National titles for Hanlon and Mulligan

Darragh Hanlon and James Mulligan both performed brilliantly to retain their national titles at last Sunday's National Juvenile Championships in Tullamore Harriers stadium. Liam Brady also took a bronze medal in the U-18 1,500m. Darragh Hanlon was the hot favourite going into the Boys U-18 Discus final and he did not disappoint with a great throw of 47.70 meters in the fourth round. This gave him a winning margin of almost five meters. He also secured his selection on the Irish team for the Celtic International in Wales on 1st August. James Mulligan had a great day as he set two new personal bests and won two medals. He won the Boys U-15 Hammer title with a great thow of 40.56 meters, almost four meters ahead of the runner-up, Gary McCarthy from Fanahan McSweeney A.C. in Fermoy. He then had to go straight to the U-15 Discus final and was unable to take any practice throws. That did not deter him however and he threw a new PB of 34.87 meters to win a well deserved silver medal. Liam Brady gave his usual gutsy display in the Boys U-18 1,500m final. He had to fight hard all the way to win the bronze medal after Cathal O' Connor (Dooneen A.C.) took an early lead which he never relinquished. The Coolderry lad was still in contention for the silver medal with 200m left in the race, but was outkicked by Cian O' Reilly and had to settle for bronze. Liam still ran a new PB of 4:11.46 and can be very happy with his season. Merv Salako has only recently taken up athletics and he did extremely well to finish fifth in the final of the Boys U-17 200m. Merv tired a little in the last 40 meters as he ran 24.11 seconds into a -1.3 m/s headwind but a good winter's training should see him much stronger next year. He is one to watch for the future. Darragh McNamara cruised through his Boys U-16 200m heat in 24.95 seconds to finish third. He then got a poor start in the final and had to settle for eight place in 24.46 seconds. Darragh has improved hugely in the last year and I have no doubt he will be closer to the medals next year. Nicole Cuskelly ran a fine race in the Girls U-14 1,500m. She was involved in a photo finish for sixth place before it was confirmed that she had just been pipped by two athletes and finished eight in a new PB of 5:14.24 to cap a good season for her. Well done to all our athletes who gave of their best on the day. European Junior Championships Best of luck to Fearghus Hannon who will be in action in the heats of the 4 x 400m Relay at the European Junior Championships on Saturday next. The Championships start tomorrow (Thursday) in Novi Sad, Serbia and run for four days. A total of 957 athletes from forty-seven countries will compete in these championships, which will see the best Under 20 athletes vie for the much coveted European Junior medals. Hopefully Fearghus will also be in action on Sunday also if the team make the final. Robert Denmead has been appointed as one of the team coaches and he will also be hoping that Paul Robinson from Kilcock, who he coaches, will do well in his 1,500m heat on Thursday and qualify for the final. Club chairman, John Cronin, will also be at the Championships, as he has been appointed as an official by the European Athletics Association. Live results from the cyhampionships can be found on www.european-athletics.org