Massive congratulations to Aoife and Maeve McGeehin, who proudly represented Ireland at the Schools FISEC-FICEP Games in Budapest, Hungary, from 13–19 July.

Aoife, representing both Ireland and Loreto Letterkenny, delivered an outstanding performance to claim a bronze medal in the Girls’ Javelin. Selection to the Irish team was made by the ASICUS School Sports Federation (ASSF), the official Irish representative body within FISEC.

Competing in temperatures reaching 38°C, Aoife showed tremendous determination and versatility across a demanding programme. Alongside her bronze medal performance in the Javelin, she also finished an impressive fourth in the Discus and ninth in the Shot Put.

Her younger sister Maeve also represented Ireland with distinction, achieving 11th place in the Javelin and ninth place in the Discus against strong international competition.

Both girls played an important role in helping Team Ireland secure the overall Girls’ Athletics Team title, while the Irish boys also enjoyed success by capturing the overall Boys’ Athletics Team crown.

Countries competing at the Games included Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Spain. Team Ireland gave a fantastic account of itself throughout the week, winning multiple medals and showcasing the strength and depth of talent currently emerging across Irish athletics.

Congratulations are also extended to Olympian coach Mossie McGeehin, who attended the Games as an Event Team Coach with Team Ireland, gaining valuable international coaching experience while proudly supporting his daughters’ achievements.

All-Ireland Juvenile Track & Field Championships

Olympian athletes were also in action at Day 3 of the All-Ireland Juvenile Track & Field Championships, producing a number of excellent performances.

Aoife McGeehin completed a remarkable family silver treble in the Javelin. Two weeks earlier, her sisters Maeve and Orla McGeehin had each secured silver medals in the U16 and U13 Girls’ Javelin, respectively. Aoife followed suit by producing a throw of 39.09m to claim silver in the U18 Girls’ Javelin.

Across the championship series, the McGeehin sisters amassed an impressive collection of medals, securing three All-Ireland silver medals in the Javelin, as well as a silver and bronze medals in the Discus. These performances firmly establish the sisters among Ireland’s leading juvenile throwers and helped earn international selection honours for Aoife and Maeve.

In the U16 Boys’ Long Jump, Sam Donnell produced the performance of his season when it mattered most. Sam jumped not one but two personal bests of 5.03m and 5.17m to finish a highly respectable 10th overall.

Briana Doherty, whose season has been affected by injury, showed tremendous resilience to produce an excellent championship performance. She finished second in her U16 Girls’ 200m heat in 26.27s before running a season’s best 26.26s in the final to place 4th overall, missing out on a medal by just 0.26s.

Meanwhile, Kellie Carty produced a strong performance in the U17 Girls’ Triple Jump, finishing 9th overall and securing her place among the top ten athletes in Ireland in her age group.

The final day of All-Ireland action brought further success for Olympian athletes at the All-Ireland Juvenile B Championships in Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

The star of the day was undoubtedly Ashton Forester, who enjoyed a superb championship outing by claiming two All-Ireland B Championship titles.

First, Ashton struck gold in the U16 Boys’ Shot Put, recording a new personal best throw of 8.89m. He then completed a remarkable double later in the day by winning the U16 Boys’ 800m in an excellent time of 2:11.52, securing his second gold medal and championship title.

Alfie Donnell enjoyed a fantastic first All-Ireland experience. In the U13 Boys’ 80m, he finished fourth in Heat 3 of 4 while clocking an impressive personal best of 11.21s, placing him 9th overall across all heats. Alfie also performed strongly in the Long Jump, recording a best jump of 3.58m to finish 11th overall, while adding another personal best to his growing list of achievements.

Another athlete making her All-Ireland debut, Réalta Fitzpatrick, gained invaluable championship experience. She finished 7th in Heat 1 of the U12 Girls’ 60m in 9.90s, placing 34th overall, before finishing 23rd in the Long Jump with a best effort of 3.12m.

Conal Breen also produced a determined performance in the U13 Boys’ 600m, battling all the way to the finish line to place 5th in his heat in 1:54.37, leaving him 13th overall nationally.

National Outdoor Combined Event Championships

On Saturday 18th July, Club coach Martin O’Donnell travelled to Morton Stadium to compete in the Al-Ireland Masters Combined events. In the M50 Pentathlon he tackled the 200m, Long Jump, Javelin, Discus and 1500m, accruing 1693 points over the course of the day. Martin set a new PB in the 1500m and is now considering a switch from Sprinting to Middle Distance running.