Ken Ryan Sprint Coach

National Senior Champs PB’s!! Three of the group tested themselves against the best in the country this weekend and all three ran PB’s. Shane Mulligan made it all the way to the 400m final, smashing his PB twice along the way. Leila Colfer also made it to her first Senior final, finishing a very impressive 6th, running a PB of 7.60 in the semi final. And Bevan McCaffrey continued to lower her 60m hurdles PB from what was 9.42 at the start of the season to now 8.86, just missing out on the final by one place. She also further lowered her 60m time to 8.03.

The group got their 2024 indoor season off to a start with at the National U23/U20 Championships in Athlone. Shane won bronze in a hard fought 200m race equalling his PB. Bevan continued to lower her PB as she claimed bronze in the 60m hurdles. Leila picked up a gold in the 60m and bronze in the 200m. Aoibheann took another chunk off her PB in the 60m as she continues to get faster. Well done to the younger athletes also who stepped up a few age groups to compete against older athletes.

Another season comes to an end for the group and we’d some international representation to celebrate! Emily Lawlor won All Ireland 🥇in the 100m hurdles and followed this up by representing Ireland in SIAB’s and won 🥉. Leila was selected to run in the 100m at EYOF in Slovenia and also helped the medley relay team to a national record. Nationally, Phillip and Oisin both medalled at Leinsters. Phillip used his speed to represent Ireland in touch rugby this summer while Oisin made a national final in the 300m hurdles.

Well done to Phillip in getting a 🥈in the Long Jump at the National Indoors.

Some more medal success today for the group! In the Leinster Junior Championships Evan won🥈in the 60m and Leila won 2x🥇in the 60m and 200m. Both athletes set new PB’s too as a nice bonus 😊

Well done to Phillip and Leila who recently won the Juvenile Star Awards. This award is given to the most successful athlete from each county for the past year.

The juvenile provincial indoors have come to a close and it’s been a great couple of weeks for the group. Colm picked up 🥇in the hurdles in Connacht. In Leinster Emily won🥇in the hurdles and🥈in the 60m. Oisin won🥉in the hurdles, while Leila won🥇in the 60m and long jump and🥈in the hurdles. Phillip claimed🥇in the long jump,🥈in the 60m and🥉in the 200m. And Adam won🥇in both the 60m and 200m. Next up is Leinster Juniors for some of the older athletes in the group.

Well done to Leila who recently won the All Ireland Schools Combined Events. Leila then went to Glasgow to represent Ireland in the International version of the competition with a 4th place finish helping her team to🥈Special mention also to Emily and Phillip who both qualified for and competed in the All Ireland competition. The group are busy training for the upcoming indoor season next!

Well done to the group on their recent success at the Schools Provincials Combined Events! Phillip picked up 🥇 in Connacht while John came 6th, both representing Marist College. In the Leinster competition Leila won 🥈and Emily came 4th both representing Tullow CS. Good luck to Phillip, Leila and Emily in the National competition in November!

Just a recap on how the athletes have been doing lately: Leila has had a busy few weeks. She won the Schools Tailteann Games 100m with a new PB of 12.00 seconds. She also won National🥇in the 100m and🥈in the 200m. She represented Ireland in the SIAB’s and finished 5th in the 100m and won🥉with the Irish relay team. Leila at the age of just 15 also recently ran in the Ireland U20 relay team and is now a part of that squad. Emily also competed in the Tailteanns setting an impressive new PB in the 80m hurdles and finishing 5th. Elsewhere in the National championships the group had some strong performances: Phillip picked up National🥈x2 in the 200m and long jump. Emily finished 5th in both the 80m hurdles and 100m. John, who only started hurdling a couple of months ago finished 6th in the 75m hurdles. Evan and Oisin finished 7th in the 200m and 100m respectively.

A great weekend was had for the group at the Provincial Club Championships. In what was his last juvenile Leinsters, Evan Tully (Birr AC) picked up a🥉in the 200m and came 4th in the 100m. His club mate Oisin Darcy also won🥉in the 100m hurdles. John Finnan (Athlone AC) won🥉in what was his first time competing in the hurdles, as well as coming 5th in the long jump. His older brother Phillip won 3x🥇in the 100m, 200m and long jump. Emily Lawlor (SLOT) took 🥇 in the 80m hurdles and came 4th in the 100m. Leila Colfer (SLOT) won 🥇in the 100m. And Emma Brennan (Longford AC) competed in the Connacht Championships winning both the 800m and 1500m. Next up is the Schools Tailteann Games for Leila and Emily on Friday where they’ll represent their province.

It was All Ireland Schools Day today for some of the group. To qualify for this day alone is very difficult so it was a nice bonus to get some medals. Congrats to Leila and Emily (both of Tullow CS). Leila won🥇in the 100m and🥉in the 200m. Emily won🥈in the 75m hurdles and🥉in the 100m. Phillip (Marist College) came 6th in the long jump. And Emma (Moyne CS) who does some speed work with the group came 5th in the 800m. It’s been great to see schools athletics back again. Next is the Provincial Champs as the athletes go back to representing their clubs.

It was time for the group to represent their schools this time around and between them they collected 11 medals at the provincial championships. In Leinster Emily Lawlor (Tullow CS) completed a unique double by winning the 75m hurdles and getting silver in the 100m. Leila Colfer (Tullow CS) also did brilliantly to win both the 100m and 200m. Both girls also combined to win bronze in the relay. Over in Connacht Phillip Finnan (Marist College) won the Long Jump and came 4th in the 100m. He along with John Finnan (Marist College) took bronze in the relay. Emma Brennan (Moyne CS) won the 800m and helped her relay team to silver. Well done to the rest of the group also on some very strong performances. It’s on to the All Irelands next for them on June 4th!

And that’s a wrap for the indoor season for the group. And the season was rounded off in style by Phillip Finnan (AIT) who claimed gold in the All Ireland U15 Long Jump in what is Phillip’s first season training in the sport. Next up for everyone are the schools competitions in April/May.

Massive congrats to Leila Colfer (S.L.O.T.) who claimed 60m gold at the National Indoor Championships this weekend. Leila also picked up a bronze in the 200m. Phillip Finnan (AIT) finished 4th in his 60m and was just 1/100th of a second from bronze. Emily Lawlor (S.L.O.T.) was a 5th in a quick 60m hurdles final. Oisin Darcy (Birr AC) did brilliantly to reach a national hurdles final in what is just his first season hurdling. Evan Tully (Birr AC) ran a swift 7.43 in his 60m but narrowly missed a place in the final. What was most impressive was how much the athletes raised their game for the big occasion with HUGE chunks taken off most athletes’ PB’s.

Not a bad weekend’s work for the group with 10 medals in the bag and plenty of qualifications for National Championships. In the Leinster Indoors held in Athlone, Phillip Finnan of Athlone AC won gold in the Long Jump and silver in the 60m. Leila Colfer of SLOT took silver in the 200m and bronze in the 60m. Emma Brennan of Longford AC took an individual silver in the Connacht Schools XC 2km and helped her school to gold in the team event. Back in Athlone, Emily Lawler of SLOT claimed silver in the 60m hurdles. The boys from Birr AC then medalled with Evan Tully getting a bronze in both the 60m and Long Jump, and Oisin Darcy claiming bronze in the 60m hurdles. And some very encouraging performances from John Finnan of Athlone AC in the 60m and Long Jump, and Roisin Corcoran of SLOT in the 60m rounded off a great weekend for the group! Well done to them all and its great to see the smiles on their faces after all their hard winter training!

National champion x2! Massive congrats to Leila on winning the All Ireland U16 100m and 200m this weekend in Tullamore. Her hard work and dedication in training is starting to show on the track. Well done also to Dan on making it to the National Final in the U14 80m. I’m extremely proud of both of them!

What a way to return to competition for the squad. We were in Carlow for the Leinsters this weekend where some of the performances matched the weather 🔥. Leila Colfer (SLOT) won gold in both the 100m and 200m. Emily Lawlor (SLOT) won gold in the 80m hurdles and came 6th in the final of the 200m. Dan Costello (AIT) picked up a bronze in the 80m and narrowly lost out on a bronze in his first ever hurdles race. Oisin Darcy and Evan Tully (both Birr AC) performed excellently to finish 4th in their respective 100m races. Evan goes again next weekend in the 200m. Well done to them all!!

Delighted to graduate from Setanta College today, but gobsmacked to actually win an award! It’s been a fantastic course and I’m thrilled to use what I’ve learned to continue to make the academy’s athletes faster and stronger!!