All-Ireland Relay Gold medal glory for Longford U-14 boys

The Longford Athletics Club Under-14 boys relay squad of Kevin English, El’nathan Okoh, Adam Mulleady, Andrew Fitzpatrick and Alvin Prempeh Wiafe enjoyed fantastic Gold medal success on Sunday last at the National Inter-Club Relay finals.

Their day in Tullamore began with an assured win in the 4 x 100m heat with Kevin, El’nathan, Adam and Andrew combining in taking first place with 51.72 seconds to comfortably claim their spot in the final. Within an hour it was time to step onto the track again with several top clubs from across the country competing for the medals.

The Longford line-up remained the same with Kevin starting strongly out of the blocks in lane three and running an excellent opening leg. He handed over to El’nathan who showed great speed to power down the back straight.

 A smooth baton changeover followed as Adam ran a superb bend with the boys in blue in the lead approaching the home straight. Andrew, on the anchor leg, took over and had to give it his all sprinting towards the finish line to ensure the victory ahead of a fast-finishing Galway City Harriers team. 

The clock stopped at 51.47 and it was National Gold for Longford!

A brilliant collective effort by the boys. Although Alvin didn’t get to compete, he was ready and more than able if called upon as it showed the importance of having a good runner in reserve.

Winning All-Ireland relay medals, let alone gold, isn’t easy and yet Sunday’s win marked a 3-in-a-row of National outdoor titles won with the group having also topped the podium at the U12 and U13 age groups. So much credit goes to coach John Fitzpatrick whose preparation again was top class. 

This past weekend in Tullamore wrapped up the National Juvenile Championships summer action (excluding the Combined Events) with the club also represented over the two days by Marc Galligan and Julie Taitt. Marc took to the track on Saturday running well for fifth in his heat of the U17 300m Hurdles while Julie set a new personal best when placing eighth overall with a good run in Sunday’s U14 800m.