Athletics – East Leinster, May 2023

86 boys participated at the East Leinster Athletics Championships in UCD on the 2nd and 4th of May. Excellent performances occurred across the various running, sprinting, jumping and throwing events with a total of 45 medals and plenty of personal bests being achieved over the course of the two days.

A real standout performance was a school record of 55 meters in the senior boy’s javelin by Phillipe Le Roux (6th Year). This was followed up with wins by Tom Brigg and Tom O’Riordan (6th Year) in the senior discus and hammer. The senior age group was aided by some particularly strong sprinting results, with Ryan Sheridan (5th Year) claiming a silver in the 200 meters.

In the intermediate category Gavin Laing and Bernard White (3rd Year) took gold in the triple jump and hammer, while Rory McNally (4th Year) won the shot putt. Geoffrey Wall (3rd Year) had an unusual medal combination of 2nd in the hammer and 3rd in the 400 meters. Charlie White (3rd Year) had an impressive performance to claim silver over 3000 meters.

The junior boys had some exceptional results across track and field events. The school went 1-2 in the 100 and 200 meters. Rhys Keogh (2nd Year) winning both with Alex Savage and Hugo Bourke (2nd Year) taking silver over the two distances. Alex followed this up with a silver medal performance in the long jump, joining Stephen Wall (2nd Year) in the Leinster Championships after a bronze in triple jump. The throwers had a great day, claiming gold in each event. Well done to Donnacha Walsh, Jack Sheeran, John Pierce and Cian McCarron (all 2nd Year) for their performances across the four events.

The championships were concluded with fine performances in the relay events. The senior boys claimed a silver in the 4×100 meters and a gold in the 4×400 meters. The intermediate relay also took silver, while the junior team claimed a gold medal.

Well done to each boy for their fantastic effort over the two days. Rewarded by winning the junior, intermediate and senior team trophies. The Leinster Schools Championship takes place in Tullamore on the 17th and 20th of May, where the many qualifiers will represent the college against the best of the province.

We thank Mr Barry, Mr Commons and their team of coaches and wish the boys well in the Leinsters.