It was an enthralling afternoon in Maynooth University as DCU competed in the annual IUAA Road Relays Championships!

Starting off the day strong, the DCU Women were led out by Avril Millerick, quickly garnering an impressive lead after the first mile, handing off to Amy Greene in a blistering 4:58. Amy held strong maintaining the ladies podium fight, passing over to Róise Roberts, who left the final leg on to Aimee Wallace, bringing home an impressive bronze medal amongst some impressive competition.

As the Women's race concluded, eyes turned to the men's race. A day for the history books, we took back the IUAA men's title for the first time since 2018. A feat that at the time took a team of Andrew Coscoran, Brian Fay, Gary Campbell, Paul Robinson and Conor Duncan. Three of whom have gone on to compete at multiple Olympic games! Today, it was the turn of Cian Gorham, Harry Colbert, Cathal O'Reilly, Michael Murphy and Finn Woodger (Capt) who took charge, holding the top 4 position coming into the third leg, Cathal put a huge last mile to bring the lads back into fighting position. A big two mile run from Michael Murphy had us in a podium spot, but the hunger was there for more than just third. Men's Captain Finn Woodger stepped up on the day to take on Galway's Roland Surlis over the final mile. Two men normally used to the 800m, this was to be a fast finish for sure. As the lads came around the second last bend, Roland held Finn off, but come the final bend Woodger had the better of Surlis and took the win in celebratory "Michael Murphy" fashion.

Link to results are here.

It was a crisp, dry morning in West Dublin this weekend as the Autumn Open International Cross Country took place, showcasing top Irish and international athletes vying for glory at Abbotstown.

Our athletes delivered impressive performances, with Amy Greene finishing 10th in a highly competitive senior women’s field, while Ellen McLoughlin secured 38th place. In the senior men's race, Cathal O’Reilly battled his way to an impressive top-6 finish, claiming the title of the first U23 athlete across the line, while Michael Murphy put in a solid effort to secure 14th, despite a busy travel schedule.

However, the standout performance of the day belonged to DCU alum Keelan Kilrehill, who dominated the men’s race with a commanding final lap, securing a convincing victory.

All eyes now turn to this Saturday as we head to UCC for the IUAA Cross Country Championships, ready to bring the Badger and Cheetahs back to Glasnevin!

The Griffith Avenue Mile returned on Sunday last with hundreds of athletes across all ages taking on the renowned course. 

The race first took place back in 1983 and was known as the 'Dublin Straight Mile'. That year it was won by South African-born American Sydney Maree, in a blistering 3.49.30. 

Leading Irish athletes such as Eamonn Coghlan were in the field that day, and Ray Flynn ran strongly to finish third. 

The race was revived in 2019 but had been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic until last year. This year it made a bigger and better return than before. 

DCU are one of the proud sponsors of the race and being so close to all of our campuses, a number of our athletes who are more used to running the metric mile or longer donned the blue and yellow singlets for the first time this season. 

Track athlete Benjamin Caullier took charge at the front of the race, with the DCU crest proudly on display. Juan Ignacio Pena, the Chilean record holder in the mile, along with Kevin McGrath, a 3:46 1500m man, were right there with him in a leading pack. Late on in the race, Juan and Kevin made a break, with Ben hot on their heels, taking a proud bronze position over the line in a personal best time of 4:10. 

Some strong performances from Paul Morgan (17th, 4:37) and Cian Murray (22nd, 4:48) rounded out the top 25 for the DCU men.

This year also had the introduction of the 400m relay showcase event, off the back of the recent sucsesses of Irish teams in the event. DCU had a strong team put forward, with Callum Hurley, Moya O'Connell and Oisin Kelly, taking the win in the event, which was started by our own Olympian Jack Raftery!

Training is back in full this week ahead of a busy year ahead. All training in DCU Sports Grounds unless otherwise stated. Full schedule below:

Sprints/Hurdles - Back Monday 30th @ 6pm and Wednesday @ 6pm - Morton Stadium

Long Jump/Triple Jump - Tuesday @ 6pm - Morton Stadium

High Jump - email athletics@dcuclubsandsocs.ie for full details

Throws - email athletics@dcuclubsandsocs.ie for full details

Distance Sessions - Tuesday and Thursday @ 6pm - DCU Sports Grounds

Distance Easy Runs - Monday and Wednesday @ 6:20pm - meet at front of DCU Sports Complex

Walks - email athletics@dcuclubsandsocs.ie for full details

There was an outstanding display of talent as well as participation at the 2024 DCU Schools Cross Country race yesterday with nearly 600 secondary school students taking part.

The first race of the event at 12 noon on the DCU Sports Grounds. A huge pack consisting of 93 Minor Girls set off on their one kilometre run. Cate Beddy from Loreto St. Stephen’s Green (1st), Aoife Murphy of Loreto Foxrock (2nd) and Jessica Ryan from St. Dominics College Cabra (3rd) took the podium spots for this race. Julia Butler and Pearl O’Brien rounded off the medals in 4th and 5th position. St. Dominic’s College Cabra won the Minor Girls Team Title with Loreto Foxrock and Loreto Dalkey finishing second and third.

The Minor Boys race was the biggest field on the day with 121 athletes competing. They followed in the footsteps of the girls race by running one small lap of the course (800m and a 200m straight to the finish line). It was an intense battle to the line for everyone in this race but Tim Daly from Willow Park, Eoin McGuirk competing for Lusk Community College and Euan Atteberry for Colaiste Eoin secured their spots on the podium. These lads were followed closely behind by Ben Fitzgerald and Mason Adabe for fourth and fifth. Congratulations to St. Kieran’s College Kilkenny, Colaiste Eoin and St. Aidan’s CBS on their team medals.

In the Junior Girls race we seen a commanding performance from Holy Child Killiney with their athletes Rachel Murdock and Siena Fleming taking the first and second spots on the podium. Grace Connell from Mount Sackville finished third. Holy Child Killiney resumed their silverware take over in the team results by finishing in first place with an outstanding score of 11 points. Our Lady’s College Drogheda and Loreto Foxrock rounded of the team results for the Junior Girls claiming silver and bronze.

Another massive field of 120 boys took to the course to run 2 kilometres in the Junior race. A huge well done to the medallists from this big and talented field. Charlie O’Neill representing Belvedere College placed first with Ronan Keaney from Patrician Secondary School Newry and Finn Kealy from Oatlands College placing second and third. With Patrician Secondary School Newbridge finishing first in the team results on 20 points it was literally neck and neck between St. Coleman’s College Newry and Oatlands College as they both finished on 28 points. St. Coleman’s College Newry just came out on top due to having overall better averaging finishing positions.

The outstanding talent Emily Boltan took to the front of the Intermediate Girls race from the gun and continued her blistering pace all the way to the line to claim the gold medal. Moments later Derbhla Allen and Goda Buivydte closed off the podium with bronze and silver. Lilly Clarke Hanrahan and Erin Byrne placed fourth and fifth securing themselves silverware. St. Dominic’s College Cabra took home yet another team title, this time in the Intermediate girl’s race thanks o a dominating 15 points. Our Lady’s College Drogheda claim another team medal, this time being bronze and Colaiste Iosagain placing second.

Conor McGuirk (Lusk Community College), Rhys Johnson(Pipers Hill College) and Jack Garvey (St. Mary’s Drogheda) place first second and third in the Boys Intermediate race. St. Michael’s Enniskillen(1st), St. Coleman’s College Newry (2nd) and Belvedere College (3rd) for the Intermediate Boys team results.

Rounding off a great day we had both the Senior Girls and the Senior Boys races. Maebh Caffrey from Mount Sackville and Lorcan Benjacar from Ard Scoil Ris took home the senior title so a massive well done to both of them as both fields were stacked with many great athletes. St. Dominic’s College Cabra made it a hattrick pf golds in the team results by winning the Senior Girls title and St. Aidan’s CBS took the Senior Boys title with four of their athletes being inside the top ten. Many thanks to the Helix and GOWA Sports Ireland for sponsoring the Senior Boy’s and Girl’s trophy on the day it was greatly appreciated by DCU as well as all the students

Finally once again well done to all of the athletes that took part in the event. DCU is very thankful for the amazing turn out by all the schools and students. We look forward to hopefully another very successful event next year.

?@_marksmyth_

It was a weekend to remember for DCU Athletics as their dominance of Irish university athletics continued in South Dublin at the IUAA Track and Field Championships.

The strong contingent from the club made their way to Dundrum South Dublin’s fabulous new track in Taylorsgrange looking to retain the titles they had won in Carlow last year.

A number of DCU’s top talents produced sensational performances across the weekend breaking IUAA and DCU records.

One of the standout performances came from third year student Jack Raftery. Raftery lined up in the Men’s 400m as the favourite to take gold after he won the IUAA and national senior indoor titles over the distance earlier this year. Fellow DCU athlete Ciaran Carthy was seen as his main rival for gold having ran the quickest heat time of 47.76s on Friday.

With the rain pelting down the athletes settled into their blocks and when the gun went Carthy made the much stronger start leading the field through 200m. It wasn’t until the home straight when Raftery managed to move up on his shoulder before striding past him and kicking for home to take gold in an extremely impressive time of 46.59s, knocking over 0.5s off the previous IUAA record in the process. Carthy held on for second clocking 47.34s.

Another DCU man who entered the record books was Donegal fresher Sean McGinley. McGinley impressed in the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase moving into the lead with a kilometre to go before running a blistering last lap. He dipped two seconds under the 37-year-old championship record but arguably more importantly for him secured qualification for the European U23 Championships in Finland in July. McGinley stopped the clock at 8.56.90.

Michaela Walsh who was competing as a One Year Down (OYD) athlete in the DCU colours added yet another IUAA record to her name in taking gold in the Women’s Shot Put. Walsh added 38cm to the previous best throwing a massive 14.86m. She was joined on the podium by fellow DCU athletes Ciara Sheehy and Aoibhín McMahon who won silver and bronze, respectively.

Several other DCU records were also broken over the course of the championships, arguably none more so impressive than Mark Smyth’s blistering run to take 200m gold. In awful conditions and into a very strong headwind of -1.6m/s Smyth showed his class to run a time of 20.95s.

In the Men’s 3000m Walk Matthew Glennon produced an excellent performance to take silver in a DCU record of 12.25.29 behind UL’s Oisin Lane.

Sarah Lane made a welcome return from injury to take down the DCU women’s 800m record. Lane finished incredibly strongly over the final 200m to close down and ultimately overtake teammate Emma Moore. Lane walked away with bronze in a time of 2.11.77, while Moore had to settle for fourth.

No fewer than 19 gold medals returned to DCU after the two days of competition.

Another athlete who mounted the top of the podium was Siobhan Doherty who won the 1500m walk title from teammate Eva Delahunt.

Katie Nolke delivered a fine performance in difficult conditions to take 100m Hurdles glory, while Avril Deegan was a class above the rest of the field as she strode home to win the 3000m gold.

Jack Forde was on fire across two days of competition winning the combined events and High Jump, claiming silver in the Pole Vault, and also taking bronze in the 110m Hurdles amassing a huge 32 points towards the DCU Men's and Overall team scores.

Matthew Callinan-Keenan was the man who beat Forde to Pole Vault gold, clearing 3.80m.

Brendan O’Donnell took hammer gold, while Euan Canniffe and Aoibhín McMahon won the men’s and women’s javelin competitions.

Also throwing their way to gold medals, were Ciara Sheehy (discus) and Zoe Mohan (Weight for Distance). Aisling McHugh was the best of the female triple jumpers, finishing ahead of Kim O’Hare (OYD).

In the relays there was gold for the DCU Men’s 4x100m team of Michael Farrelly, Mark Smyth, Charles Okafor, and Nkemjika Onwumereh. Okafor returned about an hour later to help the 4x400m team to gold where he was joined by Eoin Quinn and the prolific duo of Ciaran Carthy and Jack Raftery.

The Women’s 4x400m relay also powered their way to gold with Caoimhe Rowe, Emma Moore, Aimee Doherty and Caoimhe Cronin coming together strongly.

All in all it meant that DCU were crowned women’s team champions for the 16th year in a row, men’s team champions for the 15th year in a row and overall team champions for the 15th year in a row also. The jumps, throws, middle distance, and combined events trophies also make their way back to Glasnevin, after phenomenal performances from one of the university’s top performing clubs.

Full list of medalists

Men

Gold

Mark Smyth - 200m (DCU Record) Jack Raftery - 400m (IUAA RECORD) Sean McGinley - 3000mSC (IUAA RECORD) Jack Forde - HJ Matthew Callinan-Keenan - Pole Vault Brendan O’Donnell - Hammer Euan Canniffe - Javelin Jack Forde - Combined Events 4x 100 Relay (Michael Farrelly, Mark Smyth, Charles Okafor, Nkemjika Onwumereh) 4x 400 Relay (Charles Okafor, Eoin Quinn, Ciaran Carthy, Jack Raftery)

Silver

Ciaran Carthy - 400m Finn Woodger - 1500m Matthew Glennon - 3000m Walk (DCU Record) Harry Colbert - 5000m Cathal O’Reilly - 10000m Leon Sweeney - TJ Jack Forde - PV Jordan Knight - Combined Events

Bronze

Michael Farrelly - 100m Jack Forde - 110mH Eoin Quinn - 800m Adam McInerney - 3000m Walk Jordan Knight - TJ Jordan Knight – HJ

Women

Gold

Aisling McHugh - TJ Siobhan Doherty- 1500m Walk Katie Nolke - 100mH Avril Deegan- 3000m Michaela Walsh - Shot Put (IUAA RECORD) Ciara Sheehy - Discus Aoibhín McMahon - Javelin Zoe Mohan - WFD 4x400m Relay (Caoimhe Rowe, Emma Moore, Aimee Doherty, Caoimhe Cronin)

Silver

Caoimhe Cronin - 400m Siobhan Whelan - 1500m Eva Delahunt - 1500m Walk Amy Greene - 3000mSC Aoife O’Cuill - 5000m Katie Nolke - LJ Kim O’Hare - TJ Ciara Kennelly - HJ Ciara Sheehy - Shot Put Aoife Hernon - Hammer Grace Casey - Javelin Ciara Sheehy - WFD

Bronze

Maeve Hayes - Combined Events Aoibhín McMahon - WFD Aoibhín McMahon - Shot Put Áine Burke - 3000mSC Kelly Breen - 1500m Sarah Lane - 800m (DCU Record)

Members of DCU Athletics Club got the year off to a perfect start at last weekend at the 123.ie National Junior and U23 Championships in Abbottstown.

The large contingent from DCU took home twenty-nine medals back to campus across a wide range of events.

There was a number of standout performances throughout the day including in one of the first track finals on the programme as Kelly Breen (North East Runners) won her first ever national title, taking gold in the U23 1500m.

Having led from the off Breen kicked for home with 200m to go leaving her opponents in her wake, as she took victory by a comfortable margin.

The DCU success continued in the Men’s races as Seán McGinley (Finn Valley AC) won gold in the U23 category. McGinley, who finished 12th in the U20 race at the European Cross Country Championships in December, showed his class as he stormed to gold. Colin Smith (Mullingar Harriers) crossed the line in second.

Ciaran Carthy (Dundrum South Dublin) was an incredibly impressive winner of the U23 400m. Carthy got to the break with a lead of a couple of metres and managed to hold his form well all the way to the line to take the title.

Matthew Glennon (Mullingar Harriers) also made it to the top of the podium winning the U23 3000m walk.

There were also numerous gold medals in the field events. Katie Nolke (Ferrybank AC) took gold in the Junior Long Jump. Jordan Knight (St. Joseph’s AC) also impressed in the event taking U23 gold, with a leap of 6.93m.

In the U23 Triple Jump there was wins for Aisling MacHugh and Leon Sweeney, both of whom were representing Naas AC.

Decathlete Jack Forde (St. Killian’s AC) had an extremely busy day winning gold in the U23 Shot Put and High Jump, while also winning bronze in the Long Jump. DCU women’s captain Ciara Kenneally (Killarney Valley AC) took the U23 High Jump title, with Roisin Kellegher (Annalee AC) winning bronze.

There was a DCU one-two-three in the U23 women’s Shot Put as Ciara Sheehy (Emerald AC), Aoibhinn McMahon (Blackrock AC) and Niamh McCorry (Raheny Shamrocks AC) all medalled. Sheehy also took home silver in the Weight for Distance.

Elsewhere at the Athletics Northern Ireland Jumps and Throws meet in Jordanstown on the same day Lauren Callaghan (Finn Valley AC) moved to fourth on the Irish All-Time list indoors with a sensational 6.24m effort in the Long Jump. It represents a massive 32cm PB for the Donegal athlete and will no doubt give her plenty of confidence going into the season ahead.

It promises to be a busy few weeks for club members with some competing at the National Combined Events and Indoor League in Athlone next weekend before the Intervarsity Indoors in the National Indoor Arena, Abbottstown in just less than two weeks’ time.

Full list of DCU medallists:

Junior (U20)

Gold

Katie Nolke LJ 5.59m

Aimee Doherty 4x200m Relay

Silver

Roise Roberts 1500m 4:45.21

U23

Gold

Ciaran Carthy 400m 48.53

Kelly Breen 1500m 4:41.39

Sean McGinley 1500m 3:52.78

Matthew Glennon 3000mW 12:51.69

Jordan Knight LJ 6.93m

Aisling MacHugh TJ 10.90m

Leon Sweeney TJ 13.15m

Ciara Kennelly HJ 1.74m

Jack Forde HJ 1.85m

Ciara Sheehy SP 13.55m

Jack Forde SP 12.57m

Silver

Niamh O’Neill 60mH 8.84

Colin Smith 1500m 3:54.11

Caoilfhionn Ni Mhadagain PV 2.50m

Jack Murphy PV 3.10m

Aoibhin McMahon SP 12.78m

Ciara Sheehy WFD (28lb) 6.22m

Bronze

Niamh O’Neill Women’s 60m 7.93

Erin Taheny 200m 26.36

Caoimhe Cronin 400m 56.30

Finn Woodger 800m 1:54.89

Jack Forde LJ 6.29m

Roisin Kellegher HJ 1.55m

Niamh McCorry SP 10.97

Euan Canniffe SP 10.51m

Niamh McCorry 4 x 200m Relay

Two national senior titles return to Glasnevin this week after DCU Athletics Club members Jack Forde (St. Killian’s AC) and Niamh McCorry (Raheny Shamrocks AC) won their respective multi-event titles in Athlone.

Both athletes competed across a gruelling two day schedule and rose to the top winning their competitions with relative ease.

Forde made the step-up to the senior ranks and showed his class in the heptathlon. The Wexford man, who is a second year Actuarial Mathematics student, won silver medals for DCU in the multi-events both indoors and outdoors in 2022 and having excelled in the multi-events from a young age was always going to be difficult to beat.

He won six out of his seven events in the competition, achieving four PB’s. His hurdles were particularly strong, with the technique work he has done with Paul Byrne, Head of Athletics in DCU, being evident. He clocked a time of 9.07s for the event.

His other PB’s came in the 60m (7.52s), Pole Vault (3.80m) and 1000m (2.57.24). In total he amassed 4,624 points which moves him up to 15th on the Irish All-Time list for the event. It also put him well over 1000 points clear of Evan Hayes (Waterford AC) who won silver.

McCorry took the intervarsity title in Athlone twelve months ago and was looking to build on a series of good performances at the National U23 Indoor Championships the week before.

She opened her pentathlon with a time of 9.68s in the 60m Hurdles, just shy of the 9.65s she had ran in Abbottstown the weekend before. In the Long Jump she equalled her PB of 4.60m, before a PB throw of 11.18m in the Shot Put.

Impressive performances followed in the High Jump (1.52m) and 800m (2.42.94), as McCorry finished with a total of 3,018 points, nearly 1000 points ahead of the silver medal winning athlete.

In winning the national title, McCorry and Forde become the first athletes from their respective clubs to achieve the feat, a massive achievement and something they will no doubt remember for the remainder of their athletics careers.

Both will return to action this coming weekend at the IUAA (intervarsity) Indoor Championships in the National Indoor Arena, Abbottstown where they will compete in the pentathlon.

DCU Athletics are expected to announce a strong team for the event on Tuesday with a host of European and national medal winning athletes expected to feature.

The Griffith Avenue Mile returned today with hundreds of athletes across all ages taking on the renowned course. 

The race first took place back in 1983 and was known as the 'Dublin Straight Mile'. That year it was won by South African-born American Sydney Maree, in a blistering 3.49.30. 

Leading Irish athletes such as Eamonn Coghlan were in the field that day, and Ray Flynn ran strongly to finish third. 

The race was revived in 2019 but has been postponed ever since due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year it made a welcome return, bigger and better than before. 

DCU are one of the proud sponsors of the race and being so close to all of our campuses, a number of our athletes who are more used to running the metric mile or longer donned the blue and yellow singlets for the first time this season. 

Men's captain Michael Murphy who is better known as a 5000m runner stepped down in distance to see what he could do. 

The result? An impressive time of 4:18, good enough for second place in the race for the Tullamore AC and Joe Ryan coached athlete. Michael finished behind Hiko Tonosa of Dundrum South Dublin who recently competed at the European Championships over 10,000m.

Paul Morgan ran well to finish in 12th in 4:46, while Barry Clavin was 21st in 5:04. 

Training is back in full this week ahead of a busy year ahead. All training in DCU Sports Grounds unless otherwise stated. Full schedule below:

Sprints/Hurdles - Monday @ 5:30pm and Wednesday @ 2pm

Long Jump/Triple Jump - Tuesday @ 6pm 

High Jump - Wednesday @ 5pm

Throws - Wednesday @ 2:30pm

Distance Sessions - Tuesday and Thursday @ 6pm

Distance Easy Runs - Monday and Wednesday @ 6:20pm - meet at front of DCU Sports Complex

Walks - Wednesday @ 4:30pm - meet at Glasnevin Library Car Park

DCU Athletics had a narrow victory over Cardiff University Athletics in their recent dual match held at Morton Stadium on Friday April 1st.

Despite the horrific weather conditions there was some very strong races and performances by both teams as the Outdoor season got up and running in style.

A total of twelve events took place over an hour and a half of quality athletics.

The Mixed 3000m kicked off the programme, with Cardiff having the first five athletes across the line. Tom Luton, Callum Campion and Tom Hughes were the podium placers. Ruth Kennedy of DCU was the first female athlete in a time of 11.16.

The traditional 400m was replaced by a 300m race for this meet and DCU’s Caoimhe Cronin and Club Chairman Shane Monagle were the victors in their respective races. Cronin clocked a time of 41.71s, while Monagle ran 35.39s to narrowly hold off Cardiff’s Jonathan Knox and fellow DCU athlete Jed Walshe.

Next up was the Women’s 1000m. This was another very close encounter with Emily Lowery of Cardiff finishing just three seconds clear of DCU’s Kelly Breen. Cardiff’s Anabel Pozniak finished in 3rd.

Cardiff also took the spoils in the Men’s 1000m race, with Sam Tyas taking the win. Darren O’Dwyer of DCU was 2nd, while James Meiklejohn of Cardiff came 3rd.

DCU dominated in the 100m races with Jennifer Hanrahan and Mark Smyth winning. Hanrahan held off fellow DCU athlete Niamh O’Neill, with Cardiff’s Ellie Kiff coming 3rd.

There was a DCU 1-2-3 in the Men’s race with the aforementioned Smyth running a very impressive 10.61s season opener to finish ahead of teammates Michael Farrelly and Charles Okafor.

The final action on the track was the Mixed Distance Medley Relay with athletes running 400m, 800m, 1200m and a Mile. The Cardiff team of Emily Lowery, Jonathan Knox, Ellie Kiff and Sam Tyas had a comfortable victory ahead of DCU’s A team of Aine Burke, Jed Walshe, Letizia Gamberi and European Cross Country medallist Keelan Kilrehill. DCU B were 3rd with Kelly Breen, Darren O’Dwyer, Corrine Kenny and Aaron Brennan on the team.

In the field events Aoibhinn McMahon had over one metre to spare on her nearest rival, fellow DCU athlete Niamh McCorry in the Women’s Shot Put. DCU decathlete Jack Forde eased to victory in the Men’s competition, throwing over 11m.

Jennifer Hanrahan picked up her second victory of the day jumping 4.17m to win the Women’s Long Jump, while guest athlete Cillian Griffin of IT Carlow won the Men’s competition jumping 6.81m. Jordan Knight and Jack Forde of DCU were 2nd and 3rd respectively.

The overall standings saw DCU finish on 48 points while Cardiff scoring 40 points, meaning DCU took a narrow victory. The event was a new concept and ran smoothly throughout and perhaps it will not be the last time that DCU and Morton Stadium holds an International University competition.

Keelan Kilrehill and Jamie Battle delivered the performances of their lives at yesterday’s Spar European Cross-Country Championships at the National Sports Campus in Abbottstown, Dublin.

Both men lined up in the U23 Men’s race with high hopes of claiming a team medal, however in the build up few would have predicted that the colour of that medal would have been gold.

 The team were led home by Darragh McElhinney (UCD AC) who finished in a superb second place but focus from a DCU perspective was firmly on the action behind him.

Kilrehill started the race modestly enough but was never too far out of the leaders’ sights. With two laps to go he began to move further up the field and was well positioned alongside Irish teammate Michael Power (West Waterford AC) with a lap to go.

He continued to push on and looked strong all the way to line. Roared on by the 8,000-10,000 Irish spectators, Kilrehill finished a remarkable 6th.

To top the performance off it marks an incredible comeback by the Sligo final year EPL student. In 2015 following a serious bicycle accident, Kilrehill was left confined to a wheelchair, having suffered a broken back and fractured neck. At the time doctors told him that he may never run again. Just six years on, he produced an inspirational performance yesterday.

Speaking to Athletics Ireland after Kilrehill said; “I came in thinking that top 15 would be realistic and unbelievable at the same time, but I had myself in the top 15 or top 20 for the whole race and it was all about staying relaxed, staying patient and when lads start coming back to you, such big names and you’re passing them out and feeling so good, it’s some feeling.”

“I got into that last lap, and I had a realistic chance of a medal, why not go for it, so Id going for it on the last lap, unfortunately I didn’t get up there, but I can’t complain, 6th place, I didn’t expect that”, he said.

Jamie Battle also had an excellent run. Despite having only been called up to the team as a late addition during the week he was well prepared. Battle crossed the line in 44th, the fifth Irish athlete to finish.

Another athlete who returns to DCU with silverware is Cathal O’Reilly. O’Reilly was also a late addition to the team and was called up to the Irish U20 team during the week to replace the injured Cian McPhilips. O’Reilly finished in a strong 77th in the 6000m race and won a silver medal as his teammates led home by Abdel Laadjel also had excellent runs.

Andrew Coscoran ran the final leg for the Irish Mixed 4x1500m relay team. Coscoran had a strong run but missed out on a medal by the finest of margins finishing in the same time as the bronze medal winning Belgium team, but ultimately just behind. Despite not medalling yesterday, Coscoran has had a superb year the highlight of which was qualifying for an Olympic semi-final.

In the U23 Women’s race DCU were represented by Aoife O’Cuill and Jodie McCann. O’Cuill was the 3rd Irish athlete to cross the line, in 32nd position, while McCann finished in 49th. Both athletes can be proud to have achieved yet another Irish singlet at a major.

Five DCU Alumni were also in action. In the U23 Women’s race Lauren Tinkler finished in 46th.

Three former students were in action in the Senior Men’s race. Brian Fay became only the 6th Irishman to achieve a top ten finish at the European Cross-Country Championships, finishing in 10th. Last year’s DCU Athletics Men’s Captain, Cormac Dalton, came 28th, with Emmett Jennings finishing 44th. Fay and Dalton were scorers on the Irish team who finished 4th, just missing out on a medal.

Fionnuala McCormack competed in her 17th European Cross-Country Championships, a week after running the second fastest marathon by an Irish woman in history in Valencia. It was another exceptional performance by McCormack who crossed the line in 9th, leading the Irish women’s team home.

DCU Head Endurance Coach, Joe Ryan, managed the Irish U20 team that featured the aforementioned Cathal O’Reilly to silver and is also coach to European champion Jamie Battle.

As mentioned, yesterday was a remarkable day for DCU Athletics that will fondly be remembered by athletes, coaches, families, friends, and supporters for many years to come.

Photo: Darragh McElhinney, Michael Power, Donal Devane, Jamie Battle (DCU) and Keelan Kilrehill (DCU) celebrate winning gold in the Men's U23 team competition. 

Credit: Kyran O’Brien (DCU Comms and Marketing Photographer)

IUAA Road Relays are the first Intervarsity championship of the 2021-22 season. We're looking to enter strong teams in both Men's and Women's races. See below for full format of the event and timetable of races. 

• Date:  Saturday 13th November 2021
• Venue:  South Campus, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
• Parking:  There is NO Parking on the South Campus. Clamping is in operation. Parking is available on the North Campus
• Overview:  This is a one day Intervarsity Championship open to all members. The event is hosted by NUI-Maynooth Athletics Club in mid to late November every year. The trophies are presented at the post competition meal which is usually held in the Phoenix Restaurant, North Campus or Pugin Hall, South Campus. The women compete in a four leg relay over 1-2-2-1 miles, while the men compete in a five leg relay over 1-2-3-2-1 miles. Each college can enter multiple teams. The race is held in the old part of the campus and the course is on tree lined avenues surrounded by old buildings.

Timetable

Transport 

DCU Athletics will be supplying a bus departing from the DCU Nursing Building (Collin's Avenue Entraance @ 10:30am on Saturday 13th) This bus is free of charge to all members travlling. 

Meal 

Food will be provided to all athletes who compete back on DCU Campus (time TBC) as there is no meal this year in Maynooth. 

Singlets/Crop Tops

Club singlets must be worn at this event. These are available from the track office (LG10B McNulty Building) or by emailing paul.byrne@dcu.ie

IUAA Road Relays are the first Intervarsity championship of the 2021-22 season. We're looking to enter strong teams in both Men's and Women's races. See below for full format of the event and timetable of races. 

• Date:  Saturday 13th November 2021
• Venue:  South Campus, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
• Parking:  There is NO Parking on the South Campus. Clamping is in operation. Parking is available on the North Campus
• Overview:  This is a one day Intervarsity Championship open to all members. The event is hosted by NUI-Maynooth Athletics Club in mid to late November every year. The trophies are presented at the post competition meal which is usually held in the Phoenix Restaurant, North Campus or Pugin Hall, South Campus. The women compete in a four leg relay over 1-2-2-1 miles, while the men compete in a five leg relay over 1-2-3-2-1 miles. Each college can enter multiple teams. The race is held in the old part of the campus and the course is on tree lined avenues surrounded by old buildings.

Timetable

Transport 

DCU Athletics will be supplying a bus departing from the DCU Nursing Building (Collin's Avenue Entraance @ 10:30am on Saturday 13th) This bus is free of charge to all members travlling. 

Meal 

Food will be provided to all athletes who compete back on DCU Campus (time TBC) as there is no meal this year in Maynooth. 

Singlets/Crop Tops

Club singlets must be worn at this event. These are available from the track office (LG10B McNulty Building) or by emailing paul.byrne@dcu.ie

DCU Athletics is delighted to partner with Joma Sport who come on board as the clubs technical apparel sponsor. The sponsorship will see a brand new range of DCU Athletics clothing including a new updated and eye-catching bespoke DCU singlet/crop top. The partnership is also in conjunction with JF Sports who will host a DCU Athletics Club Shop where the new kit can be purchased. The range includes technical running t-shirts and shorts as well as casual hoodies, shorts and jackets. 

We look forward to working with Joma and JF Sport into the future and seeing all DCU Athletes competing at IUAA Intervarsity events and events outside of this wearing the new kit on campus, nationally and internationally. 

DCU Athletics Club Shop: https://www.jfsports.ie/product-category/club-shop/dcu-athletics/  (Please note some items can take up to 14days for delivery). 

NOTE: New athletics club singlets/crop tops can only be purchased from the track office (LG10B McNulty Building Glasnevin Campus) and are not available online. These cost €35 each and must be worn when competing for DCU. 

The Irish Universities Athletics Association (IUAA) held their Cross-Country Championships on Sunday 26th September at DCU St. Clare’s Sports Grounds. Anticipation was high in the build-up to the races, which saw a return of inter-varsity action after an eighteen-month absence.

For months in advance there was speculation as to whether or not the event would get the go ahead and following the cancellation of the Track and Field Championships that had been scheduled for August, athletes were probably right to feel somewhat pessimistic. Due to the easing of government guidelines and the strong support of DCU the event was allowed to go ahead with only a limited number of people allowed to attend.

The Women’s race had been scheduled to start at 1.45pm but was pushed back to 3pm due to the closure of the M7 which delayed a number of athletes who were travelling. The sweet sound of thers gun was music to the ears of athletes and stewards alike as the approximately 5k race eventually got underway.

From the off a small group of up to six athletes led the way, including DCU AC’s Christine Russell and Emma O’Brien, both of whom are in fine form at the moment. The group also contained Ciara O’Neill of UL and the Trinity duo of Eavan McLoughlin and Cliona Murphy.

As the race progressed Murphy and Russell began to pull away from the field, with O’Brien and others still running strongly behind them. It was with lap to go that Russell made her decisive move, injecting a burst of pace that Murphy could not deal with. Murphy’s race was ran at this stage and Russell began to move further clear from the field, her effortless running style making it look easy. Ciara O’Neill moved into 2nd on the last lap with an enthralling battle for bronze being fought out behind.

As she crossed the line Russell had a winning margin of over twenty seconds from O’Neill, with DCU’s Emma O’Brien just being pipped for bronze by Trinity’s Eavan McLoughlin. Trinity won the team title, followed by UL and DCU. The DCU team comprised of Russell, O’Brien, Ruth Kennedy, Aine Burke, Aisling McGuinness, Clare Barrett, Aoife O’Cuill and Avril Deegan.

The Men’s race followed soon after and it was clear from the get-go that there was only going to be one winner. Darragh McElhinney of UCD, National U20 5000m record holder and European U20 medallist showed his class and was never in any significant danger of losing the race. When crossing the line, his winning margin on the 8k course was in excess of one minute.

Keelan Kilrehill of DCU gave chase initially and was running strongly for much of the race. Unfortunately, with a lap to go Kilrehill ran out of gas and had to pull out, leaving Pierre Murchan and Thomas McStay of NUIG in a position to win silver and bronze respectively. Daniel Stone was DCU’s top finisher, crossing the line in 11th place. NUIG easily won the team title, with Matt Lockett having five athletes in the top ten. UL took silver, while DCU won bronze. The DCU was made up of Stone, Kilrehill, Jamie Battle, Ben Guiden, Patrick MacGabhann, Colin Smith, Euan Lagan, Eoghan Keaney, Neil Murphy and John Cleary.

It was a great honour for DCU Athletics Club to host the IUAA Cross Country Championships for the first time since 2004 and credit must be given to Head of Athletics at DCU, Paul Byrne for all his work organising a successful event. Attention now turns to the intervarsity Road Relay Championships which will take place next month in Maynooth.

The following are the teams selected to represent DCU at the IUAA XC Championship this Sunday in the DCU Sports Grounds. 

Men's Team

Jamie Battle

Keelan Kilrehill

Andrew McKenna

Euan Lagan 

Colin Smith

Neil Murphy

Luke Murphy

Ben Guiden 

Patrick MacGabhann

John Cleary 

Daniel Stone

Ryan Sheridan

Eoghan Keaney

Emile Esim-Enoh

Men's Team Captain: Jamie Battle

Women's Team

Aoife O'Cuill

Susan Glennon

Lauren Tinkler (OYD)

Christine Russell

Clare Barrett

Emma O'Brien

Avril Deegan 

Ruth Kennedy 

Áine Burke 

Aisling McGuinness 

Women's Team Captain; Grace Casey 

TIMETABLE 

Women's Race - 5,000m @1:45pm 

Men's Race - 8,000m @ 4pm

REMINDER - No spectators allowed at this event. 

DCU Athletics Club in conjunction with the Irish University Athletics Association will host the Intervarsity Cross Country Championships in DCU Sports Grounds (St. Claire's) on Sunday 26th Sept.

This is the first intervarsity athletics competition to take place since March 2020 and DCU is delighted to be hosting the event. We are looking to enter the maximum number of athletes in both the men's and women's race so if you're interested in running, please fill out the following form. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfNcU4hB7p1JqK8PruK_tmSEZyaqwD9CWW0rMDB596VrMCoxw/viewform?usp=sf_link This will close on Wednesday 22nd of Sept @ 5pm. 

PLEASE NOTE: As this is the postponed 2021 championships, athletes who were in DCU last year are eligible to compete. Incoming 1st year athletes are not allowed to compete. 

Women's Race - 5,000m @ 2pm 

Men's Race - 8,000m @ 2:35pm 

With restrictions easing from the 20th of September on outdoor sporting events we're delighted to have spectators allowed to attend. If you're not competing on the day we strongly encourage all DCU athletes to come down and support/cheer on our teams on home ground! 

Four DCU AC members sporting, and life dreams will become reality in the next month when they step out onto the track at the Japan National in Tokyo donning the green vest to represent Ireland at ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ - the Olympic Games. Years of hard work and dedication have culminated in Nadia Power, Andrew Coscoran, Sophie Becker and Cillin Greene receiving official confirmation this week that they have been selected for the Games which begin in just under two weeks’ time.

Nadia Power has been selected in the 800m. Power finished in a strong world ranking position having banked several consistent performances on the European circuit over the last two years. The Marketing, Innovation and Technology student is coached by James Nolan and has an impressive PB of 2.01.01 (8th on Irish All-Time List) which was set last season and a time of 2.01.42 to her name this year. The heats of the 800m will be one of the first races of the athletics programme taking place between 1am and 4.30am (Irish Time) on Friday 30th of July. Set your alarm clocks!

Andrew Coscoran will compete over 1500m. Coscoran has been in tremendous form this season, making huge progress under the guidance of coach Feidhlim Kelly in Dublin Track Club. The Education and Training student has run PB’s in both the 800m (1.46.61 – 13th on Irish All-Time List) and 1500m (3.35.66 – 9th on Irish All-Time list) in the past month and is the fastest Irishman over the latter distance in many years. The heats of the Men’s 1500m get underway on Tuesday 3rd August somewhere between 1am and 4.30am (Irish Time).

Sophie Becker (Genetics and Cell Biology) and Cillin Greene (Law and Society) are both part of the Mixed 4x400m Relay squad. Becker and Greene, like Coscoran and Power have both been in the form of their lives recently having clocked PB’s of 52.32s (5th on Irish All-Time list) and 46.18s (10th on Irish All-Time list) respectively this season. Both athletes are part of Jeremy Lyon’s setup in the Dublin Sprint Club and all going to plan will be chosen in the final four athletes who will race (six in squad). The heats for the Mixed Relay will take place between 11am and 1pm (Irish Time) on Friday 30th July.

DCU Alumni Cliodhna Manning and Fionnuala McCormack have also secured their places on the plane to Tokyo. Manning is part of the Mixed Relay squad, while the ever-impressive McCormack will represent Ireland at yet another major championships, this time stepping up to the marathon.  This will also be McCormack’s fourth successive Olympics having competed in Beijing, London and Rio previously.

Head of DCU Athletics Paul Byrne paid tribute to the sacrifice and dedication of the athletes and described having four DCU Olympians from one sport as “enormous”.

"To have one Olympian represent DCU would be huge, to have four Olympians from one sport is enormous. I couldn't be prouder of Andrew, Sophie, Cillin and Nadia. The sacrifices and hard work they have put in over the years, particularly over the last few months during the COVID-19 pandemic, have all paid off”, Byrne said.

“They are fulfilling their dreams and they are a huge credit to the University, their chosen programmes of study, DCU Athletics Club, their coaches, friends, clubs, families and extended support networks. Everyone in DCU is fully behind our newest Olympians as well as our two alumni Olympians, Fionnuala and Cliodhna. We can't wait to see them tear up the track in Tokyo".

All members of DCU AC want to wish Nadia, Andrew, Sophie, Cillin, Cliodhna and Fionnuala all the best in Tokyo. We have no doubt they will do themselves, their families, coaches, clubs, and country proud on the biggest stage in athletics! #WeAreDCU

DCU AC athletes have been in exceptional early season form in the last couple of weeks with PB’s tumbling as races return at home and abroad. Here’s a quick round-up of all the action. There will be more round-ups in the weeks to come as the track season continues at pace!

Belfast IMC

An incredible 20 athletes travelled to Belfast on Saturday May 29th for the annual Irish Milers Club meet at Mary Peter’s Track with high hopes of delivering strong performances given the excellent weather and lack of races in the last year. They certainly didn’t disappoint.

The Men’s 400m saw three DCU athletes involved in the A and B races. In the A race Cillin Greene and Jack Raftery were in action, both running new PB’s. Cillin took the win, ahead of fellow Galway City Harrier, Robert McDonnell, in a time of 46.45s. Jack was 3rd clocking 47.27s and getting a B Standard for the European U23s as a result.  Both performances are cracking season openers. Club Chairman, Shane Monagle made his debut over the distance in the B race and was a comfortable winner. His time of 47.77s would have put him 4th in the A race.

Sophie Becker moved to 5th on the Irish all-time list over 400m with an insane run and new PB of 52.32s in the Women’s A race. Sophie finished 2nd to Phil Healy who also ran a PB in what was one of the races of the day. Sophie will now look to build on that performance and continue to gain valuable ranking points which could see her qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo. A big ask but fingers crossed. Caoimhe Rowe ran in the Women’s 400m B Race running a time of 62.62s.

Also in action in the sprints were Charles Okafor and Aoife Lynch. Charles finished 7th in the Men’s 100m A race (11.10s) while Aoife who has made an excellent start to her season as part of the Irish 4x200m Women’s relay team finished 3rd in the 200m A race in a time of 24.40s.

Plenty of DCU athletes were also in action in the hotly contested middle distance races. The Men’s 800m A race was one of the races of the day, with Harry Purcell and John Fitzsimmons (Kildare AC) only being separated by a photo finish. For the second week in a row Purcell ran a new PB, this time running 1.46.53. In the B race Eoin Quinn ran a European U20 B Standard, finishing 2nd in a new PB of 1.50.45.

Ciara Deely and Zoe Carruthers raced in the Women’s 800m A and B races, respectively. The A race saw British athlete Alexandra Bell securing an automatic qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics running 1.58.52. Ciara had a strong performance bagging herself a new PB of 2.10.29. Zoe finished 3rd in a the very competitive B race also clocking a new PB of 2.12.95.

Cormac Dalton who has already ran PB’s over 10,000m and 5,000m this season stepped down to run in the 1500m A race. There’s no stopping Dalton at the moment who finished 2nd behind Darragh McElhinney in a new PB of 3.46.50. Garry Campbell also ran in the race, finishing 5th in 3.48.33. Andrew McKenna was 2nd in the D race in a PB of 4.06.80.

Avril Deegan and Alex Murphy ran in the Women’s 1500m races. Avril had a solid run in the A race running 4.31.58, while Alex ran in the B race securing a new PB of 4.44.44 to finish 6th.

Daniel Stone and Euan Lagan were in action over 5000m. Daniel ran in the B race running 15.07.02 to finish 7th, while Euan ran a new PB of 15.41.42 in the C race to finish in 6th. Aoife O’Cuill and Claire Fagan ran in the Women’s 5000m. In her second race over the distance on the track, Aoife finished 2nd taking over ten seconds off her previous PB from a couple of weeks before, running 16.41.11. Claire came home in 3rd after a great battle with Aoife clocking 16.49.10 which is only a few seconds outside her PB and SB.

Next Generation Meet – Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Also on May 29th, Andrew Coscoran travelled to The Netherlands for the Next Generation Meet. He raced in the 1500m and moved to 11th on the Irish all-time list, with a new PB of 3.36.05. That performance moves Andrew back into a quota place for Olympics qualification.

World Continental Tour – Samorin, Slovakia and Golden Spike Meet – Ostrava, Czech Republic

Nadia Power continued her season racing in the 800m on Wednesday evening in Slovakia at the World Continental Tour event. Power ran a time of 2.02.02 and is now off to Finland for her next race in what will be a busy few weeks.

Power also raced in the Golden Spike event in Ostrava, Czech Republic on the 19th of May where she finished 6th in 2.02.72.

European Paralympic Athletics Championships – Poland

Former DCU AC athlete Greta Streimikyte took gold in Women’s T13 1500m at the European Paralympic Athletics Championships on Tuesday night. Streimikyte ran a time of 4.39.28, just outside the PB she set a couple of weeks before although the conditions during her race were unideal. Greta will now be looking ahead to the Tokyo Paralympics later this year where she will be looking to medal once again. Congratulations Greta from all at DCU AC!

Manchester Invitational Meet

Brian Fay moved to 4th on the Irish all-time list over the barriers in the 3000m Steeplechase. Fay ran a new PB of 8.33.93 on Thursday the 27th of May.

City of Lisburn AC Meet – Belfast

Harry Purcell and Andrew Coscoran both ran 800m PB’s at this meet, to move into the top 20 Irish of all-time over the distance. Purcell would go onto run another PB the following week as previously mentioned, while Coscoran ran 1.46.91. Brian Fay was just outside his PB running 1.51.44.

European Throwing Cup – Split, Croatia

Michaela Walsh finished 5th in the Shot Put at the European Throwing Cup in early May in Croatia. Walsh threw an impressive 15.06m.

T-Meeting – Tilburg, The Netherlands

Aoife Lynch travelled to the Netherlands recently to take part in the T-Meeting. Aoife equalled her 100m PB of 11.91 and followed that performance up with her 2nd fastest 200m ever, 24.23s.

Athletics Ireland Micro-Meet – Cork

Several DCU athletes competed in a special micro-meet in CIT, Cork on May 15th. Cormac Dalton qualified for the European 10,000m Cup running a PB of 29.19.75. A great 10,000m track debut! Aoife O’Cuill ran inside the standard for the European U23 Championships in the 10,000m clocking 34.41.36. Club PRO Mark Smyth ran a new 100m PB of 10.58s (+0.6). Matthew Callinan-Keenan was in action in the Pole Vault with a best of 4.25m, while fellow field events athletes, club PRO Kim O’Hare and Grace Furlong jumped 4.82m and 5.62m respectively in the Long Jump.

Day of 5000m races – Belfast

Cormac Dalton, Aoife O’Cuill and Claire Fagan all ran PB’s in Belfast at the start of May. Dalton ran under 14 minutes for the first time (13.59.04), running a massive 47 second PB. Claire ran a PB of 16.43 and Aoife ran 16.53 in her debut over the distance. As highlighted earlier Aoife’s PB now stands at 16.41!

DCU Clubs & Socs Awards

• Many congrats to Nadia on winning the overall 'Sports Personality of the Year' award at the annual DCU Clubs and Socs awards held virtually last night.
• Andrew Coscoran was also an award winning on the night in the 'Contribution to Club Life Award' for his achievements over the 1500m this season and last as well as placing in the IUAA XC Champs in Cork 2020.
• We were delighted to be nominated for overall club of the year which was great acknowledgment and recognition for all the hard work of the committee putting on events, zoom call after zoom call, our coaches at training when we could and sending on programmes to keep our members active and engaged! Huge thank you to the entire team in DCU Clubs & Socs for a great virtual event and evening to celebrate the achievements of students in a crazy year!

The full event can be watched back HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc7uj-yn3zc&t=5s

DCU sports scholars Aoife Lynch and Sophie Becker were in action for Ireland at the World Athletics Relays in Chorzow, Poland last weekend.

Aoife was part of the 4x100m and 4x200m teams, while Sophie was part of the mixed 4x400m squad and joined Aoife on the 4x200m team.

The 4x200m relay took place on Sunday night, with the DCU girls being joined by Sarah Quinn (St. Colman’s South Mayo AC) and Kate Doherty (DSD AC). Aoife ran a great first leg (24.48s), passing the baton to Kate Doherty. When the baton was passed to Sophie who was running the anchor leg, she began to gain ground on her Polish counterpart who was in the lead. Unfortunately, the Polish athlete held on to take victory, with Sophie running a split of 23.82s to bring the team home in 2nd, setting a phenomenal new National Record in the process of 1.35.93!

Bearing in mind it was both athletes season opener it certainly bodes well for the summer ahead. Its worth noting also that it was Aoife’s first senior international appearance, undoubtedly the first of many to come. Both Aoife and Sophie were part of our 4x200m team at the last IUAA Indoors in Athlone in Feb 2020. Aoife was a reserve on the 4x100m team which finished 10th overall, missing out on a place in Tokyo by only 0.3s, however they did qualify for the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon next year.

Sophie was also a reserve in the Mixed 4x400m, rested due to a recent injury. The team finished 7th overall to qualify for the Olympics after finishing 3rd in their heat in a new National Record of 3.16.34. Chris O’Donnell, Phil Healy, Sharlene Mawdsley and Thomas Barr made up the quartet, with Andrew Mellon replacing Barr in the final.

Congratulations Aoife and Sophie from all of us in DCU AC. You did yourselves, your families, college, clubs, and communities proud!

 by Rory Cassidy (DCU AC PRO)

DCU students Nadia Power, Sophie Becker and Andrew Coscoran have been selected for the Irish Athletics Team competing in the upcoming European Indoor Athletics Championship in Torun, Poland, March 5-7. 

Power, a final year MINT (Marketing, Innovation and Technology) student has enjoyed a fantastic indoor season so far and will be aiming for a place in this year’s 800 metres Indoor final after a string of personal bests and national record performances at the recent World Athletics Indoor Tour. The Dublin City Harrier club woman has posted a 2:00.98 finish this season and is ranked 7th in Europe, 10th in the world and is currently inside the World Athletics Quota ranking system for Olympic Qualification. 

Andrew Coscoran ran a lifetime best over 1500m at the World Indoor Tour meeting in Lievin in France this month; finishing fifth in a world class field. The final year Education and Training Student ran 3:37.20 which placed him fifth on the Irish all-time list behind Marcus O’Sullivan and Eamon Coughlan. The Dubliner is also inside the quota for Olympic qualification.

Sophie Becker is also in superb form breaking her own personal best at the recent Athletics Ireland Elite Micro meeting on February 21st. She clocked 53.20 in the 400 metres and is currently the third fastest Irishwoman over this distance indoors. The Wexford athlete is the current National women’s 400m indoors and outdoors champion. 

Paul Byrne, Head of Athletics at DCU said, 

"I'm delighted for Nadia, Andrew and Sophie on their selections for European Indoors next week. All the hard work and dedication over the difficult number of months is coming to fruition. All three are sport scholarship athletes combining their academic and athletics ambitions to the highest levels. It has given everyone in DCU and DCU Athletics Club a huge boost to see them qualify and everyone is looking forward to watching them in action next week."

James Galvin, Director of DCU Sports and Wellbeing commented, 

"I want to congratulate Nadia, Sophie and Andrew on their wonderful accomplishment of qualifying for the forthcoming European Indoor Athletics Championships. We know the commitment to hard work and long hours, largely unseen, that is required to achieve their athletic goals. We are especially proud of the academic success of these DCU student-athletes and they are to be commended for their ambition and achievements.

A special mention to DCU Athletics coaches Joe Ryan and Daniel Kilgallon who coach athletes Cian McPhillips (800m), John Fitzsimons (800m) and Israel Olatunde (60m) who will also compete in Torun. DCU alumnus Paul Robinson (1500m) was also selected on the team. 

Pictured (l-r) Becker, Coscoran and Power in action

WELCOME BACK TO DCU ATHLETICS

Huge welcome to all our new members and of course our returning Athletes.Thanks for signing up! Be sure to keep an eye here and via your email addresses on upcoming events, training, COVID-19 updates and competitions ??

Our committee and Head of Athletics are working hard to make sure there is as much activity in the club as possible while all the while keeping you safe with our COVID-19 protocols.

We looking forward to welcoming back to training sessions with the club from Monday 12th October. Full list of training times= and locations for the different event groups are detailed on the DCU Athletics Website

DCU Athletics @ National Championships

The 2020 National Championships are ones that will not be forgotten quickly. Due to COVID-19 restrictions the champs took place over two weekends in August and were limited to strict guidelines only allowing a mx of 200 people in Morton Stadium at any time, this in turn meant no spectators would be allowed. A different Nationals but one the coaches, athletes and clubs were delighted to see proceed and credit to Athletics Ireland and their team for getting it across the line. It was also a memorable one for DCU Athletics Club with a full list of medallists below:

Senior

Gold - Saragh Buggy LJ and TJ, Sophie Becker 400m, Michaela Walsh Shot Put, Brendan O’Donnell Hammer, Paul Robinson (Alumni) 1500m, Matthew Behan (Alumni) 400mH, Kate Veale (Alumni) 5000mWalk

Silver - Adam King (Alumni) Hammer, Kourosh Foroughi (Alumni) HJ, Karen Dunne (Alumni) 400mH, Aoibhinn McGoldick 3000mSC, Eoin Sheridan (Alumni) Discus, Mark Smyth 200m, Lilly Ann O’Hora (Alumni) 100mH

Bronze - Megan Moynihan (Alumni) Hammer, Sarah McCarthy LJ, Claire Fagan 5000m, Andrew Coscoran 1500m, Paul Murphy (Alumni) 400m, Kim O’Hare TJ, Shane Aston (Alumni) 110mH , Michael Bowler (Alumni) PV

U23

Gold - Brendan O’Donnell Hammer, Michaela Walsh Shot Put, Zoe Mohan Hammer, Claire Fagan 5000m, Mark Smyth 100m & 200m, Aoibhinn McGoldrick 3000mSC, Sarah Clarke 800m, Shane Power PV Silver - Deirdre Murray 400mH, Aoife Lynch 200m, Kim O’Hare TJ, Zoe Mohan WFD, James O’Neill Discus, Matthew Callinan-Keenan PV Bronze - Kim O’Hare LJ, Ruarcan O’Gibne1500m, Paul McDermott 200m, Ailbhe Healy PV

Total Senior -23

Total U23 - 20

A staggering 43 medals won across both weekends by past and present DCU students. Unrivaled by any other Irish University athletics club. There werea also plenty of PB's SB's and gritty performances from everyone on both weekends. Most will have wrapped up the season at this stage and I'm sure taking a much needed rest ahead of a potentially long and hard winter ahead.