Tallaght’s Hanrahan leaps and dashes to National U23 titles
By Hayden Moore
TALLAGHT AC athlete’s hit their stride at the National Junior and Under 23 Championships, with Jennifer Hanrahan claiming a pair of gold medals in track and field.
Hanrahan took the Junior Women’s long jump title with a leap of 5.80m on day two in Santry, beating Katie Nolke of Ferrybank AC (5.55m) and Lauren Callaghan of Finn Valley (5.49m) to top the podium.
Tallaght AC's Joseph Finnegan Murphy and Jennifer Hanrahan
And she followed that up with a rapid 11.85 run in the Junior 100m later in the afternoon.
Hanrahan crossed the line ahead of Katie Monteith of City of Lisburn (12.06) and Lucy-May Sleeman of Leevale AC (12.11) to win her second gold medal at the meet.
Tallaght’s Joseph Finnegan Murphy dazzled in the Men’s U23 200m Final, recording a new personal best time of 22.45 to claim silver – only 0.89 behind Leevale’s Colin Doyle.
Finnegan Murphy ultimately left Santry with a pair of medals after taking bronze in the Men’s U23 100m Final in a time of 11.20, behind Ennis Track AC’s Gabriel Kehinde in 11.07 and Leevale’s Conor Morey in 10.80.
Brishan LeGoff O’Brien was another Tallaght competitor to claim a gold medal when he won the U23 3000m Steeplechase in a time of 9:39.33, ahead of Ruarcan O’Gibne of Ace AC (10:00.48) and Frank O’Brien of Midleton AC (10:08.43).
Meanwhile, Robert Irvine Byrne missed out on the Junior Men’s 100m Final by 100th of a second when he registered a 11.28 PB.
Rhasidat Adeleke will be contesting the National Senior Championships in Santry this weekend, with the European Youth Olympic double gold medallist on recess from University of Texas for the summer.
Tallaght AC will be hosting the Dublin Juvenile U17/18/19 1500m Championships this Thursday evening.
