Records tumble as Ireland’s brightest young athletes light up blustery Tullamore

 Conor Penney of Craughwell AC, Galway, on his way to winning the U20 men High Jump during the 123.ie National U20 & U23 Championships at Tullamore Harriers Athletics Club in Tullamore, Offaly. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile 

A host of records fell as the country’s rising stars staked their claim ahead of upcoming international championships.

Precious Akpe-Moses (Blackrock AC) stole the sprint spotlight with a dominant double in the U20 100m and a championship record (CR) of 23.66 in the 200m. Sean Doggett (Athenry AC) was the standout performer in a stacked men’s 400m final with the Athenry athlete securing gold in 47.08. Nick Griggs (CNDR Track Club) made a triumphant return to national championship action to win the U23 800m (1:52.46), while Eimear Maher (DSD) set a CR in the U23 1500m (4:22.80).

The walkers were also in record breaking form with Aisling Lane (Mullingar Harriers) clocking 13:54.98 in the U23 3000m walk, while Matthew Newell (Tuam AC) stormed his way to gold in the U20 5000m walk in 20:43.96 NU20R.

In the field, Thomas Williams (Shercock AC) continued his hammer dominance with a 65.30m (6kg) throw to take the U20 title, while Anna Gavigan (LSA AC) continued to impress, throwing a new U23 championship record of 54.20m in the discus.

Impressing over the jumps were Aoife O’Sullivan (Liscarroll AC) who soared to a CR of 1.81m in the U23 high jump, while Conor Penney (Craughwell AC) added to his medal collection with a best leap of 2.08m picking up gold in the U20 high jump competition.