St. Mary's Athletics Club Ballygunner

SUMMER CATCH UP PART 2!
St Mary's was well represented at the European Championships Unity 1km Road Race! Taking place after the Marathon events, the streets of Birmingham were thronged with eager young athletes who ran 1 kilometre of the official European Championships Marathon route, ending at the main finish line, under the cameras! All were rewarded with loud cheers from the huge Irish contingent over for the European Championships and a special, once off commemorative medal to mark the occasion. 🏅
A group photo with David Gillick, former European Medallist and current RTE athletics commentator, topped off the morning 🇮🇪
A really enjoyable event with an amazing atmosphere, well done to the coaches who finished in style too but a little way behind the youngsters!

SUMMER CATCH UP!
We've been a little quiet on here as competition season ended and most of the club took a well earned break to enjoy the sunshine and lack of routine.
A little catch up on events - Liam Walsh represented us in the Run with Ciara Mageean which took place at the National Senior Championships back in July. A proud moment for those watching from the stands and on the TV to see our singlet represented in honouring someone who is a huge role model to lots of us.
Liam took full advantage of the trip to capture a few snaps with some of his heroes- little did he know just how much more he would treasure the Andrew Coscoran one a few weeks later as he took home a European bronze medal!!!!!
Nichola Tighe represented us at the National Masters Championships in early August and took home a silver medal in the O50 WFD and a bronze medal in the 050 sprint hurdles 👏 👏
The Ballygunner Junior Park Run also continues every Sunday morning in Ballygunner Hurling Club with involvement from St Mary's coaches, athletes and parents 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️

The last Track and Field competition weekend of 2026 took place last Saturday and Sunday with St Mary's members in action in both Belfast and Templemore.
Declan Vandi had a fine run in the Boys 400m at the SIAB International event in Belfast taking 5th place and also anchoring the Ireland 4x400m relay to the silver medal. Looking well at home in the green vest, it was a great finale to what has been a great season for him with hopefully even more to come in 2027 👏
The Munster B Championships took place in Templemore on Sunday with Hayden Scadding taking gold in the BU16 800m. Silver medals were won by Liam Walsh in the BU16 800m (PB), Finn Ryan in the BU11 Turbo Javelin (PB) and Roisin Mongey in the GU16 Shot. Tadgh Forristal took home his second bronze medal in as many weeks in the BU15 100m (PB). Chloe Sheahan came heartbreakingly close to a medal, being pipped for both the silver and bronze medals by just 4cm. She will be back!
And that's a wrap from a busy and hugely enjoyable, successful track and field season for St Mary's! Lots of high points, some disappointments, endless PBs and hopefully lots of young athletes looking back on their achievements with great pride! Next stop is Cross Country season where the sun will be but a distant memory!
Huge thanks to all our athletes and their families, our club coaches and volunteers, our committee and to all those who have supported us throughout the year ❤️

A hugely proud day for our club, Newtown School and the Vandi family tomorrow as Declan dons his first Irish vest in Belfast! Declan has been selected to represent Ireland at the Schools International Athletics Board (SIAB) 2026 meet based on his stellar performances at the Irish Schools Championships and Tailteamn Games earlier this summer.
Ireland will compete against England, Scotland and Wales with Declan representing at both 400m and the 4x400m relay
Representing your country is a dream for so many young sportspeople and we are very proud to see Declan reach this level. He will also inspire many other young St Mary's athletes with this achievement.
Well done Declan on all your hard work 👏 🇮🇪

The National B Championships also took place in Tullamore this weekend for those who still crave more racing at the end of a long season!
Tadgh Forristal, who has only been training for athletics for several months, produced a hugely impressive performance in the BU15 100m to take a bronze medal. This follows a strong run at Munster level seeing him reach the 200m final that day. Big things lie ahead for Tadgh next season hopefully with the experience of these Championships combined with a full season's training behind him 💪
A man who never seems to stop was justly rewarded for his efforts all year in the BU16 800m! Hayden Scadding produced a top quality run to take a bronze medal to add to his strong performances at both Cross Country and Track Championships throughout 2026. Well done Hayden, everyone is delighted to see you on the podium!

St Mary's had 2 qualifiers at the final weekend of National Championships held in Tullamore at the weekend.
On Saturday Declan Vandi finished in a very impressive 4th place in the final of the BU16 200m. 4th is always a tough spot to finish but Declan can be very proud of his 2026 season, becoming Munster Champion a few weeks ago and now looking forward to representing Ireland Schools next weekend in Belfast 🇮🇪
On Sunday Declan took to the track again with his team mates Tadgh Forristal, Richard Melbourne and Hayden Scadding to take on the fastest 4 x 100m Relay teams in Ireland in blistering heat. The boys put together a fine performance to finish 6th in Ireland in a PB time for the team. Liam Walsh and Ben Griffin also played their part in this squad over the 2026 racing season. Well done boys on a busy but very productive year for all of ye!

As we near the end of the T&F season for 2026, we were delighted to have our biggest number of athletes to date qualify for the All Ireland Championships in Tullamore at the weekend.
Busiest lady of the weekend (and possibly most unlucky!) was Lauren McGhee coming away with 4th place in the U14 Shot, 4th in the U14 Hammer and 5th in the U14 Discus. Lying in the bronze medal position after 5 rounds of the shot, she was desperately unlucky to be overtaken, missing out on silver by just 10cm and bronze by 9cm. A huge year for Lauren where she became Munster Champion and earmarked herself as a thrower to watch going forward.
Quinlan Hennessy had a strong showing in his first All Ireland competition and indeed in his first year in this event, finishing in 7th place in the U14 High Jump. In an exceptionally high standard of competition he showed that he is well capable at this level and will look forward to next season with great confidence.
A big PB for Liam Walsh saw him finish 12th in a high quality 3000m U16 final. A young man who has grown in confidence all year, managed his race and pacing perfectly to crown a great year where he represented both his club and school at All Ireland level, just rewards for his hard work and commitment.
Aidan Gallagher and Roisin Mongey both competed in the Hammer Finals with Aidan making the Top 8 in Ireland and finishing 7th and Roisin just missing out on the Top 8th taking 9th place. Both have made great progress with their throws this year and were rewarded with a spot in Tullamore. Well done lads!
Neasa Cluney has had a difficult year from an injury perspective so it was amazing to see her fit and healthy taking 5th place in the U16 2km Walk. Training is not the same without seeing Neasa go through her laps with a cheery wave to all our other groups dotted around the track!
Declan Vandi, fresh from his Tailteann Games exploits, was unlucky not to qualify for the U16 800m, an event which is always of high standard. He will look forward to the 200m as current Munster Champion in 2 weeks time.
Our last competitor of the weekend was Richard Melbourne in the U16 Shot, managing to come close to his PB on the big stage 👏

Really proud of this crew who have reached the top of the pile in 2026 - our qualifiers for the All Ireland Championships which take place this weekend in Tullamore 💪👏
Lots of the current and past biggest names in Irish athletics first announced themselves at these very championships over the years and the highest level of competition is expected this weekend🔥🏅🏃‍♀️
A busy Saturday morning will see Liam Walsh take to the line in the U16 3000m final, Quinlan Hennessy jump for glory in the U14 High Jump and Lauren McGhee and Aidan Gallagher aim to throw into the record books in the U14 Discus and Hammer respectively. All 4 are competing at 10am! Lauren will follow this up with her U14 Shot Put Final at 11am.
Sunday will kick off with Lauren throwing in her third final of the weekend, the U14 Hammer, closely followed by her training buddy, Roisin Mongey, in the U16 Hammer at 11.45am. We are then back on the track for the afternoon with Neasa Cluney competing in the U16 Race Walk and Declan Vandi in the 800m. St Mary's day will close out with Richard Melbourne taking to the shot put circle at 2.45pm in the U16 final.
A huge well done from the whole club on making it to the All Irelands, an achievement borne from hard work, talent and dedication. We hope you all enjoy the weekend and are very proud! Adh mor oraibh go leir 🍀❤️🇮🇪

Some snaps from a wonderful morning at the RSC for the Waterford Viking Marathon Children's Races 2026 last Saturday!
Well done to all who took part, especially our own members, some of whom are pictured here. Big thanks to all who were involved in the organising as well as those who volunteered to help on the day 👏 👏
For more photos, reels, video clips etc please see posts from the event on WLR Waterford Viking Marathon Waterford Sports Partnership pages
Possibly some future champions on show as well as lots of kids learning about the positive impact exercise can have in their lives 🏃‍♂️ 🏃‍♀️