay Championships with 8 teams qualifying for the All-Ireland Championships on April 5th. It was fitting that our very first relay winners back in 2020, the 2011 Girls, had a day to remember with not just two teams making the final but both teams making the podium and qualifying for All-Ireland. The A Team included Sophie, Ella, Eva and Evie while the B Team included Ava, Sarah, Darcy and Liliya. The squad also included Sophie and Emma.

Our first medal winners, in the morning session, were the Boys u16 who retained their Indoor Title from 2024 with a gun to tape win with Dylan, Jaden, Azim and Keane forming the quartet this time.

The Sunday morning session saw the Club participate in our first Mixed Relay Championship event. And what a debut with the U17 quartet of Alicja, Patryk, Marianne and Keane taking the Gold with an assured and confident run. Mixed relays are a unique opportunity for boys and girls to compete together in one team.

Marianne and Alicja had been joined the previous evening by Meabh and Lily as they took silver in the Girls u17 relay. The B team had earlier finished a strong 5th in their heat.

The Boys u13 have slowly and year and year improved and this was their year to take to the podium with a well executed performance. Leon, twins Etienne and Alex, and Olly took silver. Also taking silver was the Girls u13 after a big battle with perennial rivals, Crusaders. The team included Mya, Orlaith, Mia and Niamh. The strength of the age group was demonstrated by the B Team making the final (Sara, Ellie, Lucy, Zara) and finishing 5th, in a time that many years who have won a medal. The Development Division teams also had great success in this age with the Boys taking Silver (Michael, Ruben, Adam, Quinn) and the Girls taking Gold (Saira, Veronica, Viola, Sara).

The Boys u14 team of Robin, Jacques, Hassan and Max had a race for the ages with rival MSB, both teams running sub 1:50 and in the end only 0.18 seconds separating the teams. The Development Division squad of Oran, Rares, Leon and Joshua also had a great day with silver in their race. The u15 Boys ran brilliantly to their Gold in their Development Division with Arthur, Charlie, Cillian and Idriss.

Although not an All-Ireland qualifying event, the Boys u10 had two teams make the final coming 3rd and 6th with Sean, Jamie, Eren and Darragh making the podium.

There were many close calls and super performances from all teams, from the Championship and Development Divisions, demonstrating the hard work and commitment they have put in over the past few months. These included the Boys u11 and Boys u12 squads who came 4th and the Girls u11 and Girls u12 who came 5th while the Girls u10 teams came 7th and 9th.

A great reward for the coaches and athletes and their hard work over the winter. Not to mention the constant support from Parents who make days like these happen. Obviously not all athletes may come away happy from a relays day but across many of the older teams who had success over the weekend are athletes who may not always have been on an A team or may have been a sub. But their commitment and belief and patience meant that if you stick at it long enough, you will get what you deserve.

Running for his school, St Fintans, there was a big win for Danny Davis yesterday in the Leinster School Cross-Country Championships in the Phoenix Park. A strong run from the front saw Danny come home two seconds clear of his nearest challengers.

Danny will now go on to compete in the All-Ireland Schools Cross-Country in Galway in March.

Also competing yesterday and fresh from her 60m sprint silver at the Dublin Championships was Evie Grace. She finished in the Top 25, showing an impressive range to cover from short sprints to cross-country.

They might be one of the smaller training group in the Club but the Middle Distance squad had a memorable morning at Day 3 of the Dublin Indoors. There were gold medal runs from Ella Dwyer (Girls u15 800m) and Danny Davis (Boys u14 800m), both with hard front running performance and new PBs and 2:23 and 2:12 to boot. Max Lyons had also had a personal best to claim silver in the Boys U14 with a late charge. Orlaith O’Grady (Girls u13), Etienne Cotter (Boys u14), Azim Floro Ali (Boys u16) all came 4th while Olly Dunne was 6th with a PB in the Boys u13.

Sprinters had their Short Sprints day with the 60m and it was a day of the newcomers but also the old reliables. Alicja Doyle ran a fast new PB, 7.75, to take the Girls u17 title. Only a member for the past few months, Evie Grace showed her natural leg speed to take silver in the Girls u15, closely followed home by Eva McArdle in 4th. Three boys made the final of the Boys u16 and in the end it required thousands of to separate Dylan Brennan and Keane Wosser, with Dylan taking bronze. Azim Floro Ali followed up his 800m heroics to take 6th in the 60m.

Our throws squad had an impressive day with Danny Ward leading the charge with silver in the Boys u13. Robin Harris continued his demonstration of versality taking 3rd in his shot while Sarah O’Halloran and Mateo Collins taking 4th place with Mikey Hayden an excellent 6th on his championship debut.

The day closed with Leon Keogh taking an exciting silver in the Boys u13 High Jump, after a jump off (basically a penalty shoot out in athletics) while Olly Dunne came 5th. There were 6th places for Mya Akinsowon (Girls u13), Evan Cryan (Boys u12) and Sarah O’Halloran (Girls u12) and Nikita Riecka (Girls u14).

Special thanks for the Coaches and their unwavering commitment to getting the athlete prepared over the winter. Also to parents for always supporting and final thanks to the army of parent volunteers today who helped officiate.

It was a day for the High Jump squad at Day 2 of the Dublin Indoors and they didn’t disappoint. After several seasons of being so close on so many occasions it was the day that Aoife Ferguson finally stood on top of the podium at the Dublin Championships with a dramatic win with a jump off in the Girls u16 High Jump. Reward for a focused and disciplined athlete who consistently works so hard in training. Patryk Pucek won his 2nd Gold of this year’s Dublin taking the Boys U17 High Jump and later added the Triple Jump to take a jumping triple crown of golds in 2025. Liliya Riecka took silver in the Girls u15 High Jump with Meabh O’Grady taking bronze in the Girls u17 High Jump. Good days work for this jump’s squad.

Also on a jumping gold rush was Robin Harris. In his first indoor competition after only joining the Club three months again, Robin took Gold in the Boys u14 Long Jump. Oran Dolan had a great day also making the final and taking 8th. Sarah O’Halloran came within 1cm of the Dublin title with a composed jumping performance, eventually taking silver in the Girls u12 Long Jump while the trio of Hanna Kacperska (Girls u14), Isaac Eivers (Boys U12) and Viola de Chellis (Girls u13) were just outside the medals in 4th but do qualify for All-Irelands. Mya Akinsowon (Girls u13) and Quinn O’Dwyer (Boys u12) also made Long Jump finals and finished 5th and 7th respectively.

Quinn dusted off his Long Jump 7th place to battle through the rounds of the 60m and take an exciting silver medal. Another newcomer, Darcy Henry, had a day of days on her debut to come within 0.01 seconds of a medal in the Girls u14 60m, her consolation is booking her ticket to the All-Ireland’s as a qualifier. Marianne O’Farrell endured the argy bargy of an indoor 400m to battle through to take 4th in the Girls u17 400m, just missing on the bronze. Four boys in the Boys u14 got through the heats and semi-finals of the 60m to have four representatives, eventually finishing 5th to 8th with Robin Harris, Hassan Khalid, Max Lyons and Jacques Duthoit. Niamh O’Farrell took 5th in the Girls u13 60m final.

Finally, the Triple Jump wrapped up the day and saw silver for Keane Wosser (Boys u16) and bronze for Timur Ciparsons (Boys u17) and Lily Nadolinska (Girls u17).

An exciting Day 1 of the Dublin Indoor Championship saw a 14 medal haul for the Club. In addition there were multiple finalists including four in two events (Girls u15 Long Jump and Girls u13 60m Hurdles) and three in another (Girls u17 Long Jump). Also very encouraging to see several athletes make their individual debuts in the older age groups.

First up was Karlo Sremec who heaved the 6kg Shot Putt just short of 11m for silver the Boys u19. The Long Jumpers had a great day with Gold for Patryk Pucek and Marianne O’Farrell, silver for Ella O’Dwyer and bronze for Dylan Brennan. Several finalists and Top 8s included Timur Ciparsons, Sarah O’Farrell, Ava Kavanagh, Liliya Riecka, Meabh O’Grady, Noelia Resina Rodriguez and Izzy Maher

Lauren Ferguson claimed a silver in the Girls u16 Walk while Keane Wosser took bronze in the 200m, with Dylan Brennan in 5th.

The hurdle squad had a special day with 7 medals. The Girls u13 stormed their age group with four girls in the final, Mya Akinsowon eventually taking Gold just from Mia Sinclair, making her debut for the Club. Zara Akinsowon and Orlaith O’Grady also made the final. Leon Keogh took bronze in the Boys u13 while Hania Kacperska took an exciting silver in the Girls u14 with Hassan Khalid also taking silver in the Boys u14. Sophie Winkless was second in the Girls u15 with Liliya Riecka taking a close 4th. Ben Lyons was fifth in the Boys u16. To wrap the hurdles up Marianne O’Farrell ran a nice new PB of 9.20 to take gold in the Girls u17 with Ola Kacperska also making the final.

Thanks as always to the coaches and parents who volunteered as coaches.

Some of the Girls U17 squad (2009) made their first foray into senior athletics last night at the Track and Field Live Open Meet in NIA.

First up was Alicja Doyle in the Senior 60m. Having safely made it through the heats into the final, Alicja ran a super race to take second in a new PB of 7.77. A brilliant experience competing alongside race winner, Molly Scott from Carlow, Ireland’s second fastest 60m sprinter ever, who incidentally is coached by a Donaghmede native, Deirdre Scott.

Next up was the ‘long’ sprinters Ola Kacperska and Marianne O’Farrell in the Senior 400m. 400m can be a challenging race but both girls were very brave in their race executions and were rewarded for their efforts with two great debut performances, Marianne taking the win in her heat and Ola a very close 4th.

Marianne O’Farrell has kicked off 2025 in style with a silver medal at the All-Ireland Youths (u18) Combined Events in NIA on Sunday. Starting her day with a new PB over the hurdles, she was straight away into second place in the overall points after event 1.

As the day progressed, she never surrendered that position and had two big last round efforts in her Long Jump and Shot Putt to earn valuable points, showing great resolve to pull out big efforts under pressure.

With the High Jump safely negotiated, only 3cm off her best, Marianne ran a clever race in the 800m, watching and matching her nearest rivals to ensure the silver medal was secured.

Also in action was Liliya Riecka and Sarah O’Farrell. Liliya had her best pentathlon to date, with her High Jump a standout in particular, to take 11th overall, Sarah had a solid outing with strong Long Jump and Shot Putt showings.

Thanks to coaches Marie and Cliodhna for supporting at the competition.

The academy had a very exciting 2024, full of success, friendship and great team spirit. Competition kicked off in February with the Dublin Spraoi games. All our academy teams medalled at the Dublin Spraoi games. Athletes worked in teams of up to 10, competing in the 60 metres, standing long jump, beanbag throw and a relay.

The 2015 boys had great success in the Dublin indoor relay championships, winning a silver medal in the 4 by 200 metre relay. The team was Sam Merriman, Denis Dixon, Matej Musik and Darragh Smith. 

The academy athletes gained confidence from their indoor success, as they moved on to compete in the Dublin and National Children’s games. 

Clongriffin AC won a total of 16 medals at Dublin games, qualifying 27 athletes into the National Children’s Games in Tullamore last June. This included all 6 relay teams born across 2014, 2015 and 2016.

After the summer break, our 2014 athletes moved into the pre performance section of the club and 2017 moved from Little Athletics into the academy. The 2016 and 2015 athletes competed in the Dublin cross country league and in the Dublin cross country championships. There were many top 20 finishers from both age groups throughout the  season. Many athletes showed great improvements as they progressed through the league. Congratulations to Darragh Smith (2016), who medalled in the Dublin Cross country championships and also in the cross country league.

In November, we had our Club championships and Open day in the NIA. We had  80 athletes competing across the academy. Athletes competed in the 200m, 60m, a jump and a turbo javelin. Combined scores were calculated and the top 4 in each age category were awarded medals at our club awards in December. Congratulations to all that participated in the  club championships.

The club also hosted the first academy cup in the NIA in November. 400 athletes competed from 9 different clubs. Teams competed across a range of run, jump, throw and a relay. Our 2017 group came out on top of the 9 clubs in their age group, as did the 2016 boys. 2015 boys won the silver, with 2015 and 2016 girls winning bronze.

We are now looking forward to building upon our successes and progress in 2025. The 2014 group have graduated now to the Development Group and have been training with them since September. We are  excited about the new talent that has joined our squads since the open day in November. Thank you to all our Academy coaches for making it all possible.