2023 IUAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The 2023 IUAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will christen the Dundrum South Dublin AC’s new state of the art facility over 2 days of competition. The pick of the best student athletes in Ireland will descend on Dublin’s southside as the O’Sullivan Cup and Martin Trophy will be on the line for the Men’s and Women’s team competitions. Dublin City University (DCU) have been the long-standing possessors of these trophies but have come under challenge from a University of Limerick (UL) team that is growing in reputation having picked up team titles in both Indoor and Cross-Country Championships in recent editions.
Action begins at 2pm on Friday and 9.45am on Saturday with 2 full days of competition.
Sprints
Newly minted National 60m champion Sarah Leahy (UL) headlines the entries in the Women’s 100m and 200m event. The Gaelic footballer turned sprinter will hope to defend her titles in the manner she won them last year in Carlow, with performances that earned her the IUAA Female Athlete of the Year award. In the 100m, DCU’s Hannah Aspell and UL’s Alana Ryan may find themselves to the fore. The inclusion of 400m specialists Molly Hourihan (UCD) and Laura Nally (UL) in the 200m adds an extra layer to the event. Emma Hutchinson of Ulster University (UU) will also look to add an outdoor medal to her indoor silver from January.
The Women’s 400m was the event of the championships when the students raced indoors in January. Miriam Daly (UL) and Caoimhe Cronin (DCU) both went onto feature in the National Senior final weeks later. They will head the field that also features University College Cork’s (UCC) Lauren McCourt.
On the Men’s side the 100m is shaping up to be a battle of the South. UCC’s Conor Morey and Munster Technological University (MTU)’s Colin Doyle will be hoping to take the crown of Ireland’s fastest student. However, that title may have to be deferred to Mark Smyth. The DCU student shot to a new Irish 200m Indoor Record this year, and he goes in a large 200m field that also features the aforementioned Colin Doyle and James Holden (UCD).
Jack Raftery (DCU) will attract the most attention in the Men’s 400m, but he will be surrounded by familiar faces as the three men who followed him home at the National Championships in February also entered. Ciarán Carthy (DCU), David Ryan (UCC) and Eoin Kenny (UL) will all go to the blocks this weekend with a medal in their sights. The Men’s sprints entries have the notable omission of Ireland’s fastest man Israel Olatunde. He does feature on the UCD 4x100m team that is entered.
Hurdles
The ever-present Niamh O’Neill (DCU) looks to be the pick of the entries for the Women’s 100mh on Friday. Over the one-lap event it may be anyone’s race, Jenny Sawyer, Aoife Sheehy (Both UL), Caoimhe Rowe (DCU) and Charlotte Burke (Trinity College Dublin) will all feel they are worthy of a podium.
The Men’s 110mh may be a battle of the multi-eventers. Darragh Miniter (UL) and Jack Forde (DCU) will be to the fore, but Jack McGrath (UCC) and Ben Donovan (MTU) will hope to represent the specialists well. UL has been a powerhouse of IUAA Men’s 400m hurdling in recent years and this year the mantle falls to regulars of National Senior finals, Jack Mitchell and Eoin Sharkey. UCD’s Oisín McCorry is no stranger to the big stage either and will fancy his chances of a medal.
Jumps
Ruby Millet (UCC) is entered in both the Long and Triple Jump where she will look to continue her imperious indoor form. Kim O’Hare (DCU) is a regular on the National podium and she too is entered in both horizontal jumps. The Women’s High Jump features Ciara Kennelly (DCU) and Aoife O’Sullivan (MTU) who shared 2nd place at the Indoor Championships in January. Indoor champion Daena Kealy is not listed to start.
Reece Ademola (MTU) will make his maiden appearance in IUAA competition should he compete in the Long Jump. The World u20 Finalist is also entered in the High Jump competition. The UL pair of Luke O’Carroll and Joe Miniter have shared IUAA Long Jump podiums in the past and will hope to pick up crucial team points here.
In the Pole Vault, National Senior champion, Matthew Callinan Keenan and National u23 Indoor champion, Aaron Malik headline. Clodagh Walsh (MTU) is the pick of the Women’s event.
Throws
Michaela Walsh will seek to win her 7th IUAA Shot Putt title (Indoor and Outdoor) in a row this weekend in Dublin. A win in the Hammer Throw would also be a third in Succession for the DCU student. However, the entry of Nicola Tuthill (UCD) in the Hammer Throw may prove to be a challenge to ensure Michaela maintains her perfect card. In the Discus Throw, Ciara Sheehy (DCU) will hope to prevail as will her DCU peer Grace Casey in the Javelin Throw. Ciara also goes in a wide-open Weight for Distance event.
Darragh Miniter (UL) will hope to add an Outdoor Shot Putt title to his Indoor win in January. He is also entered in the Discus Throw but will have it all to do against Ireland’s best Eoin Sheridan (RCSI). The Men’s Hammer sees DCU’s Brendan O’Donnell return to defend his title. The Donegal man is also entered in the Weight for Distance that may well favour specialist Robert Higgins of Maynooth University. Ronan Bloomer of Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) picked up Silver behind UL’s Javelin expert Conor Cusack. He does not feature amongst the entries this year which leaves the Javelin Throw wide open for someone to make a name for themselves.
Distance
In the women’s 800m, Indoor champion Lucy Holmes (MTU) will take on UCD’s Susie Nestor and Shauna Leydon, with the TCD duo of Sophie Jackman and Karen Hayes also hoping to compete for the podium spots. The ever-strong Kate Nurse of UCD will have to fight it out against Shona O’Brien in the 1500m, who will want to replicate her indoor title in the same event. In the recent IUAA cross country championship only one place separated Avril Deegan of DCU and Edel Monaghan of TCD – they will go head-to-head again in the 3000m, with Ciara Hickey of UCD also looking to make a claim on the title. The standout name in the steeplechase will be last year’s champions Róisin O’Reilly of UCD.
In the 5000m we will see cross country champion Fiona Everard (NUIG) take on second place finisher Róise Roberts (DCU) with stiff competition expected also from Aoife Ó Cúill over the 12.5 laps.
Last year’s 800m campion on the men’s side Jake Bagge (UL) will face off against this year’s indoor champion Eoin Quinn (DCU) and bronze medallist Peter Kilgannon (UCD). Juvenile star Cian McPhillips of UCD will make his IUAA T&F debut in the 1500m, taking on last year’s champions Aaron Brennan (NUIG) and Finn Woodger of DCU who will want to better his indoor silver medal in the 800m earlier this year.
In the men’s steeple, last year’s 1,2,3 of Oisin Spillane (UL), Liam Harris (UCC) and Patrick Noonan (NUIG) will all be back again this year, with Michael Murphy of DCU also sure to be in the mix. The men’s 5000m race looks to be wide open, with Sean Cotter of NUIG likely to capitalise on the absence of some of the big names and add to his bronze medal from the indoor 3,000m this year.
In the men’s 10,000m Jose Ignacio Gimenez is coming off the back of a strong half marathon in Prague, but UL teammate Thomas Devaney will want to defend his gold from last year’s event and won’t let him get away easily in the 25-lap race.
Walks
In the women’s 1500m walk DCU’s Siobhan Doherty will be aiming to turn last year’s silver medal to gold, but will be put through her paces by teammate Eva Delahunt. In the men’s 3000m walk the out and out favourite will be MTU’s Olympian David Kenny, with Oisin Lane of UL and Adam McInerney of DCU also vying for podium places.
Combined Events
The IUAA Combined Events Championships will run coincidently within the event. Both Men and Women compete in a Pentathlon over the duration of Day 1 and can also be eligible to score in the individual event. The Women’s Competition sees multi-event regulars Niamh McCorry (DCU) and Louise King (UL) set to battle over the 5 events. McCorry is also scheduled to go in the 400mH.
The Men’s competition sees DCU, and UL square off again with Jack Forde and Darragh Miniter set to go the full 5 rounds. Forde is set to compete in the 5 events of the Pentathlon in addition to the Pole Vault, Discus Throw and Javelin he is declared for. Miniter will have a similar schedule and will tend to Javelin and Discus as well as his relay duties over the two days.
Relays
The 4x100m and 4x400m relays for both Men and Women look impossible to call at this with strength on every team but expect to see some frantic action on Saturday afternoon as teams go in search of those valuable relay points.
Compiled by Jack Hickey https://iuaa.org/